Maggie's Farm

Asians are not counted as minorities because they assimilate into mainstream culture and are generally economically successful. They almost always have 2 parent families and don't have children until after they get married. They put a high emphasis on education for their children and stay away from team sports, especially those that are physically punishing or that take significant time away from studies.

They therefore do not appear disadvantaged. The left will tell you that this is because they are considered "almost white" and are thus not discriminated against. The concept that they have this exactly backward - that their social and economic status follows from their behavior - seems to escape them.

I am an alumni of MIT. MIT has admissions policies that are geared towards ensuring racial and ethnic diversity among it's student body. They divide minorities into two classifications - "minorities", and "underrepresented minorities". The latter are those members of a minority group whose percentage in the MIT student body is less than their percentage of the U.S. population as a whole. Hispanics and blacks would be examples of underrepresented minorities. Asians of their various origins are not - there are far more Asian-heritage students at MIT than there are proportionately in the U.S. population. Underrepresented minorities who a) apply and b) are qualified for admission (and that's not fudged) are in fact all admitted. Those members of a minority group who are not underrpresented are admitted on the same basis as everyone else.

I am not aware of any group of underrepresented minorities who have changed status to become merely minorities.