The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    INTERVIEWAhn Hyo-seop wanted to share dedicated love with 'A Time Called You'

  • 3

    SHINee launches first Japan tour in 5 years

  • 5

    Korea makes last-ditch bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan

  • 7

    Heavy traffic jams mostly eased on 5th day of holiday

  • 9

    Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week

  • 11

    Samsung chief visits Middle East to explore new businesses

  • 13

    Korea picks up 2 medals in table tennis as gold drought continues

  • 15

    Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations

  • 17

    Shin-Hanul No. 2 nuclear reactor begins testing for full operation next year

  • 19

    4 injured in rockfall at tourist attraction on eastern island of Ulleung

  • 2

    Korea's Coast Guard apprehends 22 Chinese after illegal entry attempt

  • 4

    Distraught roller skater apologizes for costly premature celebration

  • 6

    S. Korea wins 1st table tennis gold in 21 yrs

  • 8

    Consumers to face higher prices for daily necessities after Chuseok

  • 10

    LA-based photographer captures Koreatown unfazed by pandemic

  • 12

    No regrets for roller skaters after taking silver in relay

  • 14

    National Assembly speeds up efforts to outlaw dog meat consumption in Korea

  • 16

    'Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman' tops Chuseok holiday box office

  • 18

    Internet-only banks outperform legacy lenders in labor productivity

  • 20

    Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
Wed, October 4, 2023 | 19:26
Tribune Service
Asian American Harvard grad affirmative action
Posted : 2022-10-27 16:56
Updated : 2022-10-27 16:56
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link

By Sally Chen


The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in two cases at the end of the month and could decide the fate of affirmative action in higher education. In 2018, I testified before a federal judge in one of those cases, Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, attesting to the importance of affirmative action in my life and why it is valuable to the Asian American community.

I am the daughter of working-class Chinese immigrants who speak very little English. I was born at Chinese Hospital and grew up in Lower Nob Hill in San Francisco. My parents worked at restaurants for low wages, and our family of six barely scraped by. We lived in a cramped one-bedroom apartment among urban professionals and underserved communities.

Before I was even a teenager, I advocated and translated for my family. In my household, my siblings and I are the first generation to graduate from college. In my personal statement for my college application to Harvard, I wrote about how these experiences shaped my passion to do work that would help others with similar struggles.

I began at Harvard in 2015. During my first year, I was miserable and homesick, but I eventually found an academic home in my ethnic studies classes and a broader sense of belonging through campus organizing related to racial justice. At a student activism meeting in 2017, a friend shared how to file requests under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act to see my admissions file. Curiosity and a lingering impostor syndrome led me to test out the process.

The registrar's office gave me 45 minutes to view my file. My admissions readers saw value and authenticity in my perspective: "Categorized as low-income and with Taiwanese-speaking parents, she relates to the plight of the outsiders in Ralph Ellison and William Faulkner." Though my test scores were far from perfect, they believed that I had the potential to make a "contribution to college life" that would be "truly unusual."

I benefited from an admissions process that took race and the effects of racism into consideration. My story can't be conveyed in a race-blind way and during the Harvard trial my admissions file was used as an exhibit to illustrate this. The benefits of affirmative action carried over into my classroom experience as well, where I had the chance to learn from classmates who came from very different backgrounds than my own.

After graduation, I packed my bags and moved back home to that one-bedroom apartment, determined to get to work. By day I worked in multiracial coalitions for policies that could help immigrant working families, such as investment in workforce training for communities of color.

At night I continued to navigate complicated systems and programs as a client, applying for affordable housing through Asian American nonprofits and taking my parents to Chinatown outreach sites for COVID-19 vaccines. Doing this work ― for myself and for others ― gives me hope that someday everyone can share the belief that a more fair and inclusive society is a better one.

The injustices I grew up witnessing and experiencing still permeate our lives. The Supreme Court shouldn't end affirmative action. The U.S. needs more such programs and policies that address the inequities that people face in this country.

Some people point to Asian Americans, the "model minority," being well represented at elite universities as a reason race-conscious policies aren't necessary in higher education. The plaintiffs in one of the Supreme Court cases accuse Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants even though at the lower courts, no evidence of this was found.

I am just one of many Asian American students and alumni who believe the university's race-conscious policies helped our admission and made our education better.


Asian Americans need and benefit from affirmative action. Almost 70 percent of Asian American voters support affirmative action. And in states such as California, where the program has been banned since 1996, universities have struggled to increase diversity without it.

Affirmative action is successful because it opens doors for people who would otherwise be excluded ― and because it recognizes that everyone benefits from having diverse perspectives at the table. The program is an acknowledgment that our education system isn't fair, and laws that help remedy its inequities are necessary. If the Supreme Court ends affirmative action, as many predict, I'll be among its last beneficiaries. And I'll continue working to help those like me, who deserve access to the opportunities a great education can provide, and who will pay that benefit forward when they get it.


Sally Chen is the education equity program manager at Chinese for Affirmative Action, where she helps create opportunities and access for low-income Chinese immigrants at all levels of education. This article was published in the Los Angeles Times and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.



 
wooribank
LG
Top 10 Stories
1Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week
2Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations
3Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW
4Korean steelmakers on alert over initiation of EU carbon border tariff Korean steelmakers on alert over initiation of EU carbon border tariff
5Korean shipbuilders seek lead over Chinese rivals in selling LNG carriers to Qatar Korean shipbuilders seek lead over Chinese rivals in selling LNG carriers to Qatar
630 out of 74 major financial companies lack female board member 30 out of 74 major financial companies lack female board member
7Hyundai, Kia to extend earnings rally on strengthening dollar, solid sales Hyundai, Kia to extend earnings rally on strengthening dollar, solid sales
8Lawmakers want chairmen of financial firms held accountable over misconduct Lawmakers want chairmen of financial firms held accountable over misconduct
9Dong-A Socio Group’s honorary chairman passes away at 96Dong-A Socio Group’s honorary chairman passes away at 96
10Returning home from Chuseok holiday Returning home from Chuseok holiday
Top 5 Entertainment News
1TREASURE takes flak for excluding Dokdo from its Japan tour map TREASURE takes flak for excluding Dokdo from its Japan tour map
2Two artists' windows to light and serenity Two artists' windows to light and serenity
3Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October
4Korean literature featured as animation works at Incheon Airport Korean literature featured as animation works at Incheon Airport
5[PHOTOS] Kep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans PHOTOSKep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group