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Subject: Fw: 紧急动员：决战最高法院， 请投庄严一票 捍卫你孩子公平竞争入学名
校的机会
紧急动员：决战最高法院， 请投庄严一票
捍卫你孩子公平竞争入学名校的机会
历史性的时刻已经到来了：2/21/2012，美国最高法院决定审理用“族裔”的理由来提
高亚裔和白人高校入学门槛的做法是否违宪。您--关爱孩子未来的父母--现在就可以花
一分钟时间来帮助孩子增大孩子上他们理想大学的机会。请您立即投票赞成（FOR） 80
-20全美亚裔教育基金会的民调书，清楚明白地表明亚裔在这件案子上的立场。
http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/11e/f&w=no
资料显示，亚裔在美国要比其他族裔成绩优秀许多才能上同样的学校。要上同样的名校
，亚裔SAT要考1550分，白人1410分，而非裔只需要1100分*（英文和数学满分是1600）
。亚裔入学这么高的门槛使得许多亚裔的大学申请者非常害怕，有些干脆拒绝列出他们
是亚裔—其实学校一看名字还是能知道哪些孩子是亚裔。。。
下面几周内，我们需要征集到至少五万个签名，让结果写入Amicus Curiae (“法庭之
友”的文书)作为证据资料递交最高法院。我们要表明亚裔赞同以考生的综合素质（而
不是族裔）作为美国高校的招生标准。综合素质包括申请学生现在的学术成绩和未来可
能的成功潜力，例如申请人是否能在不利的生活环境中仍能不懈努力等 (i.e.
Overcome adversity under socio-economic constraint). 我们相信这样的定位能给
所有的考生提供一个公平竞争的机会，也能给学校足够的弹性来制定他们的教育的目标。
之所以要五万个签名来支持这项活动是因为现在最高法院不知道亚裔作为少数族裔在这
个案例上是支持还是反对高校取消‘族裔’作为录取标准的。通过我们初步的调查，绝
大多数的亚裔是支持取消‘族裔’这个录取指标的。但是我们需要确实的数据来证明亚
裔的立场，所以80-20全美亚裔教育基金会设计了这个民调书。
如果您愿意让你孩子抬头做人，在申请书上大大方方承认自己是亚裔，而不惧怕会受歧
视而上不了理想的学校的话，请现在就到下面的网站来签名赞成80-20的民调书，并请
您的其他的亚裔朋友都来签名。父母请各签一个名，有自由意志的学龄孩子也可以签名
！（必须是绿卡或公民才可以投票，谢谢合作。）
时间紧迫，谢谢您支持签名和帮助转发！
(*Source: "No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite
College Admission and Campus Life" by Thomas Espenshade (Princeton
University Press, 2009)
A historical moment has arrived. On February 21, 2012, the Supreme Court
decided to review a pending lawsuit that challenges the prevalence use of
strong racial preferences in college admission.
Please take this survey to project your voice to the Supreme Court.
http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/11e/f&w=no
Your children’s future is literally in your hands!
Currently, Asian Americans are being held at a much higher college admission
standard. To receive equal consideration for the top colleges, out of a
1600 SAT maximum (verbal & math)
1550 for Asians = 1410 for Whites = 1100 for Blacks.
The strong racial preferences instilled such a fear among Asian American
applicants that many refuse to state their ethnicities in college
applications. (Well, most of our LAST NAMES are a dead giveaway!) If you
want your children to face such a harsh reality, then do nothing. Otherwise
please take ONE minute to cast your vote.
We aim to gather 50,000 signatures and submit this national survey results
to the Supreme Court. We will submit an Amicus Curiae (“friend of the
court” brief) advocating a race-neutral, merit-based college admission
policy; with broadly defined merit to include current scholastic achievement
and evaluated future potential of an applicant. This nuanced position
would provide fair and equitable opportunity to all applicants; while still
provide the schools broad discretion in defining education objectives.
