The Amy Wax Debate Continues

An exchange with Yiguang Ju

Many people have taken issue with statements made about Asian immigration by University of Pennsylvania Professor Amy Wax on her latest appearance on The Glenn Show. You can find those statements in the episode, in this excerpt and transcript from the episode, and in this post, where she responds to a reader’s critique. I understand where many of her critics are coming from, as I strongly disagree with Amy’s positions on Asian immigration myself and said as much in our conversation.

Recently, I received an email from Yiguang Ju, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton and President of the Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering. He attached an open letter from the AAASE to UPenn President Amy Gutmann condemning Amy Wax and her statements on my show. In the body of the email, Professor Ju also appeared to suggest that Amy Wax’s presence on TGS raised questions about my own credibility and scholarship, and I responded to it forcefully. As it turns out, Professor Ju’s apparent indictment of me was the result of an unfortunate typo on his part, and he apologized for the error. I, of course, accept his apology.

Nevertheless, my response to Professor Ju contains some reflections on the purpose and value of this newsletter and The Glenn Show, so I believe it’s still appropriate to publish it. Below you will find the text of Professor Ju’s initial email, an excerpt from the AAASE’s open letter to President Gutmann, my email replying to Professor Ju, and his subsequent apology for the error.

I am, of course, very curious to know what my readers think of this.

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Email from Professor Yiguang Ju

Dear Prof. Loury,

I hope this email finds you well.

On behalf the Board members of the Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (www.aaase.org), attached I am writing to share with you our open letter to the UPenn president to take actions to investigate Prof. Amy Wax’s conduct and to listen and address the concerns of students, alumni, faculty, and staff regarding anti-Asian bias.

As Asian American Scientists and Engineers, we feel extremely uncomfortable about Amy’s inflammatory comments and strongly disagree with her statements on the Glenn interview. These statements, often superficial and over simplification and generalization, have not only elevated the serious concerns of racial discrimination in this country and caused further division of this country, but also raised questions in your accuracy and credibility in scholarly research. We feel strongly that it is important to share this letter and our concerns with you.

Best,

Yiguang Ju
President of Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering
Robert Porter Patterson Professor of Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Princeton University

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Excerpt from the AAASE’s Open Letter to University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann

Dear President Gutmann:

We, the Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering, are writing to you to express our profound disappointment and strong disagreement with recent public statements made by Professor Amy Wax, one of your own faculty in the Law School. In a widely disseminated podcast interview with Professor Glenn Loury of Brown University posted on December 24, 2021, Professor Wax made statements that disparage Asian nationals and Americans of Asian descent, including that “the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration” and “does the spirit of liberty beat in their [Asian] breast?”

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My Response to Professor Ju

Dear Prof. Yiguang Ju:

I have received your email and have reviewed the attached open letter to UPenn's President Gutmann. I fully understand and sympathize with your expression of alarm at the remarks made by Prof. Amy Wax at my podcast—remarks about Asian immigration to the United States with which I strongly disagree. I voiced that disagreement, repeatedly, during that conversation with Prof. Wax.

To reiterate: I support your contention that her caustically expressed disdain for, and her overly broad caricatures about, Asian immigrants were outrageous, were bound to offend, and were unsupported by the evidence. That is what I said, in so many words—politely and with an even tone of voice—in my responses to her during that interview. For instance: I insisted that Asian immigration was a boon to American society. I rejected her stereotyping of “Asians” as painting with too broad a brush. I observed that the things to which she was objecting (the adoption of progressive attitudes toward diversity initiatives, for example) were not appropriately attributed to someone's Asian ethnicity. I even compared her contempt for and fear of Asian immigrants to the reactions many Americans expressed toward Jewish immigration at an earlier time in our country's history. Specifically I said to this Jewish woman that her remarks, were they to have been made about Jews, would immediately and correctly be judged as antisemitic. (Her outrageous response to this last observation of mine, as I recall, was: “Well, the Jews have a lot to answer for!”)

Therefore, I was very disturbed to read this sentence in your letter: “These statements, often superficial and over simplification and generalization, have not only elevated the serious concerns of racial discrimination in this country and caused further division of this country, but also raised questions in your accuracy and credibility in scholarly research.” The offense given by Prof. Wax's remarks at my podcast notwithstanding, I must take strenuous exception to this statement in your letter. As president of the Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering, you are declaring that the “accuracy and credibility” of MY scholarship are called into question because of opinions expressed by Prof. Wax.

With respect, that is a slanderous insinuation to which I object. In the interest of protecting my own reputation, I cannot allow it to go unanswered. The credibility of my scholarship, such as it is, could not possibly be impugned as a consequence of opinions rendered by someone else—opinions with which I have openly and repeatedly taken issue. It should not need to be said, but I will say it nonetheless: In no way am I responsible for the words spoken by Prof. Wax.

Perhaps what you mean is that, by giving Prof. Wax a platform from which to pronounce her objectionable opinions, I have violated some norm of scholarly integrity. If so, I would again respectfully disagree. My podcast, The Glenn Show, is a forum where the free exchange of ideas and arguments is cherished. I strongly believe that such forums are needed at this moment in our country's history, given the deleterious impact on the integrity of our academic institutions which the movement to cancel or deplatform controversial speakers has had.

It is in that spirit that I have undertaken the initiative of launching my podcast and newsletter. I do not necessarily endorse the things my guests say. Certainly, in the case at hand, I do not endorse Prof. Wax's opinions about Asian immigration. But I insist that the only fit response to opinions with which I may disagree is to make arguments and offer evidence in support of my opposing point of view, and to solicit the reactions of other informed parties on whatever are the issues in dispute. That is precisely what I have done in this case. In my view, taking such a stand can only enhance, not detract from, the integrity of my scholarly endeavors.

Cordially,

Glenn Loury

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Response from Professor Ju

Dear Glenn,

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I think you made appropriate comments in your podcast discussion with Amy Wax and rebuked her stereotype comments on the spots several times. Thank you for doing that. I also want to take this opportunity to say that I respect your value and conservative thing personally.

I have to make an apology to you that I didn’t mean to question your scholarship in my email. It was a typo of “her” and should be written as “her accuracy and credibility in scholarly research." I am sorry that my mistyping which has made you uncomfortable. Please accept my apologies.

I hope we all as US citizens, left, right, or middle, need to heal our society with values, and together make America stronger and better in competing with any other adversities.

Best wishes 

Yiguang