The Model Minority: What's The Message? (due Mon., Nov. 14)
 

It's hard to believe that the 1790 Naturalization law in the United States said that "naturalized citizenship" was only open to "white people." In the mid- to late-19th century, white workers called the Chinese "nagurs," that they were depicted as bloodsucking vampires with slanted eyes, heathen, morally inferior, savage, childlike, lustful, depraved. In the case of People v Hall (1854), Africans, Native peoples, and Chinese in this country were labeled as "Calibans of color," a direct reference to the so-called primitive people from Shakepeare's The Tempest. Good ol' President Rutherford B. Hayes said in 1879 that we have a "Chinese problem," that we should discourage the present "Chinese invasion," that we have already had a bad experience dealing in the U.S. with "weaker races" (e.g.--Africans, Indians).

In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese exclusion act, which it renewed and renewed and renewed. It was only repealed in 1943 (because we were on the Chinese "side" in the war against Japan). In 1882, the Chinese constituted .002% of the US population.

Of course, also in the 1940s, the United States government issued Executive Order 9066, effectively imprisoning Japanese-Americans (and anyone confused with them) in internment camps, referred to at the time in the media as "concentration camps." Food for thought, no?

.....Fast forward to today. And today, Asian-Americans are commonly referred to in the media, by sociologists, etc. as the "model minority." What does that tell you about the view of Asians here? About perspectives on other minority groups? About notions of power and access vs. absence of power and access? In short, what is the underlying message in this expression, "model minority"? Is it a good thing or not?




A reminder: this upcoming week is hypnotist week! We have to rally the troops and get the hordes to come to the event on Friday at 7 in the Upper Gym. Tell all your friends, family, not so good friends, mere acquaintances, even people you don't dearly love. We need their support for this essential fundraiser!

Also: remember that your interviews are not due until Friday Nov 18th as well. E-mail and paper copies required.

Well to be honest, i thought i knew a thing or two about Asian descent, but then i also knew that it was pretty close to impossible to be able to guess what race and ethnic group each one belongs to. I have friends of all different kinds of descent, from Chinese to Vietnamese. There are things to go on, but then again what i do know is most likely incorrect. I would think that Chinese are more humble, and do not care as much for looks as the Japanese do, who color their hair in ways to distinguish themselves from other people, and the Koreans do not try to color their hair to look different, but to just in general look good, and about the same thing with Vietnamese. I learned that there is no standard to go by, because they are human beings, and each have their own individual personalities. Granted they have different influences than others, like T.V. language, food, its all unique in its own way and can be treated as their own self.

The Whole concentration camps and the past restrictions agains all Japanese or Chinese and all those who are confused with them, it just goes to show how much we fear what is unknown. One of the first things that came to my mind when thinking about all the alienation our country has done was think of the X-man, and how much they were alienated because they were mutants and could look like just about anyone, but once something happens, a war against them just breaks out.

Not only is being apart of a race part of your own unique attributes, but your own person too. Everyone is influenced by other cultures, who hasn't tried chinese food? or who hasn't tried Fried chicken or the watemelons, or even tried the whole turkey and corn on the cob meals of the basic races. Which is another thing, the basic races, the major minorities, too confusing for this topic. Anyway, Asian is like being any other culture. There are hundreds of sub sets of races due to other kinds of classifications and mixes among the races.

My guestimate is that in maybe 40 years all racs will be indistinguishable because everyone will have a mixture, and there will be almost no more pure races... That is, unless Stefan finds a good Polish girl, and stays with her, but we'll have to see in the future.

