Is it Racist feel turned off by a school because it has too many Asians?

[IloveLA]

<p>Is it racist? That’s obviously 11 pages worth of debatable. But is it short-sighted? Probably.</p>

[coureur]

<br>

<blockquote>
<p>It’s about personal preference.<<</p>
</blockquote>

<br>

<p>Okay, it’s personal preference. But if your personal preference is that you not share a classroom with people of another race, it’s also racism.</p>

<p>I’m sure the old segregationists of the South just considered it their “personal preference” too.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>

I hated the racial balkanization, the so-called “ethnic” neighborhoods, where your life was at risk if you wandered into the “wrong” neighborhood and didn’t look like the dominant ethnic group. That’s the way it was back in the 60s and 70s, anyway.

Interestingly, this is not how it was in NY in an earlier era - at least according to an African American guy who hangs out at our YMCA. He’s probably in his 60s and grew up in Hells Kitchen - he says the blacks and Irish hung out together all the time.</p>

[QwertyKey]

<p>I’ve always been of the opinion that people are more likely to associate themselves with others of their class and different race, than of different class and same race. (Given, I wasn’t alive in the 60s and 70s)</p>

[TatinG]

<p>Well, those who don’t apply to a UC school knowing that they are heavily Asian are in the minority (pun intended). </p>

<p>Applications were up again this year. </p>

<p>And the people of California still support Prop 209 overwhelmingly, knowing what the consequences of the Proposition were. So I’d say overall, the electorate aren’t biased against Asians.</p>

[Plainsman]

<p>I think there is just as much racism in Cali as in the East. Where did the Rodney King incident happen? It wasn’t Des Moines. </p>

<p>A black person deciding not to buy a house in a particular neighborhood because there are too many blacks is just as prejudiced as a white person (or Asian or Latino) who made the same decision. So looking around a college campus and deciding there are too many Asians IS certainly prejudice, no matter the race of the person who feels that way, including other Asians. </p>

<p>Is prejudice the same as racism? Does it matter?</p>

[TatinG]

<p>You’re right. The riots that followed the Rodney King verdict included a lot of attacks on Asian store owners in the South Central area. </p>

<p>But I think that the tens of thousands of applications and the millions of voters who supported Prop 209 are much more representative of the views of the people of California than either the police or the rioters of some 17 years ago.</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

Well, the major EECS, for which Berkeley is ranked 3rd or 4th for undergrad is a pretty compelling reason to go there.

</p>

<p>Certainly but only iff you don’t have an option to go to Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton or Caltech.</p>

<p>

I agree that the only people who seem to have a problem with it is other Asian students.

</p>

<p>It has nothing to do with only Asian as looking for diversity on the part of any student is not a bad thing.</p>

[ThisCouldBeHeavn]

<p>

Certainly but only iff you don’t have an option to go to Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton or Caltech.

</p>

<p>If Berkeley is ranked 4th (or 3rd) for that major (and assuming an interest in that major), why would there be 5 schools (one of which isn’t ranked particularly highly) that would negate that ranking?</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

My daughter used to hear similar things in high school from Asian classmates, along with jokes about her being a lemon cookie (white on the outside, yellow on the inside) because her attitudes were more typical of Asian students than white ones. She didn’t mind. It wasn’t intended to be offensive, and besides, it was true.

</p>

<p>I think it is typecasting and which should not be encouraged. I’ve always maintained that as five fingers are not equal similarly every one person of same race is not equal.</p>

<p>It is myth that asian as a group are stronger academically than others. The statistics are skewed by the fact that Asian Americans in US are a self selecting group and majority of them are here because of their academic skills.</p>

<p>If you will look for similar demographics in other ethnics group the matriculation of their children will be to similar universities.</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

Parentofivyhope, if that is so, then the sentiments about too many Asians goes for Asians too. I don’t think African Americans who don’t want to go to colleges that are predominantly black are being racist. In fact, wouldn’t it be racist to only consider such schools? Or is being racist a more narrow definition? I think there is a nuance in the definition that is very negative and has ill will which is not always the case in making certain decisions like a college.

