What is the Model Minority Myth and Why is it Harmful?

When I was in 9th grade, my classmates and I had taken a grammar test in English I. I remember I hadn’t done so good on that test and a fellow classmate saying “I didn’t think someone like you would actually do bad on the test.”

Someone like you

I never did particularly well in this class, so I didn’t really understand what they meant by this. At that moment, I didn’t particularly think about it much, but it definitely didn’t feel right. Looking back at this, I realized that I wasn’t being judged based on my work in the class, but was instead being judged based on the image of the smart, straight-A Indian student, the ‘model minority’.

The model minority myth is a stereotypical view of a group of people in which it’s assumed that they have achieved a high level of educational, economic, and professional success. It pushes the narrative that Asian Americans are geniuses or musical prodigies. Within this myth, Tiger parents place large amounts of pressure on their kids to be better than everyone else, and Asians are expected to be shy and complicit (especially when western men sexualize East Asian women). This idea of the ‘model minority’ has perpetuated the narrative that Asian Americans are well-mannered, lawful citizens who have managed to achieve high levels of success with talent and hard work that many immigrants are thought to have.

Although many agree that the stereotypes that the model minority myth perpetuates about Asian Americans are harmful, many still question if it really is harmful or not. What is so bad about being a part of a minority that many perceive as successful?

It doesn’t acknowledge the differences among individuals. My experience in 9th grade an example of this. As a result of the model minority myth, I was perceived as a high achieving, smart student. Instead of differentiating me as an individual, others saw me as any other Asian American student. The myth of the model minority fails to shed light on the complexities of the Asian American identity, and if you don’t fit into the myth, it’s difficult to find your place at all.

It is harmful to the struggle for racial justice. The myth paints the picture that Asian Americans have gone through the systems that are currently in place and have ended up successful. This success among some groups of Asian American immigrants is seen as the pinnacle of the American Dream and what all immigrants should strive for. It puts forward the idea that if only other minority groups were to work harder and get over their histories of oppression, that they too would be just as successful. When paired with other racist stereotypes about other minority groups, the model minority myth is then used to invalidate the impacts of racism and discrimination that these other minority groups face. It essentially pits people of color against each other. By pitting us against each other, the myth distracts us from working together to create a fair and just system for all.

So how do we fix this? Try to understand that although it’s important to understand Asian Americans as a minority group in this country, it’s also important to understand that individual differences exist. In addition to this, it’s important for school systems to implement more Asian and Asian American history, figures, and texts in the classroom Instead of just learning about Gandhi, Mao Zedong, and Genghis Khan, we should also learn about other figures as well, such as Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu, Jerry Yang, and Kalpana Chawla. It’s also important that schools teach more about the history of Asian Americans in America. Instead of just merely brushing over the fact that President Chester A. Arthur implemented the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, teach about the harsh realities that Chinese Americans faced as a result of this.