It’s Time to End the “Model Minority” Stereotype
When asked about their perception of Asian Americans in general, people use the words “intelligent,” “hard-working,” “foreign” and “nice” to characterize them monolithically. These common understandings, often a result of long-standing tropes, constructed the common myth of a monolithic, successful group of racial minorities known as the “model minority.” As the fastest growing racial group, with origins from dozens of countries, these stereotypes obscure the reality of hardships that many Asian Americans are facing due to the simplistic categorization.
To confront this issue, the U.S. government is implementing significant changes to its racial and ethnicity categories of federal forms, changes that will be also used in the next census in 2030. Per an announcement released by the Office of Management and Budget on March 28, it would combine questions about race and ethnicity on the forms, add “Middle Eastern and North African” as a separate race, and add more options for the “Asian” section to indicate their country of origin. These modifications in official policies aim to better recognize the diversity within the Asian American community, representing a substantial step forward in dismantling the harmful model minority stereotype.
The term “Asian Americans,” first created in 1968 to replace the colonialist term “oriental”, has been criticized for its vagueness and singularity that masks the diversity of ethnic and national origins, as well as experiences, among people who were originally from the largest continent in the world. While complimentary labels were often given to Asian Americans that praised them for being well-educated, economically high-earning, following the rules of immigration, and not experiencing systemic discrimination, all of these perceptions are dangerously misguided.
Asian Americans have historically been, and remain to be, highly divided in their economic and education levels based on their ethnic identity. While many Indian and Chinese Americans have high levels of education and income, Burmese Americans are one of the lowest-earning groups and have the lowest bachelor’s degree rate in the country, with a high education rate of 23%, and 19% of them live in poverty. As a Pew study pointed out, more than 2.3 million Asian Americans, or 1 in 10, lived in poverty in the year 2022; the incorrect aggregation of identity has made government assistance for many Asian communities disempowered from the help they need.
Another reason why Asians are the model ethnicity in a portion of the media’s inaccurate portrayal is because they are more inclined to immigrate to the United States legally; this false argument is often used to attack other ethnic minorities and their crossing of the U.S. border without permission. In reality, however, Asians immigrate to the United States for a variety of reasons, including as refugees or asylum seekers; unauthorized immigrants from China have also begun to increase significantly in the last two years for a variety of political and economic reasons.
According to a 2021 report by nonprofit Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH), while often showered with positive descriptions, Asian Americans often have low visibility in media representation and untrustworthiness in authoritative positions; at the same survey, 20% of people agree that Asian Americans as a group are “more loyal to their countries of origin.” The induction of Asians as an envied subgroup has led to waves of hateful attacks, which intensified after some in the media and political circles scapegoated Asians, particularly Chinese people, for being responsible for the spreading of the COVID pandemic. As LAAUNCH points out, 80% of Asian Americans say they have been discriminated against in the United States, compared to 73% of Hispanic / Latinos and 90% of Black Americans.
The myth of the model minority is not used as a compliment or recognition of the successes of the Asian American communities; on the contrary, it is used as a pawn for people in dominant groups to uphold the status quo and provoke conflict between Asian Americans with other racial and ethnic minorities. In the collective fight against systemic inequality and discrimination, every person’s voice should be elevated through greater recognition and representation. Only by understanding the full spectrum of Asian American experiences through disaggregated data can we hope to dismantle stereotypes, tackle inequities, and ensure that all Asian Americans have the tailored support and resources they need to truly thrive.