</p>

<p>I prefer to live in a more cosmopolitan area that is my preference but if I refuse to live next to a particular race then I will be racist.</p>

<p>Similarly a student may prefer to attend a more diverse university than UCB but if the student refuse to live in a room with another asian then it is racism.</p>

[TatinG]

<p>But the students competing to get into colleges here are American Asians. And as a group, Americans of Asian descent do do better on SATs and in grades. And that would include the descendants of those who came to work on the railroads, the boat people from Vietnam not just the children of scientists. </p>

<p>But this thread isn’t about The Bell Curve. It’s about others responses to Asians’ academic successes and comfort or lack of comfort with that.</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

Okay, it’s personal preference. But if your personal preference is that you not share a classroom with people of another race, it’s also racism.</p>

<p>I’m sure the old segregationists of the South just considered it their “personal preference” too.

</p>

<p>Again not choosing UCB is not same as refusing to sit next to Asian in a class which can happen at Stanford, Harvard or any other college.</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

If Berkeley is ranked 4th (or 3rd) for that major (and assuming an interest in that major), why would there be 5 schools (one of which isn’t ranked particularly highly) that would negate that ranking?

</p>

<p>That was the point that even though Harvard and Princeton don’t rank higher than UCB in EECS it still make sense to go there for under graduation than to go to UCB.</p>

[mimimomx3]

<p>

Okay, it’s personal preference. But if your personal preference is that you not share a classroom with people of another race, it’s also racism.</p>

<p>I’m sure the old segregationists of the South just considered it their “personal preference” too

</p>

<p>You may not agree with it, and neither do I, but everyone in the US has the right to associate with whomever they choose. The government can’t discriminate, but people can.</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

But the students competing to get into colleges here are American Asians. And as a group, Americans of Asian descent do do better on SATs and in grades. And that would include the descendants of those who came to work on the railroads, the boat people from Vietnam not just the children of scientists.

</p>

<p>True, but if you look at UCB you will find only few of the Asian sub groups are over represented, the group you mention are similar to Hispanic or African American are under represented but since they are painted with the same colors hence they don’t get the benefit of URM.</p>

[ParentOfIvyHope]

<p>

You may not agree with it, and neither do I, but everyone in the US has the right to associate with whomever they choose. The government can’t discriminate, but people can.

</p>

<p>Wrong; even people can’t discriminate. That is why I said that choosing a school because it is less diverse is not racism but refusing to stay in the same dorm room with a student of a particular race is racism and is not allowed.</p>

[Jersey13]

<p>

It is myth that asian as a group are stronger academically than others. The statistics are skewed by the fact that Asian Americans in US are a self selecting group and majority of them are here because of their academic skills.</p>

<p>If you will look for similar demographics in other ethnics group the matriculation of their children will be to similar universities.

How are Asian-Americans in the US a self selecting group? The majority of them definitely did not emigrate to the U.S. because of their “academic skills” and to claim so is simply erroneous. Unless you are choosing to ignore roughly 100 years of immigration history, I honestly can’t see how you could possibly form such a conclusion. </p>

<p>Asian-Americans are a stronger applicant pool than other racial groups, that is not a myth.</p>

[TatinG]

<p>Yes. People can, but the question is should they. I suppose you can still have segregated clubs in this country, but is that right? </p>

<p>I believe in one standard for all people. So if someone would be a racist for saying that she wouldn’t attend X University because it has too many (fill in the blank with any race), then that may be personal preference but it is also racism, no matter which race one is trying to avoid.</p>

[TatinG]

<p>Jersey 13 is right. In my area there are many descendants of the Vietnam boat people. I don’t think they self-selected academically when they scrambled for those rafts to get out of Vietnam. California also has the descendants of those who worked in the gold fields and on the railroads, descendants of Japanese fishermen and so on. Only a very few came to be rocket scientists.</p>