For our public controversy group project, my group and I discussed several different topics. At one point, the topic of affirmative action came up (spoiler: we didn’t pick it), and it definitely brought up several opinions. As a minority in America, it’s simple for me to make an opinion about it since it is something that personally affects me.

I believe that affirmative action policies have good intentions, and they are by no means meant to add difficulty to others’ lives. However, by giving advantages to others solely based on race, even though it is an effort to lessen the hardship faced by groups in the past, it is discriminatory by nature. This is known as reverse discrimination. Affirmative action functions on the assumption that all people of a certain race have the same advantages, disadvantages, income, opportunities, etc., and that can’t possibly be true. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to consider things such as income instead, which I believe is a better representation of hardship than race. Honestly, I think it would be very progressive of our society to support race-blind applications and opportunities. This is not a topic that many organizations like to openly discuss because discrimination of any kind is strange to talk about. In fact, many organizations do the exact opposite and always add that they are an equal opportunity organization, which means that no one can be discriminated against due to gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. Penn State falls under this category, and they maintain that they do not consider race when looking at applications. However, I find it peculiar that there is always an optional area to mark your race on applications of any kind. It’s always for “statistic purposes” and I believe that,  but perhaps it would be better after the decision is made, or could be done with more anonmity just in case.

I have held this opinion regarding affirmative action since I first learned about it in my government class, and at this time, I was under the assumption that these types of programs helped all minorities alike. However, I actually found out that affirmative action policies put Asians at a disadvantage. For example, I have to score, on average, 140 points higher on my SATs to be given the same consideration as my white counterpart when applying to colleges. The fact that a group of people would have to score higher based on generalizations made about their race is just absurd.

Diversity is of course important, and it should be to any organization. Diversity of thought is necessary, and, as the melting pot, it is a great advantage for America to have. Penn State knows the benefits of diversity, and it also knows that it is lacking in it. I feel certain that this is something that they actively try to improve, but Penn State claims to not consider race in admissions. Instead, it just tries to recruit students from more diverse areas within the country and state. Penn State also tries to strengthen and create new ties with schools in other countries through exchanges or other methods. This encourages more international students to apply here. I’m supportive of these methods, because they are seem much more ethical and less controversial by far. There are several ways that we can improve our diversity without having to consider race in applications.

In my freshman seminar class, we watched “A Class Divided” which was a short film about a teacher who performs a social experiment on her class of 3rd graders after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Instead of just using words to describe what happened to her students, she decided to make them understand discrimination first hand. She told her students that blue eyed people were better, and she gave the students with brown eyes a collar. The teacher facillitated this experiment for the entire day, and it was not long before the students were bullying each other, both physically and emotionally. The next day, she switched it and said that brown eyed students were superior. The results were the same. After, she told the students about MLK and was able to tell them more about discrimination now that they experienced it to some extent.  She has performed this social experiment several times with students and even adults. It was suprising to see how similarly people reacted during this time, regardless of age.

Although this film is now a little outdated, I believe that the message still is relevant. We of course have made so many advances with women’s rights, gender equality, etc., but I still believe discrimination is still around. Perhaps it is not as blatant as before, but that doesn’t mean that people are no longer racist. In my first post, I mentioned how I am from an almost entirely white city, and as one of the only Asian-Americans, I definitely felt social discrimination to some extent. Some people called me “Asian” instead of my name, or sometimes people would make jokes or stereotypes because I am Japanese. When I got a good grade on a math test, it wasn’t because I studied, but because I was Asian. During the week that we were voting for senior class superlatives, people were trying to get others to vote for me and an Asian-American boy for best eyes, strictly because we were Asian. Eventually, I was voted most tech savvy. That has some basis (I hope) because I was president of my computer club and I also edited videos for my school’s broadcasting program, but I also heard that some voted for me because of a stereotype. When we learned about World War II in my high school classes, people would look back at me, as if I, a 19-year-old, was single-handedly responsible for bombing Pearl Harbor half a century before I even was born. If you think this only happens in Altoona, just spend 5 minutes on Yik Yak, and you will find a mean post about international students (usually those from Asian countries). Penn State is a predominantly white college, but it is certainly more diverse than Altoona, and at first, it was startling to read those posts. But it is important to keep in mind that the people who say these things represent an incredibly small percent of the population. For the most part, I would say that people are much more accepting now.

But if I’m being honest, I guess all of these things don’t bother me as much as they could or should, and I didn’t feel that it was a worthwhile fight because it wasn’t significantly impacting my quality of life. In the video, there was a boy that punched another boy that was discriminating against him, and the teacher asked if it made him feel better and if it solved the problem. He answered no to both. Also, what I felt were minor forms of discrimination compared to those during the 1960s, and they had a reason to protest and fight back.

The other day, I went to the Asian market with my friend, Tony. Before I came to Penn State, I used to drive up here to State College because there are so many authentic Asian markets here, and there were none in Altoona. The closest ones for us were up here. My personal favorite, Far Corners, has been shut down due to construction so we ended up going to the East Asian Market, which is on Blue Course Drive. There we reminisced over various Asian snacks that reminded us of our childhoods in Asia (he’s Chinese). There are a lot of authentic Asian snacks there, but it would be difficult to go there without knowing what you are looking for. So here is a list of snacks that I always buy from the Asian market.

1. First is mochi. This is one of my all-time favorite snacks. It is made with a rice powder dough on the outside, and the inside is filled with a red bean paste. It comes in a variety of flavors, such as green tea, strawberry, and orange (as show in the picture on the left). It has a chewy consistency, and the red bean paste is very sweet and almost chocolate like. Occasionally, mochi can have different fillings, and sometimes even fruit is added. Overall, they are a healthy and tasty treat.

2. Next is Koala’s March. These are by far the cutest snacks ever! They are small biscuits that are filled with chocolate. They are also made in different flavors such as vanilla and strawberry. These snacks are so cute, in my opinion, because each one is shaped like a koala and has a picture of a koala doing various things on it. For example, my friend and I just ate some today, and there were koalas dressed as cowboys, holding flowers, playing instruments, etc. Adorable! While these snacks may not be the healthiest, they are very tasty and support the Australian Koala Foundation, which is a koala conservation group.

3. Another favorite snack of mine is squid jerky. This may sound gross at first, but it’s actually very delicious! It is exactly what it sounds like- dried squid jerky. It is juicy, chewy, and flavorful, although I find that a lot of American brands make it much too salty. This was one of my go-to snacks in Japan.

4. Finally, another tasty and very healthy snack is natto. This is another snack that may sound gross at first, but I think everyone should try a new food at least once, even if it looks or sounds gross. These beans are fermented soy beans, and they are usually found in the frozen aisle in a small styrofoam container. In my opinion, the best way to serve them is cold over a bowl of warm and fresh rice with a raw egg and some soy sauce. It is incredibly sticky and it leaves an odd aftertaste in my opinion, but I will still gladly eat this any day. This snack is incredibly high in protein, and has numerous health benefits.

This was just a short list of some of my favorite Japanese snacks that are frequently found in Asian markets in America. Hopefully, if you ever find yourself near an Asian market, you will be able to go in and try some tasty new snacks!