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Asians vs. Racial Preferences
By
Jason L. Riley
March 14, 2014 3:08 p.m. ET
The Democratic-controlled state Legislature in California is trying to
restore racial preferences in college admissions, which have been banned
since voters approved Proposition 209 back in 1996. But Asian-American
lawmakers are pushing back and could defeat the effort.
"A planned referendum sailed through the state Senate in January without
fanfare on a party-line vote," reports the San Jose Mercury News, "but three
Asian-American Democrats who initially backed the measure are now calling
for it to be 'tabled' before the state Assembly has a chance to vote on it—
a highly unusual move. And it seems unlikely to get the two-thirds majority
in the Assembly without the support of the five Asian-Americans in the lower
house."
The lawmakers had second thoughts, says the paper, after receiving "
thousands of calls and emails from fearful constituents who believe that any
move to favor other ethnic groups could hurt Asian-Americans, who attend
many of the state's best schools in large numbers."
Most discussions of affirmative action focus on how it impacts blacks,
whites and Latinos, but Asians clearly have the most to lose if California
liberals succeed in restoring racial and ethnic quotas. In 1995, the year
before Prop. 209 passed, Asian freshman enrollment at the University of
California, Berkeley, was 37 percent. By 2000 it had climbed to 43 percent,
and in 2005 it was 46 percent. When the number of freshman slots is fixed,
admission is zero-sum game. Discriminating in favor of some necessarily
means discriminating against others. After a 1996 federal court ruling
upheld color-blind admissions in Texas public universities, there was also a
rise in Asian enrollment.
Asians have long been overrepresented at elite schools and, like Jewish
students in the first part of the 20th century, penalized for their smarts.
In 2005, for example, Asians who were admitted to the University of Michigan
scored a median 1400 out of 1600 on the SAT. The median score was 50 points
lower for whites, 140 points lower for Hispanics and 240 points lower for
blacks, according to a study done by the Center for Equal Opportunity. That
same year "black and Hispanic male applicants from Michigan with no alumni/
ae ties to UM but with a 1240 SAT and 3.2 GPA had a nine in ten chance of
admissions (92 percent and 88 percent, respectively); Asians and whites with
the exact same background and credentials, on the other hand, had only
about a one in ten chance (10 percent and 14 percent, respectively)."
Of course, Asians aren't the only group that is disadvantaged by affirmative
action. Racial double standards also hurt the minorities they are intended
to help, mainly by steering students away from schools where they are more
likely to thrive and into academic environments where they feel overwhelmed
and struggle to keep up. Post-Prop. 209, black and Hispanic grades and
graduation rates at California's public universities rose substantially as
these student began attending schools that better matched their academic
abilities. Perhaps black and Hispanic state legislators should consider
joining their Asian colleagues in blocking this effort to turn back the
clock. |
