Asian in The Middle

Today is the day the Supreme Court starts hearing the Asian students vs Harvard and UNC arguments that could affect affirmative action in college admissions (and most likely other race-conscious selections in the US). Starting early in the day, many articles were written in several publications discussing the outcome of today’s hearing. One stood out, https://apple.news/AQ2dqvBt6QdqkxsyCffsKrg, by pointing out the unscrupulous practice of Harvard admission. The article explained in detail how Harvard wanted to keep its preferred white and rich students while at the same time appearing liberals by accepting more black and brown students. So what gives in this situation? The Asian students are the causality of this hypocrisy. There are limited spots for incoming freshmen at Harvard. If it wants to keep the number of white students and increase the acceptance of black and brown students, it must sacrifice Asians. 

This brings to mind the “middle child syndrome”. This is a theory developed by Alfred Adler in 1964 on the importance of birth order on personality development. You can read more here, https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/middle-child-syndrome, but the gist of the article is that the middle child is the most disadvantaged and the forgotten one. In other words, the least important of all the siblings. If Harvard is a parent, then Asian students are the middle child, the ones that can be sacrificed and ignored. The first child would be the whites for they received the most attention. The youngest are the blacks and the browns, for they are the favorite and the most spoiled by the parents. Just think about it, if Harvard wants to keep the whites and accepts more blacks and brown, then it will have to sacrifice the Asians, which fits the middle child syndrome. 

Here is another article listing the top ten worst things about middle child, https://www.thetoptens.com/family/worst-things-about-being-middle-child/ Let’s see how many of these match the experiences Asian students face when applying to top colleges (not in any particular order). 

1. The lack of attention from your parents

2. You can never win a sibling fight

3. Hand-me-downs

4. Being the scapegoat

5. Deficiency of kudos

6. You get punished more than your siblings

7. You have to do more work than your siblings

8. Parents think you’re the black sheep

9. You get treated like dirt

10. No one notices when you do something good

If Harvard is a parent, then Harvard is a terrible parent. Why would a parent pit one sibling against the other? Generation Z doesn’t distinguish skin colors, but segregation practices by these colleges invoke resentment in the victims. Jokes aside, top colleges should not treat any students unfairly. Using race in selecting students is wrong. Where is equity for all? There are other ways to promote diversity in colleges but discrimination based on skin color is not one of them, no matter how you cut it. 

Harvard and other colleges should stop giving preferences to athletes, donors’ children,  faculty’s children, and legacies if they truly want a fair and diverse student body. Colleges keep arguing that they should give chances to low-income students, the first in the family to go to college, etc., but being unwilling to sacrifice their privileged students is hypocrisy. Do the right thing, Harvard.

Colleges, please consider these:

○ 73% Americans support color-blind admissions

○ Merit Excellence Fairness

○ Judge by Content of Character, Not Skin Color

○ Support Race Neutral Admissions

○ Equal Education Rights for All

○ Diversity =/ Skin Color

○ Fix K-12. Don’t Scapegoat Asians.

○ Help Students in Need Regardless of Race

○ Stop Anti-Asian Discrimination

○ My Race Should Not Hurt Me in Admissions

○ I Am Asian American. I Have A Dream Too

○ Harvard. No More Racial Stereotyping

○ Discrimination in the Name of Diversity Is Wrong

○ Stop Discriminating on the Basis of Race