yolanda martin gsu balancing the pros and cons of controlling images of asian american men and...
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BALANCING THE PROS AND CONS OF
CONTROLLING IMAGES OF ASIAN
AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN
YOLANDA MARTIN
SOCIOLOGY 3212
RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS
ADIA HARVEY
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Professor Harvey, you asked that I indicate that I discussed with you my decision to change the topic of my essay to the above,
so long as I discuss and/or answer the question of how gender differently shapes either the controlling images of Asian
American men and women or the experiences of Latino/as, which is thus entailed.
You also stated that it was permissible to extend our essays to 6 pages, as I have.
YOLANDA MARTIN
SOCIOLOGY 3212
RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS
PROFESSOR ADIA HARVEY
MARCH 27, 2007
BALANCING THE PROS AND CONS OF CONTROLLING
IMAGES OF ASIAN AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN
The stigmatization of the model minority male as effeminate…and the model minority female as
a China Doll…yet pressure to be academic and professional overachievers should not discombobulate
Asian Americans, but further encourage them in excellence. Asian American accomplishments are
certainly commendable; that they have surpassed Whites in educational attainment – in light of racial
harassment and discrimination – is quite impressive. And to a certain extent, they are a model minority.
Although use of “model minority” terminology by Whites, for the most part, is clearly superficial, as with
its surfacing in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, this does not make such an assertion untrue.
THE PROS
The model minority image clearly challenges Asian Americans to strive for excellence, which is
positive to the greater extent; that Asian Americans find it shameful to present themselves as poor and
oppressed on the same level with Blacks and Mexican–Americans and that they view Whites as childish
and uncultivated is somewhat admirable. The fact that Asian Americans are not proponents of
vocational or athletic professions is too conceivably haughty, yet a reflection of their better suited
priorities. The high priority that Asian Americans1 place on education could be beneficial – not merely to
other minorities – but to this nation and others as a whole.
THE CONS
The categorization of some Asian American men and women as model minorities is certainly
more positive than the depiction of others as “yellow peril” or dangerous; yet, he and she who is
considered “yellow peril” is considered hypermasculine, while the model minority male is considered
effeminate (which is likely more of an insult that is rooted in envy than a viable conclusion) and the
model minority female is equated with a China Doll. There are the stresses and even disengagement of
some Asian American students from school in light of the burden to conform to the “whiz kid image,”
when all cannot or simply will not. The model minority image also causes the majority group to not
necessarily overlook the continuing plight of Asian Americans, but to discount this group as a candidate
for such privileges as affirmative action, as is availed to other minority groups; the premise is that since
Asian Americans are no longer viewed as a minority, though in actuality they are, the benefits of
affirmative action are inessential as to exerting Asian Americans’ entitlement to and acquisition of
especially certain employment opportunities. The end-result of such beliefs, in light of the challenges
that Asian Americans have landing certain jobs (despite and because of the “model minority” image),
are the core of Asian Americans’ ill feelings towards affirmative action.
1 Too, readily striking about Asian Americans and Asians, per se, is their overall good health. We can argue that no
group has experienced the level of racial harassment and discrimination on American soil to the extent that African
Americans have, which is true, but adopting healthy lifestyles, as Asian Americans demonstrate, can decrease the
affects that stress stemming from racial harassment and discriminatory treatment can have on minorities. Though
Asian American health is not a “model minority” characteristic that is conventionally referenced by Whites, it is
certainly model worthy.
Notwithstanding, Whites’ theoretical and actual views of this group are distinct issues. That the
majority group hails Asian Americans as a “model minority” clearly does not mean that it equates this or
any other minority group with itself, although Whites do in fact view Asian Americans as having
intellectual advantages over them. The fact that many, if not most, businesses owned by particularly
Asian Americans of Oriental descent are situated in predominantly African American neighborhoods
likely mirrors Whites’ truer – at large – views of this particular group. With the exception of the
technological industry, which certainly finds its graces in the White American and European market, per
se, and the automotive industry, which caters to a more diverse market, Asian American businesses,
such as Korean hair care, nail salon, and convenience stores, Chinese restaurants, etc., seem to
disproportionately cater to Blacks, which is ironic, considering the dim view that Asian Americans tend
to have of Blacks. The concentration of Asian American businesses in Black neighborhoods is a
demonstration of capitalistic inequalities between Asian Americans and Whites, with Asian Americans
on the low of the incline, despite higher percentages of educational attainment.
