Model Minorities and Overcoming the Dominance of Whiteness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas D. Hartlep
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Curriculum Studies ◽  
Model Minority Stereotype ◽  
Model Minorities

Stereotyping Asian Americans as successful or model minorities is not positive. Instead, it is a form of racist love that reinforces White supremacy. How can a positive stereotype reinforce White supremacy? Because the process of revering Asian Americans as model minorities leads to other groups of people, such as people of color and Indigenous people, being reviled. But if the model minority characterization of Asian Americans is inaccurate, what should curriculum studies scholars do? Disproving a “stereotype” is impossible. Curriculum studies scholars and theorists should not attempt to disconfirm something that is untrue, or something that is racist, but instead should narrate the reality of being Asian American. The model minority stereotype of Asian Americans has been studied and contested over 50 years within the context of the United States. Over these 50 plus years, the model minority stereotype has taken on a transcendent meaning. Overcoming the dominance of Whiteness requires Asian Americans to transcend “positive” stereotypes via critical storytelling. This will require curriculum studies as a field to continue to interrogate: What are the realities of living in racist Amerika for Asian Americans?

“Over-zealous Parents, Over-programmed Families”: Asian Americans, Academic Achievement, and White Supremacy

2021 ◽  
pp. 233264922110184
Author(s):  
Pawan Dhingra
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
White Educators ◽  
Asian American Students ◽  
American Students ◽  
High Achieving ◽  
K 12

Discussions of white supremacy focus on patterns of whites’ stature over people of color across institutions. When a minority group achieves more than whites, it is not studied through the lens of white supremacy. For example, arguments of white supremacy in K-12 schools focus on the disfranchisement of African Americans and Latinxs. Discussions of high-achieving Asian American students have not been framed as such and, in fact, can be used to argue against the existence of white privilege. This article explains why this conception is false. White supremacy can be active even when people of color achieve more than whites. Drawing from interviews and observations of mostly white educators in Boston suburbs that have a significant presence of Asian American students, I demonstrate that even when Asian Americans outcompete whites in schools, white supremacy is active through two means. First, Asian Americans are applauded in ways that fit a model minority stereotype and frame other groups as not working hard enough. Second and more significantly, Asian Americans encounter anti-Asian stereotypes and are told to assimilate into the model of white educators. This treatment is institutionalized within the school system through educators’ practices and attitudes. These findings somewhat support but mostly contrast the notion of “honorary whiteness,” for they show that high-achieving minorities are not just tools of white supremacy toward other people of color but also targets of it themselves. Understanding how high-achieving minorities experience institutionalized racism demonstrates the far reach of white supremacy.

Asian Americans

Sociology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Lee ◽  
Alexander Lu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Socioeconomic Outcomes ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Asian Americans currently make up about five percent of the US population and are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The history of Asians in the United States spans more than 200 years. The term “Asian American” covers over twenty nationality groups. It covers a wide variety of identities, languages, cultures, and experiences, yet this diversity has been masked with the assumption of homogeneity and the model minority image. Research within sociology on Asian Americans often focuses on dispelling the model minority myth through the empirical analysis of heterogeneity within the Asian American population, particularly in regard to educational and socioeconomic outcomes. Other sociological research examines contemporary stereotypes and discrimination against Asian Americans as well as the racial stratification of Asian Americans in relation to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. However, it is important to note that Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field, and much sociological work is informed and influenced by multi- and interdisciplinary work. Therefore, although focused primarily on sociological works, this article will include books and articles from other disciplines that have important implications for sociological research.

