A “Model” Minority: Japanese Americans as References and Role Models in Black Newspapers, 2000–2010

Abstract

The model minority began as an ideology pitting Japanese Americans against African Americans, using the former's economic success to deflect assertions of the persistence of race. In stressing enmity, research on black attitudes toward Asian Americans points to the utility of the myth in segmenting the two communities. The thrust of reporting on Japanese America in thirty seven black newspapers from 2000 to 2010 shows something different. Two frames emerge: Japanese Americans function as a reference group serving to reinforce the historical substance of racial profiling of minorities, and as a role model for developing a strategy for black efforts at reparations.