Remember the proactive parent, an 80-20 member, who wrote the "heart-felt,
"no holds-barred letter from a Chinese American," shown below?
"We, Chinese Americans, often relish ourselves as the smartest and
the most educated ethnic group in the country, but in some aspect,
we are also the most stupid and selfish. We spend $35 per half hour
to give our
children a piano lesson, countless hours of after school to
let them get ahead academically, move to good school districts, get
group average API of 997 or above, without asking whether the
academic performance will translate into equal opportunity in school
admission. . . . Each of us busy educating our kids while hoping some-
one else would be doing the heavy lifting for the greater community.
It is very selfish and has served us very badly. . . .
Success is NOT defined as you have to be three times as good to get
the same opportunity (This is what most Chinese American parents
are preparing their children for). . . .
Your 80-20 membership will be the best $35 or $50 you have ever
spent on your children."
Below is a very different letter from a very different parent. This parent
said his children were unfairly treated by Ivy League school's admission
policy. He suggested:
"I have some advice for Asian kids trying to get into the Ivies. . . .
Change your last name to an Anglo name. I'm almost serious
about that."
He even gave an example: "My granduncle changed his name to Wood
from Woo in the early 1900's to avoid discrimination."
Let's empathize with those Asian immigrants of a century ago who
anglicized their names. They faced impossible odds, so they sacrificed
their dignity to eek out a life. Today, sacrificing one's self-respect and dignity
to survive in the US is no longer necessary. All we have to do is to put our
shoulders to the wheel and push for equal opportunity. An example? "Your
80-20 membership will be the best $35 or $50 you have ever spent on your
children," said the proactive parent.
The frustrated parent, not an 80-20 member, is not alone. There are hundreds
of thousands of parents like him in our community -- all the more reason to help
80-20 PAC grow, we think.
Both letters were from REAL persons. A few words were changed, a few
deletions were made in the SAD letter to honor his request "to keep somewhat
anonymous." See his letter at the footnote.
Which type of parent will you choose to be?
Shall 80-20 PAC DOUBLE or DIE on March 21, 2013? You decide!
To join or donate, go http://www.80-20initiative.net or send your
chaeck to 80-20 PAC P.O. Box 603 Osprey, FL 34229.
Respectfully yours,
A volunteer,
http://www.80-20initiative.net . - - - - - - -
The Letter from the parent who half seriously suggested for Asians
to anglicize "your last names"
"I would not like this specific info posted, to keep somewhat anonymous. I
wanted to give you an example of the apparent bias there is against Asian
students at the Ivies. My child just got notifications of the college
applications. The student got rejected at basically every Ivy League school
and "near" Ivy, except one. Didn't even make the wait list except one.
The child has very high SATs (800 math) close to 800 verbal, 3.8+ GPA
from a nationally well-known very selective private school, four AP courses
all A's, all 5's on AP exams. Model student. Was one of a xxx kids in the
country selected for an yyy Award, and National Merit Finalist. It's ridiculous.
What more do Asian kids have to do these days to get into these schools?
I had another child who did graduate from Ivy, but he(she) only got into
only one, and had an SAT average significantly higher than the other kids
at her particular Ivy. It's really unfair. These kids work hard, jump through
a lot of hoops to prepare for college only to hit that invisible ceiling. . . ."
Act! Join 80-20. It's NOT TOO LATE.