That was the quote. Currently whites don’t benefit from affirmative action, but they have in the past when comapred to post 209 era when white enrollment went down. At the very least you have to admit that in California, whites were not hurt by affirmative action pre-209.

Asian-Americans of all ethnicities are hurt by affirmative action. Even the least represented Asian group, Filipinos are still 112% represented. If we have affirmatiev action, all Asian groups will drop.

First: “As a white progressive in twLF”. How pathetic.

Second: “Whites, blacks, Latinos and Latin Americans benefit from affirmative action.” Sorry, dear, but whites DO NOT benefit from affirmative action, which is curious when (and if) you think about it, since they also are a minority of the state population and an under-represented minority in university admissions. To which I would add that no difference is generally made between “latinos” and “latin americans”. To which I would add that it’s not generally called “affirmative action” anymore but rather “diversity in admissions” or “racial preferences”.

“hahaT”

And yes, I did run under “No More Asians.” To clarify I do think that Asians are pushed up against a wall in being forced to support affirmative action because of “diversity”. It’s probably the most threatening legal issue that Asian-Americans have to fight, but we need to present it in a way that both progressives and conservatives of alle thnicities will join our cause to fight it instead of in an ethno-centric fashion.

I think some statistics that might help people understand where I’m coming from are at http://resipsaloquitur.blogspot.com/. Every Asian group actually is over-represented like Proud and Asian asserts, and each group is impacted negatively through affirmative action. Whites, blacks, Latinos and Native Americans benefit from affirmative action but Asian-Americans are all greatly hurt by it.

My campaign was not a joke, poking fun at Asian-Americans for not having problems, as many people have asserted. I’m surprised that I usually got laughs and giggles from people about my campaign (Student Action and CalSERVE alike) while only very few people were upset in the way I intended it to be. Beign a model minority means that you are automatically misunderstood by both whites and minorities, conservatives and liberals and often used as examples for why or why not people should support certain policies. At best, we’re sometimes dehumanized by groups of people and forced on a chopping block with issues liek affirmative action and admissions. I disagree with Proud and Asian’s assertion that the APA community isn’t supported by the TWLF but I also feel that the ethnic studies department, especially Asian-American studies needs to reexamine affirmative action and continue a debate instead of acting like affirmative action is a policy all APA and other minority groups should be supporting.

For the record, Taylor’s comment about the APA leaders is true, we need to be proud of all APA leaders in the senate. I am proud of Yvette Felarca, for example, for keeping the debate on affirmative action going and making enough people on both sides riled up to talk about those issues. I’m also proud of others like Taylor who are willing to comment on CalStuff to fight for issues they care about. We should also remember that we have Ed Lam, Billy Wang, Sapna Mehta, Rits Encarnacion, Jesse Yang, Yvette Felarca, Ki-Hong Li, Chris Abad, Vishal Gupta, David Kim and Anthony Lin in the senate, and Sharon Han and Anil Daryani in executive seats so APA’s are actually overrepresented in the senate and executives, an achievement over “Asian apathy”. Many APA senators are against affirmative action and many are for affirmative action which will at least keep a strong debate in the APA community.

The twLF could give a damn about Asians…. “Progressives” dislike us more than they dislike white people. A large portion of the twLF is white progressives who hate Asians as well.

No. Sorry, P&A, but that comment is just plain false. As a white progressive in twLF (I don’t know if I make up a “large portion” of the organization, but okay), here are my two cents:

Some of the most active members of the twLF identify as Asian or Pacific Islander (including East Asians). twLF’s mission is to defend and support the Ethnic Studies departments and related departments, including Asian American Studies. twLF efforts were instrumental in the creation of the Multicultural Student Development (MSD) offices (including the APA Student Development office); the APA Student Development Coordinator is also the director of MSD. Note that in the newly signed MOU, students appointed by the MSD offices are the majority of the programming board.

Much of the programming that has already taken place in Heller Lounge (for the past year MSD and student groups have been putting on programming in there, in case you didn’t know) is related to the APA community. Last year I attended a vigil put on by Gabriella Network in honor of API victims of sex trafficking. Two weeks ago Yuri Kochiyama, one of the most prominent Asian American activists in history, spoke in Heller Lounge (the event was covered by the Chron)

I fail to see how twLF has excluded Asian Pacific American students from the collective or its efforts. Anthony Lin (whom you listed as a “strong Asian leader”) is one of the most enthusiastic twLF members and emceed the Night of Cultural Resistance last year, one of Heller Lounge’s most popular events.

Also, why did you choose not to list APA senators Sapna Mehta, Rita Encarnacion, Vishal Gupta, Chris Abad and Yvette Felarca as “strong Asian leaders”?