WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thursday morning, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts released a landmark decision, demanding Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill end anti-Asian racism in admissions, Yukong Mike Zhao, an immigrant from China, rushed to the steps of the Supreme Court, off First Street NE, as other Asian American immigrant parents descended on the capital to celebrate.
“Today marks a sweet but long-fought victory for the Asian community,” said Zhao, softly and passionately. All morning, WeChat and WhatsApp channels, popular with Asian Americans, had been exploding with messages in support of Students for Fair Admissions, the group that brought the lawsuits, including a simple exclamation: “!!!”
Before Zhao could get much further, a young activist cupped her hands over her mouth to shout him down, yelling: “Stop trying to be model minorities!”
Behind Zhao, we watched stunned, supporting the retiree with cheers, but that heckling was just the first salvo in an afternoon of taunting, intimidation, and slurs that activists fighting the Supreme Court decision hurled.
Hours later, I left the Supreme Court, drenched in shock and sweat, with a very important revelation from the experience: the aggression we faced is a harbinger of things to come. The Biden administration and Democratic special interest groups and activists are deeply committed to fighting the decision, and I left certain of this: they will put in place a new campaign that will be akin to the “Massive Resistance” of the 1950s when Southern Democrats
