The Model Minority Myth
Written by Soundarya Kanthi
It was a sunny Friday morning. My mother nervously navigated through the long lines in her saree and single light jacket (which proved to be far too inadequate for the chilly airplane gusts compared to the 100-degree weather back at home). I tagged along behind her, holding onto her saree in this airport building of unfathomable size for my 3-year old self. Finally, we saw my father, who had been retained in his contracting job for long enough to fly me and my mother over the United States of America. This was our new home now. The three of us all together.
That was 1999. That was an immigrant story that many of my South Asian friends can relate to, as the South Asian population in the U.S. nearly doubled between 1990 and 2000. Today, we’ll be discussing the “model minority myth,” a harmful racial narrative about Asians in America. If we are to dismantle anti-Black racism, we need to understand how Asians fit into the complex, interwoven threads of racial narratives in America and how Asians can also be a part of the solution.
First, a short recap of racial privilege. In our previous article, we discussed that from a racial standpoint alone, White Americans enjoy the greatest privilege; as a white person, when you factor in your race alone, your life is comparatively easier. On the other hand, Black Americans’ race makes their life harder. Multitudes of studies show that Black children are perceived as the “misbehavers” in their class no matter how obedient they are, and negative stereotypes follow Black people throughout their lives. So, this begs the question: what about other minority groups? That question is a bit trickier. For Asian Americans, we have both benefited and suffered due to race.
Asian Americans are a large group in America -- 5.6% of America’s population -- comprised of multiple subgroups who have different historical relationships with the country. Some of the most populous subgroups of Asian Americans include: Japanese-Americans, Chinese-Americans, South Asian Americans (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, and Kashmiri people), Filipino-Americans, and Korean-Americans. These Asian-American groups have been the victim of systemic racism as well. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order in 1942 intended to “prevent espionage on American shores following Pearl Harbor.” In reality, the executive order arbitrarily isolated Japanese Americans in internment camps for 3 years just because of their ethnicity. In 1924, Congress passed the Asian Exclusion Act, a law that created a quota system which prioritized immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, drastically restricting immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe and Africa, and completely banning Arabs, Asians and Indians. Fast forward to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, when Black Americans were challenging the idea that America was a White nation (Chin, 2008). Here, everything changed for Asian Americans. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the race-based immigration quota system. The new criteria to admit immigrants included a prioritization on refugees, people with special skills, and those with family members living in the United States. It also forbade discrimination in the issuance of immigrant visas on the basis of race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence. From then on, large waves of Asian Americans immigrated to the U.S. Asian Americans benefited from the hard work that Black people put into making America better.
As America began recognizing Asian Americans as Americans too, the model minority myth started to rear its ugly head. The model minority myth states that Asian Americans are a polite, law abiding group who are more successful than other groups due to their hard work and intelligence. Sounds like a good thing right? Well, there is a lot of harmful hidden messaging in this stereotype. Asian Americans have been portrayed in American media as the “go-to nerdy guy,” often erasing the rest of their identities, and making it harder for them to break into non-technical fields. In the workplace, though they may be praised for their technical savviness, they have not had access to leadership positions in the same way white Americans have (Tolerance). It doesn’t stop with just Asian Americans, though.
In 1966, the New York Times came out with a story titled “Success Story, Japanese American Style,” one of the most influential pieces written about Asian Americans. The article compared Japanese Americans with Black Americans, positing that both groups faced injustice yet Japanese Americans chose to work hard in the face of hardship. So, they got access to the American dream. American history, however, teaches us that Japanese Americans were treated far more generously than Black Americans. To oversimplify the two racial narratives in that way is downright inaccurate and insulting to both groups, especially Black people (NPR).
Unfortunately, the model minority myth still affects Americans today. Behind closed doors, Asian American parents tell their children that Black people are “the bad example” that they must not follow. This creates a false sense of divide between minorities, making them feel like they need to compete for scarce resources. Even more importantly, Asian Americans have contributed to anti-Black racism. Rather than stand up for Black people, Asian Americans absolve themselves of responsibility because they believe they aren’t the “white oppressor.” This needs to change.
Asian Americans can be a part of the solution in several ways. First, the older generation of Asian Americans are more likely to speak out of ignorance, as they may not have grown up with a detailed or accurate background into American history. So, the onus lands on the younger generation to educate our family and friends. In my personal experience, it has helped to draw loose parallels between Indian history and American history to explain Black Lives Matter. Even though British colonization looked different in India and America, I explained to my Indian parents that Black people have suffered the repercussions of British enslavement for far too long, and this is why we must speak up. In addition to education and awareness, we need to be role models of action. There are a multitude of resources out there that describe what the Black Lives Matter movement needs of us as Asian American allies. Let us finally break the silence.
Action Steps
Regardless of your ethnicity, research more about how racial narratives in America intertwine with one another.
If you are an Asian American person, brainstorm ways to open up conversation with family and friends surrounding BLM in a way that might lower their defenses.
How might you make the Black plight relatable to them, while pointing out that they are still vastly different?
How might you challenge their deeply held beliefs about Black people?
Role model allyship behaviors.
Read this Time article that outlines how you can support BLM.
Explore and share this helpful #blacklivesmatter Google Doc, equipped with linked action items.