TO THE EDITOR:
On Monday, the Project on Fair Representation filed a lawsuit against UNC alleging race has been the decisive factor in college admissions, violating the 14th Amendment rights of Asian and white students.
As Asian-identified students attending UNC, we believe this lawsuit is misguided and ignores the importance of addressing racial inequalities and histories of discrimination in the United States, especially in the South. Although the current system isn’t perfect, education cannot remain a tool to continue elite and privileged white domination.
As a public institution, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a duty to reflect education toward state demographics — especially within a campus where Asian-Americans are over-represented at 15 percent of the class of 2018. We cannot ignore almost one-third of the state’s population who identifies as African-American or Latina/o.
Additionally, we must question the right of the Project on Fair Representation to delineate who does and does not deserve to be at this university. The white plaintiff has chosen academic grade point averages and SAT scores as his basis of racial discrimination.
These factors are insufficient as sole proof of merit and do not address the institutional failures associated with our current system of education in the U.S. Some students can pay for SAT classes, obtain transportation to extracurricular activities to pad their resumes, move to locations with “better schools” and afford tutors for certain subjects.
We cannot look past the hard work and dedication it has taken all of our students to get where they are today.
