Students rally against stereotypes

The Asian Pacific Coalition at UCLA held a forum called
“Can You Hear Us Now?” on Wednesday afternoon in
Meyerhoff Park, responding to a satirical Daily Bruin column
written by Jed Levine, a Daily Bruin contributor and fourth-year
international development studies student.

The forum, attended by 30 to 40 students, focused on the
perceived inequalities in higher education faced by Asian Pacific
Islander American students.

The Viewpoint column, titled “A modest proposal for an
immodest proposition,” was published Oct. 10. In the piece,
Levine satirically invoked common stereotypes against Asian
Americans in a discussion about the University of
California’s admissions policy.

In his column, Levine opposed affirmative action in response to
a rally in which hundreds of students gathered on campus to protest
the low number of underrepresented minorities being admitted to
UCLA. The protesters blamed the falling number of underrepresented
minority students on UC admissions policies.

The piece created a whirlwind of controversy among students and
communities nationwide.

“After the original article was published, the response
from the APIA community was unclear. A lot of people were angry,
but they didn’t know how to channel their anger,” said
Jason Osajima, director of the APC.

Osajima and other APC members said in the rally that the diverse
Asian Pacific Islander communities struggle to gain fair access to
education, and they believe the admissions process on college
campuses is biased against them.

APC, an organization of 21 different ethnic student groups,
organized the public forum after the Bruin published their letter
to the editor on Oct. 13, which had been drafted by four APC
leaders in response to Levine’s column.

Candice Shikai, a third-year philosophy student and assistant
director of internal affairs for APC, said the submitted letter to
the editor did not impart their views completely after it was
shortened for space.

“It wasn’t the message we wanted to send,”
Shikai said.

APC members passed out fliers while an enthusiastic group of
representatives spoke, including members of United Khmer Students,
African Student Union, Samahang Pilipino, Vietnamese Student Union
and Nikkei Student Union.

Members handed out fact sheets with statistics aimed at
contradicting a statement in Levine’s column that APIAs are
free from educational disparities and have plentiful educational
resources. The handout stated that “less than 10 percent of
Asian Pacific Islander American groups like the Khmer, Laotians,
Tongans and Fijians complete college.”

Club representatives listed poverty, gang violence and high
dropout rates for the vastly underrepresented Southeast Asian
communities in higher education as some of the major problems that
have yet to be recognized or resolved.

Osajima also addressed Levine’s statement, intended as
satire, that the large number of Asian American applicants to UCLA
is to blame for the lower numbers of other ethnic groups, namely
blacks and Hispanics.

He said the university’s admissions system is to blame for
the admissions numbers, not the large number of Asian American
applicants.

John Ellis, a first-year student in the law school, said though
he understands its position, he believes the APC failed to
understand Levine’s intentions.

“Of course, I think (the APC) has a right to be angry, but
I don’t think it is justified. I think they missed the point
(of Levine’s column),” he said.

Craig Ishii, a fourth-year history and economics student from
the Nikkei Student Union, said he believes education is vital in
eliminating stereotypes and developing acceptance.

“Without education there is only misrepresentation.
Representation creates identity, and articles cannot create my
identity for me. I am the only one who can create my
identity,” Ishii said.