Reply to Asian-American Groups Accuse Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale of Bias in Admissions

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Also, the Chinese Exclusion Act was overturned prior to the Civil Rights movement. Asians came here long before the Civil Rights movement.[/quote]

Everyone is equal under the law because of the 14th Amendment - one of the post-civil war Reconstruction amendments. Without it, it would be perfectly Constitutional today to deny birthright citizenship to immigrants, as many/most countries do, or for people of color to just have fewer rights. The Chinese Exclusion Act was part of political deal with Westerners so Southern Lost Causers could dismantle the gains of blacks after the civil war.

The Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act during WWII, but only allowed 105 Chinese immigrants and kept the bars on other Asian immigrants. 105! Immigration was regulated by a national origin quota system that gave 70% of all immigration slots to those from Germany, Ireland and England.  There was still an effective "Asiatic Barred Zone." Only with the repeal of the old system under the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 did Asian immigration open up in a meaningful way and the pace quickened thanks to the new law's priority for family reunification.

Since there were so few Asians (or other non-European immigrants) in the US in 1965 and they had so little political power, a reasonable person would ask why the law changed. It didn't change because former racists suddenly became enlightened. The simple answer is that the civil rights movement took it on as part of their overall effort to dismantle the legal structure of American apartheid. They didn't have to. They could have chosen not to bother. They could have just concentrated on legislation that would have benefited African-Americans. But, they stood on principle and made it possible for millions of people like my parents who came from Taiwan and for me to be full-fledged Americans.

That is one of the reasons why all the Asian-American civil rights organization support  affirmative action. That's why the entire Congressional Asian Pacific Islander caucus supports affirmative action.  [/quote]

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