sorry guys, i have a lot of questions
 

I have never before heard the term "model minority," let alone it being used to reference Asian Americans; however, based on Asian stereotypes(besides the bad driving one) I can see how this term makes sense. All Asians apparently are really really smart (especially in math), they don't all want to go to college, they all GO to college, and they are all hard workers. This seems pretty good, I wish I could be like that. However, the term is not "model citizens," it's "model minorities." This puts a WHOLE other spin on the term. Does this mean that all blacks, hispanics, american indians, or any other minorties are all not quite up to snuff for the American people? This is insulting to everyone else. Also, what does this say about the white people in America? What about the standards for white people? What are they? Are they just judged separately from the rest of the bunch? And who exactly is judging, because it certainly seems like it must be the white people. Sorry, that was a lot of questions. Anyway... like PancakeOnMyFace said, in a short while (maybe in our lifetimes?) there will just be one big giant race, or no race at all if thats how you chose to see it. However, it seems that race is just another way that human beings chose to be divided. What will the divisions become in a world without race?

Going from being herded into "concentration camps" in the 1940s to being referred to today as the "model minority" certainly is a jump. In calling Asian-Americans the "model minority," it's being acknowledged that they have done what the ideal immigrant should do: they've tried to take advantage of educational opportunities offered to them, the neighborhoods where there are high concentrations of Asian-Americans are usually fairly safe, and (this is just my speculation) Asian-Americans don't seem to want to lobby to change as many existing laws in their favor. That last bit was probably confusing, so I'll try and clarify. The blacks had the Civil Rights Movement and it seems that, more recently, Native Americans have been lobbying for rights, land, and recognition. I am assuming here, but it seems like Asian-Americans aren't quite as "noisy" about their minority status as other groups.

Calling one group the "model minority," like bananarama said, demeans the other minorities. Latinos, blacks, Native Americans, everyone else ... they're just not making the cut apparently. And I would say that the "cut" has been created by the white, educated, upper-middle class of American citizens. It most likely stems from the "us vs. them" idea and how one defines an "other": ideas which come up a lot, probably because they're at the root of all the hatred between groups. When there was a larger class of one race being given the advantages, they set up standards for what a good citizen in those circumstances should be. I guess Asian-Americans are good at meeting those "standards."

Lastly, no, referring to any group as the "model minority" is most certainly not a good thing. Sure, you're complimenting a race, but you're complimenting them in relation to a racist society and racist ideas that say that any minority can't be as great as the dominant one (I guess here, that would be white). At the same time, like I said before, using that term belittles every minority who isn't conforming to whatever the dominant race holds as its standard. Finally, I agree with PancakeOnMyFace and Ms. Freeman: we'll all be mutts soon enough, so people should really just get over themselves.

Like babanarama, I had never heard the term "model minority" before learning about it this year in class. I strongly agree with Twendy's idea of a "model minority" and what Asians have done to attain this status (although is this status necessarily a good thing? They are being deemed inferior and lower than whites though this name.) Anyways, they have done everything perfectly. They work hard and earnestly, getting good grades, attedning college, becoming professionals, etc etc. They've gone about creating better lives for themselves in America than they would have been able to do in their original countries.

However, by distinguishing one group as a "model minority," what happens to the other non-white groups in America? Whereas Asians may be meeting standards in merit and hardwork, other minorities are not, in the eyes of white-america. Because Asians are successfully meeting these standards and being termed as the "model minority," the problems that they face concerning race are not highlighted as much as the prejudice against other minorities, such as Hispanics and blacks, even though Asians do experience as much prejudice in their daily lives as people of other minorities.

Referring to a race as the "model minority" is not necessarily a good thing because besides enforcing the idea that there is an "us v. them" (whites v. minorities), yet a further distinction between minorities occurs. By terming one "race" as "model," all others are thus indirectly not "model" or "good" minorities and do not meet white-american standards. THis makes them seem inferior to the top group, whites, and implements divisions, which are not good for any country trying to progress in the 21st century. I also think that eventually this country will become mutts, but that it will take a lot longer than 50 years as Ms. Freeman mentioned in class. The inundation of immigrants who are "pure," so to speak, will always remain high and thus not everyone will be a mutt so soon.

