Asians at Harvard

Yikes.

Furthermore, there is a common fear — repugnant to me I should add — that if a student body becomes “too Asian,” many white students will be less interested in going there. I taught at UC Irvine for several years and found it to be a delightful experience, but this is exactly what many schools are afraid of (the UCI student body is disproportionately Asian, and the honors class I taught in my first year had only one non-Asian student in it). 

And so they come up with every excuse possible — sometimes cemented in by self-deception — for maintaining a “balanced” student body. 

It is incorrect to call it “racism,” but it is non-meritocratic and we should move away from those attitudes as quickly as possible.

For perhaps by single favorite blogger, it takes incredible mental gymnastics to conclude this isn't racism.

Here's my take: it's definitely racism, but not clearly the wrong policy for Harvard. I realize my views are extraordinarily odd on this particular issue, but it basically boils down to the fact that yes, I believe racism exists (everywhere, not just in the US) and that simultaneously it isn't that big of a problem. Or, I should say, it is not as a big a problems as the amount of ink spent on it suggests.

So...let's be honest on issue - is it so repugnant that whites/Harvard are suspicious and do not want too many Asians at Harvard? Because this is the subtext, of course. Let's try and provide the most charitable explanation. I have some particular insight into this issue - I teach a lot of Chinese-from-China students and my wife attended a predominantly Asian-American high school. A recurring theme from her and my Chinese students is that there is an incredibly unhealthy, competitive attitude towards education within these cultures. Chinese immigrants in California are obsessed with high schools, test scores, and trying to game the college system to get their kids into the best schools. Many do not succeed and end up at the variety of UC schools. But for failing, this is pretty good! But is celebrating this model desirable? It would increase test scores for sure. Would it be good for society?

Say Harvard were to become entirely meritocratic. It would be 50% Asian and 50% Jewish. Okay. Maybe this is a preferable outcome. Maybe the ivy league starts to resemble the national universities in Asia. Are we so sure this is a better outcome? Maybe the "best" outcome is what is already happening, ie a certain percentage of Asian students are let into Harvard/Ivy league, enough so the educational culture does not transform into something more akin to the cutthroat Chinese culture, and brings very high level of Asian-American students more into the American education model of grade inflation, providing favors for alumni, and some sense of a more "broad" liberal arts style learning.

So I guess what I'm saying is that maybe a little racism isn't such a bad thing. Or at least a preferable thing than manipulating language to try to assuage the terror of everyone being considered racist, or completely overturning American culture in order to root out all racism. Hint: it won't work, nor be desirable.