Excited
I read in The San Jose Mercury News online today in “UC adopts ‘Count Me In’ application proposal” that:
“The University of California will revamp its undergraduate application to find out more about the Pacific Rim students who have become UC’s dominant face. Next year’s application will expand the number of Asian-American and Pacific
Islander categories to 23 – a nearly threefold increase from the current eight categories. The ethnic identification will continue to be optional and will not figure into admissions decisions, administrators said…The effort will help the university track groups that have not been adequately studied, such as Hmong and Samoan students, he said…Studies have shown that students from several southeast Asian countries 1/3 including Laos and Cambodia – are not as likely to attend college as those from Asian countries with more developed higher-education systems….”
That’s the challenge and irony of trying to unite under the category of “Asian-American” (and Pacific Islander) – for any ethnic group to have a voice, one needs numbers. Yet, those united numbers can also mask the differences in an uber-group.
What really struck me from the article was this statistic though:
“The number of Asian-Americans has surpassed white students in the UC system. On some campuses, such as Berkeley and Irvine, the numbers are overwhelming. Irvine has about twice as many Asian-American undergraduates as white students, and hundreds more Asian-American students than whites attend UC Berkeley.”
As someone who grew up in Western Massachusetts and as one of a handful of Asian-Americans amongst a mostly Caucasian student body, and an undergraduate university in upstate New York where Asian-Americans made up 15% of the students, the thought of Asian-Americans outnumbering Caucasian students (or any ethnicity for that matter) is sort of mind blowing. As I have said before, only in California…(and of course, Hawaii)
How does this post make you feel?
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.
If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."
"Asian-American" is a big umbrella, as pointed out, and in the past, Filipino-Americans have not been counted as Asian Americans by the UC system. One wonders exactly how useful a term is "Asian American" as it encompasses so very much.
As for going to a predominantly Asian college like UC Berkeley, what struck me when I went to graduate school there was how comfortable it felt. I grew up in the Bay Area, went to undergrad back East, and then went to grad school at UC Berkeley. What was most comfortable was not the sheer number of Asian Americans, but the fact that there were people there who had the same kind of background as me, growing up in largely Asian-American areas of California. Very few Asian-Americans had that same kind of background when I was an undergrad back East.
"Asian-American" is a big umbrella, as pointed out, and in the past, Filipino-Americans have not been counted as Asian Americans by the UC system. One wonders exactly how useful a term is "Asian American" as it encompasses so very much.
As for going to a predominantly Asian college like UC Berkeley, what struck me when I went to graduate school there was how comfortable it felt. I grew up in the Bay Area, went to undergrad back East, and then went to grad school at UC Berkeley. What was most comfortable was not the sheer number of Asian Americans, but the fact that there were people there who had the same kind of background as me, growing up in largely Asian-American areas of California. Very few Asian-Americans had that same kind of background when I was an undergrad back East.
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Chinese New Year Lanterns
- Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet
- Help Fight Stereoptypes With Asian Crew Clothing
- Deftones’ Chi Cheng Wakes Up From His 3-Year Coma
- SXSW 2012 Has a Nice Handful of Asian Movies
- Woman In China Gives Birth To 15 Lb Baby
- Naruto & Dragonball Now Available On Barnes & Noble Nook
Recent Comments
- : Where is the Love? What if you were to accept what Biffer has to say as a minority talking to the Establisment of Black and... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : My reply is actually to "Where is the love?" – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Biffer, Here is one thing to notice though. Whites tell us they dont see color. Blacks tell us we as minority are in some ways... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : @whereisthelove @Biffer It's not that I'm turning it into a tirade against Blacks but folks seem to be on a lovely Kumbaya trip thinking that... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : @PhucDat You've obviously never heard of the "no asians, no fats, no fems" that's commonly referenced in the gay community. It's very frustrating and makes... – Asian Men Have The Highest Salary
APA Events
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons
Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Feb 25: (Los Angeles, CA) Past Present I Future Imperatives: Queer Space Time
Mar 3: (New York, NY) Vong Pak’s ‘Electric Shaman’ Concert
Apr 30: (Sacramento, CA) California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit 2012: iAdvocate
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