“Model minority” is definitely an unusual phrase, one that can have multiple interpretations. It is used most frequently to describe Asian-Americans, and who America thinks they are: assimilated, educated, dedicated workers (who also happen to be entirely Chinese, bad drivers, and good at math and science.) Clearly, it shows that most of American society does not understand what it feels like to be Asian in America. “Model minority” on a basic level sounds like such a positive term, but a lot Asian-Americans have to face preconceived misconceptions, stereotypes and racism from other Americans (white, black, Latino, etc.) even if they are supposed to be the best minority asset America has. And where does “model minority” put other minorities, like Twendy and bananarama said? What are African-Americans, Latinos, American Indians, and other minority groups to America?

The perception of Asian-Americans has changed significantly since 1790; they’re no longer “Calibans of color”. But they still have a long way to go- Sam Yoon was the first Asian person elected to Boston’s City Council, and that was just this year. But maybe this election will start to change power and access, in Boston and then nationally. As it stands now, there is none for Asian-Americans.

I don’t know if I agree with the idea PancakeOnMyFace presented, that within a few decades we will all be mixed racially. I definitely think that there will be more interracial relationships as they continue to lose their controversy, and more mixed race children will result from these unions. But I think people will also continue to marry people of their same race- not because they are prejudiced but just because they happened to fall in love with him or her. Maybe within the next few centuries people will all become “mutts” as Twendy said, but not within our lifetime.

I’ve always found the term “model minority” to be somewhat confusing. I made my own assumptions as to why it is used, but never knew the true meaning behind it. According to several websites, Asians are called the “model minority” because they achieve a higher degree of success than the average of the population. It is unclear what the success is measured by; I can only conclude that it’s based on economic position, education, employment, etc.
The term certainly reflects a positive view of Asians, but what does it do to the reputation of other minority groups? I agree with Hot Pepper who felt that the term “model minority” only perpetuated the concept of us v. them. It’s almost implying that other races must succeed in the same areas to be accepted by white people. I have a problem with the term, because it glorifies one race, which only alienates the rest. Does it take into account the opportunities a race is given to start with? And why are these specific qualities a “model?” While the label seems complimentary, it may actually be harmful.

Models and Stereotypes
 

Asians have come from being supressed, like almost every other minority races, and they have made good livings for themselves. They rose up from our countries discrimination, our exclusions acts, and our mistreatment of them. All of these things were done because our country was afraid of the unknown and didn't want the minority populations to take over. But the Asians became hard workers and took advantage of everything they could do in this country, and they continue to do this. I've never heard the term, "model minority" before, but to me it means that Asians are what a minority is supposed to be like:hard working and smart. Most of them recieve good educations or push there own kids to have a better future. But, like Bananrama said, this is insulting to other minorities. Are the other minorities not educated and hard-working? It is a compliment to Asians, but it still places whites higher. They're a "model minority" but they can still never be as great as whites. The way it is phrased makes whites look arrogant and insults other minorities.
A topic that seems to be being discussed is whether or not we'll be one race within our lifetimes. I don't think this will happen because there are still so many people bent on marrying their own race, even if they aren't racist. Then people will form little groups and towns that are devoted to keeping one race going. That's just my view on it. I think it'll take many centuries to do this.

Who would think of such a stupid and offensive term?
 

“Model Minority.” Just hearing that term, I can figure that it basically means that Americans (white Americans in my opinion) desire all minorities to be like Asians. They’re supposed to be very smart in math and science (2 areas that American kids aren’t too good in) and they’re hard working. I must agree with bananarama when s/he says: “And who exactly is judging, because it certainly seems like it must be the white people.” Who is judging? I doubt it’s some other minority, and the only other people I can think of are “the white people” (as bad as that may sound). If Asians are the “model minority,” it’s basically saying that the other minorities are second to them and they’re not as good. I think that’s horrible and extremely offensive. This whole society is based on putting others down to put yourself up, so should I really be surprised? I don’t think so. I also agree with Twendy when s/he said: “…it seems like Asian-Americans aren't quite as "noisy" about their minority status as other groups.” When you think about it, blacks and Native Americans are always protesting about something but you never really hear Asians protesting. Why is that? Asians are still prejudiced against.


