Race Still Matters, Even If The Supreme Court Pretends It Doesn’t
HIP's Reflection on SCOTUS Affirmative Action Decision
When filling out college applications, as Hmong scholars, we’ve all had that moment of pause when we come across the “race/ethnicity” boxes. It is a feeling and anxiety that is unique to the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience:
”Will checking the box hurt my chances?”
“Are they going to judge me harder if I check the box?”
“It says for data purposes only, but is it really?”
“If I check Asian, does it capture who I really am? Do they even care if I’m Hmong? Do they know who Hmong people are?”
Even the most progressive among us have had those thoughts creep into our minds. That anxiety and hesitation is fueled by a fear of failure and disappointing your loved ones; it manifests as stress and pressure to validate your refugee family’s sacrifices and fulfill their expectations; and it is deeply rooted in a scarcity created by an unjust and inequitable system that limits opportunities and privileges the wealthy.
This fear and anxiety is real, and unfortunately, it is about to get much worse with the Supreme Court’s decision to ban race conscious admissions.
For nearly two decades, Hmong Americans in California have been living in and applying for schools and jobs in a “race blind” system. The nativist-led and anti-immigrant sentiment driven Proposition 209 was approved by California voters in 1996. In the immediate aftermath, admissions for Black, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander students were decimated. In the subsequent years after Prop. 209, the number of Black students attending schools like UCLA and Berkeley dropped to levels matching Jim Crow era admissions. While White and Asian admissions rose during these last two decades, it is still unknown what overall impact a “race blind” system has had on Southeast Asian students because (1) the UC and CSU system only recently gave a shit about collecting our disaggregated data and (2) this fight around creating a “race blind” system was never about us and was always about maintaining the status quo of inequity and scarcity.
So let's ask ourselves, in the last two decades of living in a “race blind” system, have you felt less anxiety? Have you felt more seen because you can now be judge strictly on your GPA and test scores? Do you feel like your civil rights are finally protected by the Constitution? Do you feel like you’re finally getting a fair shot? Do our young people look like they’re suddenly thriving in a “race blind” society or are years of mounting pressure taking a massive toll on their mental and physical health? This fight was never about protecting Asian Americans–because if it were, the race blind extremist crowd would give an ounce of care to the fact that Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death.
As California has shown us over the last two decades, eliminating affirmative action will do nothing to solve the underlying problems in the system–one that perpetuates massive achievement gaps in K-12 education, that disadvantages multilingual learners, that limits the number of available seats in higher education, that advantages wealthy neighborhoods and school districts, and that advantages nepo-babies and legacy alumni with privilege and influence.
As Justice Sotomayor writes in her dissenting opinion, “Ignoring race will not equalize a society that is racially unequal. What was true in the 1860s, and again in 1954, is true today: Equality requires acknowledgment of inequality.” The Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action nationwide is a giant step backwards for our community as it institutes a system of colorblindness that ignores the significant disparities that Hmong, Southeast Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American, Black and Latino students experience on a daily and generational basis. For those of us in California’s Central Valley, the ruling compounds the massive educational disparities, underinvestment, and opportunity gaps we’ve endured across multiple generations.
We join our allies Chinese for Affirmative Action in calling out the nativist and ultra conservative individuals behind the lawsuit, “it is critical for the public and the Asian American community to know that this lawsuit was brought by anti-civil rights litigator Edward Blum, with the clear objective of dismantling decades of progress for students of color. Because of the right-wing composition of the Court, Blum has now been able to hinder educational access for students of color. We note that Blum was also behind the 2013 lawsuit that gutted a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
As organizers in the Hmong community, we know it is important to acknowledge and address the anxiety that many in our community feel particularly as we are often pitted against other communities of color in a fight over an ever shrinking pool of resources and opportunities. As a community, we have to decide if we give into that fear and allow our voices and our struggle to be erased by those who could care less about our community’s progress. As a community, we also have to decide if we will become active participants in the fight for greater access and greater opportunities alongside other communities of color or if we stand on the sidelines and watch as more of our young people grind themselves down so they can keep up.
HIP is in this fight because our race & identity still matters and our race & identity will always matter.
Here are resources we’ve compiled from our partner organizations and allies leading in the fight for greater educational equity:
CAA: Topline messaging from Asian American advocates for affirmative action. These are the values and talking points that emphasize the ultimate goal of education: to allow students to follow their dreams, celebrate their identities, and reach their full potential.
CAA: Take action and sign the petition to colleges and universities around the country. We’re asking them to affirm the promise of education by standing up for racial diversity, discontinuing harmful admission processes, and implementing more support for students from underrepresented backgrounds.