Mona Charen writes today that blacks and Hispanics, and perhaps whites as well, object to the large numbers of Asians who are gaining acceptance into elite public high schools — numbers far beyond the Asian proportion of the population. In response, some schools are setting higher standards for Asians.

Charen suggests that the other groups just shut up and study and let merit be the deciding factor. This sounds healthy, but the situation regarding Asians and affirmative action is mixed. Many Asians do want quotas to ensure their numbers where they do not automatically excell. At the same time, they may not like the kind of quotas that limit their places when their qualifications are disproportionately superior. In an analysis at the University of California Santa Barbara website we read:

[Asians] are a racial minority group that has suffered from racism and blatant discrimination. However, some critics of affirmative action say Asian American students may be put at a disadvantage if universities give preference to other minority applicants who are black or Latino. “My sense is that most Asians are supportive of affirmative action generally, especially in employment and business. But the situation is a bit muddier for higher education,” said Bill Lann Lee, a San Francisco attorney who led the Justice Department’s civil rights division in the Clinton administration.

In other words, ethnic quotas are desirable in securing Asian numbers in business and employment, but not so desirable in education when they limit the numbers of Asians who would otherwise gain admittance. There are Asian activist groups on both sides of the issue. Given this, perhaps things are as they should be for now. But Mona Charen is correct in noting that the key to Asian success in school is study, focus, application, hard work, and that all groups could benefit from a lot more of that.