Asian American Groups Say University of Pennsylvania’s Failure to Fire Racist Law Professor Amy Wax is “Simply Unacceptable”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2022

Media Contact:
Andrew Peng, Communications Associate
andrew.peng@ocanational.org

Washington, D.C. — OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, one of the nation's oldest Asian American civil rights organizations, joined its Philadelphia and Pittsburgh chapters on Wednesday in urging the University of Pennsylvania to fire disgraced white supremacist law professor Amy Wax, who faced widespread condemnation this month for racist comments advocating for “fewer Asians” and “less Asian immigration” to the U.S.

In a letter delivered to Penn President Amy Gutmann and Carey Law School Dean Theodore Ruger, OCA called for the university to take “appropriate steps” to “ensure her immediate removal.” While Penn has cited Wax’s tenured status in the past as reason for her continued employment, the nonprofit argued that “to allow her to hide behind [tenure] without any repercussions is simply unacceptable.” The full letter is available here.

“Penn Law has already acknowledged that Amy Wax’s xenophobic, racist views harm its Asian American students, faculty, and staff. Yet the school has offered little transparency around how students are being protected,” said Linda Ng, National President of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. “It is stunning that in 2022, an openly white supremacist professor continues to teach at a prestigious American university, with the school claiming it is powerless to stop her.”

Wax has a history of making increasingly bigoted remarks thinly disguised as academic speech, writing in a 2017 op-ed that “all cultures are not equal,” arguing without evidence in 2018 that Black law students “rarely” graduate at the top of their classes, and stating at a 2019 conference that the U.S. would be “better off with more whites and fewer nonwhites.”

In a December 2021 podcast, Wax stated: "As long as most Asians support Democrats and help to advance their positions, I think the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.” Wax also baselessly claimed that people of South Asian descent “just love to bash America” and that Asian Americans possess “lack of thoughtful and audacious individualism.”

While Wax was barred from teaching mandatory first-year law courses in 2018, she is scheduled to teach at least two courses during the spring 2022 semester and reportedly retains a vote for faculty hiring. Neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Penn Law have indicated that she will face further, meaningful disciplinary action—raising questions of whether students are being adequately protected.

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About OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates

Founded in 1973, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national, member-driven social justice organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). Learn more about our work at ocanational.org/about.