Surrendering the crown

Why the “model minority” should support other minorities

Coppell High School senior Michelle Tack wears a crown and sash, representing how East Asians in America are often used as a “model minority” to demean other people of color. The Sidekick staff writer Joanne Kim shares her opinion on how the model minority stereotype can put Asian Americans in a place of privilege, and what they can do to support other minority groups.

Lilly Gorman

Coppell High School senior Michelle Tack wears a crown and sash, representing how East Asians in America are often used as a “model minority” to demean other people of color. The Sidekick staff writer Joanne Kim shares her opinion on how the model minority stereotype can put Asian Americans in a place of privilege, and what they can do to support other minority groups.

Joanne Kim, Staff Writer

As an East Asian girl living in America, getting good grades was practically a personality trait. I was the kid everyone came to for answers, the kid who cried if I forgot to bring my homework, the kid who never got anything below an A. 

But there was a certain point where I stopped and had a realization. Yes, I was getting good grades, but that didn’t mean I was good at school, nor did I enjoy it. It was what was expected of me.

Somehow, unwittingly and unwillingly, I had been conditioned by the model minority stereotype.

According to Harvard University, the term “model minority” is “used to refer to a minority group perceived as particularly successful,” and that “in particular, the model minority designation is often applied to Asian Americans.”

The term “Asian American” itself is convoluted. While Chinese, Korean and Japanese Americans often live as middle and upper-class citizens, other Asian American subgroups such as the Hmong or Bhutanese have poverty levels higher than the U.S. average. In this column, I will be referring to the former, more privileged group.

The stereotype that Asians are smart and successful did not come from nowhere. Our graduation rates from college are high, our divorce rates are low, and overall, we rank as the highest earning ethnic group in the United States

Coppell High School senior Michelle Tack wears a crown and sash, representing how East Asians in America are often used as a “model minority” to demean other people of color. The Sidekick staff writer Joanne Kim shares her opinion on how the model minority stereotype can put Asian Americans in a place of privilege, and what they can do to support other minority groups.

Where fact becomes fiction is when people assume that this label is a result of us being naturally smarter or naturally “less problematic.” This is an issue not only because it erases the diversity of Asian Americans, but also because it can be used as an excuse to demean other minorities.

But the fact of the matter is, the reason we are depicted as “good” has nothing to do with our biology and everything to do with the placement of our ethnicity and race in America’s history.

We were never taken to America as slaves. Our lands were never invaded and overrun by western colonizers. Yes, there was conflict amongst Asian countries, and yes, there were instances of discrimination such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Japanese internment camps. However, we weren’t thoroughly invaded and colonized by white people, we weren’t the victims of mass genocide at any point in American history and we don’t live on reservations.

It is true that the reason why many of us go on to be successful is because we have a hard working culture, but it is also because we have many tools at our disposal. Most of our families prioritize education, and that in itself is huge. 

For lots of other minorities, education is a luxury. You get if you can afford it. If you can survive through 12th grade without dropping out to support your family, if you can graduate with passing grades in an underfunded school, then you can consider college. Whereas for Asian people, we cry if we don’t get into an Ivy League. The standards are completely different.

Even at Coppell High School, despite how diverse our student body appears to be, only 5% of students at CHS are African American.

“I was an [International Baccalaureate] student, and there was one Black person in [the entire program],” said former Sidekick editor-in-chief Kelly Wei, a 2019 Coppell High School graduate. “In those high performing classes, there’s very much a divide, a boundary. I hate to say it, but that’s just kind of how the system works. And even within the suburban community, there are even more layers that separate you from certain ethnicities.”

Right now, the best thing privileged Asians in America can do is use their voice. We need to have those awkward conversations with our families and make it clear that we are not bystanders. We will not put up with the injustice of being put on a pedestal and shoved in a box of expectations, only to then be used as a way to belittle other minorities.

“Many Asian-Americans opt out of being involved with politics because they view it as something negative,” Coppell City Council candidate John Jun said. “But if you’re an American citizen, you’re [partially] an owner of this country. You can be part of the decision-making. So if you’re an owner of this country, why not take part in it? Why not voice your opinion? Why not talk about things that you want? If you have the right to exercise your freedom of speech, why not?

So if you’re an owner of this country, why not take part in it? Why not voice your opinion? Why not talk about things that you want? If you have the right to exercise your freedom of speech, why not?

— John Jun

It’s time to understand that although we are a minority and have our own set of struggles, it is a different level of struggle. Groups like African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are not the model minority. They are a group of people who have been persecuted and stolen from and thoroughly dehumanized by the American system. So, instead of getting defensive and argumentative, we need to listen to their stories. We need to be empathetic and echo what they are saying back to our own communities who might not have that exposure. 

“As someone involved with education, I think it’s important for us to not only educate ourselves on our own privileges and biases, but to also educate the students we’ve been entrusted with,” CHS9 English teacher Joy Han said. “Because without understanding internal bias, you’ll never see the big picture.”

It is a matter of objective perception. If you do not know where you are, if you don’t know where you stand in the history of things, your context of everything else around you is incomplete. If you don’t recognize that you have benefited from the efforts of other minority groups, your perception of them will inevitably be skewed. So, for your sake and for everyone else’s, inform yourself, advocate for the truth and always check your privilege.

Follow Joanne (@joan_kkim) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.