The Harmful Myth Of Asian Superiority

Asians score higher and achieve higher in comparison to other races. We are forced to outperform others by a

Asians are one of fastest growing minority groups in America today. During this century, various factors at home and abroad have caused people from Asia to immigrate to the United States for better or for worse. Due to these factors, Americans and American teachers, in particular, need to educate themselves and become aware of the Asian American students’ needs in terms of success and happiness. Before beginning my research, I felt I had an easy subject: studying Asian Americans in relation to their education in public schools. How simple! Everyone knows they are smart, hard working, driven to succeed in spite of their nerdish, geeky, non-athletic, broken-English stereotype. Of course they are

The stereotype that Asian Americans just naturally have a step up above the rest that paves the path for the jealousy other ethnicities is really the result of ridiculous amounts of dedication and this group of people should be praised for their work ethic.

Asian Americans are a diverse group of people who are among the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. Despite their minority status, they often surpass Whites in America and do so while holding on to their cultural values regarding family, education, and success.

In “Thinking About Diversity”, Frank H. Wu details about his experiences as an Asian American. Wu says that, “some non-Asian students do, indeed, assume that I am gifted with mathematical, scientific, or computer-programming talents solely on account of my race” (Wu, 147), this concept shows the overview picture of Asians, but this does not apply to every Asians. The mathematic, science or computer programming is a universal subject that most industrialized places like Asia teach to students. Most Asian immigrants are familiar with those subjects because they already learn it back home and are able to do well on them, not because of a race. A race cannot provide a special intelligent to people, it’s just a different classify groups of people.

Have you ever heard the statement that all Asian Americans are good at math and science and they excel educationally? This paper defines the model minority myth, provides historical context in perspective of the Chinese Americans and explains how these Chinese American’s experiences do not fit the model minority myth. The model minority stereotype has various negative assumptions towards Asian Americans and one of them is that it assumes all Asian Americans are a homogenous ethnic group. There are several ways how Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans do not fit the model minority myth. Specifically, the historical context of these Chinese Americans contradicts the model minority stereotype.

Asian-American students are often assumed to be the ones who finish on top academically. Due to the amount of high-ranking Asian-American students in schools throughout the United States, a cliché stereotype has been developed claiming all Asian students are “whiz kids.” The culture which Asian individuals practice differs by region however, majority of Asian individuals celebrate a different culture than mainstream Americans. I interviewed Susan, an Asian-American female who was born to an Asian mother, and an American father.

Although Asian Americans comprise only about 5% of the U.S. population, this group is the fastest growing segment of American society. Despite such rapid expansion, Asian Americans are widely underrepresented throughout media, whether in television, cinema, or literature. Moreover, there are different stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. One of the most pervasive stereotypes details how Asian Americans are a “model minority”. In essence, this myth describes how anyone who is Asian American will become a successful individual able to achieve the “American dream”.

Statistics that support this model minority theory can be found in many areas, the first being education. Fifty percent of Asian Americans 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree compared to twenty-nine percent of the white population. Many studies have used standardized tests and school records, such as SAT, GPA, and other measures to compare the academic performance of Asian American students with non-Asian American students. Several studies have indicated that the outstanding academic performance of Asian students might be attributed to their cultural and family values. Another area of model minority success is found in the professional workforce. Asian Americans as a group work in the same place of employment as whites. This alone suggests that they have succeeded. A high percent of Asians are found at the top of professional and managerial positions. This success in the workforce has also lead Asians to hold one of the highest income figures per family by race. On the other hand, the model minority label is also seen as a myth. This label suggests that Asian Americans conform to the norms of society, do well in school and careers, are hardworking and self-sufficient. It follows that Asian Americans are a model for all groups, especially other minority groups. However, a closer look uncovers

A survey has said that Asian Americans have a great value on marriages, parernthood, hard work and career success. They had a direct path on having a postive and better life than any other ethnic group in the world.

The model minority stereotype suggests that Asian Americans as a group are achieving a higher level of academic, economic, and social success than the overall American population (Hartlep, 2013; Tran & Birman, 2010). This stereotype is very much engrained in the American culture today; however, such acceptance does not reflect the whole truth.

A reading that stood out in Current Issues and Enduring Questions was “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority” by Ronald Takaki. Throughout his essay Takaki expresses how although it seems the Asian minority in the United States has superiority over other minorities, this assumption is false. He touches on many ideas why Asian Americans seem superior. These ideas include: acceptance into universities, high household incomes, and praise for their entrepreneurial effectiveness (Takaki,1990,p.123).

American's success is exaggerated to a great extent, and does not fit the "model minority" most

Asians have migrated to and have lived in the Americas since the days of our founding fathers. The first to come from the Eastern Hemisphere were a small group of Filipinos in the early 18th century that settled in present day Louisiana. The first major influx of Asian Americans was Chinese Americans who came in the 1800’s to find financial opportunity during the California gold rush. They settled in the Golden State and eventually spread out all over the United States, creating the now-famous Chinatowns that millions of Americans visit every year. There is a continual migration of well educated South Asians and East Asians for job and education opportunities and their success has formed the basis for the “myth of the model minority” (MMM). This is the idea that all people who are Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are successful both socioeconomically and educationally. This does have a logical basis rooted in statistics—AAPI students are reported to have higher grade point averages, math scores, and overall standardized tests scores on tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing Exam (ACT). Other studies often use a racialized rhetoric comparing Asian Americans to white Americans in terms of education and socioeconomic status while contrasting them to the so-called “lazy” and “incapable” Hispanic and African Americans.

In many ways, Japan has been looked upon as a strangely homogeneous society for much of its modern history. And for some, it stands as one of the most homogeneous nation in the world. However, when looking at Japan as a whole, and considering whether or not it homogeneity is a problem, or just another cultural phenomenon, one must look towards the root cause of homogeneism in Japan. In Japan’s past, it has has been questioned, as well as assumed, that the growth of Japans homogeneous viewpoint was put forward by the government of Japan, and was done so by circulating false accusations of its lineage. Which these false stories of lineage, Japan has grown in its ethnocentric views and ways. Ethnocentrism, or