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Asians are - on average - a model minority. Anti-Asian discrimination is real and systemic. The sad fact is the first seems to be causing the second. (I'm inspired to speak out by @clairlemon @BretWeinstein @Ravarora1 @HPluckrose @balajis @DrKarlynB among others)
A thread
A thread
Let's first acknowledge Asian is a broad and sweeping category. I mean people of South and East Asian descent in America today. I use it only because that’s the best data we have. Asian primarily refers to Chinese, Indian and Filipino that make up ~60% of Asians in America.
Secondly, save your BIPOC label. It lumps together people purely on the amount of skin pigmentation. The phrase “people of color” is infantilizing. I’m of Indian descent. I’m brown. Those are precise, factual descriptors. I reject the patronizing, morally fashionable label.
Model minority suggests being a law-abiding, productive citizen. Law-abiding: Asians commit violent crimes at about one-fifth the rate of the total population. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv19.pdf
Productive: Asians claim less employment benefits and have higher earnings than any other group. https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm https://www.epi.org/blog/racial-disparities-in-income-and-poverty-remain-largely-unchanged-amid-strong-income-growth-in-2019/
Asians have the highest rates of business ownership (and growth) and the most success because of hard work and capital. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/07/asian-owned-businesses-nearing-two-million.html https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225562101_Determinants_of_Business_Success_An_Examination_of_Asian-Owned_Businesses_in_the_USA
Asians are disproportionately represented in high-paying professional disciplines (law, dentistry, pharmacy, medicine etc.). 15% of all degrees conferred in the US were awarded to Asians despite being only 6.3% of the population. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_324.55.asp?current=yes
As a result, Asians are well paid and have accumulated real wealth relative to the average American. https://ncrc.org/racial-wealth-snapshot-asian-americans-and-the-racial-wealth-divide/
Let's look at the culture and what we might learn. Let me say again: Asians are not a homogenous group. But the best data I have is at the ‘Asian’ level. I’ll work with that and the inherent limitations.
The self-selection bias of immigrants does not dilute the story. More than half of Asians were born outside the US. Most do not arrive with the advantages (“privileges”, ugh) of English as a first language, nor citizenship, nor meaningful wealth, nor social capital.
Culture is notoriously hard to define. But we can make some common sense guesses to some positive factors.
How much homework do Asians kids do? 50% more than the average in America. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012026/tables/table_35.asp
How about underage drinking? Less than half as likely as the average 12-20 year old in America. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK37613/#:~:text=When%20reported%20by%20race%20or
How about juvenile offenses? Only 1% are committed by Asian juveniles relative to being >6% of the population. https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/ucr.asp?table_in=2&selYrs=2019&rdoGroups=2&rdoData=rp
And yes, Asian kids are held to a higher standard. The "Tiger Mom" stereotype is true. https://www.nap.edu/read/9599/chapter/1
As Asian kids move into their 20's and 30's what do we find about life choices? Asians in American tend to delay marriage & children at about twice the rate of other groups. https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IFS-MillennialSuccessSequence-Final.pdf
Given the positive story I am telling why am I calling out anti-Asian bias? Because the recent “equality of outcome” agenda being pushed is a childish utopia that is un-American. It disproportionately affects Asians.
Harvard and Yale - two of the world’s most prestigious institutions - are actively discriminating against Asians.
Once controlling for variables, Thomas Espenshade and Alexandria Radford showed Asians face odds multiples times higher than other groups to be accepted to elite colleges. https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691141606/manhattaninstitu/
Oh and Asians don't have sports scholarships to rely on. https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/demographics/data/2012-19RES_DemographicsAggregatedData.xlsx
The rot is spreading into the public education system. Stuyvesant High School (73% Asian) and Lowell High School (59% Asian) are removing the blind, test-based meritocratic admissions process. https://data.nysed.gov/enrollment.php?year=2019&instid=800000046741 https://www.schooldigger.com/go/CA/schools/3441005643/school.aspx
And Boston Public Schools (citing "inequity") and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. https://www.wgbh.org/news/education/2021/02/26/citing-racial-inequities-boston-public-schools-suspend-advanced-learning-classes https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/11/an-unfair-push-racial-equality-thomas-jefferson/
In every case Asians the impact falls disproportionately on Asians. What each of these schools is saying is “ability matters less than race”. They are intentionally imposing soft quotas that disadvantage Asians.
I am proud to be an American as of less than a month ago. I’ve pursued citizenship for the last eight years because America’s ideals are explicitly meritocratic. That is a noble and progressive cause we should all strive towards.
Punishing Asians by making the doorway narrower compared to other groups is shameful and un-American.
If you value meritocracy it starts here. It starts with tackling head on verifiable, unspoken, systemic anti-Asian discrimination. And I will not be silent about it any longer.
If you value meritocracy it starts here. It starts with tackling head on verifiable, unspoken, systemic anti-Asian discrimination. And I will not be silent about it any longer.
