Week Ten- Unraveling the Model Minority Myth of Asian American Students

This week, we continue our study of Asians and their representation in the media. If we want to discuss this topic however, we must talk about the "model minority". The "model minority" is a stereotype of Asian American students that suggests that they are more "academically, economically, and socially successful" than other racial groups.  Many people believe this is true because of Asian Americans supposedly unique Asian cultural values that emphasize hard work, strong family values, and the belief of American mediocrity. The myth of the model minority originated in the US civil rights movement, where politicians pointed out Asian Americans and stated "If Asian American can succeed in America, why not Black, Hispanics, and Native Americans?" The success of Japanese Americans quickly became generalized across all Asian ethnic groups, regardless of their diversity in culture and class.

How many times have you seen Asian Americans in a television show, film, or any other form of media? Out of those appearances, how many depict the Asian as extremely intelligent, with seemingly little to no evidence to show that they worked hard for their intelligence? They all seem to be born geniuses, and this is the myth of the model minority in media. Now, the question is, is this model minority label true? There is, of course, a tiny bit of truth to the comparative success of Asian Americans. On average, they do better on standardized tests, and they have more advanced degrees. However, there are many examples that debunk the model minority myth.

One such example would be the fact that the model minority completely disregards the heterogeneity of Asian American groups, and their different levels of success. While the Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and Koreans have been successful in completing high school, many Southeast Asian Americans including Cambodians and Laotians never finished high school. The model minority myth also fails to capture the more complex representation of Asian Americans in the education system. " The myth suggests that Asian American students are over represented in the U.S. higher education. In actuality, the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (2008) recently found that the increasing presence of Asian Americans in higher education parallels similar increases of other racial minority groups."

In my experience, as an Asian American girl growing up in the American education system, I cannot tell you how many times people have told me "Wow! You're so smart! I'm so jealous, all Asians are so smart, I wish I was Asian!" and/or some derivative along those lines. The model minority makes the suffering of Asian Americans invisible because it normalizes all Asians into one successful minority group. It justifies the oppression of other minority groups because they are seen as inferior.

Article- http://www.education.com/reference/article/unraveling-minority-myth-asian-students/

Citiation- Yoo, B. (2010, October 25). Unraveling the Model Minority Myth of Asian American

Students. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/unraveling-minority-myth-asian-students/