With the current trend of the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasing visibility of the wage gap during the pandemic-caused rise in unemployment, unequal treatment toward minorities has piqued many interests. However, one topic I feel does not get enough attention is the topic of the model minority myth.

The story of America’s model minority, the Asian Americans, starts with the Chinese in the 1850s when the news of the California Gold Rush reached China during their devastation from the Opium Wars. The Chinese became the first group of Asians to settle in America as they started to immigrate in search of wealth and better opportunities that would be able to support themselves and their families back in China. The injustice started with the Chinese Exclusions Acts from 1882 which was enforced by the U.S. government noticing the influx of Chinese immigrants taking up jobs in America. The laws limited Chinese immigration into the Americas, building on the idea of the “Yellow Peril”, a term that regarded the Chinese Americans as a threat to American employment [1]. The Chinese Exclusion Laws were the first of many laws controlling Asian immigrants, as it was followed by the Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907) for the Japanese, the Barred Zone Act (1917) for Middle and Southeast Asians, and the Tydings McDuffie Act (1934) for the Filipinos [2]. These bans were lifted decades later during the Cold War with the Immigration Act of 1952 as a strategy to control the spread of communism in other countries. However, Asian immigration was still not free of limitations. There was a controlled quota of immigrants that each Asian country had to obey [3], which generated a system where the select immigrants were the most wealthy or highly-educated people of their countries. This set up the beginnings of the model minority because most of the Asians that Americans encountered were the most successful and well-educated of their countries, gradually constructing the stereotype of successful Asian Americans that we still see to this day. 

With the progressing diversification of the Asian American population after the immigration process to the United States became unrestricted, the stereotype transitioned into more fiction than fact. Asian immigrants no longer consisted of only the elite and most educated class, but rather a population inclusive of all income levels and ethnic groups looking for new opportunities. However, this change went unnoticed by the country. The characterizations of Asian Americans since then are maintained to this day. Furthermore, the current view of Asian Americans as a successful racial group is reinforced by the statistics of median income levels categorized by race. Ever since the United States opened up immigration from Asia, the average income of Asian Americans have always been higher in comparison to the other races in America, as well as above America’s average income level [4]. The continuation of the trend to this day has strengthened the believability of the model minority myth. However, the income level by race is a misleading statistic for especially Asian Americans because they also happen to be the race with the largest income gap between its different ethnic groups. The highest-earning Asian American ethnic group is the Indian Americans, while Bhutanese Americans were the lowest-earning income group for the 2010s. The income gap between them amounts to nearly 70,000 dollars, which is the largest income gap within any race in the United States [5]. The expectations others have of the model minority are not true for all Asian Americans, even though the entirety of the race is perceived that way. It can put unnecessary pressures on the ethnic groups with lower median income levels than the average Asian American income level because they are now held to a standard created by statistics that don’t accurately represent them. 

But isn’t it a good thing to be considered a successful race? Some may question whether there is any actual harm done by being portrayed as an academically, socially, and economically successful minority—a model minority—because it does not seem condescending like many other stereotypes, but rather sounds like a compliment. However, stereotypes cause harm no matter what kind of stereotype they are. Stereotypes generalize a group of people by a commonality that does not necessarily define who they are and fails to recognize the individuality in each person because of the prejudices caused by the stereotype. A few of the stereotypes that Asian Americans fall under are the images of being law-abiding, high-achieving in academics, hardworking, and complaisant people. However harmless these stereotypes seem at first glance does not translate into reality. There are many instances when these stereotypes can cause societal pressures on Asian Americans. One instance is when they feel they cannot reach the standard that everyone else expects of them. Another can be when they blame themselves for falling short of the overly ambitious goals they set for themselves, goals of which they believe high achievement is natural for their race in America. The most difficult aspect of getting Americans to recognize the damage the model minority myth brings is that some Asian Americans themselves, especially the older generation, have started to believe the model minority label that America has given them, leading them to think it is a given for Asian Americans to perform better academically and economically than others. 

