During the civil rights movements that rocked the United States in the 1960s, the Asians that lived in America were first characterized as being the model minority. Even as there were efforts to abolish the social, legal and institutional disparities that existed between the majority and minority groups, political conservatives were quick to point out the American dream as being colorblind because of the Students of Asian descent. The thought process that formed this ideology was that if the Asians could succeed in America, then all the other minority groups had no excuse in failing.
The success of the Japanese Americans had been quickly generalized to reflect to all the Asian ethnic groups. It failed to capture the diversity of education, class, and culture. The exemplary minority myth has had a number of impacts on the Asian society and students. The focus of this discussion is on highlighting the effect that has been realized by the students of Asian descent by the exemplary minority myth. By failing to capture individual differences and uniqueness among the Asian ethnic groups, the model, minority myth results in a shift in the perceptions of the people and mostly towards the negative. The one factor that a myth creates is an expectation and preconditioned outcome.
This means that despite the conditions, a majority of people are going to expect a specific behavior from a myth group. In the case of students of Asian descent, while people may look at the model minority as flattering, the myth has been negative and dangerous to the students. The myth is built on the success of the Japanese’s community during the 1960s (Park, 2011). For one, the conditions have since evolved and secondly, the Japanese are but a single ethnic group within the Asian society. The myth continues to instigate and perpetuate interracial tension within the minority groups.
At the very core of the myth is the premise that the students of Asian descent are more successful than other minority groups. In essence, students of Asian descent in America are superficially complimented while implicit remarks are made about the failure of other groups such as the Blacks, Hispanics, or Native Americans. The result is a distorted view of Asian American students; they are thought to be hardworking, persevering, studious and without complaint. For the other minority groups, on the other hand, the image that is created is that of being lazy and disruptive. Once the false and distorted images have been internalized, it is easy to understand the onset of verbal and physical abuse that is often directed towards the Asian American students.
For students of Hispanic, Native American or black descent, the students of Asian descent are seen as a competition and direct threat to their survival within the larger American society (Greene, Way, & Pahl, 2006). The exemplary minority myth tends to ignore and dismiss the experiences of racism that Asian American students have to endure. Forms and acts of racisms are often instigated against the students through individual and even institutional practices. The modest minority label has been permanently placed on this ethnic group and as a result, any form of racist behavior is taken under the same banner. According to Woo, Asian American students entering the workforce are likely to make less money as compared to their white counterparts.
An average of ten to twenty percent less income is often accorded to the Asian American men, while women experience income differences of up to 40% in relation to the white workers, despite having the same educational experiences and levels of qualification (Woo, 2000). For the Students of Asian descent, the modest minority label brings about an unfair extra burden. Besides being a minority group and having to deal with the social pressure that comes with the minority groups in America, Asian American students have to contend with extra pressure and expectation that comes with their race as well. The internalization of the model minority myth has been associated with a number of negative outcomes for the Asian students.
For instance, according to literature and research on the aspects of the model minority myth pressure, students have been found to suffer psychological distress that results in poor and lower academic performances (Chen, 1995). The myth creates the pressure for the Asian community to live up to the success, studiousness, and none-complainant aspects (Chu, 2002). Incidences of suicide have been found to be higher among the Asian American students who deem themselves as failures in light of the modest minority myth (Cohen, 2007). A great deal of the pressure from the society results from psychological issues that tend to develop into serious mental problems for the students of Asian descent.
Another major impact of the modest minority myth is that it creates an environment that encourages the silencing and hiding of personal problems among the Asian American students. Even when faced with serious issues in regards to school, health, or physically, Asian American students are less likely to seek help or assistance to uphold the image that society holds. In the classroom environment, teachers have been found to neglect the needs of the Asian American students (Kim and Lee, 2014). One of the elements that the model minority upholds is the smartness of the Students of Asian descent, and as a result, little attention is accorded to their academic, physical, or social needs of the learning environment.
Integration within the larger American academic environment is often a daunting task for the Asian American students at all levels of education. The myth fails to incorporate any degree of diversity and differences. Culture and ethnicity have never been elements of determining a person’s academic abilities. However, such distorted views are perpetuated within the model minority myth. This means that Asian American students have to work extra hard to be able to not only attain education but also to meet the expectations and demands of the society.
The depiction of Students of Asian descent as being intelligent, technology-savvy, disciplined, law-abiding, and industrious places them on a pedestal within the minority groups. While the myth elements may all be positive attributes, this positivity attracts contempt and hate within the minority populations of the United States. The myth has inherently and prevalent been inculcated through mass media over the years. Movies, music and other forms of media elements have been utilized to reinforce the myth within the American society and in the process, a lot of negative impacts continue to be created against ha Asian American populations.
As discussed in the paper, the model minority myth is based and founded on an ideology of political conservatives in the 1960s. The success of the Japanese population in has since been transferred to represent the entire Asian community despite the cultural diversity. While the myth may have had a political motive, its use has since been outdated in view of the changes that have been realized over the years. Subjecting students of Asian descent to a myth that was founded over a decade ago has been detrimental in various ways. From psychological distress to physical and verbal abuse Asian American students have had to endure daunting challenges just to live up to this particular myth.
References
Chen, J. L. (1995). The internalization of the model minority myth as a predictor of depression among Chinese Americans (Doctoral dissertation, California School of Professional Psychology). Dissertation Abstracts International, 56, 6B.
Chu, S. P. (2002). Internalization of the model minority myth and its relationship to psychological adjustment (Doctoral dissertation, Southern Illinois University) Dissertation Abstracts International, 62, 10B.
Cohen, E. (2007, May 16). Push to achieve tied to suicide in Asian-American women. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/16/asian.suicides/
Kim, P. Y., & Lee, D. (2014). Internalized model minority myth, Asian values, and help-seeking attitudes among Asian American students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(1), 98.
Park, G. C. (2011). Becoming a “model minority”: Acquisition, construction and enactment of American identity for Korean immigrant students. The Urban Review, 43(5), 620-635.
Woo, D. (2000). Glass Ceilings and Students of Asian descent . Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMiraPress.
