“Via the model minority myth, both blacks and Asian Americans are kept in their place in the field of racial positions without a single overtly racial claim having been uttered.”
The author, Claire Kim, argues that because Asian-Americans have reached certain levels of success in our society, instead of recognizing these strengths, the Whites needed to keep themselves at the top of the racial hierarchy by ostracizing Asian-Americans. They do this by inventing and perpetrating a model minority myth. With this, Asian-Americans are “valorized,” but only comparatively to Blacks. This serves two purposes. By perpetrating that Asian-Americans are unassimilable, that they are more culturally distinct than other racial groups, Whites are refusing to acknowledge that another race can be equally successful on their turf. The second thing that the model minority myth leads to is more racism towards the Blacks, but perhaps that was the plot all along. By comparing these minority groups, White society is essentially saying that the Blacks have no excuse, because if the Asian-Americans can be successful, why can’t they? In reality, the issue is deeper than that. These two racial groups simply cannot be compared because of the systematic racism and prejudice that have existed since the birth of this nation against Blacks. Black people have been at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, and that was where their place was “supposed” to be, when their ancestors were brought over to be slaves. With the voluntary arrival of Asian-Americans, they came here with a purpose- to work hard, and to create a better life for themselves. They tested the waters with the other members of the American society, and eventually found a middle spot due to their work ethics and values.
The model minority myth doesn’t just keep Asian-Americans and Blacks in their pre-determined places in society. In the case of Blacks, they get pushed down further. In the case of Asian-Americans, it allows for discriminatory treatment to be disguised as something to be strived for, something that is valued.
I like how you traced back to the cause of racism toward blacks, I also think that the general social status of the two groups cannot be compared for this reason. Children tend to follow their parents’ paths: if their parents are successful, they are more likely to succeed. Similarly, if their parents are uneducated and live in poverty, the chance is that they will have much less educational and job opportunities. This is why affirmative actions and other similar programs are necessary, and the “if Asian Americans can do it, not why not blacks” argument is not very convincing.
Just an all around really strong blog post. You break down how they model minority myth is dually oppressive to both Asian Americans and Black people in such a clear way; this blog post might be helpful to anyone who’s struggling to understand Kim’s rhetoric. Your point about Black Americans having never “immigrated,” but having been brought to this country nonconsensually, is so spot-on I’m surprised no one brought it up sooner. Nice! Adrienne’s comment is great too.