Transcript Contemporary Issues Asian Americans and the Law Dr. Steiner “The Model Minority” Japanese are “model minority” who have established a “remarkable record” of achievement “by.

Contemporary Issues
Asian Americans and the Law
Dr. Steiner
“The Model Minority”
Japanese are “model minority” who have
established a “remarkable record” of achievement
“by their own almost unaided effort” (as opposed to
“problem minorities”)
– William Petersen, Success Story, Japanese American
Style, New York Times Mag., Jan. 6, 1966
“Why are Asian Americans doing so exceptionally
well? They must be doing something right. Let’s
bottle it.”
– Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes (CBS 1987)
“Asian-Americans: A ‘Model Minority’,” Newsweek,
Dec. 6, 1982
Educational Achievement
In 2000, roughly 80 percent of both all Asians and
all people in the United States 25 and older had at
least a high school education.
However, a higher proportion of Asians (44
percent) than of the total population (24 percent)
had earned at least a bachelor’s degree.
Asian Indians had the highest percentage with a
bachelor’s degree, about 64 percent, whereas
about 60 percent of Hmong, and about half of
Cambodians and Laotians, had less than a high
school education.
Japanese had the highest proportion (91 percent)
with at least a high school education.
– We the People: Asians in the United States (Census 2004)
The Myth of the “Model Minority”
Higher family incomes
– Regional locations (New York, California, Hawaii)
– Family incomes (instead of per capita incomes)
White nuclear families had 1.6 workers per family; Chinese
American families had 2 workers per family; 2.1 for Japanese
American families; 2.2 for Filipino families
Higher educational achievement with less return
– Income inequality based upon education
Asian Americans earn less than whites with comparable
educations: in 1992, college-educated whites earned almost
11% more than college-educated Asian Americans; white
high school graduates earned 26% more than their Asian
American counterparts
McGowan & Lindgren, Untangling the
Myth of the Model Minority
First, Asian critical scholars argue that the model minority
stereotype is wrong as a factual matter. Here Asian critical
scholars scrutinize data that appear to demonstrate Asian
educational, occupational, and economic success. Asian
critical scholars argue that generalizations about “Asians”
as a group are misleading . . . . In short, while the
stereotype of Asian Americans as a very well educated,
hard working, and fairly well-off minority group may be
accurate for some individuals and some Asian national
origin groups, it is decidedly wrong for other Asian
American national origin groups and Asian immigrants.
McGowan & Lindgren, Untangling the
Myth of the Model Minority
Second, Asian critical scholars argue that the reported
success of Asian Americans as a model minority has
created a backlash against their perceived success.
Sensitive to the historical fact that whites in the Nineteenth
and early Twentieth Centuries considered Asian
immigrants’ tolerance for hard work to be threatening,
some Asian critical scholars have argued that this more
recent attention to the success of Asian Americans is
merely the old fear of the “Yellow Peril” dressed in sheep’s
clothing.
McGowan & Lindgren, Untangling the
Myth of the Model Minority
Third, Asian critical scholars have argued that the model
minority stereotype is also used as a cudgel against other
minority groups and therefore entrenches white hegemony.
Asian critical scholars argue that other minorities are
measured against the model minority stereotype and
remonstrated for their comparative educational and
economic failures: if Asian Americans can succeed, what’s
wrong with Blacks and Latinos? And if Asian Americans
succeeded against the odds of discrimination and the
strains of immigration without much government
assistance, why should we invest in government programs
for or give affirmative action to Blacks and Latinos?
McGowan & Lindgren, Untangling the
Myth of the Model Minority
Fourth, Asian critical scholars have argued that the purely
positive side of the model minority stereotype obscures
discrimination against Asian Americans. While some Asian
American ethnic groups do seem to enjoy educational and
professional success, those successes, Asian critical
scholars argue, obscures the barriers many Asian American
professionals have confronted in becoming highly-placed
mangers and the fact that Asian Americans seem to earn
less per year of education than do whites.
