"We are here to say no": US-Asian critics mobilize against Harvard admission policy

BOSTON – Lee Cheng, son of librarian and Chinese accountant, graduated a quarter of a century ago from Harvard University with a life story that represents an immigrant version of the American dream.

But on Sunday, Cheng criticized his alma mater for an admissions policy that he deems unfair because it takes race into account. With a hundred other people, he denounced a bias against Americans of Asian descent at a rally in Copley Square on the eve of a lawsuit in a federal court that will examine whether Harvard discriminates against this group.

"Let me ask you all, will Harvard have the opportunity to discriminate against our children?" Cheng asked.

"No!" Answered the crowd.

"Can anyone tell us that we are not 100% American?"

"No!"

Cheng, 47, of Orange County, California, graduated from Harvard in 1993, is co-founder of the Asian American Legal Foundation. The non-profit organization defends the civil rights of Americans of Asian descent and supports the lawsuit brought against Harvard by a group called Students for Fair Admissions. Cheng denied the suggestion that Americans of Asian descent who oppose positive action are "used" for a program of white supremacy. "Offensive, false and racist," he said.

The lawsuit alleges that the university's undergraduate examination, which is race-based, is biased against Americans of Asian descent and that Harvard limits the number of students admitted to this group. which gives preference to other students in a racial equilibrium class effort.

[As Harvard’s admissions policy goes on trial, alleged victims of racial bias remain anonymous]

Harvard denies the charges and says that it complies with Supreme Court guidelines that seeks to bring together a diverse class.

"I want you all to know that every Harvard College student is assertively admitted," said University President Lawrence S. Bacow in a statement to the community. "Every student brings something special to our community and contributes to our rich learning environment in a unique way. Harvard would be a boring place – and probably would not meet the educational aspirations we have for our students – if we shared the same backgrounds, interests, experiences and expectations for ourselves. "

The next trial stirs passions here on the Harvard campus near Cambridge and elsewhere as the last chapter of the nation's long debate on affirmative action. Many Americans of Asian descent claim that the lawsuit does not represent their point of view and the lawsuit should include testimony from Harvard students and alumni of Asian descent who support the admission policy. Some also demonstrated Sunday in Cambridge to support the policy.

But the rally that took place Sunday afternoon in Copley Square showed that there were significant divisions within a community covering many ethnic groups.

Jimmy Wong, 57, who works for the state government of Massachusetts, said he came to protest against a bias against Americans of Asian descent. For too long, he said, Americans of Asian descent were taken for granted as what he called a "silent minority".

"They think we are going to roll and play to death," said Wong, an immigrant from Hong Kong. "We are here to say no. We are now the vast majority. We have arrived where we are because we work hard. He said university admissions, just like justice, should be blind to race.

Karl Zhang, 58, a university professor from Fairfax County, Virginia, who is of US origin of Chinese descent, said that the school's admission policy is one of the highest-grade schools in the country. elite "is not good for us or for the United States". He made a comparison with discrimination against Jewish students several generations ago. "Why give us a much higher bar" for admissions? He asked.

Joseph Vijay Ingam, 41, from Los Angeles, is an admissions consultant at a college of Indian and Indian descent. He also came here to denounce Harvard's policy, claiming that his leaders were biased against a group of students "whose only crime is the color of their skin and the shape of their eyes". roots in Laos, Bangladesh and elsewhere in Asia.

Harvard is one of many selective colleges and universities to consider race and ethnicity in admissions. The heads of these schools, many of whom have filed briefs in favor of Harvard, deny that the process is tainted by racial prejudice. They say that race is only one factor among others in what is called a "global analysis" of applications. The trial that begins here Monday is a major challenge for this long established practice.