Colleges Resist Asian American’s Success

A new opinion piece by Jonathan Zimmerman in the Philadelphia Inquirer compares today’s discrimination against Asian Americans in college admissions and hiring for college presidential positions with that of Jews in the early 20th century. Some of the statistics are remarkably similar.

Like Jews in the 1960s, they [Asian Americans] hold just 1 percent of higher-education presidencies.

Zimmerman continues on to describe the similarities in admissions discrimination between Jews and Asians, and concludes with:

Beneath all the rhetoric, we’re simply afraid of a minority that has done too well. That’s why Jews were so threatening for so many years, and why Asians are now. Shame on us for making the same mistake twice.

It’s interesting to see a non-Asian stick up for Asian American rights, especially in the hotly debated issue of admission discrimination in colleges and universities.

About Tim

I'm a Chinese/Taiwanese-American, born in Taiwan, raised on Long Island, went to college in Philadelphia, tried Wall Street and then moved to the California Bay Area to work in high tech in 1990. I'm a recent dad and husband. Other adjectives that describe me include: son, brother, geek, DIYer, manager, teacher, tinkerer, amateur horologist, gay, and occasional couch potato. I write for about 5 different blogs including 8Asians. When not doing anything else, I like to challenge people's preconceived notions of who I should be.
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