Lowell High School
The situation at Lowell High School that led to
the racial discrimination suit by Chinese
Americans
– District’s desegregation consent decree: each school
had to enroll at least four of nine specified
ethnic/racial group and no group could be more than
40-45%
– Ethnic/racial composition of district had changed
since 1983 (Chinese American students represented
19.5% of the district in 1983; 24% in 192; 32.1% in
2005)
– Lowell is the only public school that uses highly
selective admissions process
Lowell High School
Qualifying Scores at
Lowell (69 point index)
– Chinese: 66
– White, Japanese, Korean,
Filipino, etc.: 59
– Blacks and Hispanics: 56
Lowell High School:
Chinese American Democratic Club
Because of the racial ceilings, if a Chinese
American student hopes to attend the
competitive academic Lowell High School,
he must achieve a near-perfect score on
the exam and grade evaluation. If the
applicant is White—he can receive a score
in the 85th percentile and still gain
entrance to Lowell. These policies have
resulted in discrimination against Chinese
American students.
Lowell High School:
Local Chapter, NAACP
The Chinese are the largest group at most
of the best schools in the city. They can’t
have it all. If anything, I’d say lower the
caps, don’t raise them—otherwise we’re
headed back to segregated schools, only
all Chinese instead of all white.
“Too Many Asians”
The problems faced by multiethnic school
districts in desegregating and the
particular problems raised by magnet
schools
“Too Many Asians”
Why Dong argues that Lowell High
School’s racial caps should be considered
under the Supreme Court’s case law on
higher education and not on public school
desegregation
– Dong wants Chinese students not to be
capped, and policy would likely be upheld
under public school case law
– Not all public schools are the same
“Too Many Asians”
The four legal strategies available to
plaintiffs
– Racial preferences are per se invalid
– Racial preferences should be restricted to
purely remedial purposes
– Racial preferences violate Bakke
– Equal protection requires Chinese applicants
to be treated the same as whites
San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified
School District, 413 F. Supp.2d 1051
(N.D. Cal. 1999)
All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us
should have an equal opportunity to develop our
talents.
This oft-stated creed of President John F. Kennedy
is at the core of the dispute between the parties in
these two related desegregation lawsuits . . . In an
effort to provide equal opportunity for San
Francisco's 65,000 schoolchildren of exceptionally
diverse origins, the parties in these two related
desegregation cases, have strenuously endeavored
to achieve President Kennedy's goal, albeit from
often sharply differing viewpoints.
San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified
School District, 413 F. Supp.2d 1051
(N.D. Cal. 1999)
[In 1998], the Ninth Circuit affirmed this Court's
finding that the assignment of students by race
subjects the students to a race-based classification
by a state actor. Such racial classifications are
subject to strict scrutiny, and may be used by the
government only if necessary to correct the effects
of government action of a racist character. The Ninth
Circuit found that the burden of justifying the racial
classification fell upon the defendants.
San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified
School District, 413 F. Supp.2d 1051
(N.D. Cal. 1999)
It described the issues remaining for trial as
follows:
As race may permissibly be used by
government in the very limited way described,
two issues remain for trial: Do vestiges remain
of the racism that justified paragraph 13 of the
consent decree in 1983? Is paragraph 13
necessary to remove the vestiges if they do
remain?
Asian Americans
and Higher Education
The first-year enrollment of Asian Americans at
Harvard rose from 3.64% in 1976 to 12.8% in
1986
Enrollment at Stanford rose from 5.71% in 1976
to 14.74% in 1986
Enrollment at MIT went from 5.32% in 1976 to
20.59% in 1986
First-year enrollment at UC Berkeley went from
17.1% in 1976 to 26.5% in 1986
Ronald Reagan, Remarks on Signing the Asian/Pacific
American Heritage Week Proclamation (May 3, 1988)
Well, for many groups, education has been a key
ingredient in realizing the American dream. And
one area in which Asian-Pacific Americans have
particularly excelled is in education. Their
accomplishments are proof that respect for
learning, family encouragement—plus a whole lot
of hard work and diligent study—pays off with
high grades, advanced degrees, and successful
careers.
