College Admissions, Asiaphiles

Melissa Hung
November 15, 2006

Just wanted to share a couple stories in the news lately, before I run away from the office (and by office, just to clarify, I don't mean the Hyphen office. We don't have one of those.)

  • This story ran in the Village Voice about a topic we seem to discuss quite a bit: Asiaphiles.
  • Here's one that will likely generate debate: A Yale freshman filed a federal civil rights complaint against Princeton University for rejecting his application for admission, claiming the University discriminated against him because he is Asian. More on that story here.
    • Contributor: 

    Melissa Hung

    Founding Editor

    Melissa Hung is the founding editor of Hyphen. She was the editor in chief for the magazine's first five years and went on to serve in many other leadership roles on the staff and board for more than a decade. She is a writer and freelance journalist. Her essays and reported stories have appeared in NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult, among others. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

    Comments

    Comments

    dean wrote on Sat, 11/25/2006 - 4:41pm
    What the poster (prior to me) seems incapable of grasping is that affirmative action doesn't help Asian-Americans and actually hurts them.Asian-Americans don't need affirmative action to get into the elite universities - since they are generally better qualified academically than all other groups and yet, they have a LOWER admissions rate than white applicants.Today, there are even some schools applying affirmative action to male students (i.e. - white male students) to offset the gender imbalance.Now - that's ridiculous.
    Anonymous wrote on Sun, 11/26/2006 - 2:04pm
    OK, I got you
    a questioner wrote on Mon, 11/27/2006 - 4:28pm
    maybe the poster (Anon) is trying to point out the irony that Asian Americans in large part supported things like Prop 209 and now, in a world where there is no 'whining' allowed for non-race-based admissions decisions, they are being denied admission on the basis of race. There is a subtle irony in that.Of course, many of those same Asian Americans capitalize on race-based 'DBE/MBE' programs at the 'professional\business' level.Pick a lane and get in it.
    Anonymous wrote on Mon, 11/27/2006 - 8:42pm
    Totally agree Quest. shut up and deal with it. You voted for it
    I Wander As I ... wrote on Mon, 11/27/2006 - 9:00pm
    What would Michelle Malkin say:http://malkin.blogspot.com/2004/09/michelle-malkin-bio.html
    Anonymous wrote on Tue, 11/28/2006 - 1:48pm
    Who cares what she has to say.
    Anonymous wrote on Tue, 11/28/2006 - 4:48pm
    No Michelle Malkin fans in here?
    WhoDat wrote on Wed, 11/29/2006 - 9:00pm
    took a while but i finally got the time to comment on the "Asiaphile" article written by Ms. Chang.Kind of interesting even though it has been hashed and rehashed many times. Couldn't help but notice a couple of points. She kind of glosses over a few social spots. Census data has some 30% of Asian women married to non-Asian men...and those men they marry are 99% white men. So if there is a rampant 'asian addiction' amongst white men, it seems that it is hardly as severe as the addiction that asian women have for white men. She does touch on the 'dating up' concept, but only in quoting a gay asian male. I am thinking it pretty unlikely that this 'concept' is limited to gay asian men. Lastly, I don't exactly see what a SO is doing 'wrong' by trying to be friendly with his (or her) SO's family. Isn't that one of the objectives if a LTR is to occur? If you tilt your head, it could seem that the Asian girl is a bit miffed that her 'asian-ness' isn't quite so special if her beau learns the language and pals around with her Dad. IF he really likes her family, then she is even less able to be readily 'replaced'. And he learned Mandarin to aid in communication with the family. That shows a pretty strong commitment to me. Maybe he didn't like that convo could break out and he was wondering WTF was being discussed. I could see him getting a little 'noid in that setting.
    Raj wrote on Fri, 12/01/2006 - 8:49pm
    Michelle Malkin..wanna be white, but alas she looks black...I mean African American.
    Anonymous wrote on Fri, 12/01/2006 - 10:42pm
    Well shes a full blooded Asian. I dont know where she get her hated from, but she supports anything white. Even if it meant the expansion of her own race
    RELAX wrote on Sat, 12/02/2006 - 3:03pm
    Anyone read this book by Frank Wu. I didnt know he was a law porfessor at the Prestigious Afican American University, Howard. His book briefly talks about this topic.http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/arts_culture_media/archives/books_frank_wu_yellow.asp
    Robin wrote on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 2:59pm
    Whoever sais Michelle Malkin looks black has clearly never seen a real black person (African). Do not insult us by implying she looks black.
    Anonymous wrote on Sat, 11/18/2006 - 7:33pm
    This is something that has to be done. Asian have to fight for what is and and kill the silent treatment if things are to change
    Raj wrote on Sun, 11/19/2006 - 2:30pm
    Asians complain about white men stealing Asian women. For example, I had a Korean-American guy complain about a Filipina woman with a white male. But, when I asked him whether he will marry a Filipina, he said no, as his parents would never approve.As far as discrimination goes, let us not forget the main racists here...the whites, just read these articles about how whites screw Asians during admissions at top notch schools. By whining about Affirmative Action all the Asian-Americans do is to play into the hands of whites who want to divide and rule...http://www.littleindia.com/news/137/ARTICLE/1384/2006-11-12.htmlhttp://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=515779
    Anonymous wrote on Sun, 11/19/2006 - 3:17pm
    A lot of this top notch schools have a large number of Asians. Didnt Asians vote against affirmative action. Is so then why the whining