The Model Minority Myth: Not a Compliment

-- By KaylieChen - 19 Apr 2024

Throughout history, Asian Americans have been famously portrayed as the “model minority.” This implies that, despite the hardships that Asian Americans have faced, they successfully assimilated into American society through their hard work. Although the label may seem like a compliment, it fuels competition and resentment from other people of color, silences the struggles of many Asian Americans, and decreases opportunities for upward job mobility.

The Origin

The term “model minority” was coined during the Civil Rights era in an attempt to use Asian Americans to discipline other minorities and discourage the Civil Rights movement. In a 1966 U.S. News and World Report article, it was claimed that “[a]t a time when it is being proposed that hundreds of billions be spent to uplift the Negroes and other minorities, the nation’s 300,000 Chinese-Americans are moving ahead on their own.” As a result, Asian Americans suddenly became social buffers to the demands of other people of color. This phenomenon is addressed in the article “Continuing Significance of the Model Minority Myth: The Second Generation” where the author explains that although "Asian Americans remain largely invisible to many, when they are visible, Asian Americans are strategically used to dismantle progressive gain.” Consequently, other ethnic minorities have come to resent Asian Americans, creating tension between Asian Americans and other people of color.

Assumption of Privilege

The model minority myth additionally assumes the privilege of Asian Americans and that they are all well-educated and middle-class. However, this view is incorrect. According to the article “Asian Americans as a Model Minority,” the model minority “implies that Asians share fully in the American way of life in spite of their minority status…it does not describe Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders who, for the most part, are poorly educated, underemployed, and trapped in low-paying menial jobs.” By aggregating data from all Asian ethnicities, it seems as though Asian Americans as a homogenous group are doing well. However, once the data was disaggregated, a wildly different picture emerged. In the article “Revisiting the Model Minority Stereotype: Implications for Student Affairs Practice and Higher Education,” the author explains that these new analyses demonstrated that “the median family income of Asian Americans actually fell below that of white families… [and] that the proportion of Asian Americans living below the poverty line was considerably higher than that of the white population.”

Hidden Racism

The model minority myth further perpetuates a narrative that Asian Americans experience little racism. Despite the long history of Asian racism—including the Chinese Exclusion Act, prejudicial enforcement of laws as seen in Yick Wo v. Hopkins, and the internment of Japanese-Americans—there has been a lack of attention paid to these discriminatory practices. This is in part due to the hesitation of Asian Americans to speak up. In The Myth of the Model Minority, the authors claim this hesitation is due to “the view that ‘there’s no point’…and that such discrimination is just ‘a fact of life.’ Many also seem fearful of ‘rocking the boat.’” This silence then helps maintain the discriminatory status quo. Although anti-Asian sentiments were exacerbated and highlighted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the outrage felt muted. This seemed to have been the result of widespread use of anti-Asian rhetoric and a pre-existing culture of microaggressions. While racist acts targeting Asian Americans had already increased, the use of derogatory phrases like “China virus” and “kung flu” by public officials, including the president at the time, further promoted anti-Asian bias. Their use of this language also gave off the perception that these sentiments were “mainstream” and therefore not a big deal because it was “technically true.” The prevalence of microaggressions further fed into this idea that certain anti-Asian rhetoric was acceptable because there was some truth behind those views. For example, the rumor that COVID-19 was caused by eating bats continued this perpetuation of Chinese people eating weird things and put distance between regular Americans and strange, foreign Chinese people. And because this was an already acceptable joke to have made pre-pandemic, it continued to be made with little backlash. These factors led to a more accepted use of derogatory, anti-Asian language which felt less like racism and more like a joke.

Undesirable Qualities

The model minority myth can also be detrimental to Asian employees working in America. According to Asian America: Sociological and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, “Asian Americans often are seen as hardworking, technically skilled, and nonaggressive,” and these qualities “limit them in upper management.” So, because of the qualities Asians are associated with due to the model minority myth—e.g. weak and submissive—they are less likely to be hired for managerial positions. These perceived characteristics also feed into the concept of “yellow peril,” where Asians are seen as threatening to their white counterparts due to their supposedly superior academics. For example, during the 1980s, there was a renewal of anti-Japanese sentiment as the Japanese were thought to be dismantling the American industry. This increased anti-Asian violence in America, leading to the murder of Chinese-American Vincent Chin committed by two unemployed workers who were angry at Japanese companies for “taking their jobs.” Both murderers were acquitted, with the presiding judge asserting that “these weren’t the kind of men you send to jail.”

Although the consensus among the general public is that the model minority myth is a compliment, it is a harmful stereotype. Created by those wishing to undermine the voices of historically disadvantaged minorities, the label uses Asian Americans as a tool when it is convenient for them. The “model minority” are either considered good when opposing the demands of other ethnic minorities or are considered bad when they are stealing the jobs of their white counterparts. Because of this position, Asian Americans are not given full consideration as people of color and are unable to benefit from the privileges enjoyed by white Americans. It is therefore imperative that Asian Americans reject the model minority myth to avoid being oppressors of other ethnic groups and undermining minority solidarity while still facing oppression themselves.

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