Please fire up all your Asian American friends and families to vote. The
clock is ticking; the deadline to submit a legal briefing is less than two
months away. Every single vote counts. Yes, parents should sign as two
separate individuals, school children counts too if they understand the
concept and have an opinion.
"YOU must be the change you wish to see in the world” — Mahatma Gandhi
What is at stake?
For many Asian American parents, there is no larger issue at stake. We
spend tens (even hundreds) of thousands of dollars, devote most evenings and
weekends over 18 years, scarifying and enduring all hardships in order to
give our children the best college preparation, only to find out that we are
a “wrong minority” whose qualifications are summarily discounted, by as
much as 450 points out of 1600 SAT total, in order to make room for the
others. The others have decided long ago, without our consent and without
our knowledge, that such reverse discrimination is “GOOD” for our kids and
call it a “celebration of diversity”. We beg to disagree: The very
American ideal of Equal Opportunity, afforded to people of all races and
ethnicities by the “Equal Protection Clause” in 14th Amendment of the US
constitution, must prevail.
“Racial balancing is not transformed from ‘patently unconstitutional’ to
a compelling state interest simply by relabeling it “racial diversity’”.
— Chief Justice John Roberts
Why the survey?
The Supreme Court takes up contentious issues and set legal precedents for
the lower courts. The rulings are based on the Justices’ lifelong personal
experiences, available factual data, and their interpretation of the US
constitution.
There have been insidious attempts to confuse the college admissions issue
by labeling racial preferences as a struggle between the “white” and the
“minorities”. It is NOT, Asian Americans have been used as a sacrificial
lamb to paper over a deep-rooted social problem: large and persistent
achievement gaps among racial groups. The Supreme Court might as well be
confused, considering FOUR Asian American organizations have already filed
Amicus Curiae saying Asian Americans all love racial preferences in college
admissions. This survey will set the record straight: NO, the vast majority
of Asian Americans DO NOT support racial preferences. Our internal opinion
poll shows Asian Americans prefer a race-neutral and merit-based policy by
a 10:1 margin. This national survey will produce NEW factual data for the
Supreme Court to consider, blocking a potent argument by our opponents.
Broad Asian American participation is critical.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character.” — Dr. Martin Luther King
Why Amicus brief?
Amicus Curiae (“friend of the court” brief) is a legal process to
influence the Court decision by someone who is not a party to the lawsuit
but has a vested interest in the outcome. This third party volunteers to
offer pertinent information to assist the Court in decision making. There
is a two-month window during which Amicus can be filed, starting from the
date the Court takes a case. The clock starts ticking on February 21, 2012.
Why now?
Only 5% of the US population is Asian Americans. Normally fractious and
indifferent, we are mostly invisible. This Supreme Court case is closely
contested, which enables us to tip the balance through a cohesive action.
It is equivalent to a minority exerting a disproportionally influence by
throwing a block vote in a tight election.
The opportunity for the Supreme Court to review college racial preferences
is very rare. It only happened twice before: In 1978 Bakker and 2003
Grutter, the decisions were extremely tight, with 5:4 votes in favor of the
schools. The current Court is more hostile to racial preferences. We can
tip the balance by influencing the opinion of just ONE Justice through unity
and hard work.
A Supreme Court ruling can have a multi-decade influence across the country.
If we do not act NOW, it would be too late for all our children who are
already born today.
Can we win?
We have a > 50% chance to win if we act in unity and with determination.
There are eight Justices (The ninth, Justice Kagan has recused herself):
Four (Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia) are reliable opponent to racial
preferences, and Three (Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor) are reliable supporter
of racial preferences, this leaves Justice Kennedy the key swing vote.
Three likely scenarios:
1) Kennedy rules in favor of racial preferences: In a 4:4 tie, the
Fifth Circuit court ruling stands, the status quo is maintained for the next
two decades. We LOSE BIG.
2) Kennedy strictly limits the use of racial preferences: In a 5:3
ruling, the schools would be under “strict scrutiny” to justify any use of
racial preferences. We have a significant win.
3) Kennedy upholds the 14th Amendment “Equal Protection Clause”: In a
5:3 ruling, all racial preferences are banned. We WIN BIG.
