Attending a predominantly Asian high school, I was disheartened last year to hear some of my fellow students lamenting their peers’ admissions to prestigious colleges. They asserted that some got in “just because of their race” and that they “didn’t deserve” the acceptance, misinterpreting those students’ successes as stealing a position that should’ve been theirs.
Yet what remains largely unacknowledged is the underlying culprit in the college admissions process: the preferential treatment granted to white ALDC applicants — recruited athletes, legacies, those on the dean’s interest list and children of faculty and staff. This disparity is starkly evident in a 2019 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which demonstrated that 43% Harvard’s white student admits consisted of ALDCs, contrasting the 16% of ALDCs in other admit groups of people of color.
Most importantly, the same study underscores the disturbing reality that 75% of these white ALDC applicants would have likely faced rejection without their special status. So, my fellow Asian American students, who’s really stealing your spots?
My peers’ misconception that banning affirmative action would automatically increase Asian admissions is one that is false and fails to grasp the essence of the problem. As the NBER implies, thousands of underqualified ALDC students occupy positions at universities meant for deserving students — including some of my peers. Essentially, we’re pointing fingers at the wrong people.
We must take into consideration how unreasonable it is to eliminate race-conscious admissions while retaining other factors that perpetuate inequality. If the Supreme Court genuinely aspires to establish a level playing field in the college admissions process, then it must also put an end to systems that still favor elite (and predominantly white) groups.
Historic racial disadvantages have prevented people of color from accumulating generational wealth and societal status for centuries; slavery, redlining, Jim Crow laws, the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the War on Drugs are just some of the many examples. Even now, in our “advanced and modern” society, an average white family holds more than 10 times the net worth than an average Black family, according to a 2016 study by the Brookings Institution.
Generally, white youth have continued to enjoy more privileges than students of color, which consequently aid them in the college admissions process. Hiring college counselors, attending well-funded schools and having generational legacy status undeniably secures a better chance at attending top universities in America.
Separating race from the equation overlooks the historical and systemic factors that have contributed to these ongoing disparities. The Supreme Court failed to notice that the college admissions process requires equity and not equality.
So when conservative activist Edward Blum argues that race-conscious policies are anti-Asian, I severely lament the pawn-like role that we played in pursuing the white supremacist agenda.
The strive for equality is not an attack on Asian Americans but rather a policy to break down barriers that have been erected over centuries of discrimination.
Merit goes beyond numbers, including life experiences, socioeconomic background and the ability to overcome adversity. It’s unfair not to see color in college admissions processes when people do so in every other aspect of life, including the workforce.
The focus of the Supreme Court should be confronting the systemic advantages afforded to ALDC applicants in college admissions — not hindering students from marginalized communities who seek post-secondary education.
Banning affirmative action isn’t a good thing for any ethnic group, despite what some Asian Americans may think. The Supreme Court has just taken a violent stride in suppressing marginalized communities.
