The Deception of ‘Affirmative Action’
By The Editorial Board June 9, 2023 7:03 pm ET Harvard students join a rally with other activists as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a pair of cases that could decide the future of affirmative action in college admissions, in Washington, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press The Pew Research Center has released a new report headlined “Asian Americans Hold Mixed Views Around Affirmative Action.” But the subtitle on the same report suggests the respondents have far clearer views when they’re asked about what affirmative action actually means. “Most are skeptical of considering race and ethnicity in college admissions,” Pew says. The report comes as the Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings on the use of race in admissions by Harvard and the University of North C
Harvard students join a rally with other activists as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a pair of cases that could decide the future of affirmative action in college admissions, in Washington, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.
Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
The Pew Research Center has released a new report headlined “Asian Americans Hold Mixed Views Around Affirmative Action.” But the subtitle on the same report suggests the respondents have far clearer views when they’re asked about what affirmative action actually means. “Most are skeptical of considering race and ethnicity in college admissions,” Pew says. The report comes as the Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings on the use of race in admissions by Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
The survey first asked Asian-Americans if they had heard of affirmative action, and 74% said they had. Then Pew asked how many who had heard of affirmative action approved of it. The answer was 53%.
To its credit, Pew didn’t stop there. It went on to ask whether colleges should consider race or ethnicity in admissions, and only 21% supported that.
The survey also breaks down views by political and ethnic subgroups—for example, twice as many Democratic Asian-Americans as Republicans say affirmative action is good. But when it comes to racial preferences for college admissions, majorities of Indian (77%), Chinese (76%), Filipino (76%), Vietnamese (76%), Korean (72%) and Japanese (70%) background are opposed. Small wonder: At many leading universities, racial preferences reduce the number of Asian-Americans admitted, even those with superior qualifications.
Supporters of racial preferences in admissions prefer to disguise the practice with the words “affirmative action,” which implies a benign helping hand, rather than the ugly reality of bias based on skin color. Pew demonstrates the profound shift in popular opinion when you say what it really means in practice.
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