The concept of a model minority began in the 1960s when the U.S. was looking to accept skilled immigrants from various Asian countries. The U.S. sought to boost their own status/progress in the scientific and technological community by integrating some extremely skilled and knowledgeable scientists and technical workers from outside countries. They also sought to dispel the notion that the U.S. is racist. This idea of a model minority – this group of ‘elite immigrants’ who were considered extremely useful and productive to American society was created as a cruel comparison to other minority groups that did not necessarily have the same ‘success’ as the model minorities. While many Asian Americans are stereotyped as model minorities, African Americans are often stereotyped as ‘thugs’ or ‘criminals’. I think it goes without saying that while these are two very different experiences for those individuals, it is undoubtedly very unfair to both groups of people being stereotyped (or any other group, of course).
As a side note, on the topic of affirmative action, I’m gonna have to say I don’t think it’s the best idea. Not because I am not a proponent of equality, but because I don’t think it necessarily solves the problem. I think we would do better to determine why specific minority groups are underrepresented in colleges / higher education / various other places and address those issues directly. If, for example, the reason African Americans are underrepresented in college is that in a lot of communities during the steps before college they lack access to the same tools (such as quality elementary or high schools) as other communities, then I think this would be best solved by investing in those communities and providing them access to the same opportunities as everyone else.
Hey Jacob, I definitely agree with you. This model minority term has got out of hand. There is so much racism in that term alone. The worst part is the comparison between Asian and Black minorities as different in the way of action and way of life. Why is it that Blacks are considered thugs and criminalized in American society? This is something I would like to understand.
Hi,
I agree with you that if you have been comparing two races, at least one of them is passive.
You are right man, one action is all it takes for someone to judge your whole race asians for being treated too well because of their smartness and black and hispanics for being seen as thieves and gangsters. No race should be looked down upon or look to high up on the pedestal
Jacob,
It was quite intriguing to see that although Asians were considered the “model” minority, they were still discriminated against by the white community and still were not given opportunities to excel. POC groups like Blacks and Hispanics were categorized has dangerous thugs and criminals which creates an even bigger gap for them to excel. It was all totally unfair. The system that reigned was built for the benefit of the white government.
I agree with you about how so many stereotypes limits many people of color from good jobs and education in their life.
I agree, it’s terrible how they brought a group of people to America just to justify their racism and then deny it to their faces. though It’s nice to see that people are aware of this and speaking out now.