How Mythical Is the Model Minority Stereotype? Asian American Variations in Socioeconomic Achievement

Th e impact of the COVID- 19 global pandemic to American communities extends beyond physical health problems to include political, economic, education, business, mental health, and social relation impacts. This essay, based on a summer and fall 2020 place-based research project collaboration between Purdue Honors College students and the Purdue Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center, examines impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to the Asian and Asian American communities. Th e research asks what the impacts of COVID-19 are to Asian/American communities, how COVID-19 anti-Asian racism is unique or not unique, how the Asian American communities have collectively responded to the racism connected to the pandemic, and how Asian American communities displayed solidarity with other communities during this difficult time in public health and racial justice. Th e essay connects extensive media and archival research to detail COVID-19 impacts in the areas of health and wellness, job security, and social/racial justice. The essay then documents the persistent history of stereotyping and racism to Asian/American communities particularly in the midst of larger changes in political, national security, or public health situations. The next part of the essay provides an analysis of the rising number of reporting centers utilizing different platforms to counter the experience of racism. Finally, with the tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd that sparked forms of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, the essay examines specific online and offline eff orts in regard to Asian and Asian American solidarity.

Geisha of a Different Kind: Race and Sexuality in Gaysian America. By C. Winter Han. New York: New York University Press, 2015. Pp. xiv+237. $89.00 (cloth); $26.00 (paper).

Racism in the USA: ensuring Asian American health equity

The objective of this commentary is to call attention to the importance of education policy that promotes Asian American (AA) communities. I argue AA communities have not received enough attention in the domain of education policy primarily due to the stereotypes embedded in the dominant “model minority myth” and “perpetual foreigner ideology.” Furthermore, I discuss how the exclusion and misrepresentation of AA communities lead to civic and political alienation of AA youths, in addition to physical and psychological violence toward these populations. I conclude by proposing research questions related to promoting AA actors in education policymaking.

This paper investigated the topic of panethnic Asian American political coalition-building in Philadelphia politics, to determine if efforts to forge such a coalition succeeded. This paper traced the scholarship accumulated across multiple spheres of Asian American studies ranging from the emergence of panethnic Asian American identity, Asian American involvement in American politics before and after the civil rights movement, and the continuing ethnic divisions within the Asian American community. Further research on urban politics and its intersection with ethnic identity was also investigated, yielding insights into the nature of the potential of and obstacles to successful panethnic political organizing across ethnic lines in the urban areas of the United States. Upon investigating data on the voting patterns of Asian Americans, the socioeconomic statistics on various Asian American ethnic groups, the organizational landscape of organizations--panethnic or ethnic--serving the Asian American community, and the political clout of Asian American political activists and groups in Philadelphia politics, the conclusion was reached that efforts to forge a panethnic Asian American coalition in Philadelphia politics have not succeeded. While the topic of panethnic Asian American politics in the urban context remains a relatively understudied topic in political science, the existing evidence points that there remain significant obstacles to panethnic political organizing in Asian American communities.

This thesis explores the concept of the Model Minority Myth (MMM) and its impact on minority groups such as Asian American communities. It discusses how the MMM is one of the many reasons why health disparities such as oral health disparities, may exist for these groups, particularly in the context of White-majority places like the city of Portland and Multnomah County in Oregon. These disparities, as a result, prevent communities from achieving racial equity in areas such as employment, education, occupation, and income, to name a few. At first glance, the MMM seems to shed an optimistic light with its false portrayal that Asian communities seemingly fare better than other communities of color in Oregon. The myth attempts to homogenize the experiences of people of Asian descent when in reality, they represent over thirty ethnic groups using over three hundred languages and have undergone multiple waves of immigration periods dating back to the 1600s. Overgeneralizing the diverse experiences of different Asian American perspectives could leave Asian Americans out of important research and policy considerations that could be vital to their well-being. This thesis will not try to falsify the Model Minority Myth, but rather, it will examine the complex impacts of the MMM on the Asian American communities within social, educational, and health (oral health and overall health and well-being) contexts.

This entry Structural racism exists among Asian American communities and affects the family members residing in them. Therefore it is necessary to describe the contexts to understand cultural values and their role in the underpinnings of daily life in Asian American communities. While there is great diversity in Asian American populations, there are still stereotypes about Asian Americans being the model minority or passive victims. Racism is still a problem within Asian American communities as policies and macro level practices are subtle or even blatant in their discriminatory tendencies, impacts, and consequences. With the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, racial profiling was reported toward Chinese Americans living in the United States who were not in China when the pandemic started in 2019. Addressing racism and understanding its biased tenets are very important to stop oppressive attitudes and discriminatory practices. Used in legal studies and education, critical race theory (CRT) allows an examination of racism from a structural racism lens in macro social work practice. A descendent of CRT, AsianCrit theory looks at Asian American populations with a critical lens toward the permanence of racism, color blindness, counter storytelling, intersectionality, historical and contemporary contexts, and commitment to social justice. Understanding how these macro systems impact individual racist attitudes and actions is important to know for future social justice implications for practice, policy, and research with this population.