Don’t be tricked
Be aware of the trick questions from racial preferences supporters:
“Are you against affirmative action?” (Implying you are not progressive)
“Affirmative Action (AA)” is a toxic and much abused phrase. It means
totally different things to different people that it is completely
meaningless to answer yes or no without explicit definition. Check out the
official Department of Labor definition: “take affirmative action to ensure
that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without
regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability”. The
original meaning of AA is “stop past racial discrimination now or face
penalty.” In common practice, however, AA has been stretched beyond
imagination and morphed into “apply reverse discrimination to others so
that the some preferred minorities can be equally represented despite of
lesser qualifications.” In addition, AA means “racial” to some, “
socioeconomic” to the others. Please answer the question using words other
than AA. Otherwise your opponent would take your yes/no, switch the
meaning, and insist you said so.
“What? You don’t support diversity?” (Implying you are narrow minded)
Diversity is more than skin deep: We support a diversity of ideas and
socioeconomic backgrounds, which can be achieved through a sharp focus on
individual character strengths without resorting to race and ethnicity. For
example, the schools could use a combination of socioeconomic conditions
and performance of a student within such constraint to identify high-
potential individuals. If a socioeconomically disadvantaged group produces
a disproportionally large percentage of students in this category, and
therefore disproportionally benefits from such a preference, so be it. The
key departure from the current practice is that individual efforts are
needed to gain admission, rather than relying on a caricature of group
characteristics, such as race and ethnicity. After all, a poor African
American kid and a poor Asian American kid from equally socioeconomically
disadvantaged family backgrounds should compete based on their personal
drives to succeed despite of the adverse conditions. Racial preferences
disproportionally benefit suburban wealth minorities who happen to have the
“right” skin color, at the expense of their poor brethren and all others.
“What? You don’t support equal opportunity for under-represented minority?”
We support Equal Opportunity, we oppose Equal Representation. Equal
opportunity is to provide opportunity consistent with one’s qualifications
and let him to rise or fall based on performance. It doesn’t imply equal
outcome. Equal representation, on the other hand, is to make the outcome
proportional to the population regardless of one’s qualifications. It
insists on equal outcome, which is Communism in disguise. Confusing the two
dichotomous concepts would drag us into gratuitous battles against our
community interest.
Equal Representation is also known as “Racial Balancing”. After being
consistently ruled as unconstitutional, its supporters now call it “Racial
Diversity”. After all, who does not love diversity?
“Let’s show solidarity with other minorities in our struggle with the
white majority.”
Viewing everything through the 1960s prism of black vs. white struggle is
not only antiquated but downright dangerous. The real issue is some people
used Asian Americans as a pawn in a proxy battle to achieve racial balancing
. The interests of four million Asian American children were sacrificed for
someone else’s gain, all without our knowledge or consent. They have the
right to sacrifice their own children’s futures if they truly believe in
their causes, but they have NO right to do this to YOUR children unless YOU
give the consent. This is the reason we launch this survey project to hear
YOUR voice. Please cast your solemn vote.
“Do you NOT have any compassion toward under-privileged people?”
Quite contrary, we do. True compassion is to attack the root cause of the
problem. Do you help a cancer patient by putting on a Band-Aid, and then
wear it like an honor badge proclaiming “I helped him”? You are killing
him by giving false hope while delaying real treatment. The patient needs
chemotherapy, which is painful, lengthy but effective. The root-causes of
the low academic achievement in some ethnic groups are the lack of parent
involvements, low community expectation, and poor quality of the K-12
education. Achieving success requires hard work, persistency and sacrifice.
It is already too late by the time a student gets out of the high school.
Giving out college admissions on a platter only feeds entitlement. Please
read the following reports to appreciate how racial preferences actually
hurts the intended beneficiaries, with “academic mismatch” leading to self
-segregation and less classroom diversity [1], undermining minority
enrollment in science and engineering [2], reducing the graduation rate [3],
and damaging the minority pipeline in academia [4].
