Liberals, conservatives polarized after affirmative action decision
Color Us United President Kenny Xu says culture is the source of Asian-American success in the U.S., not race.
NPR took heat Monday over a report claiming "the promise of proximity to whiteness" has "radicalized" Asian Americans, as part of its coverage following the Supreme Court's landmark affirmative action ruling.
"The promise of proximity to whiteness and power has radicalized some Asian Americans on the right," a section of NPR's piece read.
"That myth posits that Asian Americans are a ‘good’ minority group — assimilating and bootstrapping themselves into the American dream," the report continued, referring to the "model minority myth."
The report from the left-wing taxpayer-backed outlet cited Janelle Wong, director of Asian American studies at the University of Maryland, who said that "it's been used historically to undermine other non-white groups pressing for justice." It also referred, without quoting a source, to the Supreme Court as "far right."
An NPR report on affirmative action was blasted by critics as "offensive" for claiming Asian Americans were being "radicalized" in opposing the policy. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
"Asian-Americans who internalize this myth are also more likely to exhibit anti-Black attitudes and to be anti-affirmative action," she added.
NPR's report said that it was a "myth" that affirmative action negatively impacted Asian students.
Affirmative action activist Jeff Chang told NPR that Asians served "as this sort of mask for White privilege."
"A mask that white privilege can wear in order to hide itself," he said.
Some took issue with the story on Twitter, describing the piece as "embarrassing" and disrespectful.
"Asians might think they know what they want but they need NPR to help free them of their false consciousness," podcast host Jesse Signal wrote.
"Liberals believe non-white people who dissent from their ideology are just being manipulated by white people: they don't believe non-white people can dissent on their own," Glenn Greenwald wrote, adding that "corporate media" rarely allows those who "dissent [to] be heard."
The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in a landmark 6-3 ruling on Thursday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
The report also cited Sally Chen, who is part of the Chinese for Affirmative Action group, and told the outlet that Asians opposing affirmative action believed "Asian American rejection is directly tied to Black acceptance."
"This myth of affirmative action being harmful to Asian Americans is creating a deliberate racial wedge between communities of color," Chen told the outlet.
"Possibly the most embarrassing article @NPR has ever published. The reporter makes her opinion known early on, interviews a handful of sources who share that opinion, and never considers the many nuances and complexities baked into this story," Peter Savodnik, a senior editor at The Free Press, wrote.
Another described the article as being "offensive garbage."
Members of the Supreme Court (L-R) Associate Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Associate Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Elena Kagan, and Brett M. Kavanaugh pose in the Justices Conference Room. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)
The Supreme Court rejected affirmative action in a landmark decision on Thursday.
In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that, "A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination."
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NPR didn't respond to a request for comment.
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