In the article “How the Model Minority Myth of Asian Americans Hurts Us All”, Nguyen emphasizes the consequences of mislabeling Asian Americans as a “model minority”, given the history of exploitation they have been subjected to. History repeated itself when Nguyen saw a sign made by Americans about the Vietnamese taking their jobs when he was about 12-13 years old, and now viewed what Asian-Americans have faced as a result of COVID-19 and the rise in Anti-Asian acts in America. Nguyen’s continual reference back to Tou Thao, the Hmong police officer present and negligent during George Floyd’s death, along with the continuous comparisons to himself, was due to their shared experience in having to come to America as a result of the Vietnam War. However, with the misconception that Asian Americans serve as the model minority, the real threats against all minorities that are “capitalism, racism, colonialism and war” are hidden and disguised. It also tends to be forgotten just how essential their hard-working nature is, how crucial it has been to America, and is often overlooked. Nguyen presents that even being the so-called model minority in America, Asian Americans aren’t allowed to pick and choose just how American they are seen as. It’s because of the persistence that has come with racism along with capitalism’s demand for cheap labor, that “Asian Americans” was born.

“The end of Asian Americans only happens with the end of racism and capitalism.” For a country with a track record of favoring war and racial division, white supremacy and capitalist exploitation have been the source; “because racism always offers the temptation to blame the weak rather than the powerful”. There’s irony in Nguyen’s recalling of the sign he saw as a kid, writing that the Vietnamese were stealing American jobs, given that America has developed and thrived by “driving other businesses out of business”. 

This essay challenged my preconceived notions on the level and extent of inequity Asian Americans were subjected to compared to other minority groups. I grew up aware of the history of Blacks being persecuted, killed, oppressed, victimized, and hated left and right, and can date this back as far as hundreds of years. It’s the lack of awareness as a result of no light being shed on the matter and only the recent publicized wave of advocacy for Asian and Pacific Islanders that this was brought to my attention. Nguyen’s piece on Asian Americans unfortunately being seen as the “model minority” heightened my understanding and knowledge of its very peril dangers.