Asian Americans have been portrayed as the model minority for seemingly having achieved socioeconomic success and being free of problems. Such stereotypes may have lasting and negative impact on Asian American individuals, families, and communities. Utilizing the social justice framework and critical race feminist theory, we interrogate and problematize the model minority stereotype and its impacts by situating Asian Americans in the Black‐and‐White racial hierarchy, offering a brief history of the term, providing disaggregated statistics on Asian Americans' socioeconomic conditions, reviewing recent literature on Asian Americans and their families, and discussing some consequences that this myth generates. We focus on the roles of family and community contexts and acculturation status on Asian Americans' educational achievement, gender, and psychological adjustment and mental health issues. Our review illustrates the diversity and nuance in Asian Americans' educational, psychological, social, and economic outcomes. We conclude with some recommendations for professionals working with Asian Americans.

In this paper, we discuss the relationship between the yellow peril stereotype along with the model minority myth and how they influence the recent Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate in 2020. We first delve into the treatment of Asian Americans during the interwar years, specifically the immigration center Angel Island. Using oral histories we collected from outside sources and books, we discuss the social and legal treatments of the Asian immigrants both in the immigration center and in the country. Next, we discuss the origins of the model minority myth that date back to the 1960s to 70s using newspaper articles and interviews conducted during the time period. We also explore the formation of the Asian American identity and movement in the 1960s and 70s through newspaper articles that demonstrate the community’s pushback to white supremacy and dismantling harmful prejudices against Asian Americans. From this historical lens, we connect the formation and continuation of the yellow peril and model minority stereotypes to the Asian American hate of 2020 through current interviews and podcasts with Asian Americans. This reemergence of hate against the Asian American community demonstrates the stereotypes’ long-lasting effects. Simultaneously, the AAPI protests evidence that Asian Americans continue to fight back against their mistreatment as a continuation of the Asian American Movement that started in the late 1960s. These historical and modern events assist our discussion of the Asian-American community’s relationship with white supremacy in order to fight back against the discrimination we face today.

Invisibility of Asians, Asian Americans, and Buddhist roots in Western psychology

Objectives The purpose of this case study series was to present recruitment and data collection strategies used for Asian American ethnic groups by documenting challenges experienced by researchers in the field of aging. Summary We compiled four case studies investigating Asian American older adults and/or family caregivers (i.e., Vietnamese, South Asians, Chinese, and Koreans). Each case study employed unique research methods to overcome experienced challenges associated with recruitment and data collection. Discussion Three constructs were organized for effective recruitment and data collection strategies of this racial group and included (1) forming a bilingual and bicultural research team (research-centered); (2) establishing reciprocal partnerships between researchers and community partners (community-centered); and (3) understanding the historical and cultural backgrounds of targeted ethnic groups (participant-centered). Approaches taken to address the range of challenges and limitations identified in this case study series may also help increase the representation of Asian-American older adults and family caregivers in research. Clinical Implications Successfully including racial and ethnic minority groups in research, especially Asian Americans, may reduce existing racial disparities in mental and physical health. Any barriers and facilitators affecting the research regarding Asian American ethnic groups should continue to be discussed.

Asian Americans have been historically marginalized and underrepresented in U.S. history and education due to stereotypes and the essentialization of diverse ethnicities and cultures. This article explores the exclusion of Asian American arts and artists through the lens of Asian Critical theory. The near invisibility and misunderstanding of Asian American arts have impacted art education, which remains centered on Whiteness and Euro-Western perspectives. To disrupt the status quo, more artists and art educators are striving to enhance the representation of Asian American arts and address the racism against Asian and Asian American communities. The article suggests two pedagogical approaches: (a) designing an inclusive curriculum incorporating diverse representations of Asian American artists; and (b) creating spaces for students to engage in counterstorytelling. It concludes by urging art educators to incorporate Asian American arts and experiences and foster critical discussions on racism against Asian Americans in the U.S. in their teaching and research.

The journey of Asian Americans in the United States is vital to understanding the perspective that Asian immigrants take on the way to becoming Asian Americans. Within the past century, Asians in America have played an essential role in communities across the country. In order to understand the efforts it takes for some of these people, our “Internship in Asian American Studies” (ASAM 490) class explored their experiences and lives by highlighting Asian American and Asian business owners in Greater Lafayette, other areas in Indiana. With a lack of vocalization about this topic, it is crucial to establish this voice for the Asian and Asian American communities. In our service-learning project, we created a narrative over images captured to visualize the history of the Asian Americans we interviewed. Through this narrative, we hope to enable a more established engagement within our campus archives both institutionally and academically in order to showcase the Asian American community and the successes and triumphs that those in the Greater Lafayette area have overcome.

Performing Race, Speaking the Body

In this research, we test the central hypothesis that perceptions of Asian Americans as a high-status “model minority” lead to overestimates of the extent of wealth equality between Asian and White Americans. We test this hypothesis across three studies that manipulate the salience of high- or low-status Asian American exemplars before soliciting estimates of Asian-White wealth equality. A meta-analysis of the results revealed that participants significantly overestimated Asian-White wealth equality and that making low- versus high-status Asian American exemplars salient decreased this tendency. These data suggest that activation of high-status Asian American exemplars elicits greater overestimates of Asian-White wealth equality, obscuring existing wealth disparities relative to White Americans and significantly downplaying the economic inequality that burdens a subset of Asian Americans from less prototypical ethnic backgrounds. The findings echo recent calls by sociologists and political scientists for a more nuanced understanding of the diversity and economic inequality among Asian American communities.