“Virginia education secretary Atif Qarni called preparation for the Thomas Jefferson admissions exam the equivalent of “performance-enhancing drugs”. Studying for the test was comparable to sticking steroids into your body the day of a wrestling meet.”
- An Inconvenient Minority
In November 2021, Michelle Wu became the first woman and the first person of color to be elected the mayor of Boston. Yet, after soundly defeating three African American candidates in the primary, there would be no celebration, as some liberal media outlets expressed disappointment that Boston’s first minority was Asian and not the preferred black. Diversity, a favorite virtue signal of the left, now defines the term as black and Hispanic, but never Asian. Unfortunately, whether vying for a political contest or an Ivy League education, Asians are increasingly pitted against blacks and other minorities. And the justification for their discrimination grows by the day.
For a nation fighting for the inclusion of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in its schools and boardrooms, Asians are an inconvenient thorn. CRT claims that white privilege is holding back minorities, loses credibility as Asians outperform whites in nearly every category. Their commitment to excellence also puts CRT theories to shame, as Asians have their own history of discrimination in America.
While the left calls for racial quotas to make sure every sector in the US has equal representation, there is very disproportionate accounting across the board. A recent statistic shows the minority population in the US at roughly 6 percent Asian, 13 percent black, and 19 percent Latino. When blacks exceed their average in areas like sports, there is no concern. When Asians exceed their numbers in education, there is a call to action. For instance, in 2020, the NBA’s player racial composition was 74.2 percent black, 16.9 percent white, and 2.2 percent Hispanic. Likewise, Asians dominate Ivy League admissions, often representing nearly half, when placement is determined by merit. In fact, you might say that Asians are America’s academic MVPs.
But Asians’ contributions to academic excellence are in peril, as Harvard and other elite colleges continue to discriminate in the admissions process. Forced to show their hand in a growing number of lawsuits, top schools began to add a new metric to the admission equation, with a category called personality. This allowed Harvard and others to unilaterally lower Asians' overall scores, thus handing them their preferred racial balance. By doing so, Harvard is limiting the Asian pool to just 20 percent of admissions, not the 43 percent they obtained when judged strictly on their own ability. It should be noted that Asians don’t just score higher on tests than blacks and Hispanics, they score higher than all races.
“Diversity in schools is a worthy goal, but it must be attained in the context of educational excellence”, writes author Kenny Xu. Yet, to meet new diversity guidelines, long-held standards are reduced. Where testing is maintained, it is dumbed down, so less qualified students can pass the low bar. Some schools are eliminating testing altogether and moving to a lottery system. Here admissions spots are determined by the luck of the draw. Unsurprisingly, in today’s climate, standardized tests have been called racist, even though testing is simply a measure of innate ability and preparation. Gifted student programs in many jurisdictions are also being eliminated. These programs were used as feeder courses to higher education, to develop and advance the best minds. Now, if the best minds don’t match the progressive color wheel, their school choice is limited. These same lower standards are seen in other sectors, as well, like the military, where women demand an easier physical standard, in order to meet eligibility.
In Kenny Xu’s 2021 book, “An Inconvenient Minority”, Xu reveals why merit is so important to Asian households who immigrated to the United States without the networks or connections to help them succeed. With only education within their reach, they made it their focus, encouraging their children to study and work hard. And they made it work, by reaching heights unseen in all other ethnic groups. Now, however, Asians are being unfairly removed from consideration to make way for the left’s preferred minorities. But merit and excellence aren’t just a springboard for Asian advancement, they are quite literally the foundation of the American experiment.
The left instead has created a new industry, a new racket in which to make millions, called “Diversity and Inclusion”. Where blacks and Hispanics lag in education and business, whites and Asians are targeted for removal, often by employing reverse discrimination in the name of diversity. Rather than identify why some minorities struggle, they simply assume racism. Diversity never includes alternative ideas, traits, skills, and intelligence. While Mexicans and other immigrants are viewed as competition to the working class. Asians are a growing irritant to the professional class, particularly in education and academia.
Recent violence against Asians in cities like San Francisco and New York, results, in part, from national resentment of their hard-working and industrious qualities. Increasingly called white Asians, white-adjacent, and co-conspirators, the left is angry that Asians haven’t taken the victimhood bait. Instead, Asians are thriving off the back of a system that the left views as bigoted. Yet, Asians commit low levels of crime and come mostly from two-parent homes; conditions often present in people who tend to outperform.
Determining proficiency from tests and exams is the best means to undercut claims of favoritism, bias, racism, and other preferences in placement. Americans still largely reject discrimination in any form. Therefore, when Asians excel, they should be imitated, and not envied. As a land founded on opportunity and not outcomes, we need to return to the color-blind society that MLK, Jr. preached and fought for. Where excellence and merit earn each man their standing.
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