When news broke of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling striking down affirmative action, I rejoiced, along with countless other Asian Americans.
To celebrate, I tweeted about my brief exchange with my daughter: “I told my daughter that today is a big day. They’ve ended affirmative action. ‘Isn’t it what you’ve been fighting for?’ she asked. I said yes.”
Little did I know how that would trigger the lefty Twitterverse to launch ugly attacks on me, an ordinary immigrant Asian mom in New York City.
After decades of permitting colleges to use racial preferences — to right past wrongs and build a more diverse college classes — ending race-based admissions was monumental for Asian American parents like myself.
It was a ruling we’d long hoped for — for our children, all children, to be treated equally by colleges, regardless of race.
By the next morning, my Twitter notifications were on fire.
Media personality Soledad O’Brien quoted my tweet with an unexpectedly condescending, mean-girl snark: “Congrats on screwing over other people of color, ma’am! (Particularly those whose efforts in civil rights paved the way for your family to come to America!).”
The Atlantic writer Jemele Hill blew her own dog whistle: “Can’t wait until [your daughter] reads that you gladly carried the water for White supremacy and stabbed the folks in the back whose people fought diligently for Asian American rights in America.”
On Saturday, political lefty George Takei (a k a Star Trek’s Sulu) jumped in: “Congratulations. You have ASS: Asian Sucker Syndrome.”
Their millions of followers piled on for days, spewing thousands of disgusting anti-Asian xenophobic comments to my feed: “Asians should be grateful for what you get.” “You’re being used.”
There were calls for boycotts of Asian businesses and even death threats against me.
The attacks were vicious and relentless. Friends needed to check on my mental state and safety.
Even Asian progressive New York Rep. Grace Meng (D) suggested that I and other Asian Americans were being used as pawns in a deep-blue New York City by “white supremacists.”
What a ridiculous assertion!
Not one of my critics commented on the merits of the case.
This case has been escalating for years — one would have to be living under a rock not to miss the blatant discrimination against Asian students.
The data is notoriously incriminating and was widely reported: For applicants with similar qualifications, just one in eight Asians had a shot at Harvard, vs. one in three Hispanics and one in two blacks.
For the critics on the left, that’s perfectly acceptable: Subjecting Asian applicants to humiliating, subjective “personality ratings” to drag down their odds of being accepted is what this new breed of leftists really thinks about ordinary Asians.
The attacks still haven’t subsided, but my consolation is knowing a majority of Americans back my views.
In December, Pew Research reported “82% of US adults said colleges should not consider race or ethnicity when deciding which students to accept.”
And it’s not just Asian Americans who agreed but majorities of all races.
Most hard-working Americans want colleges to judge students on merit — academic achievement, honed talents and individual accomplishments.
Amazingly, these lefty elitists are also out of touch within their own tribe.
Even before this federal ruling, progressive California passed Prop. 209 in 1996, which overturned that state’s version of affirmative action for state universities.
Progressives were again dealt an embarrassing defeat in their attempt to repeal this in 2020, because even in deep blue California, Americans know it’s wrong to discriminate based on race.
Another upside to the ruling: It exposed the real bigots, especially those with special resentment toward Asians — namely, the privileged liberal elites who wanted us to sit on our hands as second-class citizens and not complain.
No single racial group has a monopoly on civil rights in America; rights granted to us by our Constitution and laws and per our founding principle of “equality” are for all of us to cherish and to defend.
As Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”
I, along with other Asians, am deeply grateful for this historic decision and proud knowing it was we Asian Americans who contributed to making our country a more fair and perfect union.
The land of equal opportunity and the American dream shines even brighter now.
Yiatin Chu is a New York City public-school parent, president of Asian Wave Alliance and cofounder of PLACE NYC.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
