The “Model” Minority

All Asians look the same. I’m sure that’s a statement most of us have heard at least one time in our lives. I mean, I’ll even admit to my prior ignorance. Of course, I knew that not all Asians were truly the same, but for a long time, I also grouped most Asian people into the same group, usually just considering them Chinese (as if that’s the only country in Asia). In fact, speaking of countries in Asia, we always seem to forget that places like India, Iran, Palestine, the Phillipines, and many more are part of Asia. It’s crazy that many people here in America just consider southeast Asians to be the whole of Asia. It wasn’t until I surrounded myself with more Asian people that I began to notice my ignorance towards that negative view and started to change.

Now, when speaking of racism, we usually like to talk about Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, or just any group of people with a darker shade of skin. And while that is all well and good, we neglect to talk about racism against the Asian community. Just think to yourself, I’m sure most people can reicite a handful of stereotypes for Asians, both negative and positive. There are these underlying beliefs we often have about Asians, but we rarely feel the need to change them because for the most part, no one speaks out against them. Asians are known as the “Model Minority.” In a basic sense, they seem to mind their own business, work hard to make good money, and aren’t the type of group to start large riots against racism the unfortunate racism they face. As a result,  no one seems to notice the many racist and ignorant beliefs they may have about Asians. We are even starting to see the negative views on Asians now with the recent breakout of the Coronavirus. Nobody seems to be fighting back or realizing the negative statements being made about Asians today. So, let’s take a deeper look into some of the things that we, here in America, might overlook in regards to Asian people.

They All Look the Same

Now, I absolutely don’t want to say people that think Asians all look the same are racist because that just isn’t fair. In fact, it’s completely normal not to have a good eye for differences in unfamiliar people groups. Not many Americans have day-to-day interactions with Asians, so they may in fact think many Asians (southeast Asians to be exact) look the same. This phenomenon is known as the “other-race effect.” When someone is not used to seeing a certain people group, they may not have the ability to distinguish between certain differences between the people of those people groups. The only way to truly combat this is to get in contact with more people from a certain region. The more a person is with them, the more they will be able to point out key features that separate them from others.

What I do want to call into question, however, is the thought that Asia is only comprised of countries like China, Japan, or North and South Korea. There are so many more countries that can be found in Asia, and so many different looking people. For example, take a look at this photograph and notice the variety of people that can be found in Asia or with Asian descent.

We need to start getting better with putting all Asians into one fixed group. This takes away from the rich and exciting culture that so many people from Asia have and often removes their individuality, causing them to in fact “all look the same.” As Americans, we should make it a point to communicate and interact more with people from places that are so different form ours. Only from this can we truly start to get away from the negative views we have of Asians.

All Asians are Smart

This is one that I think I heard all throughout High School. Many people often consider Asians to be the smartest in the school, or the best at some instrument or activity. We often think of Asians being buried in math textbooks over the summer constantly just thinking about and working for school. This type of thinking can often lead to unnecessary stress on Asians in America. Because we hold them to such a high standard, they may often feel the need to fit into the mold America has made for them. They continue to keep to the books and work hard regardless of whether they enjoy what they do.

Also, because a large proportion of Asians attend college and make significantly more money than many people groups, we often disregard any struggles they may go through. But again, this may disregard the Asians in America that are not doing as well as others. Our automatic assumption that all Asians are extremely smart and must make money takes our attention away from the apparent income gap that exists between different Asian groups. Since 1960, the income of higher-income Asians grew significantly, while lower-income asians failed to get higher. This means the gap between rich Asians and poor Asians continues to increase. However, no one seems to focus too much on the poor Asians because they don’t expect “those people” to be in that type of position.

 

What to do now?

I feel it is safe to assume that Asian people and culture may not be as well known in the United States when compared to other regions of the world. So, of course it is natural sometimes to have certain beliefs and stereotypes because those are the only things we have learned growing up. However, I believe we need to start making a more conscious effort to get to know people from the places we know least about. Start to find more opportunities to talk to those from Asia and learn more about their culture and experience. Find out about the differences there are between all the people groups there. Soon enough, maybe we could all stop thinking “all Asians look the same.”