Post 1: The History of the Asian Model Minority Myth

THE HISTORY OF THE ASIAN MODEL MINORITY MYTH

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The 'Model Minority' stereotype has plagued Asian Americans for decades as a glorified standard rooted in racism. The label came about during a period of significant immigration from Asian countries to the United States, and as more of these individuals began making a life for themselves in America, the more White elites had to say about them. 

Origin of the Model Minority Stereotype 

We can attribute the term "model minority" to no other than sociologist Willian Petersen. In 1966, he published an article in the New York Times Magazine titled "Success Story, Japanese-American Style" that established a long-standing stereotype for almost all Asian Americans to come. He directly argued against media portrayals of Japanese immigrants being "apelike," "dirty," "alien," and "dangerous." He instead painted them as hardworking and law-abiding citizens who owe their success to their strong cultural values.

William Petersen, Success Story, Japanese-American Style, 1966

This new stereotype essentially erased Asian immigrants' experiences with racism and discrimination, diminishing their status and confining them to a position of obedience and inferiority to White citizens. The largest contributing factor to Petersen's flawed reasoning is the assumption that Asian immigrants have "succeeded" at this point in history. The same work ethic he praises in his article was the basis for racism during Chinese immigration in the early 19th-century. As Chinese immigrants moved to America during the gold rush to build railroads, they became a target for hate. "Yellow Peril" was a term used to describe Asian immigrants as a danger to national security, and politicians used Chinese immigrants as scapegoats for mass systematic racism and exclusion of Asian immigrants.



This led to a series of Asian immigration bans between the 1880s and 1920s, along with the widespread Red Scare that pitted the nation against Chinese American citizens in fear of Communism.

 Furthermore, while the model minority myth tried to put Asian immigrants on a pedestal, it simultaneously ignored other racial and ethnic minorities in America. Petersen's portrayal of Japanese immigrants directly diminished the experiences of African Americans. By attributing the 'success' of Japanese immigrants to cultural and family values, Petersen indirectly presented them as better than other minorities. Specifically, this provided a stark contrast to the experiences of African Americans at the time.


According to the controversial 1965 Moynihan Report, the family structure of African American families was to blame for their low socioeconomic position. This report associated the “deterioration” of the African American family structure, in the form of high rates of divorce, illegitimate births, and female-headed families.


When Petersen’s article came out a year later, the perceived situations of Japanese immigrants and African Americans could not help but be compared. The largest problem with pitting the two groups’ experiences with discrimination against one another is the lack of understanding of their respective histories. The systematic racism that African Americans had faced since slavery was incomparable to the experiences of Asian immigrants, and Asian immigrants did not even start overcoming racism until White Americans began respecting them a little more. And yet, such a distinction did not prevent people from questioning why African Americans had not reached that level of success, why they still struggled with poverty and unemployment. The model minority stereotype created this nonsensical rift between the two groups that only worsened the already horrible mistreatment and image of African American families at the time. All the while, White Americans watched the real consequences of their actions unfold like a movie, for the experiences of racial minorities meant little to their lives.

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Forcing Asian immigrants to assimilate to the White elites' perception of of minority success has had a lasting impact on Asian Americans for generations to come, and as they continue to try and uphold this label, many of them have sacrificed their own meaning of success along the way.




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