The Model Minority Theory, Overlooking the Struggles of Asian Americans

The Model Minority theory is a concept that puts the assumption in the minds of people that all persons who are from Asian or of Asian decent are successful, smart, hard working, and model citizens who respect the authority of their country. The Model Minority theory became very apparent in 1966 when two major magazines published articles giving praise to the great achievements of Asian Americans (Fong 62.) While the theory might appear to give Asians praise for their hard work and success, in reality it does the exact opposite as it covers up and marginalizes the real experiences Asian Americans face. For example, one of the ways the Model Minority theory harms the Asian American community is that it hides the fact that there are many Asian Americans living below or at the poverty line (Fong 62.) When it comes to academics it covers up the fact that many Asian American students struggle in school and do not get the help they need. It is also negative because it overlooks years of oppression Asian Americans face when first coming to the United States. Lastly, it creates a lot of racial tension between them and other ethnic groups (Fong 62.) With this I feel as though we should work to get rid of the Model Minority theory, as it would better the life of all Asian Americans because it would uncover the great number of Asians that are overlooked by the theory.

The Model Minority theory might have formed based off of the post-1965 Asian immigrants who came to the United States. Many of these immigrants were well educated, could speak English, and held white-collar jobs. It also might have formed from Confucianism and their cultural values of always working hard and having respect for authority (Chou 221.) The Model Minority group ...

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... other ethnic groups may have towards. With educating others about the true reality of Asian American life Asian students may finally not get added pressure from their teachers to be at the top of the class as well. One of the saddest things I feel that the theory does is that it completely takes away the individuality of an Asian person and instead has people look at them as a body of people. It is very important to educate the public about this Model Minor theory because many of them might be following it without even knowing it. I feel as though if the public is educated about the theory they will see how much harm it does to Asian Americans and will start to remove some of the stereotypes they think of when they see an Asian. With the Model Minority theory being thrown out Asian Americans can finally start getting the help the need and accreditation they need.