Ronald Reagan, Remarks on Signing the Asian/Pacific
American Heritage Week Proclamation (May 3, 1988)
I know there's a growing concern that some
universities may be discriminating against
citizens of Asian and Pacific heritage, accepting
a lower percentage of these applicants than get
admitted from other groups, despite their
academic qualifications. Well, to deny any
individual access to higher education when it
has been won on the basis of merit is a
repudiation of everything America stands for.
Victor Davis Hanson, Profiles in Diversity,
Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2005)
Upon arriving in the Bay Area, [Robert J. Birgeneau, the new
Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley] quickly
vowed to solve the problems he had found. Surprisingly, these
had nothing to do with a decline in academic standards,
deterioration in the quality of Berkeley's key departments, or a
state funding crisis. Instead, the Chancellor complained that
Berkeley has fewer Native American, Hispanic, and AfricanAmerican students enrolled than it should—the campus was
only 3% black, 9.5% Hispanic, and 0.4% Native American, in
contrast with about 45% Asian-American and about 33% white.
(The California population comprises 6.5% blacks, 33%
Hispanics, 0.92% Native Americans, 11% Asian-Americans,
and 45% whites.) Birgeneau is obsessed with racial diversity,
as determined by percentages and quotas.
Victor Davis Hanson, Profiles in Diversity,
Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2005)
He is oddly quiet, too, about the more explosive issue of the
Asian-American presence. This group constitutes almost
half the Berkeley student population, even though Asians
probably make up only about 11% of California residents
and 4% of the general U.S. population. Why doesn't
Birgeneau admit that achieving his racial utopia would
require deliberately reducing the enrollment of AsianAmerican students. . . .? But because the new Chancellor is
obviously a sensitive sort, he cannot say what he apparently
means: something like, “We have too many Asians, almost
five times too many, and I am here to impose a quota on
them and other suspect races.”
Victor Davis Hanson, Profiles in Diversity,
Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2005)
Remember, too, that Asians have suffered a particularly long
history of discrimination in California. Despite everything
from immigration quotas to forced internment during World
War II, they have the highest high-school graduation rates in
the state, while blacks and Hispanics suffer the lowest.
What, then, could we learn from the Asian-American
experience that seems to render past hurdles to
achievement irrelevant to present academic performance?
Wen Ho Lee
Nuclear physicist accused
of espionage because he
copied files from one
computer to another at Los
Alamos National
Laboratory
Placed in solitary
confinement and held
without bail
Racialization: disloyalty as
marker of foreignness
John Deutch, CIA Director
Took top-secret files home with him
Unsecured home computer had 16,000
pages of classified documents,
including “black ops” covert operations
Home computer wasn’t shielded from
hackers
When Deutch found out about
investigation, he deleted more than a
1000 files from his computer and
refused interviews with CIA
investigators
Potential charges included
unauthorized removal of classified
documents and concealment or
attempt to remove or destroy
government documents
Never charged but security clearance
removed
Judge James Parker’s Apology to
Wen Ho Lee (Sept. 13, 2000)
What I believe remains unanswered
is the question: What was the
government's motive in insisting on
your being jailed pretrial under
extraordinarily onerous conditions of
confinement until today, when the
Executive Branch agrees that you
may be set free essentially
unrestricted? This makes no sense to
me.
Judge James Parker’s Apology to
Wen Ho Lee (Sept. 13, 2000)
I believe you were terribly wronged by
being held in custody pretrial in the Santa
Fe County Detention Center under
demeaning, unnecessarily punitive
conditions. I am truly sorry that I was led
by our Executive Branch of government to
order your detention last December.
Dr. Lee, I tell you with great sadness that
I feel I was led astray last December by
the Executive Branch of our government.
Judge James Parker's Apology to
Wen Ho Lee (Sept. 13, 2000)
Although, as I indicated, I have no
authority to speak on behalf of the
Executive Branch, the President, the Vicepresident, the Attorney General, or the
Secretary of the Department of Energy, as
a member of the Third Branch of the
United States Government, the Judiciary,
the United States Courts, I sincerely
apologize to you, Dr. Lee, for the unfair
manner you were held in custody by the
Executive Branch.
