1. Introduction to Asian American Studies
ETHN 14:
Introduction to Asian American Studies
Department of Ethnic Studies & Asian American Studies Program
California State University, Sacramento
Week 14 Session 1
Delving Deeper into the Model Minority Stereotype

2. Last Time
Provide key concepts related to the politics of API and Education
Meritocracy
Structure and Agency
Contemporary schooling
Model minority myth
Panethnicity

3. Today Delve Deeper into the Model Minority Myth/Stereotype
Understand its Political Ramifications in Higher Education

4. Warm-Up Pair up with someone
If you had to rank the following Racial/Ethnic Groups in order of who has it best in America (in terms of power and privilege) in a top-down order, what would it look like?
Asian American/Pacific Islander
Black/African American
Whites/Caucasian
Latino/Hispanic
What you just set an example of is what’s deemed as a narrative. In other words, you yourselves have somehow internalized or normalized that this is a normal peking order of race here in America. If you were a policymaker, in looking at Asians as a whole,

5. What is the Model Minority Stereotype?
A stereotype that generalizes Asian Americans by depicting them (us) as the perfect example of an if-they-can-do-it-so-can-you success story.
Political strategy that highlights the success pf Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian immigrants with a specific professional and educational background.
A historical and presently used tool designed to protect institutionalized white supremacy and validate anti-black racism
The terms assimilation and acculturation wholly applies to the historical context of the MMS
“the model minority stereotype is not as flattering as it may first appear. The expectation of overachievement diminishes individual accomplishment and diversity amongst people of Asian descent by making them all seem the same. By portraying Asians as successful, it also effectively silences them and conceals racism against them.”

6. Additional Model Minority Stereotype
Good at math and science
Therefore have a propensity for being doctors and engineers
Law-abiding citizens, not outspoken
The terms assimilation and acculturation wholly applies to the historical context of the MMS
“the model minority stereotype is not as flattering as it may first appear. The expectation of overachievement diminishes individual accomplishment and diversity amongst people of Asian descent by making them all seem the same. By portraying Asians as successful, it also effectively silences them and conceals racism against them.”

7. Historical Overview
Research reveals that AAPI were intentionally selected to be model minorities
State of race/ethnic relations in the 60s
Not because AAPI were “superior” to other minorities
The myth was created to diminish the Black community’s demands for equal rights during the Civil Rights era
The MMS shielded the status quo
Essentially, those in power, their way of making us assimilate to do things their way in order to be successful, not counting various factors, most glaringly that not everyone starts from the same place, discounting factors like class, citizenship, language, gender, sexuality, ability, or other markers of identity.

8. MMS and State of AAPI’s in Higher Education Today

9. Why Should You Care?
Simply put, you are participating in a program that is not only doing something about addressing the MMS at Sac State at a local level, but also on a national level, advocating for the disaggregation of data in determining equitable educational policies and practices across all universities for funding and resources.

10. No History, No Self; Know History, Know Self
The myth makes the economic and educational struggles of low-income AAPI families, Pacific Islanders, Southeast Asian Refugees, undocumented immigrants, and other groups invisible – this unambiguity and inaccuracy makes it a convenient narrative that prevents solutions to racial and socioeconomic inequity. In other words, focusing on those that are doing well makes the issues of those who aren’t far less visible. I believe that until we have a good knowledge base and understanding of the MMS and how this affects us individually, on both a micro and macro level in society, only then can we begin to form a AAPI Panethnic Identity whilst still also being proud of our own individual and unique cultures and ethnicity.
No History, No Self; Know History, Know Self