The House on Tuesday passed legislation to aggressively investigate hate crimes, especially those targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, that have increased during the coronavirus pandemic.
The vote was 364 to 62; all the votes in opposition came from Republicans. The legislation heads to President Biden for his signature.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act in March after attacks against Asian Americans increased after the coronavirus emerged in China. Just five days after Hirono introduced the legislation, eight people were killed — including six women of Asian descent — in a mass shooting at three Atlanta-area spas. Continue reading.
The following article by Daniel Golden was posted on the ProPublica website August 9, 2017:
The Trump administration is preparing to investigate whether Asian Americans are treated unfairly as a result of admissions policies intended to boost the chances of other racial minorities. That inquiry should also look at colleges’ other major affirmative action effort — lower admission standards for applicants whose parents are alumni or major donors.
This story was co-published with Bloomberg View.
Harknes Tower stands on the Yale University campus in New Haven Connecticut (Craig Warga/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
More than a decade ago, I chatted with Asian-American seniors at Hunter College High School in New York City about their college admission prospects. One young woman told me she had scored 1530 out of a maximum 1600 on the SAT. When I congratulated her, she said that her score was what she and her friends called “an Asian fail.” She predicted it wouldn’t be enough to get into her dream school, Yale. She was right. The next day, she learned that Yale had rejected her.
I remembered our conversation when I read last week that the Justice Department plans to investigate a complaint by Asian-American organizations that Harvard discriminates against them by giving an edge to other racial minorities. My immediate response was: right victim, wrong culprit.
