Model Minority Myth

The term model minority was first coined by the sociologist William Peterson in the mid-1960s as a compliment to Japanese Americans in *The New York Times* (Wong & Halgin, 2006; Lee et al., 2009, Wu, 2002). Shortly after, the term model minority myth was used widely by the media to apply to Asian Americans. President Ronald Regan referred to Asian Americans as “our exemplars of hope and inspiration” in his proclamation 4837 during Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week of 1981 (as cited in Wu, 2002, pp.52). At first glance, the model minority myth can seem flattening to Asian Americans. Asian Americans are said to be a successful minority due to hard work and intelligence. However, the model minority myth is extremely misleading and harmful to Asian Americans and other racial groups.

           First, the model minority myth creates a perception that Asian Americans are a homogenous group when in fact, there is a wide diversity among Asian Americans. Asian Americans can be traced to individuals from more than 20 different countries with different cultures, languages, and histories. Grouping all various ethnic groups together allows policy makers and service providers to ignore the difficulties of individuals or communities and the nuances within the statistics. According to the U.S Census Bureau’s 2017 – 2019, Asian American households in the U.S. had a median annual income of $85,800, higher than the average U.S. household income of $61,800 (Pew Research Organization, 2021). In terms of education, 54% of U.S. Asians have a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than any other race.  When grouping all Asian Americans together, the statistics look highly positive. However, only two Asian original groups, Indians and Filipinos, had their household income exceed the average U.S. household income. Most of the other groups were well below the national average household income. Burmese and Nepalese had the lowest median household incomes with $44,400 and $55,000 respectively (Pew Research Organization, 2021). In term of educational attainment, Indian (75%), Malaysian (65%), Chinese (57%), Pakistani (57%), and Chinese (57%) origin groups are more likely than other Asian origin groups to have at least a bachelor’s degree.  By comparison, only one in five Laotian (18%) or Bhutanese (15%) have at least a bachelor’s degree. In addition, high educational attainment in the Asian American group reflects high levels of education from the immigrants rather than U.S. born Asian Americans.

1. ↑ Wu, F. H. (2002). Yellow: *Race in America beyond Black and White*. New York: Basic Books.
2. ↑ Budiman, A., & Ruiz, N. G. (2021, September 8). *Key facts about Asian origin groups in the U.S.* Pew Research Center. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-origin-groups-in-the-u-s/
3. ↑ Lee, S. J., Wong, N.-W. A., & Alvarez, A. N. (2009). The model minority and the perpetual foreigner: Stereotypes of Asian Americans. In N. Tewari & A. N. Alvarez (Eds.), *Asian American psychology: Current perspectives* (pp. 69–84). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
4. ↑ Wong, F., & Halgin, R. (2006). The “model minority”: Bane or blessing for Asian Americans? *Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development*, *34*(1), 38–49. https://doi org.williamjames.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2006.tb00025.

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