[1] “The Role of Ethnicity in Choosing and Leaving Science in Highly
Selective Institutions”, R. Elliott et. al. 37 Research in Higher Education
681 (1996)
[2] “Encouraging Minority Students to Pursue Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math Careers”, US Commission on Civil Rights, Briefing
Report, Oct 2010.
[3] “Are Black/White Disparities in Graduation and Passing the Bar Getting
Worse, or Better?” by R. Sander. http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2006/09/ sander_2_black_.html<http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2006/09/%20sander_2_black_.html>
[4] “The Occupational Choices of High-Achieving Minority Students” (
Harvard University Press 2003)
“Race is just ‘one of the many factors’, a ‘tie breaker’, a ‘nudge
factor’.”
What a patent lie! Study after study show racial preferences as a dominant
factor in college admissions. If all other credentials are equal, Asian-
Americans need to score 140 points more than whites, 270 points higher than
Hispanics, and 450 points above African-Americans out of a maximum 1600 on
the math and reading SAT to have the same chance of admission to a top
private college. Please show any data to the contrary before making the
“tie breaker” argument again.
“Asian Americans lack personal appeal, which offset their academic
performance.”
We challenge the colleges to open up their admission files for social study
before propagating racial stereotype. Asian stereotyping like this helped
keep Jeremy Lin on the bench until his coach ran out of other “warm bodies
” to play. It is even sadder that some Asian Americans also buy into such
crap.
Do you see the sinister cycle? Raise the bar on Asian Americans => Force us
Asian Americans to work harder to achieve more => Increase the difference
between the ethnic groups => You folks must be academic robots => Robots are
weird, lacks personal appeal => Justify the decision to raise the bar even
higher to make room for the others.
“We are a ‘model minority’, need to work harder, achieve more for the
same recognition.”
Just say NO! We want equal opportunity based on our qualifications, as
enshrined in the “Equal Protect Clause” of the 14th Amendment.
The “model minority” stereotype has inflicted considerable damages to the
Asian American community by justifying the exclusion of assistance programs
to the needy and discounting the achievements of all individuals. College
admission is just one such example.
“I had a 3.7 undergraduate GPA. As an Asian I didn't qualify for loans or
grants as I was not an 'under-rep' minority so worked 3 jobs to get through
school. One of them was to tutor 'under-rep' minorities that usually had GPA
in the 1's and 2's and had an overall graduation rate of 30%. Just lowering
the bar to absolute rock bottom to meet diversity quotas is absolutely,
positively absurd. They never graduate...because most weren't qualified to
go. Fix the problem in K-12 because it's pointless by college.” —BrandonH
, St. Louis, upon reading “Some Asian’s College Strategy: Don’t Check ‘
Asian’”
“You are stirring up racial tension by talking about such a sensitive topic
.”
Just the opposite, we ask the society to pay lesser attention to race and
more to individual qualifications. American may have been the only
developed nation to even allow the race question to be asked in college
applications. Canada, Austrian, and the European nations DO NOT ask this
question. Why are we so fixated in insisting to identify every ingredient
in the melting pot, if we do not intent to use such data for the purpose of
differential treatment?
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop
discriminating on the basis of race.” — Chief Justice John Roberts
“Sky will fall on African Americans and Latinos if the Supreme Court bans
racial preferences”
Why would racial preferences proponents refuse to look at the real-life data
? 40% of the US population lives in states in which public universities are
not using preferences. Has the sky fallen in these states? The best
example is California. After Proposition 209 was passed in 1996 banning
racial preferences, there was an initial drop in Blacks and Latinos
enrollment. The enrollment returned to the highest pre-1996 level in 2002,
increased another 40% by 2007, together with increased socioeconomic
diversification and improved classroom integration. Through a focus on
improved K-12 education, the number of academically strong minority students
has also increased remarkably. This is exactly the right approach: Forcing
everyone into a race to the top, rather than pulling everyone down to the
bottom. The proponents of racial preferences only want to advertise what
happened immediately after Prop 209, and refuse to acknowledge what happened
afterward.
