A model minority in this case, is a label that is given to underrepresented people who are “accepted” into American society. This traps them in the mindset of trying to “fit in” and not draw too much attention to themselves out of fear of being rejected. This can also make some people turn against people of their own race in an attempt to distance themselves from the discrimination. In this article, the author speaks about how easy it was to uses Asian Americans as a scapegoat whenever things got tough. Some examples noted were the use of the term “Chinese virus” and the argument of Asian Americans stealing jobs. Both of these were very inaccurate and show just how ignorant people can easily find a way to discriminate against another group of people.

My interpretation of “the end of Asian Americans only happens with the end of racism and capitalism” is that all of these labels are only used to create a social hierarchy among citizens. If people didn’t think they were better than others for superficial reasons and work only for selfish/personal gain there wouldn’t be labels such as Asian American, only American citizens. He says this because for racism and capitalism to work they need a group of people to be at a lower level with a group of people at the top. If everyone was equal and worked to help each other there wouldn’t be any need for labels.

This essay doesn’t challenge any beliefs I had about minority groups. In my eyes, people are people and should be treated as such no matter what they look like. This does give me another perspective on how hard it is to assimilate into American society as a minority. As a part of a minority group myself, I believe that many people around me were conditioned in the same way and accepted the role as a “model minority” to live in America.