“The Model Man:” Shifting Perceptions of Asian American Masculinity and the Renegotiation of a Racial Hierarchy of Desire

2021 ◽  
pp. 1097184X2110435
Author(s):  
Kelly H Chong ◽  
Nadia Y Kim
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
White Women ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Racial Hierarchy ◽  
Model Minority Stereotype ◽  
Sexual Racism ◽  
Asian American Men ◽  
Depth Interviews

Although Asian-descent men in the United States have been subjected to negative race-gender stereotyping and sexual racism, evidence suggests that mainstream perceptions and Asian American men’s self-definitions are in flux. Drawing on in-depth interviews of U.S.-born and -raised, middle-class, heterosexual Asian American men, supplemented by popular media textual analysis, we examine how these men are drawing upon a new form of alternative Asian American masculinity— one that we call “The Model Man”—in order to renegotiate their position within the present hierarchy of romantic preference. “The Model Man,” a hybrid masculinity construction that combines the elements of White hegemonic masculinity and model minority-based “Asian” masculinity, is co-opted and deployed by men as sexual/romantic capital—especially in relation to White women—because it enables the men to present themselves as desirable romantic partners. Although this masculinity strategy contains possibilities for further straitjacketing Asian American men via the model minority stereotype—and for re-inscribing heteronormativity and patriarchy/heterosexism—it may possess an unexpectedly subversive potential in allowing the men to contest their masculinity status and even remap hegemonic American manhood.

A Review of the Historical, Criminological, and Theoretical Understandings of the Cambodian American Population: A Call for More Comprehensive Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 2624-2649
Author(s):  
Dany Chheang ◽  
Eric J. Connolly
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Southeast Asians ◽  
Cambodian Americans ◽  
Model Minorities ◽  
Socioeconomic Success ◽  
Theoretical Standpoint

The collective view of Asian Americans as model minorities is evident with the extensive amount of statistical data showing support for the academic and socioeconomic success of Asian Americans in the United States. This perception, however, often presents an inaccurate portrayal of Asian Americans, in general, as it overlooks many of the difficulties and hardships experienced by Asian American ethnic groups such as Southeast Asians. Within this group, Cambodian Americans are at the highest risk for experiencing socioeconomic hardships, behavioral health problems, substance use disorders, and contact with the criminal justice system, with deportation also being a prevailing issue. Unfortunately, research in this area is scant and contemporary research on Cambodian Americans has several limitations. To begin to address this issue, the present article merges information from existing research on this population from a sociohistorical, criminological, and theoretical standpoint to call for more comprehensive research on Cambodian Americans.

The Model Minority Narrative and Its Effect on Asian American Identity and Social Status

2015 ◽  
pp. 323-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Cultural Struggle ◽  
Asian American Identity

Asian Americans have been conceptualized as a model minority for their apparent success in socioeconomic, academic, and professional settings, where other minorities have struggled. However, studies have suggested that this image is only a popularized stereotype, with academic underachievement, poverty, mental health issues, and cultural struggle prevalent amongst different Asian American communities. This chapter is a meta-analysis of studies on the model minority narrative, its influence on the social perception of Asian Americans, and its effect on shaping self-identity for Asian Americans themselves. This chapter also discusses the role the narrative plays in hindering racial parity and inter-race relations through furthering the marginalization of minority groups, silencing the voices of social change while maintaining the imbalance of status and power that currently exists in the United States.

scholarly journals ‘FRESH OFF THE BOAT’ AND THE MODEL MINORITY STEREOTYPE: A FOUCAULDIAN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Truong Minh Hang ◽  
Phung Ha Thanh
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Social Perceptions ◽  
American Family ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
American Experience ◽  
Model Minority Stereotype ◽  
Minority Discourse

This project studies how the American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat performs the model minority discourse. The performance, in line with the Foucauldian tradition of discourse analysis, is understood based on the networks of events and meanings that have rendered the model minority stereotype intelligible. The study informs that the model minority stereotype entered the discourse on Asian Americans through mainstream media’s rationalization of Asian Americans’ economic success in 1960s, marking a significant change in social perceptions of Asian Americans. It demonstrates that the discursive status of the stereotype has been conditioned by three power networks namely the black-white paradigm, the Asian American family, and the stereotype-based humor in American sitcoms. Fresh Off the Boat, the authors argue, participates effectively in shaping contemporary model minority discourse as it employs the three power networks in an approach more realistic and humane than mere oversimplification of Asian American experience.

