Model Minority Myth Matters:
An inside look at how the myth affects Asian Americans
By Wynne Yang
Tommy Tan, an Asian American, recently graduated from UCSB as a sociology major and education minor. He spends his post-college life studying for the General Record Examination for graduate school and working with students at an afterschool program. He dreams of becoming a high school teacher someday.
But, four years ago, Tan was studying biology and working endlessly to become a doctor. He switched out because he felt that he was just pursuing medicine because of the pressure to succeed. As his grades started suffering, Tan realized that he actually had no interest in medicine, but rather he was taught that he needed to become a doctor to be successful.
This pressure was from growing up in a predominantly Asian community which made it seem like the norm to be pushed to do well in school to be successful.
“The added pressure from my parents and the subconscious pressure from being ‘a model minority’ really got to me and I felt like a complete failure when I decided to switch out of a STEM major and into a humanities major,” Tan said.
Tan is one of many Asian Americans affected by the model minority myth that Asian minorities are held to a higher standard and expected to be more hardworking, successful, and naturally smarter than the average population.
Like Tan, many other Asian Americans suffer mentally from the pressures of trying to be a “model minority”.
Success at the Cost of Mental Health
According to an article by the popular news source, NBC, self-worth and value are connected to their academic accomplishments to get approval for themselves and their parents. When they did not receive good grades, it felt like they lost a piece of their identities.
However, the problem with mental health issues is that minorities are afraid to ask for help because the model minority label suggests that they do not need it, according to experts. This can be seen mostly in second-generation children, who develop anxiety because of these pressures. They believe that they must overcome conflicts by themselves and are seen as weak when they reach out for help.
Even after overcoming his struggle with the model minority myth, Tan still finds himself fighting the consequences of it.
“Even after graduating, I find myself doubting if I am even doing anything with my life like I’m a failure since I’m not a STEM major.”
— Tommy Tan
The same article states that the myth excludes Southeast Asians, who are one of the lowest academically performing racial groups. This is due to the fact that many are refugees, with no advantageous edge in America. They are building their lives up from the very bottom. In comparison to the Chinese and Japanese, who have been in America for much longer. Even though the myth mainly focuses on Chinese, Taiwanese, and Indians, Southeast Asians from Cambodia and Laos are clumped into the myth as well.
Sameer Pandya, an Asian American studies professor at UCSB whose focuses include the minority myth stated that it “creates a box into which Asian American students are placed, a box that they may not like very much.”
Southeast Asians are incorrectly characterized because they cannot relate to what the myth states since their community does not perform to the myth’s expectations.
“It has shaped the ways in which they are perceived and the ways in which they perceive themselves,” Pandya said, alluding to the negative results such as mental health issues that accompany the myth.
On the contrary, there are Asian Americans who have not been heavily affected by the model minority myth. Christopher Tsao, a Taiwanese American senior at UCSB studying English, has always been set on becoming a writer, even during his high school days.
“When it comes to the expectation to be good in STEM departments, I haven’t been heavily affected by the model minority myth because I was actually better in math growing up and moved into humanities on my own,” Tsao said.
Having been raised in a middle/upper-class community that was predominantly Asian, Tsao felt that he resonated with the myth and never felt incorrectly branded by the minority myth stereotype.
“I did notice that within my ethnic community we would often joke about things such as being good at math and playing instruments, which could be seen as self-perpetuating the myth,” Tsao stated.
Although Tsao has never felt the pressures of the myth personally, he has realized that he is perceived as different because he is an Asian American majoring in English.
“When I say my major I introduce myself knowing that it’s different, which might be an automatic defense that I do without realizing as a result of the myth,” Tsao reflected.
The Asian subgroups are very diverse in terms of income distribution, according to an article from the Urban Wire. Only two groups within the Asian community, the Chinese and Japanese, have salaries above the median average of white people. The other four large subgroups, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean, all score significantly lower than the average.
Geographic location also plays an important factor in determining Asian children’s poverty rate. According to the same study, the percent of Asian children in families in poverty above the country’s average can be seen in places such as New York and Minnesota, but is below in places like Illinois and Virginia. This study contradicts the notion from the myth that all Asian Americans perform well and are successful.
In reality, Asian Americans are a diverse community filled with different subgroups that vary in wealth, success, and opportunity. By incorrectly generalizing all Asian Americans together, all are expected to be naturally successful. However, not every member can reach this standard because of differing wealth, status and opportunities. Failing to consider these factors puts certain groups at disadvantages, specifically Southeast Asians when trying to find jobs because they are held to such a high expectation.
Good can Come from Bad
However, positive results are able to come from experiencing the negativity of the myth.
“I do feel like I am less judgemental because I learned that everyone has their struggles and I shouldn’t be so quick to judge people by what I’m seeing because there’s probably a lot I don’t see,” Tan said.
Pandya also noted that self-perception is a positive outcome but warned that perception might be built on the idea that other minority groups are not as successful because of their “culture.”
As someone who is older and has spent a majority of his life living and analyzing the model minority myth, Pandya was able to speak on his own experiences with it.
“It shapes the ways in which people perceive me, as with my students. As a writer and a teacher, I have tried to deconstruct this myth,” Pandya said. Even after being a student himself, Pandya still deals with the effects of the myth.
Despite the model minority myth affecting mainly second-generation children, their parents often agree with the myth and take pride in this preconceived notion of the Asian American community, unknowingly perpetrating their children into a corner.
“They like hearing the myth about themselves. They enjoy being praised that they work hard, and that they are culturally trained to succeed.”
— Sameer Pandya
The model minority myth, although gaining more exposure and opposition, still has a long way to go. The second-generation Asian Americans suffer through not only societal expectations but also parental pressure. In the hearts of many in this community, they are never satisfied with their own efforts because of the expectation that they are always supposed to do better.
“I disregard my hard work because I feel like I should be doing better, due to the myth,” Tan said.