This term tells me that Asians are gaining power, while the other minorities are still searching for it. The underlying message is basically that minorities should grow to be like Asians. But, I must say, the message isn’t really underlying since the term “model minority” implies that Asians are the best minorities. The term isn’t good. How can we call one minority group better than another minority group when they’re both minorities? They're all on the same level, inferior to the majority. It’s stupid and I don’t like it. It’s just putting bigger divisions among the people in America, the society of equality (what a load of crap).

First of all, on a positive note, I am not sure if anyone followed the Boston City Council elections, but there is now the first Asian representative. Sam Yoon is his name. This already tells us that Asians are being accepted in society more easily. The reasons for his victory are debated. Did people assume he was smart because he is Asian? Did they really listen to his politics? Here is what The IM diversity website said;
“Another milestone in the ongoing struggle to bring Asian Pacific Americans into the American political mainstream is taking place in Boston. Sam Yoon, who was born in Korea, brought to this country at 10 months, naturalized at age 10, and educated at Princeton and Harvard, has been running to serve as the first Asian Pacific American member of the Boston City Council. A teacher and community development advocate, he has served as a leader of the local Asian Community Development Corporation, whose goal has been to bring affordable development and residential stability to the city.”
This is a fantastic victory and hopefully more will follow.


Now to the model minority question.
I find this phrase more offensive to minorities that are not Asian. As some posters have mentioned, the "model minority" phrase suggests that blacks, Hispanics, etc. are not model minorities. This is insulting and degrading. The minority phrase will probably disappear for Asians in the next 100 years. They are already losing the minority status.
The term “model” can mean many things, both positive and negative. It can mean that Asians are usually not violent. I do not think that this statement makes much sense. Every race and ethnicity has violent people. For example, there are tons of Asian gangs in Chinatown. But, my Asian neighbor next door is the most peaceful man I have ever met.
Then there is the “smart Asian” stereotype. Again, every race and ethnicity has especially bright people. The Chinese culture is known for their strict discipline. However I am sure that like all families, some have trouble.
Overall the “model minority” term is non-sense. It is based on stereotypes. I believe that there are model families and people, but even they are not perfect.

Minority Report?
 

The term “model minority” is a dangerous one because it only continues the stereotyping of Asians. Too often, people see Asians as hardworking, intelligent, and reserved. Thus the term model minority is formed. While it may seem as a compliment on the surface, it also has a backhanded meaning and is a term that places everybody in a negative light.

Many people have little interaction with Asian Americans and much of the time, they rely on the media. Despite the attempt to place Asians in a good light by calling them model, they are basically going to extremes. Sometimes they are seen as over-achievers in school, which is a compliment, but then they are also seen a people who only focus on school and have no social life. This typecast shows the Asian as a nerd and not as a well-rounded human being. This is also damaging because Asians, like many minorities, are underrepresented in the media. Often, shows use them in secondary roles and rely on utilizing Asian accents, names, and characteristics as comic relief. When people are asked to think of successful actors, they think of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, who both are action heroes instead of someone they can relate too.

The term also degrades every minority because they are seen as below white people. But, it is damaging to other minorities who are not Asian, because like Twendy said, apparently the other minorities are not making the cut. This is clearly unfair and demeaning, but in addition, draws additional ire to Asians, who are already one of the most discriminated races in the country. Why must a distinction be made between minority and white, and Asians versus other minorities?

The underlying message is that Asians are gaining more prominence in America. With Sam Yoon’s ascent to political distinction and increasing admissions of Asians to prominent schools, this pattern appears to hold true. However, the term model minority is only going to do more harm then benefit, because other minorities like Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans are being degraded to an even further extent, which would cause more tension to arise. Like uluvthis29 noted earlier, being labeled a minority is a negative because it means they are “inferior to the majority.” I hope that Ms. Freeman’s prediction of everybody becoming mutts within 50 years holds true because stereotypes will be destroyed. However, because people will still marry within their own race, I don’t see it happening within my lifetime.

