Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions [pdf]

Asians, particularly Asian men, have the most active obstacles that manifest on _basis of their race_ than any other minority group in the US. If you are an individual given a situation, all things else considered equal (attractiveness, intelligence, parenting, culture, neighborhood, familial wealth, etc), being Asian will give you a harder time than any other racial/ethnic characteristic in terms of pursuing a good life. That doesn't mean that Asians as a collective will net worse results than black people as a collective, because collectively, parenting, culture, neighborhoods, familial wealth, etc, are not at all comparable between those groups. But if you are the same exact individual with the same exact circumstances, and you could choose to be black or Asian, you would be better off choosing to be black.

You want to get into a good school? Diversity programs and affirmative action, above board, use the basis of your race to actively advantage you in your admittance if you are black, and do the exact opposite if you are Asian. Quotas for racial makeups almost always necessarily and uniquely disadvantage Asians. Because of being so overrepresented in achievements relative to their makeup of the population, any quota that goes off of anything other than their meritorious accomplishments necessarily puts an arbitrary scarcity on available opportunities for them.

You want to get a good job? Sure, you might find certain employers in particular regions that may be discriminatory on the basis of race to black individuals. But large, highly desirable companies nearly unilaterally have diversity hiring practices that likewise greatly advantage black individuals relative to those who would otherwise hold comparable characteristics to individuals from other populations. YouTube famously had reports from their hiring department that a hold was issued on the hiring of white and Asian individuals for the remainder of some time period in order to ensure that diversity quotas were satisfied. Being Asian in a "sea of hyper-qualified Asian applicants" _is_ a distinct disadvantage, and the degree of competence needed to stand out from a group that is already associated with high achievement is uniquely unfair.

What about dating? I have worked in this space. Every dating app shows the same thing: Asian men and black women are the least desirable groups for getting responses or being sought after, by quite a bit. I have worked in this space, and what is admittedly anecdotal, I have heard "I'm just not attracted to Asian guys," on many occasions. There doesn't seem to be any taboo in this particular area, it doesn't seem to imply closed-mindedness. I have _never_, _ever_, heard somebody say "I'm just not attracted to black guys," in my personal or professional life. I believe that this would be met with a great deal of social pushback. There seems to be a willingness for people to say things about Asians that is just not felt in other ethnic groups, and it possibly stems from this idea that it's safe to be "punching up."

Lastly I just think there is a general cultural obsession with racial injustices which completely casts Asians aside due to their collective competencies. Think of all of the hullabaloo regarding the fact that there isn't enough black representation in the Academy Awards, regardless of (last I checked) the makeup of Oscars in the last few decades has been about 10% awarded to black individuals, which is about what their 13% of the population in the US would lead you to expect. Asian actors? Something on the order of 4. Nobody cares.

I'm not Asian. I hate racial politics, but I just find it particularly absurd that Asians are ostensibly cast aside in this game when they strike me as having the most to complain about. Most other cases of supposed injustice stem from people comparing the outcomes of two racial populations, and subsequently stipulating that the differences must be due to racism. For the examples I've stated, I'm talking about things that actually net different outcomes for individuals on the basis of their race.

> Asians, particularly Asian men, have the most active obstacles that manifest on _basis of their race_ than any other minority group in the US

Sorry, but this is patently absurd. African-Americans have faced (and continue to face) an order of magnitude more difficulty and lack of opportunity than Asian-Americans. The statistics of a dating app or the number of Oscar winners are in no way comparable to centuries of slavery and legal discrimination.

> I'm talking about if you take a black man and an Asian man and control for everything but race, the Asian man will be more disadvantaged in pursuing things that matter (education, employment, spouse) than the black man, on the basis of their race.

This just tells me that you have zero conception of what life is like for lower class black Americans. Your assumption is that everyone starts at the same starting place, and that these things (education, employment, etc.) are just things one intuitively knows about and can easily gain access to, if you just work hard enough.

The reality is that for many lower class Americans, there is no cultural capital or mechanism for even beginning to understand the process of academic achievement, applying to colleges, getting a professional job, and so on. There are no role models, no family members to offer support, no community that values such things. These cultural patterns, behaviors and built-up knowledge do not exist.

To analyze discrimination on isolated individuals is to entirely miss the point that centuries of slavery and discrimination have destroyed much of this cultural capital, and simply removing the most egregious discriminatory behaviors isn't going to suddenly straighten all that was crooked, especially not in less than a century. And that's assuming that there is no active current discrimination, which is again, blatantly false.

I think you really need to re-read his points because you seem to be arguing against things he never said.