This is an excellent paper out of Harvard, studying Asian American youth in various high schools in America.  A common phenomenon was Asian American youth who, in order to fit in, felt they had to reject their ethnicities and assimilate by ‘acting White’ as their model.  Additionally, it covers negative stereotypes about Asian students, damage from the model minority stereotype in college admissions, and how some Asian Americans were embarassed or ashamed to hang around other Asian Americans (no solidarity).
The link to the paper can be found here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1082148

Here is a Washington Post article about this.
Fallout Central also had a link awhile ago about this.

Summary of what I remember as the main points:
- In many high profile schools, it is accepted and acknowledged among White people and even Asian people that there are ‘too many Asians’. She examines the impact this belief has on young Asian American students.
- First she covers the history of racism Asians have experienced in the United States, then the history of Magnet Schools and how they were designed to benefit Whites and keep minorities out after the Civil Rights Movement. Asians have ‘accidentally’ succeeded when they were not originally intended to be there, so we are seen as out of place and not belonging or having a legitimate place in those schools from Whites and nonAsians. This is fueled also because we are still seen as foreign and alien.
- Discusses the various ways the model minority MYTH hurts us, by creating antogonism from Blacks and Latinos, and setting it up so that Asians only succeed by pandering to Whites.
- Discusses the various stereotypes of Asian students from White and nonAsian students, as well as college admission people. Makes parallels between Jews 50 years ago in America and Asians right now.
- Asian American youth, most of who believe that there are ‘too many Asians’, thus succeed by distancing themselves from their Asian-ness and basically self hating. They either become ‘White’ or ‘Black’, and those that self hate the most and become ‘White’ end up succeeding the most because minorities are rewarded for emulating and accepting power structure where White is best. What was interesting was that even in schools with majority Asians, students acted as if White culture was the dominant culture, and in most clubs with mostly Asian students, White students were still voted as the leaders and Presidents.



6 Comments

“Accidentally” psh.

If Asians were to stop being white, what would they be? What’s considered being Asian?

I hate when White people complain that the minorities take all the jobs away from white people. It’s like they think we don’t work our asses off to get to where we are!

Yeah, Sony made a white guy their President I think

It troubles me how much inferiority complex and putting White people on a pedestal goes on among Asian youth all over the world these days.

I dunno where my posts went but anyway, I think people should not put others on a pedestal as a group only individuals and organisations that earn that kind of resepect.