According to the “Asian Americans are still caught in the trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And it Creates inequality for All” essay, a model minority is, “to be invisible in most circumstances because we are doing what we are supposed to be doing.” Nguyen says that more often than not, Asian-Americans would side with white people in the white-black racial divide, torn between the feeling of being perceived as permanently foreign in America or allying with white people in a country built on white supremacy. Siding with white people, as well as abiding by the status quo, has earned them this title of the “model minority,” but this stereotype is more dangerous than it seems.

In my Speech Communications class just the other day, a classmate decided to make her Speech to Inform topic on micro-aggressions towards Asians and how the ‘Model Minority’ stereotype is harmful. In her speech, she stated that Asian-Americans are held at a higher standard to universities and thus have to work harder, and that this expectation to excel is an immense amount of pressure and negatively impacts Asians’ mental health. This intense expectation allows for high rates of depression and suicide amongst the Asian community.

I found this essay particularly interesting because of the blatant racism Asians have faced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am no stranger to hearing about the constant micro-aggressions and prejudice Asians face on a grand scale. Personally, it wasn’t until around 6th grade that I started realizing the normalized prejudice I, myself, held against Asians, that society had taught me to possess. I hadn’t even realized that the things I would say about Asians at the time were offensive because racism towards Asians was, and still is, incredibly normalized. The way my best friend, who’s Filipino, puts it, Asians are seen as the “joke race,” where racist remarks from all sides are not taken seriously. The race serves as the butt of countless offensive jokes plagued by people of every other race, and for me, this wasn’t noticeable until I reached middle school and stepped out of my culturally Eurocentric bubble. Even in a high school as diverse as mine, with an even distribution of whites, black people, Asians, and Hispanics, the Asians were still called names and the subject for laughter because of the normalization of said prejudice.

Nguyen writes that “the end of Asian Americans only happens with the end of racism and capitalism.” I think he says this because Asian Americans constantly have to prove their Americanness, despite living in a country populated almost entirely by immigrants.  White people are never questioned for being in America, and are never doubted for their supposed Americanness, but when it comes to Asians, suddenly they are told to “go back to their country.” It’s inherently unfair and unequal, and Nguyen is saying that Asian Americans will only be accepted properly when people simply stop being racist.