校的机会
紧急动员：决战最高法院， 请投庄严一票
捍卫你孩子公平竞争入学名校的机会
历史性的时刻已经到来了：2/21/2012，美国最高法院决定审理用“族裔”的理由来提
高亚裔和白人高校入学门槛的做法是否违宪。您--关爱孩子未来的父母--现在就可以花
一分钟时间来帮助孩子增大孩子上他们理想大学的机会。请您立即投票赞成（FOR） 80
-20全美亚裔教育基金会的民调书，清楚明白地表明亚裔在这件案子上的立场。
http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/11e/f&w=no
资料显示，亚裔在美国要比其他族裔成绩优秀许多才能上同样的学校。要上同样的名校
，亚裔SAT要考1550分，白人1410分，而非裔只需要1100分*（英文和数学满分是1600）
。亚裔入学这么高的门槛使得许多亚裔的大学申请者非常害怕，有些干脆拒绝列出他们
是亚裔—其实学校一看名字还是能知道哪些孩子是亚裔。。。
下面几周内，我们需要征集到至少五万个签名，让结果写入Amicus Curiae (“法庭之
友”的文书)作为证据资料递交最高法院。我们要表明亚裔赞同以考生的综合素质（而
不是族裔）作为美国高校的招生标准。综合素质包括申请学生现在的学术成绩和未来可
能的成功潜力，例如申请人是否能在不利的生活环境中仍能不懈努力等 (i.e.
Overcome adversity under socio-economic constraint). 我们相信这样的定位能给
所有的考生提供一个公平竞争的机会，也能给学校足够的弹性来制定他们的教育的目标。
之所以要五万个签名来支持这项活动是因为现在最高法院不知道亚裔作为少数族裔在这
个案例上是支持还是反对高校取消‘族裔’作为录取标准的。通过我们初步的调查，绝
大多数的亚裔是支持取消‘族裔’这个录取指标的。但是我们需要确实的数据来证明亚
裔的立场，所以80-20全美亚裔教育基金会设计了这个民调书。
如果您愿意让你孩子抬头做人，在申请书上大大方方承认自己是亚裔，而不惧怕会受歧
视而上不了理想的学校的话，请现在就到下面的网站来签名赞成80-20的民调书，并请
您的其他的亚裔朋友都来签名。父母请各签一个名，有自由意志的学龄孩子也可以签名
！（必须是绿卡或公民才可以投票，谢谢合作。）
时间紧迫，谢谢您支持签名和帮助转发！
(*Source: "No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite
College Admission and Campus Life" by Thomas Espenshade (Princeton
University Press, 2009)
A historical moment has arrived. On February 21, 2012, the Supreme Court
decided to review a pending lawsuit that challenges the prevalence use of
strong racial preferences in college admission.
Please take this survey to project your voice to the Supreme Court.
http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/11e/f&w=no
Your children’s future is literally in your hands!
Currently, Asian Americans are being held at a much higher college admission
standard. To receive equal consideration for the top colleges, out of a
1600 SAT maximum (verbal & math)
1550 for Asians = 1410 for Whites = 1100 for Blacks.
The strong racial preferences instilled such a fear among Asian American
applicants that many refuse to state their ethnicities in college
applications. (Well, most of our LAST NAMES are a dead giveaway!) If you
want your children to face such a harsh reality, then do nothing. Otherwise
please take ONE minute to cast your vote.
We aim to gather 50,000 signatures and submit this national survey results
to the Supreme Court. We will submit an Amicus Curiae (“friend of the
court” brief) advocating a race-neutral, merit-based college admission
policy; with broadly defined merit to include current scholastic achievement
and evaluated future potential of an applicant. This nuanced position
would provide fair and equitable opportunity to all applicants; while still
provide the schools broad discretion in defining education objectives.
Please fire up all your Asian American friends and families to vote. The
clock is ticking; the deadline to submit a legal briefing is less than two
months away. Every single vote counts. Yes, parents should sign as two
separate individuals, school children counts too if they understand the
concept and have an opinion.
