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Model Minority Stereotype Summary

Decent Essays

For people of color, true assimilation and equality in the United States has never been a

reality. Assimilation refers to the process in which an individual adopts the ways of another

culture in order to fully become part of a different society (“Assimilate”, 2015). This type of

assimilation has not occurred for any group of color in this nation; all you have to do is look at

the plight of African Americans or Native Americans to understand the truth of these words.

There is, however, a belief that one minority group has “made it” in society; they have met, if not

exceeded, the standards set by White America (Chin, 2001).

Asian Americans are, as is the widely held belief, the “model minority” for their perceived

achievement and …show more content…

In Unraveling the “Model Minority” Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth, Stacy

Lee provides a detailed ethnography of a group of Asian American students who attended

Academic High School during the 1989 school year. She discusses how the model minority

stereotype affected these individuals in terms of their experiences (both academic and

personal), relationships with non-Asians, and self-defined identities (Lee, 2009). Through her in-

depth study of these youths, Lee is able to reveal the ways in which the larger structures of

class and race play out in the lives of Asian American high school students.

Though the model minority stereotype has been extremely prevalent since the 1960’s,

any close investigation into the data pertaining to Asian Americans will show it is entirely

unfounded. The myth ignores the heterogeneity of Asian American groups and their varied

levels of achievement in the United States. Though it is true that some groups (ex. Asian

Indians, Japanese) have traditionally found success academically, many Southeast Asian

Americans (ex. Hmong, Cambodians) have had a more difficult time. This biased view of

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