Around New England

Praising Asians’ Work Ethic Is ‘A Creation of White Supremacy,’ Activist Says

October 10, 2018

Less than a week before Harvard College goes to trial with an Asian-American group suing the school on a claim of anti-Asian bias in admissions, a panelist on campus suggested Asians are just as committed to left-wing goals as anyone else.

“The model minority myth is a creation of white supremacy,” said Carolyn W. Chou, a 2013 graduate of Harvard College and executive director of the Asian American Resource Workshop in Boston, according to The Harvard Crimson. “I think today about how this case is what’s in the news, but there are Asian American workers who are leading the hotel strikes right now in Boston, in Chicago, in Honolulu. That’s the other story of our communities. It’s not just Harvard students.”

An Asian-American organization suing Harvard claims that Harvard unfairly discriminates against Asians in favor of other racial groups in order to keep the percentage of Asian students at the school down.

Critics of Harvard’s policy say that Harvard is targeting Asians for unjust treatment the way it once limited the number of Jews who could attend. They argue that if individual Asians achieve academically better than individuals from other racial groups, then more of them should get in based on merit over lesser-achieving applicants who are currently benefiting from racial set-asides.

Supporters say Harvard is rightly balancing representatives from various races and cultures in order to maintain diversity among its student body.

The federal civil trial scheduled to get under way next week is widely anticipated to provide the public with an inside view of how Harvard decides to admit or reject applicants, something the school has long kept private.

The trial is scheduled to begin Monday, October 15 in U.S. District Court in Boston.