"YOU must be the change you wish to see in the world” — Mahatma Gandhi
What is at stake?
For many Asian American parents, there is no larger issue at stake. We
spend tens (even hundreds) of thousands of dollars, devote most evenings and
weekends over 18 years, scarifying and enduring all hardships in order to
give our children the best college preparation, only to find out that we are
a “wrong minority” whose qualifications are summarily discounted, by as
much as 450 points out of 1600 SAT total, in order to make room for the
others. The others have decided long ago, without our consent and without
our knowledge, that such reverse discrimination is “GOOD” for our kids and
call it a “celebration of diversity”. We beg to disagree: The very
American ideal of Equal Opportunity, afforded to people of all races and
ethnicities by the “Equal Protection Clause” in 14th Amendment of the US
constitution, must prevail.
“Racial balancing is not transformed from ‘patently unconstitutional’ to
a compelling state interest simply by relabeling it “racial diversity’”.
— Chief Justice John Roberts
Why the survey?
The Supreme Court takes up contentious issues and set legal precedents for
the lower courts. The rulings are based on the Justices’ lifelong personal
experiences, available factual data, and their interpretation of the US
constitution.
There have been insidious attempts to confuse the college admissions issue
by labeling racial preferences as a struggle between the “white” and the
“minorities”. It is NOT, Asian Americans have been used as a sacrificial
lamb to paper over a deep-rooted social problem: large and persistent
achievement gaps among racial groups. The Supreme Court might as well be
confused, considering FOUR Asian American organizations have already filed
Amicus Curiae saying Asian Americans all love racial preferences in college
admissions. This survey will set the record straight: NO, the vast majority
of Asian Americans DO NOT support racial preferences. Our internal opinion
poll shows Asian Americans prefer a race-neutral and merit-based policy by
a 10:1 margin. This national survey will produce NEW factual data for the
Supreme Court to consider, blocking a potent argument by our opponents.
Broad Asian American participation is critical.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character.” — Dr. Martin Luther King
Why Amicus brief?
Amicus Curiae (“friend of the court” brief) is a legal process to
influence the Court decision by someone who is not a party to the lawsuit
but has a vested interest in the outcome. This third party volunteers to
offer pertinent information to assist the Court in decision making. There
is a two-month window during which Amicus can be filed, starting from the
date the Court takes a case. The clock starts ticking on February 21, 2012.
Why now?
Only 5% of the US population is Asian Americans. Normally fractious and
indifferent, we are mostly invisible. This Supreme Court case is closely
contested, which enables us to tip the balance through a cohesive action.
It is equivalent to a minority exerting a disproportionally influence by
throwing a block vote in a tight election.
The opportunity for the Supreme Court to review college racial preferences
is very rare. It only happened twice before: In 1978 Bakker and 2003
Grutter, the decisions were extremely tight, with 5:4 votes in favor of the
schools. The current Court is more hostile to racial preferences. We can
tip the balance by influencing the opinion of just ONE Justice through unity
and hard work.
A Supreme Court ruling can have a multi-decade influence across the country.
If we do not act NOW, it would be too late for all our children who are
already born today.
Can we win?
We have a > 50% chance to win if we act in unity and with determination.
There are eight Justices (The ninth, Justice Kagan has recused herself):
Four (Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia) are reliable opponent to racial
preferences, and Three (Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor) are reliable supporter
of racial preferences, this leaves Justice Kennedy the key swing vote.
Three likely scenarios:
1) Kennedy rules in favor of racial preferences: In a 4:4 tie, the
Fifth Circuit court ruling stands, the status quo is maintained for the next
two decades. We LOSE BIG.
2) Kennedy strictly limits the use of racial preferences: In a 5:3
ruling, the schools would be under “strict scrutiny” to justify any use of
racial preferences. We have a significant win.
3) Kennedy upholds the 14th Amendment “Equal Protection Clause”: In a
5:3 ruling, all racial preferences are banned. We WIN BIG.
