The rise of hate crimes against the Asian-American and Pacific Island (AAPI) community in the United States is certainly an alarming trend that has its roots in xenophobia, racism, and the longstanding idea of Asian-Americans as the “model minority”.
“The notion of a model minority has been used to paint Asian-Americans as smart, hard-working, wealthy, well-behaved, driven to succeed, polite, submissive, family-oriented, virtuous, and upstanding citizens. ”
While some may hear the term and think it is complimentary and progressive, the truth is that it is a harmful myth that treats Asian-Americans as a homogenous “other” and suggests that Asian-Americans will only be accepted as long as they know their place and fit into the stereotypes dictated to them by society. In this article, I will detail three reasons why referring to Asian-Americans as the “model minority” is actively harmful, and how it plays a part in the violence of recent hate crimes targeting the AAPI community.
[1] The model minority myth dismisses and obscures the very real discrimination the AAPI community faces.
By suggesting that all Asian-Americans are successful and serve as a “model” for other minorities to try and emulate, we make invisible the very real struggles and economic realities of many in the AAPI community. A recent report published by NBC news shows that Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150% in 2020, with around 3,800 self-reported incidents of violence fueled by racism. The number is likely even higher, but many Asian-Americans, influenced by the model minority stereotype, might believe that they have to act self-reliant and submissive, thus choosing not to report. The model minority myth undermines our ability to have serious conversations about the discrimination the AAPI community faces by suggesting that since all Asian-Americans are “universally successful” and “upstanding”, they have nothing to worry about. It also hides the fact that Asians are the most economically divided group in the United States, thus undermining conversations about the diminished social and economic opportunity and mobility that Asians face and how to address it.
[2] The model minority myth sets impossibly high expectations upon Asian-Americans that can lead to serious mental health consequences.
Oftentimes, due to the model minority myth, Asian-Americans feel like they have to act a certain way and clear an incredibly high bar in order to earn their place in American society. Having a perfect GPA, taking all Advanced Placement classes, playing an instrument, having multiple leadership positions in various clubs, and earning perfect standardized test scores start to feel like prerequisites to assimilation. Asian-Americans are expected to meet a certain standard of perfection due to their race, and deviating from this leads to ostracization, criticism, shame, and a fractured identity. The model-minority myth places such a huge burden on the mental-health of Asian-Americans, who ultimately feel like they have no room to make mistakes or be who they want to be.
[3] The model minority myth reinforces the illusion that racism is no longer a problem in American society, whilst also pitting minority groups against one another.
Society uses the model minority myth to argue that since Asian-Americans are able to achieve academic and financial success, then the United States must be a meritocracy. It implies that everyone can make it if they just work hard enough, regardless of their race, class, gender, or sexual orientation. It suggests that anyone who is poor or of a low-socioeconomic status is so due to their own poor choices and inferiority, thus disguising the truth and undermining conversations about dismantling the structural inequality and discrimination that people of color face. Furthermore, referring to Asian-Americans as a “model” perpetuates the idea that other marginalized racial groups, such as African-Americans and Latinos, are “bad” and must try to emulate the behavior of their Asian counterparts in order to be “good”. This pits minority groups against each other, stirring up unnecessary conflict and hostility that makes it harder to challenge institutional racism. Interminority conflict distracts from the collective fight for social justice and is ultimately deeply unproductive.
article by Madeline Lorie ‘23
design by Carolyn Lu ‘24