The race game last week got me thinking about where my race fits in the racial hierarchy. I was born in South Korea, and my parents adopted me at a young age. My parents have always been open with me and while my Asian identity is not a big part of who I am, other people will perceive me to be a model minority.
We have been talking a lot in class about black/white binary and how each group interact with each other. It seems that all other minority groups seem to shape their identity around this binary. As an Asian American I enjoy some white privilege, but I want to explore how whites create minority groups to fit in a racial category, and how minority groups reproduce this image.
The model minority myth hurts Asians because it confines individuals to a certain sphere of acting. If they deviate outside of this box, they are questioned by whites. To what extent do Asians perform this myth to comply with whites? And what are other myths that different minority groups get labeled with?
For me, I do not fit in with many of the Asian stereotypes. I was raised in an affluent area, which was mostly white. My parents and sisters are white. I don't have much value placed on my "Asian-ness." However, people I don't know still expect me to act a certain way. What are possible ways to overcome these labels that often are forgotten in the black/white binary?
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It seems to me that Asians occupy/are assigned a intermediary role in the racial hierarchy. In television ads the progressive "interracial" couples are usually white man-East Asian women as opposed to black-white pairings. Asian seem not only the "model" minority, but the acceptable minority.
ReplyDeleteEven the traditional Euro-White historical view of Africans and Asians bear out this trend. The past grandeur of Asian civilizations was acknowledged with the qualification that these empires had degraded over time and need European guidance. On the other hand Africa was uncivilized an without achievement. Although these overtly racist ideas aren't the ruling paradigms, I feel the sentiments still operate in the way Asia (non-russian) and Africa are described in history text and conversation with white people.
I think you are right Barret and we in our discussions have to be more careful with our focus on the black white binary. Maybe we could spend time discussion how other racialized groups fit into the system of Whiteness. In addition it might be helpful to look at the variety in the black white binary. We already discussed in class how there is not a single "Black experience"
Non-black and non-white groups in America strove to claim whiteness (read citizenship) by showing that they are not black.
ReplyDeletei agree with rob...moreover i would add that it was almost a necessity that these groups attempt to carve out their own niche under the umbrella of whiteness in order to avoid the stigma whites attached throughout history to non-whites.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Cooper, The model minority is more the acceptable minority. Asian Americans are still non white. They have not been fully assimilated like the Irish or other ethnic minorities.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting aspect to note of Asian-American stereotypes is that while they are portrayed to be very smart, they are also portrayed to be very weak willed and feminine.This is certainly not something that is generally portrayed onto African Americans, but the systematic oppression remains.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in your question, Barret, about "to what extent do Asians perform this myth to comply with whites?" This is interesting going with all races, sorry to go back to black but i have to go with what i know. But, i know that a lot of my life i have been criticized by certain black people if i don't act, dress, talk etc. a certain way. Even if i am perceived to have money (which i often am because i grew up on the north side of Chicago)people will often call me white, or say i act white. or say "your only half black anyway" and almost reject me from their circle because of that. Is that similar to your question of people trying or expecting others to live up to their stereotypes? Why does this happen, and does it parallel with your perception of certain Asians complying with myths about them?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the Asian race? My parents are from Pakistan which is geographically in Asia but Pakistanis are usually assumed to be Middle Eastern - in spite of the fact Pakistan and China share a border...
ReplyDeleteAsian as a race is not only subordinated by whites, but because there is a "model minority" expectation it divides Asians amongst Asians.
I agree with you Andrea and I think your example parallels nicely. I don't have an answer for this, but I want to know not only why whites put expectations on minority groups, but to what extent the minorities portray these roles to fit in society.
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