From the DeVine Gift to the Devil's Bargains: Asian Americans in the Ideology of White Supremacy

Abstract

This Essay is part of an Online Symposium on my Article, “Asian Americans, Racial Stereotypes, and Elite University Admissions,” 102 Boston University Law Review 233 (2022). The Essay replies to commentaries by Professors Stacy Hawkins, Robert Chang, Matthew Shaw, and Shakira Pleasant. In response to their comments, I draw from the late Professor Derrick Bell to argue that negative action—discrimination against Asian Americans in elite admissions specifically in favor of similarly-situated White Americans—is a part of the logic of White supremacy and merits more attention from racial justice advocates. Although negative action was not proven in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, Asian Americans have reasonable, well-warranted concerns about it. It has long been apparent in various ways that Asian Americans are an increasing threat to White supremacy precisely because of their relative academic success. Racial justice advocates have largely ignored this context and dismissed allegations of negative action, simply because of the high representation of Asian Americans in elite educational spaces. Doing so itself plays into the “model minority” stereotype. And ignoring discrimination against Asian Americans, even where we are well-represented, has more wide-ranging consequences. It reinforces White supremacy, and it undermines the very multiracial coalition that racial justice advocates have long been touting and trying to build.

Keywords: Asian Americans, Discrimination, Admissions, Affirmative Action, Negative Action