In the following blog, I will be discussing Hasan Minhaj’s presentation and takes on specific political heated topics. Using comedy and graphics, Hasan does an excellent job in both presenting the matter at hand, and reflecting the many sides of the issues and debates. Affirmative action in particular was something I was introduced to through the video and in it, as well as the other videos, Hasan was able to explain the topic and get his points across.
Affirmative action
Affirmative action laws are "policies instituted by the government to help level the playing field for those historically disadvantaged due to factors such as race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. These laws typically pertain to equal opportunities in employment, education, and business" (HG). Private institutions such as universities have been implementing these policies to allow for a more diverse graduating class. One thing Hasan did really well was that he presented the topic using particular accounts. Each one gave new incite on the issue and brought out new questions and perspectives on it. He focuses on a number of lawsuits made against Harvard University by individuals that felt they should have been or knew someone who was turned down by admission. The argument for these lawsuits was that the only reason they were rejected was because someone else was given the seat through affirmative action. What was surprising was that one of these lawsuits was filed by the Asian American Coalition for Education and its president, Yukong Zhao. Hasan notes that Asian Americans are 5.8 percent of the U.S. population but comprised 22.2 percent of Harvard's admitted class last year.
Hasan’s argument can be phrased with the following question: why is there an effort in removing affirmative action when it comes to giving a chance to underrepresented minorities in these top tier schools, when there is an entire system of legacy admissions which takes from 10 to 15 percent of the admissions? This is not only a larger percentage than the acceptance of the minorities but are less focused on a holistic admission. This kind of favoritism not only gives an advantage to wealthy families, but also take the spots of thousands of minority students across the States that do have all the merit and capabilities to be in those seats. Essentially, we need to get our priority straight.
The topic hits home as NYU has a rigorous application process, with NYU Tandon pushing for a higher percentage of female class. NYU also has the OP programs such as HEOP and CSTEP, which allows for minority applicants who may be financially or academically disadvantage. Another program that has been taking a lot of heat lately is the SHSAT exam. The specialized high school admission test is taken by 8th graders to be accepted into the cities 9 specialized high schools. I took this exam myself and was admitted to Brooklyn Technical High School in 2012. Since then, more students have been applying to take the exam but the resulting breakdown of acceptances by race has illustrated serious pitfalls especially in top tier of the specialized high schools: Stuyvesant. Of the 895 of acceptances this year, only 7 were black.