Let me just start off by addressing greenhouse76’s question. S/he asked how there could be a perfect example of a minority is they are a “minority.” The answer to this is something that s/he briefly hit on later in their post, and that some others, too, have commented on. Asians are supposedly the group on which all minorities should model themselves, thus the term.
I must agree with pixilated that Asians are viewed as this group of people who are “assimilated, educated, dedicated workers.” These characteristics are exactly what the majority group of a society, in this case white people, are looking for. Moreover, Asians are often looked at as a quiet people who will not often cause a stir and raise up in arms for rights, etc. In that sense, if these stereotypes do hold true, the title of a “model minority” is fitting. However, we all know that (a) they don’t necessarily hold true, and (b) it is stupid to classify people as minority, majority, this race, that race, etc (although it happens all of the time).
Other people have made reference to Asians gaining power/prominence in America. I think that this is true (props to Bananapancakes on the Sam Yoon tidbit) but I also think that it contradicts the whole model minority thing, rather than reinforces it as others have said. As I mentioned, part of what the majority view as a model trait of this model minority is that they are often stereotyped as being quiet and not making a political stir. While this could be changing, it is not because they are the “model minority.”
Finally, I’ll end my post similarly to the way many of my classmates have: addressing this whole mixing of races by the time we die thing. Some people have said that in our lives the mixing will occur so much that ultimately we will all be one in the same. I must disagree with this concept, not with the fact that it will happen, just with the time frame. I think that this process may occur gradually, but not as soon as some others seem to think.

Like some of the people who have already posted to this, I have not previously heard the term "model minority." However, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. When we discussed all the stereotypes involving Asian people, the number one stereotype seemed to be that all Asian people are smart. Like uluvthis29 said, maybe they are referred to as a model minority because some people believe that everyone should be as intelligent and driven as they are steroetyped to be. I suppose being referred to as the model minority isn't very insulting, but it still places emphasis on the fact that it is ok to stereotype certain races. I've never really thought about America's collective opinions on certain minorities and that it got me thinking what other labels have been put on other minorities. Like bananarama said, referring to Asian people as the model minoritiy has a negative impact on other minorites. Despite the fact that I believe the term is not insulting the Asian race, it places a sense of "they're better than the rest" meaning in it.

Overall, I suppose the term model minority is a good one. There are no negative stereotypes embedded in this. However, the stereotype that all Asian people are smart has a negative impact. I've had several experience in school in which people feel the need to comment when and Asian person does not do well on a test. "But you're Asian!" is what they always say. I can imagine that must get very frustrating and aggravating to constantly hear. Minorites continue to come up in the world. Each year, there are more minorites holding powerful positions in the workplace.

And as for the many comments about how eventually, the world will be completely mixed in terms of race, I believe that that idea is somewhat impossible. There are countless of racist people in the world who cannot imagine marrying someone of a different race than them. In America, the situation is a little different seeing as most of the country is full of people who are of mixed races, but in other places around the world where the gene pool is not so mixed, the concept of a completely diverse world is not very probable.

The term “model minority” sure seems to be a tricky one. At face value it seems like a compliment, yet when you get down to it, its just an insult to all other “minority” groups. The term sounds as if Asian-Americans are the best of a bad batch. I can see where it is coming from, as the other posters have already said, the Asian “race” is most definitely a successful one. And the stereotypes that we have discussed in class (good grades, etc.) all seem fairly positive. Yet they are still stereotypes and model minority is still a label. How can that be good in any sense? The fact of the matter is that there are good and bad, successful and unsuccessful etc. people in every “race” or designated groups of people. Yet time and time again we are compelled to generalize thus creating this “us and them” type of society. The term “model minority” is sort of creepy to me. It’s as if someone is saying, “Well I guess they’re O.K., we won’t bother them”. But as much as it suggests negative things about other minority groups, I think my biggest problem with the tern “model minority” is that it offers no solutions. It may be seen as a positive thing for whomever its directed to, but for whomever its compared to it leaves them with no hope for overcoming being a “bad minority”

I had never heard of Asian-Americans referred to as the "model minority" until it was said in class a while ago. When this is being said, I think it is referring to how smart most asians are, how they hey very good study habits and many other stereotypical characteristics of them. This term tells us that Asians are viewed in a very good way now. They are seen as having the best qualities of people in America all rolled into one group of people.