Cultural Racial Classifications
Gotanda, Comparative Racialization
Racial
Racial
Category Profile
Social Political
Context Conclusion
Wen Ho
Lee
Chinese
Unassimilable
Foreign
Presumed
disloyal
U.S.China
John
Deutch
White
Assimilated
Loyal
CIA
Minimal
director
Amadou
Diallo
Black
Criminal Poverty Shoot first
Violent
Crime
Spy
Espionage
Racial Category of Chinese
Inferiority
Foreignness
Cases on racialized foreignness
– Chew Heong: Field’s dissent (“a separate
people”)
– Chae Chan Ping: Field says Chinese are
“strangers in the land”
– Fong Yue Ting: Gary repeats “strangers in the
land” language
– Plessy v. Ferguson: Harlan in dissent says
Chinese are a “race so different” they can’t
become citizens
Chinese Racialized Foreignness:
Chew Heong (1884) Field, J., dissent
[The Chinese] have remained among us a
separate people, retaining their original
peculiarities of dress, manners, habits,
and modes of living, which are as marked
as their complexion and language. . . .
They do not and will not assimilate with
our people; and their dying wish is that
their bodies may be taken back to China
for burial.
Chinese Racialized Foreignness:
Fong Yue Ting (1889) Gray, J.
After some years’ experience under that treaty, the
government of the United States was brought to the
opinion that the presence within our territory of
large numbers of Chinese laborers, of a distinct
race and religion, remaining strangers in the land,
residing apart by themselves, tenaciously adhering
to the customs and usages of their own country,
unfamiliar with our institutions, and apparently
incapable of assimilating with our people, might
endanger good order, and be injurious to the public
interests, . . .
Chinese Racialized Foreignness:
Chae Chan Ping (1889) Field, J.
[The Chinese] remained strangers in the
land, residing apart by themselves, and
adhering to the customs and usages of
their own country. It seemed impossible for
them to assimilate with our people, or to
make any change in their habits or modes
of living.
“Strangers in the Land”
Leviticus 19:33-34
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land,
ye shall not vex him.
But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be
unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt
love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the
land of Egypt. (King James)
When an alien lives with you in your land, do not
mistreat him. The alien living with you must be
treated as one of your native-born. Love him as
yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. (NIV)
Chinese Racialized Foreignness:
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Harlan, J., dissent
There is a race so different from our own
that we do not permit those belonging to it
to become citizens of the United States.
Persons belonging to it are, with few
exceptions, absolutely excluded from our
country. I allude to the Chinese race.
Language rights:
Asian American Business Group (1989)
On premises signs of commercial or
manufacturing establishments which have
advertising copy in foreign alphabetical
characters shall devote at least one half of the
sign area to advertising copy in English
alphabetical characters. Commercial or
manufacturing establishments which have on
premises signs with foreign alphabetical
characters shall also display in Arabic numerals
their address in figures not less than three and
one half inches in height.
Asian American Business Group:
Governmental Interest
Ready identification of commercial
structures to facilitate the reporting of
emergencies
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
Establishing English as the official language of
the United States HJ Res. 43 (Tancredo, R.Colo.)
Section 1. The English language shall be the
official language of the United States. As the
official language, the English language shall be
used for all public acts including every order,
resolution, vote, and election, and for all records
and judicial proceedings of the Government of
the United States and the governments of the
several States.
Section 2. The Congress and the States shall
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Language and Assimilation
[T]he first generation often has trouble with
English. This was true in 1900, and it’s true today.
It’s hard to learn a new language as an adult. . . .
[W]hat really matters is the second generation: the
linguistic future lies with those who come of age in
the United States. . . .[V]irtually everyone who
grows up in America today eventually learns
English. This is for every national group and at
every socioeconomic level, and it happens no
matter what language your parents or
grandparents speak at home.
– Tamar Jacoby, The New Immigrants