Model minority

A model minority is a demographic group (whether based on ethnicity, race or religion) whose members are perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average. This success is typically measured relatively by income, education, low criminality and high family/marital stability.I am fed up with being stereotyped as either a subhuman or superhuman creature. Certainly I am proud of the academic and economic successes of Chinese Americans ... But it's important for people to realize that there is another side. ... It is about time for the media to report on Chinese Americans the way they are. Some are superachievers, most are average citizens, and a few are criminals. They are only human—no more and no less. A model minority is a demographic group (whether based on ethnicity, race or religion) whose members are perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average. This success is typically measured relatively by income, education, low criminality and high family/marital stability. The concept is controversial, as it has historically been used to suggest there is no need for government action to adjust for socioeconomic disparities between certain groups. This argument has most often been applied to contrast Asian Americans (both South & East Asians) against African Americans & Hispanic Americans in America, enforcing the idea that Asian Americans are good law-abiding, productive immigrants/citizens while promoting the stereotype that Hispanics and African Americans are criminally prone, welfare recipient immigrants/citizens. Generalized statistics are often cited to back up model minority status such as high educational achievement and a high representation in white-collar professions. A common misconception is that the affected communities usually hold pride in their labeling as the model minority. The model minority stereotype is considered detrimental to relevant minority communities because it is used to justify the exclusion of minorities in the distribution of assistance programs, both public and private, as well as to understate or slight the achievements of individuals within that minority. Furthermore, the idea of the model minority pits minority groups against each other by implying that non-model groups are at fault for falling short of the model minority level of achievement and assimilation. The concept has also been criticized by outlets such as NPR for potentially homogenizing the experiences of Asian Americans on one side and Hispanics & African Americans on the other, despite the different groups experiencing racism in different ways. The model minority stereotype, and the perpetuation of the belief that any minority has the capability to rise economically without assistance, also completely ignores the very different history of Asian Americans and African Americans, and sometimes Hispanics, in the U.S. Beginning with the legalized and widespread slavery of Africans that were kidnapped from Africa, then continuing with Black Codes, Jim Crow, and the prison–industrial complex. The concept of 'model minority' is heavily associated with U.S. culture and is not extensively used outside the U.S., though many European countries have concepts of classism that stereotype ethnic groups in a similar manner to model minority. One of the earliest uses of the term model minority was in the 9 January 1966 edition of The New York Times Magazine by sociologist William Petersen to describe Asian Americans as ethnic minorities who, despite marginalization, have achieved success in the United States. In his essay called 'Success Story: Japanese American Style', he wrote that the Japanese cultures have strong work ethics and family values. Furthermore, he wrote that those values prevent them from becoming a 'problem minority'. A similar article about Chinese Americans was published in U.S. News and World Report in December 1966. In the 1980s, almost all major U.S. magazines and newspapers printed success stories of Asian Americans.:222 However, in the 1970s and 1980s, many scholars challenged the model minority stereotype. B. Suzuki published 'Education and the Socialization of Asian Americans: A Revisionist Analysis of the 'Model Minority Thesis'. In the paper, he disagrees with how the media is portraying Asian Americans. He explains the sociohistorical background and the contemporary social system, and argues that the Model Minority stereotype is a myth.:3 Some have described the creation of the model minority theory as partially a response to the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement, when African Americans fought for equal rights and the discontinuation of racial segregation in the United States. In a backlash to the movement, white America presented and used Asian Americans to argue that African Americans could raise up their communities by focusing on education and accepting and conforming to racial segregation and the institutional racism and discrimination of the time period, as Asian Americans have arguably done. The model minority theory disregards the fact that Asian Americans at the time were also marginalized and racially segregated in America thus they also represented lower economic levels and faced many social issues just as other racial and ethnic minorities. The possible reasons as to why Asian Americans were used by White America as this image of a model minority are that they were viewed as having not been as much of a 'threat' to White America due to less of a history of political activism in fighting racism (until after the Civil Rights Movement, see Asian American movement), their smaller population, the success of their numerous businesses (nearly all of which were small businesses) in their segregated communities, and the fact that during the time period Chinese, Japanese and Filipino Americans' educational attainment level was meeting the national average equaling Whites in terms of education.