Calling Asian-Americans the "model minority" is sort of giving a negative look on other minorities. It is saying that they are inferior to Asians and do not have as good qualitities. I think it is a good thing that our country's opinion of Asian-Americans has changed because we used to not look at them so highly. It shows that this country had changed over time for the better, at least concerning Asian-Americans. It is a good thing if we look at it that way, but it is a bad thing, if we look at how it makes other minorities look.

I think i have heard the term model minority before we talked about it in class but i have never actually thought about it or what it means. I understand that people of Asian decent have worked hard for their success in America and therefore deserve the term "model minority" but what does model minority really mean? Personally when i think of the term "model minority" i feel as if people are saying that minorities don't work hard, are not successful, and basically a put a damper on American society, which is in no way true. I know many people who admire the "traditional Asian way of life" because of their hard work and their desire for achievement but i would never call any race a model minority. By using the term model minority it is like we are basically saying that this minority race is better than all the other minorities, but they are still minorities so they aren't quite as good as the majority. I believe that by using the term to describe a race, no matter what the term is causes some form of racism.

I think this model minority thing also shows the flaws of Americans. People of Asian decent went from being basically banned from the country, to being let back in, to being put into concentration camps, to being the model minority. We fear what we do not know, and once again it is fear that leads to racism.

A lesser model
 

I’ll most likely be saying what everyone else has, but oh well. Let me start by addressing the term “model minority”. It’s blatantly obvious what it means. A role model is someone that others should follow. So a model minority is a minority that all others should be like. That model is the Asians. Asians are stereotypically known for being extremely intelligent. They get great grades most of the time. On the other side lay the African-Americans and Hispanics. Blacks and Hispanics have never come close to the level of intelligence that Asians are known. Unfortunately they don’t do as well in school and don’t come out as successful as Asians in society. In fact, sad to say, as a whole, Blacks and Hispanics usually do not even match the whites. Even worse is the social depiction of Blacks and Hispanics. Blacks and Hispanics are commonly that of low income, and don’t have it as good as Asians or Whites. A common stereotype about them is a thug with clothes too big for him who is going to rob you. How many times is there an uproar involving one of the two races? How many times are they in the newspaper in negative ways? Now, how many times do we see a headline that reads, “Asian man robs local store, killing 2 men”? I think a big part of the term “model minority” comes from this. The Asian people haven’t done enough to anger the White community. In fact, half of what we own says “Made in China” or “Made in Japan”, etc. They have only made Whites happier. It is unfair though to make this statement, model minority. As I said before, many factors prevent Blacks and Hispanics from having getting it as easy as Asians or Whites do. Furthermore, (yes this is a stereotypical statement), Asian parents are known to be extremely tough on their children, making them focus primarily on academics only and putting high expectations on their kids. Is that fair? Is that healthy?

I believe the term “model minority” has a stronger effect on other minorities than Asians. It is an insult to other minorities. It is offensive to other minorities, and it only puts a stronger effect on the negative stereotypes regarding other races, primarily Blacks and Hispanics. Of course, it also increases the stereotypical idea that all Asians are geniuses. Is that fair? I wonder what Asians think about this term. Do they view it as a positive comment, or negative?

I have read a few times that over time we will all be the same. I agree with SEMIMMKWELI in that if so, it will take longer than most think. My question is, “Does this mean that the model minority will disappear?” Will we all be geniuses, or all be average? I suppose if so, then there will be no white community to determine if we are models. So then some stereotypes disappear? Its just a little too complicated and confusing for me right now.

model schmodel