By now, most people have probably heard of the term “model minority” at one point or another. The term is perhaps most commonly used in the context of race and is typically applied to Asians. It is an oversimplified view of the plethora of diverse and individually unique Asian American experiences that exist beneath the surface. The model minority myth holds that all Asians are academically accomplished and highly achieved people across all aspects. While they may seem like favorable beliefs, these laudatory stereotypes present a host of negative effects.
As the name suggests, the model minority has long served as a wedge between minority groups in America. The model minority myth was created and used by the white majority to justify their discrimination against other minority groups such as blacks. In the eyes of white America, Asians were the behaved and submissive minority that were non-threatening, unlike our black counterparts. We were the ideal people of color, the kind other people of color should aspire to be like: doing what we were expected to be doing, which was laying low and being compliant. This misconception has pitted minorities against each other for years. It restricts solidarity between minority groups, which only furthers the interests of the white majority.
The model minority stereotype is outright fraudulent. Studies have proven that there are significant socioeconomic and education disparities among various ethnicities within the greater group of Asian Americans. A report from Pew Research Center shows that income inequality rates in the United States are greatest among Asians. In 2016, Asians at the 90th percentile of their income distribution had 10.7 times the income of Asians at the 10th percentile. As for education, in 2015, 72% of Indians ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree, compared to 9% among Bhutanese. If we follow the trend over the past couple of decades, these discrepancies have most likely risen since then. A 2018 study from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition shows that the annual median income of Asian Americans was $87,194. Despite this, the annual median income of Burmese in the United States was $36,000, well below the national average. To generalize a certain percentage of successful Asians and sweep the rest under the rug and then paint it as the common narrative of all Asians is deeply misleading.
Lastly, the model minority myth is detrimental to Asian Americans’ mental health. It is depersonalizing and takes away from the individual experience. These stereotypes create abnormally high expectations that young Asian Americans have to live up to. When others have a preconceived notion that all Asians are inherently smart and overachieving, we feel immense pressure to perform up to those standards; when we fall short, it takes a toll on our mental health.
The Asian American narrative is not complete without the enormous variety of experiences and array of backgrounds. The model minority myth fails to acknowledge these important differences and instead creates a single story on behalf of the entire group. In addition to facing discrimination in the United States, many Asians feel a sense of invisibility when their own perspectives are overlooked. The stereotypes portray all of us to be the same when in fact, Asian Americans are the most economically divided racial group in the United States. The model minority myth encourages animosity between minority groups when we actually need to be banding together in solidarity. For these aforementioned reasons, promotion of the model minority myth must end now.