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Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions [pdf]

(public.econ.duke.edu)
376 points undefined1 | 1 comments | 25 Apr 20 00:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.217s | source
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vikramkr ◴[25 Apr 20 02:30 UTC] No.22975041[source]▶
Here's what annoys me. This analysis is showing that race-based factors are being factored into "personal ratings" and in how rec letters are being interpreted etc. Just make there be an overall admission penalty for being Asian and release the exact level of that barrier like they do for med school admissions. You can see for med schools exactly what the average GPA and MCATs needed are for white, black, Asian, Latino, etc. Stop trying to hide it in obviously discriminatory ways like lowering people's personal ratings. Just make an affirmative action penalty without perpetuating stereotypes about Asian American applicants being math-loving robots with no other well-rounded characteristics.

What annoys me even more frankly is that the burden for fixing centuries of institutional racism and discrimination apparently needs to be born by hardworking immigrants and children of immigrants, not the people that most directly benefitted from generations of injust social structures. Legacies are OK, and the percentage of students at ivy league schools from the top 1% can be sky-high, so rich wealthy white students with connections and successful parents don't have to sacrifice anything. Legacy admissions, a structure explicitly created by many schools to keep out Jewish students[0], is OK because "school spirit" and increased donations. People that benefit from generations of inequity totally deserve their spots at these schools. However, the hardworking student who's a child of immigrant parents, without connections or networks, parents working in everything from laundromats to tech jobs building generational wealth from the ground up? Students who studied hard to get good grades and do everything the admissions officers could want? No, they have to sacrifice their admissions to fix the legacy of slavery. They have to pay the price and are discriminated against compared to white folk. What a brilliant way to breed lateral violence between minorities and create a system that continues to perpetuate classism and racism while pretending that keeping out a deserving Asian student in favor of a rich white student is helping a disadvantaged black student.

[0]https://www.businessinsider.com/legacy-admissions-originally...

replies(3): >>22975065 #>>22975089 #>>22975140 #
crispyambulance[dead post] ◴[25 Apr 20 02:49 UTC] No.22975140[source]▶
> [Asian students] have to sacrifice their admissions to fix the legacy of slavery.

Students with straight-A gpa's, near-perfect SAT scores, violin or piano mastery and substantive internships that show impressive potential aren't "sacrificing" anything if Harvard doesn't accept them because they have insanely competitive student admissions.

There are other schools besides Harvard. There are schools that provide an elite education, prestige and major boost to student lives and careers. Harvard isn't the only one. And there are many other schools that would be glad to have such students.

I think Asian parents, and actually all parents, would do their kids a great service if they ease off on the pressure to get into Harvard and look for schools that are instead a better fit for their kids-- there's more than one.

mydongle[dead post] ◴[25 Apr 20 02:57 UTC] No.22975179[source]▶
Would you ever tell blacks to just go live somewhere else 300 years ago if they hated slavery so much? How about Jews during Nazi Germany?

Fucking hell. Truly no one gives a damn about Asian Americans in this country. I can't believe this is even up for debate.

EDIT: Calmed down and realized there was really no need to invoke slavery or Nazi Germany.

The question is, would you ever tell African Americans or Jewish people who are unsatisfied with the state of race relations in the U.S. to just go live somewhere else? No, you'd get destroyed if you even hinted it. Then why is it okay toward Asians?

1. vikramkr ◴[25 Apr 20 03:10 UTC] No.22975231[source]▶
The comment you're replying to also really helps push that "Asians are just single-minded and only care about Harvard" stereotype as well. Ironic since the comment that poster was replying to was about college admission in general, and they fixated on the harvard aspect.

We're "model minorities." We get discriminated against and then get used as examples for those in power to discriminate against other minorities. It's a system where everyone has been convinced that true meritocracy (which is not incompatible with affirmative action when you control achievements for the background of the student) can only be achieved through lateral violence where Asians win and blacks and Latinos lose, all the while those who benefitted most from a legacy of colonialism and oppression can't lose. Let's also not forget that of the white students at these elite schools, wealthy whites are greatly overrepresented, leaving poor deserving whites to fight for scraps as well (look at the data in the article on admission rates after discarding legacy admissions). So another form of class-based oppression can breed there in the guise of race-based rhetoric where again for Asians to be treated properly, even if on paper whites would give up seats, it's the ones who are also fighting to get in on merit and are discriminated against by a classist (as opposed to racist) system. Divide and conquer.