Southwest Chinese Journal (Stafford, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 1, 1982 Page: 6 of 16
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Page 6
^ il] ^ll Southwest Chinese Journal
July 1-15, 1982
/
The Waki Case:
A Victory for Whom?
by Raymond Lew
The Betty Waki case has become something of a rallying
point for the Houston Asian American community. The case
can be easily summarized. As a result of the desegrega-
tion lawsuit filed against HISD, the Singleton ratio was
developed to move HISD toward an integrated school systun.
This ratio mandates that the faculty at each HISD shall
consist of a certain percentage of white, black, and His-
panic teachers. Asian American teachers are not recogniz-
ed as a separate group, but are classified by HISD as
white. Betty Waki, a Japanese American, teaches art at
Sharpstown Senicr High Schocl. In order to come into com-
pliance with the Singleton ratio, a white teacher had to
be transferred frcm Shcrpstewn. Because cf a projected
decline in art enrollments, Waki was selected as. that
White teacher. Protest? against this decision were ini-
tiated by Waki's students, colleagues, and segments of the
Houston Asian American community. The result of these
actions was that HISD has decided for now to keep Waki at
Sharpstovn. Hew long she will be atle to remain there and
whether the Singleton ratio will be revised to recognize
Asiar Americans as a separate category ramain open ques -
tions. Victory?
Most of those involved hail this as a victory not only
for Waki individually, but also for Asian Americans col-
lectively. And indeed, there are aspects cf the case that
roust te applauded. At an individual level, the decision
to keep Waki at Sharpstown corrects what would have
been an injustice to an excellent teacher. At the commu-
nity level, the case demonstrates that the Asian American
community can mobilize and be effective in the political
process. At the policy level, the public outcry has
forced HISD to confront the absurdity of classifying Asian
Ameiicans as white. These are positive results, which we
must learn from and build on.
But there are other aspects of the case which I find
troubling and which make this "victory" highly ambiguous.
I refer to the attitudes and sentiments expressed by those
people who supported Waki and, more fundamentally, to the
widely shared frame of mind on which these attitudes and
sentiments are based. These attitudes and sentiments have
been conveniently collected together by Waki's supporters
in a file entitled The Singleton Ratio as Applied to Asian
Teachers in the Houston Independent School District (here-
after referred to as the File). The File consists of sup-
porting documents, sample letters of support, and the pub-
lic testimony on behalf of Waki given before the Board of
Trustees on June 17, 1982. The File was submitted to the
Board of Trustees and, thus, constitutes the public case
for Wak i.
One Minority Against Another
What attitudes and sentiments are revealed in the File?
Perhaps the major sentiment revealed is an animus toward
nonwhites, especially blacks. This animus is invariably
muted, but it is unmistakably present. Consider the fol-
lowing passage from one of the letters of support :
Telephone:
The Asian American Community may well be your best
partner in teaching our society to respect the in-
stitutions of public education. We may be the only
community that is culturally tied to the notion
that learning and teachers are to be revered.
(File, p. 12)
This is intended as a comparison of Asian Americans with
the other racial minorities concerning respect for educa-
tion. But it is an invidious comparison. First, the claim
that Asian Americans respect and value education more than
the other minorities is suspect. Besides anecdotal ac-
counts, is there any systematic evidence to support such
a claim? Without such evidence, we can only fall back on
stock stereotypes. But even if this claim were true, the
explanation of these different levels of respect for edu-
cation lies not in any comparison of Asian culture with
black or Hispanic culture. Rather, the more correct ex-
planation for such differences would lie in the recogni-
tion of the different historical circumstances and forces
that shaped each minority's experience in America and their
subc^quent views of education. To make the above state-
ment without acknowledging these different histories serves
no useful purpose. The only purposes it does serve are
to set one minority against another and to lead the reacfcr
to conclude that Asian Americans are superior (culturally?
intellectually?) to the other racial minorities. Another
supporter is not so indirect:
Basically, I see the Singleton decision as one for
affirmative action. Ideally, the Singleton Ratio
should be abolished. It never should have existed.
Its sole purpose was, and is, to help the minori-
ties it recognizes, the Blacks and the Hispanics.
This is morally wrong because it helps the Blacks
at the expense of the Whites, Orientals, and others.
It is morally wrong to try to correct the past
persecutions of Blacks by now helping them to an
extreme. (File, pp. 32, 16)
While legitimate questions can be raised about the intent
and practice of affirmative action programs, what strikes
me about this passage is the not so subtle alignment of
blacks and Hispanics on one side and whites, "Orientals",
and others (?) on the other side. This despite the fact
that affirmative action programs were initiated to correct
past and present discrimination against all racial minori-
ties, including Asian Americans (not to mention women and
handicapped). The proper course of attack should have
been on the error of classifying Asian Americans as white.
But this error is lost sight of and the attack becomes a
generalized one on blacks, Hispanics, and "their" affir-
mative action programs. Why does the attack take this
turn? I would suggest that it is due to an unacknowledged
animus toward racial minorities. What this passage illu- .
strates is the process of scapegoating. Rather than at-
tacking the American system of institutionalized racism,
the attack is aimed at the victims of that racism.
"Reverse Discrimination"
From the same supporter we have:
This is a clear case of reverse discrimination...
I never thought that a case of reverse discrimi-
nation, with such far-reaching consequences, would
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Southwest Chinese Journal (Stafford, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 1, 1982, newspaper, July 1, 1982; Stafford, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth273776/m1/6/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.