Most Asian Americans Don’t Support Race-Based Admissions. Why Did Their Advocacy Groups Argue In Favor Of It?

A report released following the Supreme Court ruling that ended race-based admissions in higher education, found that most Asian advocacy groups filed legal briefs in support of race-based admissions, despite an overwhelming majority of Asian Americans saying they don’t support these standards.

Asian Americans, disproportionately affected by race-based admissions for decades, have been supportive of ridding the admission process of racial preferences, and they disagreed with Asian advocacy groups who argued against them on Thursday. A report by the Manhattan Institute found that, of the amicus briefs filed in the Students for Fair Admission case, a significant gap exists between the opinion of Asian Americans and the opinion of the advocacy groups on racial preferences.

The report reveals that 63%–76% of Asian Americans do not support using race-based admissions in higher education, and 91.7% of the Asian advocacy groups that filed an amicus brief in Students for Fair Admissions did so in support of this policy, according to the Manhattan Institute. (RELATED: Federal Court Upholds Race-Based Admissions Policy At Nation’s Top High School)

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 29: Supporters of affirmative action protest near the U.S. Supreme Court Building on Capitol Hill on June 29, 2023 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Only four Asian American advocacy groups were found to have filed briefs in favor of the overturning of race-based admissions, all of which were made up of immigrants and parents of students, according to a tweet from Renu Mukherjee of the Manhattan Institute. The groups included the Silicon Valley Chinese Association, the Asian American Coalition for Education, the Asian American Legal Foundation and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York (CACAGNY).

“Since inception, CACAGNY has been against race-based admissions. We hold that racial discrimination in education is illegal, immoral, dehumanizing, and toxic,” the organization told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Graphs from my new @ManhattanInst report depict how out-of-touch public interest groups purporting to represent Asians in the U.S. are: 63–76% of Asian Americans oppose racial preference, yet 92% of Asian advocacy groups that filed amicus briefs in SFFA did so in support of Harvard or UNC. pic.twitter.com/7ezdTSm6CE

Renu Mukherjee (@RenuMukherjee1) June 30, 2023

The report also revealed that left-wing organizations had an impact on the way advocacy groups filed briefs. It was found that advice groups that are in favor of keeping race-based admission received approval from the staff of left-leaning foundations and organizations, according to the report.

The Manhattan Institute report claims over 83% of the advocacy groups that filed amicus briefs in the Students for Fair Admissions case supported racial preferences during the admission process. The Manhattan Institute report claims this is likely because many of these advocacy groups receive some form of support from foundations and corporations and are operated by staff that tend to be on the left.

The Silicon Valley Chinese Association, the Asian American Coalition for Education, the Asian American Legal Foundation and the Manhattan Institute did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article has been updated with comment from the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York.

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