A Diverse Thanksgiving Without Affirmative Action

What these people have in common is that they share the concerns that fueled the revolt in Northern Virginia against identity politics in education, which in turn helped propel

Glenn Youngkin

to the governorship in 2021. The countries they come from are vastly different—India, Vietnam and China—pointing to the absurdity of even lumping them together under a single category. But in Virginia’s public-school system they all see a troubling erosion of the principles that made America such a refuge for their families in the first place.

At the center of this storm is

Thomas Jefferson

High School for Science and Technology, routinely ranked the top high school in the nation. Founded in 1985, admission was determined entirely by a race-blind exam—until 2020, when the Fairfax County school board abolished it in favor of a “holistic” approach designed to limit, in the name of equity, the high percentage of Asian-Americans and then reallocate those seats to black and Latino children who didn’t do as well on the exam.

“TJ is the varsity-level academic enterprise,” says Mr. Cao, a member of Thomas Jefferson’s first class. He went on to the U.S. Naval Academy and a distinguished career as a Navy captain before running, unsuccessfully, in the recent election to represent Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.

“By changing the entrance requirements to TJ, Fairfax County Public Schools destroyed the premise of meritocracy,” he says. “It meant that hard work and achievement was second place to race, color and quotas. Racism is still racism no matter the justification.”

Right now everyone’s waiting to see how the Supreme Court rules in two cases involving race preferences in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina brought by the Students for Fair Admissions. But Virginia parents have their own lawsuit—against the Fairfax County school board, which these citizens hope will restore the old merit-based system at Thomas Jefferson.

“As children and young adults, many of us were able to realize our dreams in America because America’s firm principle of equality under the law protected our right to a level playing field,” says Ms. Nomani, a former reporter for this newspaper and mother of a Thomas Jefferson grad. “That’s all we want. No special privileges.”

The moms and dads suing the school board are being represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation. In letting the suit proceed in May 2021, federal judge

Claude Hilton

expressed skepticism about the Fairfax County school board’s claim that its policy was race-neutral.

“Everybody knows the policy is not race-neutral, and that it’s designed to affect the racial composition of the school,” he said. “You can say all sorts of beautiful things while you’re doing others.”

Back in February, Judge Hilton ruled Thomas Jefferson’s new admissions policy unconstitutional. But in oral argument in September, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals appeared more sympathetic to the school board. It has yet to rule, and whatever it decides will ultimately be affected by where and how far the Supreme Court goes in the Harvard and North Carolina cases.

In the meantime, the Pacific Legal Foundation has released a 15-minute documentary about what’s at stake. Called “Fortune in the Book,” it is perfectly timed for Thanksgiving. In its focus on Virginia’s Asian-American parents, it explodes the media narrative that casts the struggle against race preferences as pitting white America against people of color.

One Thomas Jefferson parent featured is Mrs. McCaskill. She arrived in the U.S. from her native China just before Thanksgiving 2003. She thinks race preferences go against all this country stands for.

“America is a great country,” she says. “You never say because of your skin you deserve the school more than other people. Not like that.”

Many of the people in the film make clear their families came to the U.S. to get away from racial prejudices and rigged systems. The only thing they ask for themselves and their children is that they be judged for what they can do—not by some racial label.

As immigrant families, these people may add their own embellishments to their families’ Thanksgiving spreads. But like Xi Van Fleet, a Chinese immigrant who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution and sees disturbing parallels today with the woke agenda, they regard themselves primarily as keepers of the American Dream.

“After I came to this country, one of the things that amazed me is how people get along,” she says. “People of all sorts of racial backgrounds. And that is a miracle, that is not the norm—and Americans should understand it.”

Happy Thanksgiving.

Write to mcgurn@wsj.com.