No blog on Asian Americans is complete without a post on this: the model minority myth. My post about Anne Fadiman’s book “The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down” about the Hmong people from Laos, creates a segue way to talk about how this model minority myth about Asian American marginalizes less successful Asian groups like the refugees from Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
East and South Asians have come a long way since settling in American in the late 1800s. From working as laborers on farms or in factories, to running laundries and ethnic restaurants, to what we see today, a demographic associated with the highest education levels and income per household thanks actually to immigration from the best and brightest from the region during the 60s. Asians, the Chinese (HK, China, Taiwan, Singapore), Japanese, Koreans and Indians in America have become known collectively as the model minority. They have infiltrated into almost every aspect of society, from politics, to the arts, and of course, carve a niche in science, technology and engineering. The nobel prize winners for science are typically Chinese.
Outside America, the rise of Asia also contribute the model minority image. Japan, in particular, rose to great heights and is now looked upon with envy and admiration by Western countries. The Asian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, HK, and Singapore) followed suit, though not as visible. And China is making rapid steps into increasing its living standards. Asians in Asia have solidified their image as a model group – hardworking, industrious, clever, and civil.
This image however belies and aggravates some very real and painful problems this demographic is facing. First, it masks the dire situation South East Asians in America are impoverished backgrounds. Second, it gives undue pressure on young Asians in America to perform above and beyond expectations resulting in mental health problems.
Fadiman’s book describes how the Hmong people faced immense difficulty assimilating into American culture. Coming as refugees from war-torn countries, the Hmong have little or no resources to start with and are stuck in a cycle of poverty just like the poorest of blacks and Latino households. Other groups like the Vietnamese and Cambodians too have similar problems with upward mobility, however the model minority stereotype causes society in general to have the false assumption that all Asian groups are doing fine, thus neglecting this demographic.
Even for East and South Asians, this model label creates problems. In 2006, a Cornell University news article reported that since 1996, 13 of the 21 – 62 percent – of all Cornell student suicide victims were Asian or Asian-American. Asian-Americans, however, comprised a mere 14 percent of the student body. The school became so concerned with this issue that it established a special mental health-oriented Asian and Asian American Climate Task Force to address this problem.
The task force found that the overbearing pressure to constantly outperform one’s peers due to the “model minority” stereotype had been a significant factor affecting the state of the mental health of Cornell Asian and Asian American students; the devastation from the failure to meet academic expectations led to suicidal thoughts.
Joel Wong, IU assistant professor of counseling psychology, said that Asian-Americans have elevated levels of perfectionism which creates undue pressure to do well in college.
“This is a result of number one, expectations of others, including classmates and parents,” he said, “and number two, pressure when it (the belief) is internalized – Asian-Americans setting unduly high standards for themselves.”
Many other Asian households, too, emphasize this mantra. They passed onto their children the belief that in order to be distinguished in America one has to be academically exceptional and have a high-flying career. Hence, when Asian students do not meet expectations, or do not have talent for fields in science, math, medicine and engineering, there is heightened shame and condemnation for their perceived incompetence.
Additionally, Asian students tend to avoid voicing their concerns even when they are at their wits’ end. According to a report, “Suicide Among Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders,” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Asian-Americans do not access mental health treatment as much as other racial/ethnic groups do due to strong stigma associated with mental illness.
Because of the model minority myth, suicide is not normally associated with Asian-American college students. But the recent Virginia Tech killing and suicide of Seung-Hui Cho in 2007 and the decapitation of an Asian graduate student by another Asian graduate student at the same school this year illuminate the reality that Asians and Asian-Americans are in need of mental health services to mitigate the tremendous pressures they face from this model minority label.
