I am surprised that even with the Asian percentage of the US college age population doubling, the amount admitted to the Ivy League has stayed the same. This sounds very suspicious, and similar to the Jewish Quotas that were done in the 1920's. And it seems very similar tactics are being used, where instead of relying on exam scores the application process has gone into a holistic approach. NYC in their top schools uses an exam only for admissions, and there is pressure to change this since a huge percentage of students at the top schools are Asian. The key with a holistic process, is it's easier to hide discrimination. Sports, Leadership, hardships are ways that I have seen as part of the holistic process.

The danger of a holistic approach, is admitting students who are unable to compete academically. This results in a higher drop out rate, or the student changing to a less demanding major. If the student had gone to less challenging school, the student would do better academically. And by going to a college better suited for their academic ability, you actually have a higher overall graduation rate for African American and Hispanic students in UC's. In California, Asian's have about 3X more students, than their share of the population per this article from the Wall Street Journal.

Labels: college, college admissions, Mixed Race, Racism

I read about this a while ago, but got a bit busy to blog about it. I am glad it's dead.

My 2 cents on what happened:

1. Proposition 209 in 1996 banned the use of race or ethnicity in admissions for public schools in California.
2. Schools could get around the ban at a UC Level, through the use of a holistic method. Basically through your essay, if you said the right things you would get admitted. UC's also did everything they could to encourage minority students with special programs (I have a vivid memory of when my daughter mentioned a UC Berkeley Representative was at her High School, but would only talk to Black and Latino students, and no Asians). At a Cal State level, admissions is based on test scores and grades, due to lack of funding for a holistic methods.
3. After 209 passed, at the top UC's the amount of Asian (mostly Chinese and some Koreans) have increased. UC Berkeley is now 39% Asian, where the Asian percentage of California's population is 14.9%. African American at UC Berkeley is 3%, and the percentage of population in California is 6.6%. 13% of UC Berkeley's undergraduate is Hispanic, compared to being 38.2% in California.
4. SCA 5 is by a Latino Politician, Sen. Ed Hernandez from West Covina, who noticed the lack of Latino's in higher education compared to their percent of the population of California.
5. After the democratic controlled senate voted on a party line vote, the Chinese senators got an earful from their Chinese constituents who feared their children would be discriminated against in admissions.
6. UCLA and UC Berkeley to increase funding are letting in out of state and foreign students, who can pay full rate. 22% of UC Berkeley's undergraduate are foreign students for 2013.

My opinion, the real crimes are:

1. What a horrible job the K-12 system has been doing for many Black and Latino students.  
2. The amount of spaces at UC's have not kept pace with the increase in California population
3. The master plan for California's colleges is out of date.
4. The huge growth at Colleges of administrator salaries and numbers.
5. Many UC's not focused value for dollars spent by students. The cost to attend a UC is now around $30,000 per year. Tuition alone is $13,200 for CA residents, for non-residents it's $36,078.
6. College admissions has become a crap shoot, where the admissions decisions often don't make sense - one of my daughter's friends was admitted to UC Berkeley, but not UC San Diego...

References:

“Vote No on SCA-5” petition - Over 113,000 people have signed the petition for No on repealing 209.

Blue on Blue Race Politics in California’s Academia - The American Interest

Affirmative action amendment has some Asian-Americans furious - KPCC

Labels: affirmative action, college admissions, Mixed Race, Racism

What I found more interesting, was the rates by Nationality / background for Asians going to college. Taiwanese has it's own category.

Taiwanese in the US, 74.1% have a college degree.
Indian at 71.1%.
Japanese is only at 47.7%
Korean at 52.7%.

And the huge percent of intermarriage is going to make a mess of this. A Vietnamese friend of mine is married to a Hispanic / Chinese lady, what do you call their kids beyond American?

Report calls for end to grouping of Asian-American students in one category | Inside Higher Ed

Labels: biracial, college admissions, Mixed Race

The comments are a great read, that tell you a lot about our society.

Opinion: GUEST COLUMN:‘Genius Asian Egg Donor’ ad is offensive - MIT Newspaper

Labels: egg donor, Mixed Race

A blog I came across, very nicely done:

Labels: biracial, Mixed Race

Why I love my strict Chinese mom - NY Post OpEd by the daughter of Amy Chua.

In an interview Amy Chau mentioned she had recommended to her daughter, Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, 18,  not to write the oped, but she did anyway.

I felt so much in common with her as another parent of a mixed teenager :-)

Other Posts:

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior - WSJ.com

Labels: Mixed Race, parenting

A good article to read.

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior - WSJ.com

and a related post - Are U.S. Parents Too Soft?

A summary from the related post:

Ms. Chua says that being a “Chinese mother” doesn’t require being Chinese, but it does require ignoring most of what parenting has come to mean in upper-middle-class Western societies. Where Western parents obsess over a child’s self-esteem and couch criticism in only the most oblique and supportive terms, Chinese parents “assume strength, not fragility,” and thus deploy insults and pressure with abandon.

Labels: chinese american marriage, Mixed Race, parenting

President Obama on his census form checked says: "Black, African Am., or Negro," the Associated Press reported.

A good article from the LA Times that discusses this issue:
Obama's census-form choice: 'Black' - The president keeps it simple, but his decision stirs discussion about identity among mixed-race Americans.

Should President Obama have checked White as well to show his mixed race heritage?

What would have the reaction been then?

The issue of mixed race in the US is complicated.

Labels: Mixed Race

Good article on a very touchy subject - China confronts issues of race and long-held prejudice from the Washington Post.

The article did not mention that a half brother (who married a Chinese) of Obama's lives in China and will meet with the President in China. And China is becoming much more active in China, with China Pledges $10 Billion to Africa. But, in Africa there is also anger in many countries with Chinese companies not using local labor, but importing other Chinese to do the labor.

A previous blog post of mine - Mixed Race in China.

Labels: Mixed Race, Racism

The speach by Martin Luther King - I Had A Dream is incredible and every time I read it I appreciate it more. It is hopeful, truthful, and still relevant today - 45 years after it was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

Only in 1967, 4 years after Dr. Kings speech did the Supreme Court in Loving vs. Virginia overturn anti-Miscegenation Laws that barred marriage between races saying it violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th amendment.

14th Amendment
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Relevant Links:
Racism Against Chinese in the US

Labels: martin luther king, Mixed Race, Racism

24% of students at UC Berkeley identified themselves as mixed race. A big question is "What are you?" When you are mixed race it gets interesting. Assuming how a person will act just because of how they look is like judging a book by it's cover. Often it's wrong. Two sisters who were mixed identified themselves differently in surveys depending on how they felt. They were a couple of generation Japanese Americans with an English Father. One of the sisters arranged a blind date where I met my wife (so we know who to blame).

Labels: Mixed Race, Racism