Amplifying Asian American Presence

Asian Americans ¹ are considered to be one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, and proportionately, they enroll more adults in higher education than any other race group. Yet they have historically been largely absent in major legal deliberations about the application of race in college admissions. According to Frank Wu (2002), in his groundbreaking book Yellow, “Leaving out Asian Americans from consideration of affirmative action and relegating us to the role of bystanders suggests that we are neither American nor minorities” (pp. 139–140). By engaging more publicly in these debates, Asian Americans could not only further amplify their presence in U.S. society but also reduce the chances of being what Wu described as “inserted cynically into the affirmative action debate” (p. 140). Recently, Asian Americans took on Wu’s challenge by amplifying their presence in a high-profile court case.