Having
an Asian-American background, and being a child of immigrants nonetheless, I
know what it means to have one foot in each world: one in the country of my
ancestors and one in the supposed land of opportunity. In The Professional Burdens of Being a ‘Model Minority’, Adia
Harvey Wingfield elicits a discussion on the implications of what it means to
be an Asian American in the workforce and the challenges Asian American
diaspora face in today’s society.
The
stigma behind the typical Asian-American is that of prestige: an industrious
work ethic, an enriching education, and strong family values. This, in theory
has put them ahead of the curve, economically speaking, leading to
Asian-Americans as a group to having higher average income than whites and even
higher education levels. In essence, Asian-Americans validate the notion of an
American meritocracy that is fair for all. Simply put however, this just isn’t
the case. The model minority stereotype has led to various issues and has
masked the plight of certain groups within the Asian American community.
Wingfield
gives a couple examples of how the concept of model minority hurts the Asian-
American community:
The
model-minority image brings with it a number of problems. For instance,
research done by Stacey Lee, a professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education, shows how this
image can deter Asian American high-school students from seeking help when
they’re struggling in school, socially isolating them and, ironically, causing
them to fare worse academically. Similarly,
the Georgia State University sociologist Rosalind Chou has found that the
model-minority standard places enormous pressure on Asian Americans to disavow
and downplay incidents of racial harassment; when Asian Americans are depicted
as the minority group that doesn’t complain, attract negative attention, or
cause problems, it can feel uncomfortable for them to point out stereotypes,
insults, and assaults.[1]
Though it may be anecdotal, I personally have gone through similar
circumstances as the ones Wingfield discusses. The pressure of having to ‘live
up’ to stigmatizations about Asian Americans contorts my worldview at times and
makes asking for help in academic subjects somewhat difficult. The harm the
model minority stereotype inflicts isn’t just limited to Asian American
students though. It extends up the social ladder in management positions at the
workplace. Though Asian Americans have indeed have been able to infiltrate the
rungs of management, certain portions of the Asian American community have been
at a disadvantage.
while
data suggests that many Asian Americans have been able to enter managerial
jobs, which have historically been the exclusive province of white men, it’s
often overlooked that specific groups of Asian Americans for the most part haven’t. Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Americans have made inroads
into these white-collar professions, such as engineering and medicine, but
Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, and Filipino Americans remain overrepresented in
lower-wage jobs.
This information provides some insight onto the plight of
some groups within the larger Asian American community. Though the model
minority stigma in general uplifts the Asian American collective identity to
one of success, hard work, and idealism, the stereotype in and of itself serves
to harm the more marginalized portions of the Asian American population. The
success of groups like Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Americans overshadows the
challenges groups from Southeast Asia must overcome. Most notably, economic and
educational challenges which push them lower down the social hierarchy.
I think Wingfield makes a strong and deeply rooted argument.
The stigma of Asian-Americans being a model minority is problematic as it hides
the disadvantages certain groups within the Asian American population face and
instills within the younger generation an immense internal pressure to live up
to wrongly-encouraged stereotypes. Though it does have its merits as a platform
to elevate valuable societal traits within the Asian-American community, the label
does need some reevaluation.
You touch on a really important issue in this blogpost. Often, when we talk about identity, we tend to use very broad terms that ignore cultural nuances. So, yes, when people hear the word "Asian-America" they immediately think of Chinese, Korean and Japanese people, who have fared well economically, as opposed to Cambodian or Vietnamese people. It's an unfortunate phenomenon and I hope that we can change it.
ReplyDeleteThe public's perception of Asian Americans is so skewed by the media and misrepresentations of an entire a group of people with many subgroups. You're right in that the success of East Asian groups has overshadowed the plight of more socioeconomically disadvantaged Asian Americans. I think it's vital that media corporations address this issue and make more of an effort to change people's perceptions of being Asian American. The whole model minority stereotype is a good and bad thing but it can definitely be retooled to be more appropriate for the Asian American community as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing some of your struggles with this. As someone who's grown up in various Asian-American circles I can also think of specific instances where my friends or family members have experienced these prejudices and stigmas. The source you cited brings up the somewhat amusing notion that Asian-Americans "don't complain" about racial bias or stereotypes, in a society where our heritage can either be unfairly advantageous or disadvantageous. I know I've seen it play out both ways: while Asian-Americans haven't been subject to some of the same horrors as, say, African-Americans, things like the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese-American internment camps, and the disadvantages of Southeast Asians that you bring to light shouldn't be dismissed or graded against injustices faced by other minority groups. Similarly, while many Asian-Americans have seen success in academia in the last decade, I've heard many stories lately of kids whose intellect and background are seemingly being clumped together by college admissions boards, making it more difficult for society's "typical smart Asian" to break through in the application process. Either way, not enough people are writing about the Asian-American experience in light of today's social awareness campaigns, and that's a problem.
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