Don’t be tricked
Be aware of the trick questions from racial preferences supporters:
“Are you against affirmative action?” (Implying you are not progressive)
“Affirmative Action (AA)” is a toxic and much abused phrase. It means
totally different things to different people that it is completely
meaningless to answer yes or no without explicit definition. Check out the
official Department of Labor definition: “take affirmative action to ensure
that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without
regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability”. The
original meaning of AA is “stop past racial discrimination now or face
penalty.” In common practice, however, AA has been stretched beyond
imagination and morphed into “apply reverse discrimination to others so
that the some preferred minorities can be equally represented despite of
lesser qualifications.” In addition, AA means “racial” to some, “
socioeconomic” to the others. Please answer the question using words other
than AA. Otherwise your opponent would take your yes/no, switch the
meaning, and insist you said so.
“What? You don’t support diversity?” (Implying you are narrow minded)
Diversity is more than skin deep: We support a diversity of ideas and
socioeconomic backgrounds, which can be achieved through a sharp focus on
individual character strengths without resorting to race and ethnicity. For
example, the schools could use a combination of socioeconomic conditions
and performance of a student within such constraint to identify high-
potential individuals. If a socioeconomically disadvantaged group produces
a disproportionally large percentage of students in this category, and
therefore disproportionally benefits from such a preference, so be it. The
key departure from the current practice is that individual efforts are
needed to gain admission, rather than relying on a caricature of group
characteristics, such as race and ethnicity. After all, a poor African
American kid and a poor Asian American kid from equally socioeconomically
disadvantaged family backgrounds should compete based on their personal
drives to succeed despite of the adverse conditions. Racial preferences
disproportionally benefit suburban wealth minorities who happen to have the
“right” skin color, at the expense of their poor brethren and all others.
“What? You don’t support equal opportunity for under-represented minority?”
We support Equal Opportunity, we oppose Equal Representation. Equal
opportunity is to provide opportunity consistent with one’s qualifications
and let him to rise or fall based on performance. It doesn’t imply equal
outcome. Equal representation, on the other hand, is to make the outcome
proportional to the population regardless of one’s qualifications. It
insists on equal outcome, which is Communism in disguise. Confusing the two
dichotomous concepts would drag us into gratuitous battles against our
community interest.
Equal Representation is also known as “Racial Balancing”. After being
consistently ruled as unconstitutional, its supporters now call it “Racial
Diversity”. After all, who does not love diversity?
“Let’s show solidarity with other minorities in our struggle with the
white majority.”
Viewing everything through the 1960s prism of black vs. white struggle is
not only antiquated but downright dangerous. The real issue is some people
used Asian Americans as a pawn in a proxy battle to achieve racial balancing
. The interests of four million Asian American children were sacrificed for
someone else’s gain, all without our knowledge or consent. They have the
right to sacrifice their own children’s futures if they truly believe in
their causes, but they have NO right to do this to YOUR children unless YOU
give the consent. This is the reason we launch this survey project to hear
YOUR voice. Please cast your solemn vote.
“Do you NOT have any compassion toward under-privileged people?”
Quite contrary, we do. True compassion is to attack the root cause of the
problem. Do you help a cancer patient by putting on a Band-Aid, and then
wear it like an honor badge proclaiming “I helped him”? You are killing
him by giving false hope while delaying real treatment. The patient needs
chemotherapy, which is painful, lengthy but effective. The root-causes of
the low academic achievement in some ethnic groups are the lack of parent
involvements, low community expectation, and poor quality of the K-12
education. Achieving success requires hard work, persistency and sacrifice.
It is already too late by the time a student gets out of the high school.
Giving out college admissions on a platter only feeds entitlement. Please
read the following reports to appreciate how racial preferences actually
hurts the intended beneficiaries, with “academic mismatch” leading to self
-segregation and less classroom diversity [1], undermining minority
enrollment in science and engineering [2], reducing the graduation rate [3],
and damaging the minority pipeline in academia [4].
