Viet Thanh Nguyen’s article from Time explores the harmful impacts of the model minority stereotype on Asians in today’s America*. Model minority is a term coined in the 1960s to describe the socio-economic success of Japanese and Chinese immigrants in the U.S. and later used to refer to any minority group that achieves above-average socioeconomic status, usually characterized by high education attainment, high income, high marital stability, and low crime rates. The term has drawn attention from Asian communities and beyond in light of recent events- namely the COVID pandemic and George Floyd’s death, prompting the question of what are the prices for Asians in America to stay complacent about their model minority identity. 

 

The model minority label is dangerous in multiple ways. First, it covers up the disparity within the community and the universal unfair treatment due to racism and marginalization. When referred to as the model minority, we are only talking about the part of the community- middle and upper-class Asians with decent jobs and stable incomes. However, just as Nguyen noted, disparities exist within the group – Asians are disproportionately affected by racial inequality and injustice, and many live lives that are the polar opposite of the model minority image. According to the 2019 New York City NYC Government Poverty Measure, Asians have the highest rate of poverty among all racial and ethnic groups in the city. When a STEM white-collar worker caricature is used to represent all Asians in America, those in impoverished situations are silenced and neglected. As a result, little attention or help is given to these groups, further perpetuating disparity within the community. Second, although a marginalized group itself, Asians in America are alienated from other marginalized groups by the model minority label, and this prevents the groups from uniting to fight the discrimination and injustice they face in common. It is implied that, to be a perfect member of the model minority, one has to appear as close to the dominating majority as possible- straight and better belongs to mainstream religions. Many Asians in America purposefully distance themselves from other marginalized groups so as not to tarnish their name as the model minority and to maintain proximity to whiteness. However,  this only creates a delusive sense of belonging to the dominating group, which shatters easily in a country infested by racism and injustice. The COVID-19 pandemic proved that the Asian community in America are still easy targets of blame and violence. Lastly, the model minority label spreads the idea that Asians in America are monolithic, which limits personal development and leads to biased representations of Asians in society. As kids, Asians are automatically considered the hard-working, studious ones who are bad at sports; as they grow up, Asians are guided mostly towards jobs in STEM or law. Generations of Asian parents have been affected by the model minority mindset and gearing their kids towards the ‘safer’ and more familiar routes. Consequently, we see significantly less representation of Asians in fields like politics, group sports, and entertainment. This deprives individuals of life choices and perpetuates negative racial stereotypes. 

 

By ‘awarding’ Asians the model minority medal, the privileged ruling class, and capitalists benefit by implying that there are ‘problematic minorities’, which allows them to deflect responsibilities for racial disparities and injustice, and argue that if one minority can have this much upward mobility and achieve the middle-class American dream despite all adversities, other minorities should be responsible for their situations if they could not do the same. Capitalism also uses the model minority label to harvest cheap labor. Asians in America today seemingly have significantly better status than the Chinese building the transcontinental railroads in the 19th century. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act or the Exclusion Act of 1924 still exists in more implicit forms today- glass ceilings at the workplace, a lack of representation in upper management, tough immigration policies for foreign workers, etc. Asians in America today are still used to conveniently fulfill capitalism’s need for cheap, racialized labor and have never been treated fairly. Last but not least, the ruling class and the majority have been using the model minority label to distanced Asians from other minorities, preventing the groups from coalescing and disrupting the existing power dynamics. 

 

Nguyen writes that “the end of Asian Americans only happens with the end of racism and capitalism.” Indeed, Asian American is not just a racial group defined by shared geographic origin, but a name created as an easy target of racism and a convenient source of cheap labor for capitalism; only with the end of racism and capitalism will Asian Americans be treated as equals and thrive in America. This piece really encourages me to see the minority groups in America as one potential coalition for disruption and changes. It is critical for Asians in America to remember that the term was created as a tool for propaganda, and the same group who’s portraying Asians as the ‘better minority’ today are the ones who called us the yellow peril and created Fu Manchu. The only way to change the status quo is not to appease the ruling class or the capitalists, but to stand with other minorities and to fight the injustice we all face.

* I used the term Asians in America to be more inclusive, as the past decade witnessed a significant number of young, foreign-born Asians coming to the U.S. for education and for work, who also suffer from the model minority stereotype.