In yet another disservice to its viewers, Telemundo, the Spanish-language sister television network of NBC, chose to blast the headline “Trump Against Minorities” when reporting on the Trump administration’s revocation of Obama-era guidelines on affirmative action.
To Telemundo, it apparently doesn’t matter that the Trump administration’s position on the issue was loudly applauded by representatives of the fastest-growing minority in the country: Asian-Americans, who would benefit from even higher representation in Ivy League schools if admissions were only merit-based, and did not take student body racial diversity goals into consideration.
"This is a triumphant moment for Asian American communities," the Asian American Coalition for Education said in a statement following the Trump administration’s action. But Telemundo chose to entirely ignore the important Asian-American angle to the story, preferring instead to deceptively and dishonestly portray the Trump administration’s move as somehow inherently anti-minority.
PAULINA SODI, NEWS ANCHOR, TELEMUNDO: President Trump’s administration has put an end to the practice of universities that favor the admission of racial and gender minorities to promote diversity. The suspension breaks with the guidelines that began to be applied in 2011 under the administration of Barack Obama, in a policy called Affirmative Action. Under the new system, schools will stop considering race as a criteria of admission. Civil rights groups raised their voice against the new measure, that they consider a step backwards.
Instead of a “step backwards” many Americans see the end of race-based admissions criteria as a “step forward” to a more truly color-blind society, in which selection criteria for any position is solely based on merit and the content of one’s character, not the color of one’s skin.
Below is the transcript of the entire above-referenced report, as aired on the July 4, 2018 edition of the Telemundo morning show Un Nuevo Día.
PAULIAN SODI, NEWS ANCHOR, TELEMUNDO: President Trump’s administration has put an end to the practice of universities that favor the admission of racial and gender minorities to promote diversity. The suspension breaks with the guidelines that began to be applied in 2011 under the administration of Barack Obama, in a policy called Affirmative Action. Under the new system, schools will stop considering race as a criteria of admission. Civil rights groups raised their voice against the new measure, that they consider a step backwards.