[1] “The Role of Ethnicity in Choosing and Leaving Science in Highly
Selective Institutions”, R. Elliott et. al. 37 Research in Higher Education
681 (1996)
[2] “Encouraging Minority Students to Pursue Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math Careers”, US Commission on Civil Rights, Briefing
Report, Oct 2010.
[3] “Are Black/White Disparities in Graduation and Passing the Bar Getting
Worse, or Better?” by R. Sander. http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2006/09/ sander_2_black_.html<http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2006/09/%20sander_2_black_.html>
[4] “The Occupational Choices of High-Achieving Minority Students” (
Harvard University Press 2003)
“Race is just ‘one of the many factors’, a ‘tie breaker’, a ‘nudge
factor’.”
What a patent lie! Study after study show racial preferences as a dominant
factor in college admissions. If all other credentials are equal, Asian-
Americans need to score 140 points more than whites, 270 points higher than
Hispanics, and 450 points above African-Americans out of a maximum 1600 on
the math and reading SAT to have the same chance of admission to a top
private college. Please show any data to the contrary before making the
“tie breaker” argument again.
“Asian Americans lack personal appeal, which offset their academic
performance.”
We challenge the colleges to open up their admission files for social study
before propagating racial stereotype. Asian stereotyping like this helped
keep Jeremy Lin on the bench until his coach ran out of other “warm bodies
” to play. It is even sadder that some Asian Americans also buy into such
crap.
Do you see the sinister cycle? Raise the bar on Asian Americans => Force us
Asian Americans to work harder to achieve more => Increase the difference
between the ethnic groups => You folks must be academic robots => Robots are
weird, lacks personal appeal => Justify the decision to raise the bar even
higher to make room for the others.
“We are a ‘model minority’, need to work harder, achieve more for the
same recognition.”
Just say NO! We want equal opportunity based on our qualifications, as
enshrined in the “Equal Protect Clause” of the 14th Amendment.
The “model minority” stereotype has inflicted considerable damages to the
Asian American community by justifying the exclusion of assistance programs
to the needy and discounting the achievements of all individuals. College
admission is just one such example.
“I had a 3.7 undergraduate GPA. As an Asian I didn't qualify for loans or
grants as I was not an 'under-rep' minority so worked 3 jobs to get through
school. One of them was to tutor 'under-rep' minorities that usually had GPA
in the 1's and 2's and had an overall graduation rate of 30%. Just lowering
the bar to absolute rock bottom to meet diversity quotas is absolutely,
positively absurd. They never graduate...because most weren't qualified to
go. Fix the problem in K-12 because it's pointless by college.” —BrandonH
, St. Louis, upon reading “Some Asian’s College Strategy: Don’t Check ‘
Asian’”
“You are stirring up racial tension by talking about such a sensitive topic
.”
Just the opposite, we ask the society to pay lesser attention to race and
more to individual qualifications. American may have been the only
developed nation to even allow the race question to be asked in college
applications. Canada, Austrian, and the European nations DO NOT ask this
question. Why are we so fixated in insisting to identify every ingredient
in the melting pot, if we do not intent to use such data for the purpose of
differential treatment?
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop
discriminating on the basis of race.” — Chief Justice John Roberts
“Sky will fall on African Americans and Latinos if the Supreme Court bans
racial preferences”
Why would racial preferences proponents refuse to look at the real-life data
? 40% of the US population lives in states in which public universities are
not using preferences. Has the sky fallen in these states? The best
example is California. After Proposition 209 was passed in 1996 banning
racial preferences, there was an initial drop in Blacks and Latinos
enrollment. The enrollment returned to the highest pre-1996 level in 2002,
increased another 40% by 2007, together with increased socioeconomic
diversification and improved classroom integration. Through a focus on
improved K-12 education, the number of academically strong minority students
has also increased remarkably. This is exactly the right approach: Forcing
everyone into a race to the top, rather than pulling everyone down to the
bottom. The proponents of racial preferences only want to advertise what
happened immediately after Prop 209, and refuse to acknowledge what happened
afterward.
