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Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions [pdf]

(public.econ.duke.edu)
376 points undefined1 | 8 comments | 25 Apr 20 00:54 UTC | HN request time: 1.223s | source | bottom
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roenxi ◴[25 Apr 20 02:47 UTC] No.22975131[source]▶
It is a pity nobody knows how to have a civil and thoughtful public debate on these topics. The Asian experience throws a large number of spanners into what I assume is the common narrative around race.

In particular, that the people bringing in affirmative action policy are acting on some sort of evidence. It is difficult to sustain the idea that pre-university racism was the most important variable when the Asians are such intellectual dynamos despite facing pretty stiff racial headwinds.

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1. magicsmoke ◴[25 Apr 20 04:39 UTC] No.22975613[source]▶
The play devil's advocate, affirmative action isn't supposed to just compensate for what an individual's upbringing was before college, but the multigenerational racial discrimination that led to his community and family not being able to prepare him for college. The Asian American historical experience was very different from the Black American historical experience. Most Asian Americans today are descendants of well trained technical immigrants post 1950s. The US immigration process acted like a filter that selected for immigrants that were already above average in their respective societies. Asian Americans don't just outperform other minorities in the US, they likely outperform their compatriots back in Asia due to this filter. Black Americans, on the other hand, weren't exactly chosen to immigrate to the US because of their technical skills. They were forced to migrate due to the legacy of slavery. An Asian and a Black student clearly do not have the same family or historical background. Even within the Asian American community, you see differences in achievement between descendants of economic migrants and descendants of refugees. Indian and Korean Americans do much better than Vietnamese or Hmong.
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2. turtlecloud ◴[25 Apr 20 05:22 UTC] No.22975803[source]▶
Great. Now give Asian Americans affirmative action in the NBA.

Any mental gymnastics used to support affirmative action in business or schooling should also apply to sports. If I hear someone complaining about lack of representation of X in certain field I will gladly point at NBA and Asian Americans ask them out that.

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3. dbbljack ◴[25 Apr 20 06:01 UTC] No.22975988[source]▶
why do you think schools and sports entertainment need the same representation rules?
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4. turtlecloud ◴[25 Apr 20 06:21 UTC] No.22976096{3}[source]▶
In general, Americans can name more professional sports stars than politicians

Pro Sports is not just entertainment. It serves a psychological purpose for the masses.

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5. dbbljack ◴[25 Apr 20 06:32 UTC] No.22976138{4}[source]▶
I'm not sure if any of that is true or if any of it leads logically to a need for affirmative action in the ranks of the entertainers.
6. ikeyany ◴[25 Apr 20 07:30 UTC] No.22976395[source]▶
Is it important for all races to be equally represented in every field, or is it important for all races to have the ability to advance socio-econmically even if you are born poor?

One will result in focusing on education as a means for social mobility.

7. MiroF ◴[25 Apr 20 14:18 UTC] No.22978253[source]▶
> Any mental gymnastics used to support affirmative action in business or schooling should also apply to sports.

Wealth disparities obviously lead to differences in academic achievement, I am not sure it is anywhere near so clear cut for things like the NBA.

I find the whole undercurrent of your comment somewhat unsettling, as if the NBA is to Black people what college is to Asian people.

8. magicsmoke ◴[25 Apr 20 15:40 UTC] No.22978895[source]▶
Sure, can you come up with an argument that AAs have a unique historical circumstance that crippled their athletic abilities, that this circumstance was bought about by decisions America made in the past, and that it is beneficial for the stability of the future of American society to fix this imbalance. If so you have a case to argue.