the model minority myth

[Michelle, The Book Critic]

idk much about this subject but i agree! there are ppl like my mom who’ll also say the same things you mentioned here:

- how all asians need to have good grades (especially in math)

- how all asian girls need to act more respectful to their male peers/family members

- if you get in trouble, you’re acting like a “black person” or a “thug”

- all asian girls need to keep themselves beautiful for future husbands

- if you don’t have a good salary and you’re asian, you’re not “asian” enough

- etc but i don’t want to list more

it sucks how many ppl have this viewpoint. my mom, an asian woman, loves to compare asians with black ppl. she constantly talks about how we’re the ones that are smarter and don’t get in trouble. we’re the ones who make the most money and get the most successful. we’re the ones who look white (we’re not but she still thinks that way) and should stay that way. we’re also the ones that better marry someone asian or white otherwise she’d disown us :’(

i am fucking tired of ppl comparing races and contributing to stereotypes. harming and pressuring ppl is NOT the way.

just be a decent human, it’s all i and others ask of them.

[Michelle, The Book Critic]

RavenMist wrote: "ikrrr!! It's annoying that just because I'm Asian everyone expects me to become either a doctor/lawyer/engineer. Asians are so much more than that. I am fortunate that my parents aren't pressuring ..."

yeah, ikr :')

also, yes, yes, yes, when you said "often it's Asians who are pressuring other Asians to do these kinds of things"

ik so many asian adults comparing me to their kids all the time, saying i'm a bad role model or whatever. and then my mom gets mad at me because there's nothing she can "flex" to other moms.

like everything is a competition nowadays- no one cares about teamwork anymore. it's sad too, sad how many young asian kids think this way. i wish i could say that some of them are brainwashed, but they're not.

i was one of those kids and still (sorta) am. i got internalized racism from my mom and it's slowly wearing off. it gets hard tho, to not hate myself and other ppl. i just grew up with those ideas forced onto me, ya know?

sometimes i'll be walking down the street and think a random racist thought. for no reason. ofc, i shame myself for it, it's not healthy, but idc. i don't get why i hate my race sometimes, i rlly don't. hating my race makes me hate myself even more too.

i think i deserve it anyway because karma. and hey, at least, i'm trying (kinda?) 😭

that's the sucky part abt internalized racism for me. i legit cannot tell when i try and when i don't.

[Sofia]

Oppression olympics are so stupid. I think the model minority myth can also lead Asians to feel like racism against us is somehow acceptable because we're supposed to be submissive or something. And also because people like to compare rates of racism and that's just wrong. racism is racism and racism is wrong.

[rye]

i seriously cannot believe this. i am part Japanese, which makes me asian. my mom always jokes around that I'm Asain, not Bsain, so I should have A grades, not B grades. this is not acceptable.

people seriously need to stop comparing races, ethnicity, cultures, etc. this is getting out of hand, and people don't even know that this is called model minority.

[[deleted user]]

Assuming that the standards of the model minority are too hard for the minorities themselves is inherently racist. You think they don’t have the capability to act like a good patriot for their country and serve it.

There are actually good model minorities in this world. The Asians in the US work their ass off more than the whites, the Chinese minorities in the Philippines contribute to the economy a lot, most African minorities contribute a lot in the construction of infrastructure just as most refugees or immigrants in well developed countries like Singapore.

There are also bad minorities. The chechens in Russia cause terrorism, the romani in romania dont do shit, and the arabic minorities commit a lot more crimes in European countries

I am asian. You think we can’t be a decent minority, this model minority is real and stop living a dream.

[anarchoyoungadult (mournful soul arc)[#hiatus]]

Amogus1914 wrote: "Assuming that the standards of the model minority are too hard for the minorities themselves is inherently racist. You think they don’t have the capability to act like a good patriot for their coun..."

*necessary i'm not asian disclaimer. this statement is from what i've seen other people, who are asian, say

first of all, the majority of people who commented before you are asian or at least part asian, so they have first hand experience

nobody's saying that asians can't live up to the standards of the model minority myth, but that it's based on stereotypes of asians as better than black and brown poc

it's also, as mic said earlier, a bit more than kinda racist "if you get in trouble, you’re acting like a “black person” or a “thug”"

also adding to my above point, it perpetuates the stereotype that asian women are sort and domicile "

the model minority myth also reduces individual people's hard work to 'oh, you're asian, ofc you got an a", like abby said

so imo, the model minority myth should be done away with so that people can be recognized for their acheivements without it being chalked up to 'oh, they're asian, duh they got [insert achievement here]

i'm just not gonna comment on the stereotyping of other races "The chechens in Russia cause terrorism, the romani in romania dont do shit, and the arabic minorities commit a lot more crimes in European countries" (this is lifted straight from your last comment) and recommend you read the eighth message in this thread

[Lily]

Ugh the 'oh, you're asian, ofc you got an a' is really annoying. Everyone has to work hard to get to where they are, and sometimes I think tat like Asian parents always want their kids to go into a "successful" field because they themselves had to work really, really hard to get to where they are now and they kinda feel like it's going a bit to waste if you just like ignore all that and go off doing whatever you want to do.

Now, I'm a teen and my parents are from China, and all I'm trying to do is understand them. I wish they understood me more, but it'd be hypocritical to blame them for not understanding me if I never tried to understand them.

That being said, it is really hard because my parents never really let me dream in terms of career fields. For example, after I became a Christian, I really wanted to go into ministry, just like helping people in third world countries or starting a non-profit or something, but my parents kinda shot that down. That's because they know how hard it is to start anew and how much pain that gonna take, but also, in the long run if you're doing something that you love, THAT'S what is going to keep you moving forward. So I'm just trying to get both sides (the older generation and the younger generation) some representation here. :)