The Thought Project - Episode 39 - Interview with Margaret Chin

CUNY Graduate Center

Professor Margaret Chin is a faculty member at Hunter College and The Graduate Center of The City University of New York where she has been engaged at the center of debate on affirmative action in the Harvard legal case and the New York City elite high school testing controversy as a result of her research and advocacy. Chin is a professor of sociology. She received her B.A. from Harvard University and her Ph.D. from Columbia University. Chin is also a faculty associate of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, a member of the CUNY Mapping Asian American New York consortium, and a trustee of the Tenement Museum. Professor Chin said: “In general, Americans really believe Asian Americans as a whole have done really well, therefore all these other things—the undocumented, mental health issues, just getting into regular everyday schools, not the elite schools—all of these things are actually of concern to Asian Americans. It’s not just about doing the best, getting the best jobs; it’s not about getting into the best schools, although those are issues too. But Asian Americans are a diverse group, and that image has actually hurt many Asian Americans; and that is one of the reasons why you do not see them listed among the undocumented.”