具体做起来,大学为了降低亚裔的录取率,给他们入学考试成绩价格门槛,而对其他少数种族则降个台阶,有人说亚裔的门槛高达(美国高考SAT)150分之多【5】。美国大学此举,是一种“多元化”的意愿(diversification),主要出于改正历史上白人对黑人的歧视(事实),现在已经有白人觉得是反面歧视了,亚裔觉得更甚。然而哈佛不觉得自己做得有什么不对的,“the university said its admissions philosophy complies with the law. The school points out that the percentage of admitted Asian-American students has spiked — from 17 percent a decade ago, to 21 percent. The population of Asian-Americans in the U.S.? Just 6 percent”【1】。
为什么亚裔成绩好?首先想到的是智力,“亚裔”,“智力”,自然得联系到种族的智力了。也许研究不少,到大家知道较多的,是
The Bell Curve
Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray
一书。此书主要比较美国白人与黑人,亚裔不太具体,只是说亚裔智商估计是高于白人,不过在这个课题上,“亚裔”,乃指东亚,“中日韩”,而不是整个亚洲。在之后相关的一本书里:
The Global Bell Curve: Race, IQ, and Inequality Worldwide
Professor Richard Lynn
这是大概的描述:
这些研究不是定论,争议大,我自然不会把它们当标准。
撇开智力不说,亚洲人考试厉害,是事实(印度裔也不差),没说的,所以亚洲人都觉得大学欺负他们,洛杉矶时报【4】的描述很具体。
就华裔来说,不论如何,我们的教育传统是世界上无与伦比的,我个人印象是世界上别的种族都远远比不过。犹太人教育意识,自然跟中国人至少不相上下,也许更甚,隐约记得蔡美儿的一个故事(也许记错了,是另外一个人),在一次论坛讨论时,她说小时候有一次考试得了第二,本来在美国大家高高兴兴,结果他老爸却说“下次别给我丢脸了”,同台的一个犹太人说,我们也会是这样。在美国犹太人受歧视通常不是个话题,因为现在犹太人很厉害,占据了美国主要领域,大把精英,一百多年前,美国犹太人是哦备受歧视,直到(二)战后,犹太人奋发,成为社会精英主力,改变了受歧视的局面。
华裔的教育传统自然对下一代产生了一个良性循环,是个主要的因素。
不过考试考得好反过来也难以证明一类人比另外一类人聪明,这些争议、复杂的话题(爱因斯坦智商就不怎么地),还有读书好不一定创业能力强,大师、成领袖之类的,咱就不说了,留给专家们吧【6】。我这老百姓,关心的,是实际效应,就是美籍亚洲人的生活质量如何,这嘛,只要看数据,让事实说话就行了。
用的是美国数据,两个原因。一是能找到数据,而是美国是个大熔炉,对各个种族的比较,好环境。
大学教育程度
【10】
【11】
收入【11】
皮尤研究中心:收入、财富【12】
此注、、此组数据亚与瞧白人相仿,估计与政治、经济地位有关
离婚率【11】
最后结论嘛,大家自己判断。
【1】(全国大众电台)Is Harvard Showing Bias Against Asian-Americans?
【2】(华尔街日报,见下)Harvard Accused of Bias Against Asian-Americans
【3】(华邮)个人专栏The misleading lawsuit accusing Harvard of bias against Asian Americans
【4】(洛杉矶时报)For Asian Americans, a changing landscape on college admissions
【5】搜搜“Charles Liu SAT 150”
【6】不管能否成为大师,优秀的教育通常能造就社会栋梁,能干又不争,这是为什么亚裔容易被接收,也容易被欺负。
【10】Demographics of US College Graduates in 2013
【11】If Asian Americans saw white Americans the way white Americans see black Americans(此标题很逗:(美国)亚裔瞧白人就像白人瞧黑人一般)
【12】(皮尤研究中心)Race in America: Tracking 50 Years of Demographic Trends
【华尔街日报】
Harvard Accused of Bias Against Asian-Americans
Complaint alleges university sets higher bar for applicants to limit Asian enrollment
A complaint Friday alleged that Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants by setting a higher bar for admissions than that faced by other groups.
The complaint, filed by a coalition of 64 organizations, says the university has set quotas to keep the numbers of Asian-American students significantly lower than the quality of their applications merits. It cites third-party academic research on the SAT exam showing that Asian-Americans have to score on average about 140 points higher than white students, 270 points higher than Hispanic students and 450 points higher than African-American students to equal their chances of gaining admission to Harvard. The exam is scored on a 2400-point scale.
The complaint was filed with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.
“Many studies have indicated that Harvard University has been engaged in systemic and continuous discrimination against Asian-Americans during its very subjective ‘Holistic’ college admissions process,” the complaint alleges.
The coalition is seeking a federal investigation and is requesting Harvard “immediately cease and desist from using stereotypes, racial biases and other discriminatory means in evaluating Asian-American applicants.”
Robert Iuliano, Harvard’s general counsel, said the school’s admissions policies are “fully compliant with the law.” The school says its admissions process takes into account a variety of factors besides academics, including applicants’ extracurricular activities and leadership qualities.
“Within its holistic admissions process, and as part of its effort to build a diverse class, Harvard College has demonstrated a strong record of recruiting and admitting Asian American students,” Mr. Iuliano said in a statement. He said the percentage of Asian-American students admitted to the undergraduate school rose to 21% from less than 18% in the past decade.
But the group that filed the complaint said that percentage should be much higher given the increasing numbers of Asian-American students that apply.
“There is a lot of discrimination, and it hurts not just Asian-Americans, it hurts the whole country,” said Yukong Zhao, a 52-year-old Chinese-American author who helped organize the coalition. He said there are longtime stereotypes of Asian applicants’ being “not creative enough or risk-taking enough, but that’s not true. Nearly half of the tech start-ups in the country were started by Asian-Americans. Every one is a great example of creativity, and risk-taking and leadership.”
The complaint argues that elite schools “that use race-neutral admissions” have far higher Asian-American enrollment than Harvard. At California Institute of Technology, for instance, about 40% of undergraduates are Asian-American, about twice that at Harvard.
The allegations come six months after a group called Students for Fair Admissions argued in a federal lawsuit that Harvard uses preferences to reach specific racial balance on its campuses.
Thomas Espenshade, a Princeton University sociologist who has done work on race in college admissions, said the complaint was the result of long-simmering anger in the Asian-American community.
“Up until five or 10 years ago the response has been, ‘Well we just have to work harder,’ ” Mr. Espenshade said. “But over the last decade, more groups are starting to mobilize, saying we don’t have to just accept his, we can push back against it.”