Hannah Cha’25
As a Korean-American, I’ve always felt that parts of myself were getting erased and restricted by the biases of the world. Forced to be better at math, going through harsh education to match my parents’ expectations, and always trying my best to be the “perfect student” that people want me to be. I always needed to be successful in school, without actually acknowledging that the expectations towards me were abnormally high as a normal high school student. I soon realized that my whole life was covered up with the biases and contorted thoughts of the people towards me, and to go further, my race. It didn’t take me long to find out the concept of “Modern Minority Myth” which explained all the things I have gone through.
What is Model Minority Myth?
For some of the readers who might have never heard of this concept, the myth of the model minority is based on the stereotypes that are created by society. In America it has been used to characterize Asians and Asian-Americans as very successful by the common preconceptions that people have. It might not sound that realistic when it comes to definitions, but racism based on modern minority myth happens pretty frequently in real life. Some examples of it are standardized roles that Asians act on TV shows or movies, Asians always being treated smart and getting high grades, and being expected to be better on STEM. Model minority myth is an implicit racism, and also a huge bias that is deeply ingrained in people’s minds. Even many Asians themselves implicitly have these kinds of thoughts, generating biases towards each other. It may not seem that severe compared to other kinds of racism that people get to face in the world, but the model minority myth contains some of its own problems.
What is the Problem With It?
First, the model minority myth erases diversity among individuals. Similar to other racial biases that categorize all people with the same race as the same, the stereotypes of the model minority myth end up creating an image of a “typical” person of one race, which is quite absurd to say. It forces people to match the same expectations, act identically, and do something in the same way also. The preconceptions spread through the whole society snatches away an individual’s characteristics slowly, but forcefully.
Second, life as a “model minority” student is a great pressure for all Asians. Even though there are also some people who oppose the idea of the model minority myth, a majority of Asians choose to just live with all the biases. Various students endure all the harsh education and pressure towards them only to become an actual model minority. High expectations towards the students suppress them to always seek for better accomplishments, and push them towards their limit. The large amount of academic pressure of the Asian students generate higher suicidal rates of students due to academics.
Third, the idea of the modern minority myth also reinforces the idea that Asian-Americans are perennial foreigners. Have you ever had a closer observation on what roles an Asian character plays in an American TV show or a movie? You would be able to realize that they are mostly one of those smart, nerdy characters. Racism even occurs in the smallest situations that you might not even realize. Even though stereotypes in the media have improved a lot throughout the past years, It is not easy to change a stereotype that was stuck in people's minds once. The idea that all of these stereotypes point out is only one thing: it is that Asian-Americans are not viewed the same as all of the other Americans. The Asian American stereotype always makes them viewed as foreigners and perpetual outsiders of this country.
So, what should we do about this?
The way you should deal with this is actually quite simple. Just be aware of it. Try thinking about the attitudes, and words of yourself one more. Check your stereotypes and presumptions you hold. If you are made aware that some of your words towards others were biased, that’s great, since now you know what to do to be on the right track. I honestly believe that there is no better way to dismantle the myth of model minorities than raising awareness by ourselves. If we start with each making a small change in our own lives, soon the world would also begin to change slowly with all the small efforts of people in daily life.