The myth also causes conflict outside of the Asian American community. The definition of the model minority is a minority that is considered an example of success that other minorities should follow, implying that other minorities are not successful enough and need to improve on whatever factor is blocking them from their success. The model minority myth is used as a tool to undermine protests against racial inequality because it creates a counter-argument that there is a way for other racial minorities to escape their disadvantaged position in America, but the reason why they are still not able to is because they do not put in enough effort to improve their social or economic standing. This puts the blame of racism on the races experiencing the mistreatment rather than on the systemic racism embedded in America, which proves to be an obstacle in eradicating racism in the United States. The misunderstanding about Asian Americans as the model minority is assuming that their hard work and success led to their approval in America when really, it was the approval that assisted their success. Although the hard work of Asian immigrants should not be denied, it is evident that the assumption of their effort-guided approval slows down the fight for equality of other minorities because it justifies the unequal treatment directed at them. 

Not only does the model minority myth allow for the ignorance of racism toward other races, but it also ignores racism toward Asian Americans. Because of the image of Asian Americans as a successful group of immigrants, there is a preconception of Asians as only immigrants and not Americans. Such prejudice of Asian Americans became especially evident during the period of the pandemic. In the United States, because of the origins of the virus in China, Asian Americans became the subject of hate, which can be seen from videos circulating social media and news outlets. Asian Americans have also offered testaments about how they were treated when the news of the pandemic spread which entailed being yelled at to “get out of this country”, or being criticized for bringing the coronavirus over from China, regardless of the fact that they are Americans living in America (Cheung, Feng, & Deng, 2020) [6]. Although the achievements of Asian Americans are approved of in the United States, current events show that they are still far from being accepted as a part of the United States. As an Asian American myself, I have been asked where I was from more times than I can count, an experience I am sure is not unique to only myself but a common happening for many other Asian Americans. Even though I have lived in America all my life, the expected answers are usually not America but rather an Asian country, elucidating how unacquainted the American population is with the idea that Asians are a part of their population as well. 

The most significant portion to take away is the reason why there has been little to no advancement in the cessation of the matter. Because of the aforementioned conception that everyone has of the stereotypes of Asian Americans being harmless, it is convenient to brush aside the matter. Furthermore, the vagueness of the topic may confuse anyone who comes across it. Not only do the views of those outside the Asian American communities contribute to the issue, but some Asian Americans themselves may not be aware there is such a problem, or do not notice that the stereotypes they experience can actually be a part of a bigger problem. Before finding out about the model minority myth, there were a lot of prejudices I had experienced as an Asian American but was not able to discern as a part of a major underlying problem. However, after researching and learning more closely about the stereotypes and their consequences, I realized there was so much to uncover about the topic that is, unfortunately, not known to many. Therefore, a major step toward getting rid of such views is to begin raising awareness of it. I am sure there are many, like myself, who had no idea that the stereotypes they had been experiencing had been so widespread and contributional to a larger issue that does not encompass just the Asian Americans, but other racial minorities as well. Raised awareness may help others who unknowingly believed in the stereotypes as well and, overall, help with understanding the variance in how different races are perceived in America. If we want America to be true to its reputation of being the land of opportunity for all kinds of people, we have the need to be more conscious about the persistence of unequal perspectives on minorities. Educating ourselves about what is happening around us is vital if we wish to improve the society we live in, not just for ourselves, but for everyone we share the country with.

References:

[1] Office of the Historian. “Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration. 

[2] Immigration and Ethnic History Society. “Lesson Plan: Asian Immigration.” Immigration History, University of Texas at Austin Department of History, 2019, immigrationhistory.org/lesson-plan/asian-migration/.

[3] Hong, Jane. “Immigration Act of 1952.” Immigration Act of 1952 | Densho Encyclopedia, Densho Encyclopedia, 7 July 2020, encyclopedia.densho.org/Immigration_Act_of_1952/.

[4] Peter G. Peterson Foundation. “Income and Wealth in the United States: An Overview of the Latest Data.” Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 4 Oct. 2019, www.pgpf.org/blog/2019/10/income-and-wealth-in-the-united-states-an-overview-of-data.

[5] López, Gustavo, et al. “Key Facts about Asian Americans.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 23 Sept. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/08/key-facts-about-asian-americans/.

[6] Cheung, Helier & Feng, Zhaoyin & Deng, Boer “Coronavirus: What Attacks on Asians Reveal about American Identity.” BBC News, BBC, 27 May 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52714804.