Model Minority:
A minority demographic, typically defined by factors such as ethnicity, race, or religion, who are perceived to achieve higher socioeconomic status compared to the overall population average.

A seemingly inconspicuous phrase that is used to describe an entire population of people who immigrated from the largest continent in the world. One phrase that is consistently stamped on each Asian American, along with other similar or directly synonymous adjectives: “successful,” “intelligent,” or “smart.” But compared to other stereotypes, how can being a model minority even be harmful and how does having stereotypes with positive associations be negative?

Of the millions of Asian Americans who immigrated from Asia over hundreds of years, the fight to be let in the glorious gates of opportunity has often been met with hostility and opposition. Years of anti-immigration laws targeting specifically Asian Immigrants, most notably the Page Act of 1875, which banned Asian women from immigration and citizenship for being “temptations for white men” and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which restricted immigration in the United States. It was extremely challenging to enter the United States due to barriers like intelligence and comprehension exams often shunned people who traversed half the globe in horrific circumstances at a chance for glory. But those challenges were just the beginning. 

People fought against Asian Americans through property removal and job discrimination. Those who settled were immensely grateful for their opportunities. With an already strong emphasis on education in Asia, those who immigrated to the United States began to hone in on this, placing even greater pressure on their children to study in order to be successful. This incessant emphasis, accompanied with the fact that most of those who passed immigration exams were already educational competent, meant Asian Americans typically appeared more intelligent than others, especially those who weren’t specifically filtered through an immigration entrance exam. A culture of education equating to income bred generations upon generations of children who further pushed for a need for education, a culture that has bled into modern America. This led to a minority becoming, on average, the highest earning group in the United States. 

But not all Asians are smart, nor were they ever all smart. In actuality, most Asians, currently and historically, are average like any other group of people. However, the perpetuation of the “smart” Asian by the media further embellished the idea of a “model minority,” a mold that depicted a smart, quiet, hardworking, and obedient group. 

This need to fit into a generalized box forces Asian Americans to feel silenced in a time when protests and outcries run rampant since they’re often drowned out by louder groups. Oftentimes, many acts and laws made to benefit others are done at the harm of Asian Americans. Though helping a diverse range of people is extremely important, the model minority, the group that is often overlooked, is silenced. Problems go unsolved and unheard because those who speak out are shunned and receive backlash. When told you are a certain trait, you often begin to believe it, especially if everyone else around you also accepts it to be true. Yet when problems arise, no one speaks up because of the chains padlocked to their wrists, chains of stereotypes enforced by everyone, including Asian Americans themselves. Those who accept the title of “model minority” don’t recognize the silencing when they are told to be obedient. This often forces Asian Americans to see themselves as opposition to other minority groups who shine the spotlight on themselves, never acknowledging or sharing struggles and discrimination Asian Americans endure. As long as the label “model minority” exists, racial struggles and divides will continue to run rampant in the United States because of those whose voices stay unheard.