The heathen, the plague, and the model minority: Perpetual self-assessment of Asian Americans as a panoptic mechanism

2021 ◽  
pp. 205030322110444
Author(s):  
Yuen-Yung Sherry Chan
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
Group Boundaries

Incidents of racism against Asians have been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic turned global in early 2020. Employing Foucault’s concept of panopticism and Kathryn Lofton’s insights on the function of religion to demarcate group boundaries, this article argues that American religion constructs Asian American stereotypes to limit the discursive space within which Asian Americans may negotiate their identities. These discursive limitations have, in turn, buttressed white supremacy. This article examines how some Asians and Asian Americans respond to anti-Asian sentiments during the pandemic by performing a close reading of an op-ed by prominent Asian American politician Andrew Yang in The Washington Post. This reading reveals that Yang’s colorblind solution upholds whiteness as the American gnosis and limits the discursive space in which Asian Americans may negotiate their identities. This article also discusses how the myth of America as a white Christian country withstands challenges from minority groups contesting its dominance.

The Racialization of the African-American and Asian-American Citizen: A Comparative Legal Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 30-41
Author(s):  
Mallory Yung
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
American Citizen

The perception of racial tensions in North American settler countries has historically been focused on the Black/White relationship, as has much of the theoretical legal discourse surrounding the concept of “race”. Accordingly, the scope of much critical race scholarship has been restricted such that it rarely acknowledges the racial tensions that persist between different racially-excluded minorities. This paper hopes to expand and integrate the examination of Black and Asian-American racialization that critical race scholars have previously revealed. It will do this by historicizing the respective contours of Black and Asian-American racialization processes through legislation and landmark court cases in a neo-colonial context. The defining features of racialization which have culminated in the ultimate divergence of each group’s racialization will be compared and contrasted. This divergence sees the differential labeling of Asian-Americans as the ‘model minority’ while Blacks continue to be subjugated by modern modalities of exclusionary systems of control. The consequences of this divergence in relation to preserving existing racial and social hierarchies will be discussed in the final sections of this paper.

Amidst pandemic and racial upheaval: Where Asian Americans Fit

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Whitney Hua ◽  
Jane Junn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
American Capitalism ◽  
Racial History ◽  
History Of

Abstract As racial tensions flare amidst a global pandemic and national social justice upheaval, the centrality of structural racism has renewed old questions and raised new ones about where Asian Americans fit in U.S. politics. This paper provides an overview of the unique racial history of Asians in the United States and analyzes the implications of dynamic racialization and status for Asian Americans. In particular, we examine the dynamism of Asian Americans' racial positionality relative to historical shifts in economic-based conceptions of their desirability as workers in American capitalism. Taking history, power, and institutions of white supremacy into account, we analyze where Asian Americans fit in contemporary U.S. politics, presenting a better understanding of the persistent structures underlying racial inequality and developing a foundation from which Asian Americans can work to enhance equality.

scholarly journals Asian American Older Adults and Social Isolation: A Systematic Literature Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 328-328
Author(s):  
Simona Kwon ◽  
Deborah Min ◽  
Stella Chong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Eligibility Criteria

Abstract Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial and ethnic minority group in the United States, whose population is aging considerably. Previous studies indicate that social isolation and loneliness disproportionately affects older adults and predicts greater physical, mental, and cognitive decline. A systematic literature review using PRISMA guidelines was conducted to address this emerging need to understand the scope of research focused on social isolation and loneliness among the disparity population of older Asian Americans. Four interdisciplinary databases were searched: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and AgeLine; search terms included variations on social isolation, loneliness, Asian Americans, and older adults. Articles were reviewed based on six eligibility criteria: (1) research topic relevance, (2) study participants aged >60 years, (3) Asian immigrants as main participants, (4) conducted in the United States, (5) published between 1995-2019, and (6) printed in the English language. The search yielded 799 articles across the four databases and 61 duplicate articles were removed. Abstracts were screened for the 738 remaining studies, 107 of which underwent full-text review. A total of 56 articles met the eligibility criteria. Synthesis of our review indicates that existing research focuses heavily on Chinese and Korean American immigrant communities, despite the heterogeneity of the diverse Asian American population. Studies were largely observational and employed community-based sampling. Critical literature gaps exist surrounding social isolation and loneliness in Asian American older adults, including the lack of studies on South Asian populations. Future studies should prioritize health promotion intervention research and focus on diverse understudied Asian subgroups.

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