I’m a first / 1.5 generation Chinese immigrant in favor of affirmative action for URMs and feel that this was a good post, Razib. When I was younger, of course we were against AA and felt it was unfair. Especially since, where I grew up, Asians were on average poorer than African Americans and we got our butts kicked regularly by URMs.

This isn’t because I think it would be a good idea for the schools. I believe in expanding the pie, not shrinking it. Moreover, I think that sending our kids to state schools as opposed to the ‘Harvard or bust’ mentality can help boost the average of those state schools.

This is also for social stability, because developing a middleman minority group is an awful idea (c.f. Amy Chua’s book World on Fire). I was always told to remember the anti-Chinese pogroms throughout Southeast Asia.

I don’t know if Asian underrepresentation in the Ivy Leagues and upper echelons of society is really due to ‘character’ and leadership skills, but whether or not the general public sees itself reflected in the Asian leaders.

Anthropologically, tribes look for leaders that are culturally similar to them. Note the uproar over Obama’s election not just among whites, but also among blacks who did not view him as authentically African American because he is of recent immigrant descent.

Although the yellow / brown peril stereotype is there, there is no ‘firm’ color bar as long as the underlying culture is strong enough. Mixed race celebrities Chrissy Teigen, Nicki Minaj (who is Indo-Trinidadian) and Keanu Reeves are accepted as ‘local’ and neither of them look pure African or European.