It could be the case that since Asian Americans have performed so well in particularly the
academic and entrepreneurial genres that Whites further expect that they should create their own
means to their ends for their group as a whole. And/or it is, perhaps, the case that Whites fear that
since Asian Americans have superseded them academically that their benefiting too much from
affirmative action could aid in putting them in positions of true “majority” status – over Whites, seeing
especially that a majority, in this context, would not necessarily warrant a numerical majority. Whites
would have little fear of integrating establishments with minorities who they do not necessarily view as
competitive, but Asian Americans on the other hand are their acclaimed “model minority.” And
although affirmative action is a merited practice, it is likely the case that it is somewhat exploited in
calculation of the response that it would conjure from Asian Americans, who could make the soundest
arguments for its demise. Affirmative action is thus employed in this wise as a scapegoat for denying
Asian Americans (of namely the Orient) admission into certain colleges and/or universities – not as an
expression of greater empathy for Blacks or other non-Asian minorities (the very implication of a “model
minority” as employed by Whites implies that other minorities are not model) – but in response to
Whites’ at large fear of losing their “majority” status to Asian Americans. The fact that there is a higher
percentage of Asian Americans in the applicant pool for college admission in comparison to other
minorities and even Whites does not negate such an assertion because the African American and
Hispanic populations are both distinctively greater than two thirds that of Asian Americans; if thus the
collegiate application of Asian Americans was 100%, they should not be disproportionately affected by
affirmative action.
Whites’ fear of losing their majority status to Asian Americans is further exemplified in the
notion that Whites should be included in affirmative action in light of the Asian American presence.
Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, in his dissent in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, as Mr.
Frank H. Wu points out in “Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White,” would get around to
stating that “…a Chinaman2 can ride in the same passenger coach [of a train] with white citizens of the
United States, while citizens of the black race cannot.” And in yet another dissent, Harlan blatantly
decrees that, because of their race, even the native-born children of Chinese immigrants cannot be U.S.
citizens.
CONCLUSION (THE BALANCING ACT)
2 Harlan’s statements, “there is a race so different from our own that we do not permit those belonging to it to
become citizens of the United States. Persons belonging to it are, with exceptions, absolutely excluded from our
country. I allude to the Chinese race” is evidentiary of the typical prejudgments of Asian Americans of Oriental
descent.
The fact that not all Asian Americans can or will conform to the “model minority” image does
not mean that they should not continue to have and set high academic expectations for their group and
that theirs’ is not model behavior for us in this wise. The categorization of the model minority Asian
American male as effeminate and female as a China Doll…is more so an attempt to demoralize or
psychologically dominate the subjects to appease Whites’ insecurities rather than as a definition and/or
confirmation of their “superiority.” Notwithstanding, although Asian Americans should not compromise
their educational standards, loosening their ties a bit could prove quite profitable to them. It is notable
that, although America is not as educationally adept as China, it is the wealthiest nation in the world.
And America’s wealth is earned – to a considerable extent – through the professional sports arena, not
our educational systems, per se, as even our schools as are “for profit” will hardly generate3 the
revenues as are earned in the professional sports arena through the numerous avenues of franchise
endorsement; it is notable, likewise, that the bulk of our schools – our public schools, particularly – are
not-for-profit and funded by the government, which, as indebted as it is, could not afford to pay our
teachers too much more than it does if it wanted to. Notwithstanding, considerable shares of the mega-
millions that are earned through America’s professional sports arena have been and could be better
channeled through and surrounding our schools, however, to improve educational proficiency.
At large Asian American views of affirmative action as have been shaped by the model minority
image, though understandable, are unintelligible. For, although Asian Americans have excelled
academically and professionally, they are still not afforded the privileges that are afforded Whites. Mr.
Wu, who himself is Asian American, ironically, makes a very lucid argument for affirmative action. Yet, it
is the overall disassociation of Asian Americans from or their lack of empathy for other minority groups
such as Blacks and Mexican Americans that salts the open wound of their plight. Because affirmative
3 Hiking educational costs would likely only reduce class rolls.
action was designed to benefit all minorities, Asian Americans should not oppose but rather assert their
entitlement to it. Without affirmative action, the “majority” group would be less mindful to call its hand
to discriminatory practices in particularly the employment and academic settings. Affirmative action is
intelligible in that it recognizes, for one, that if something special was done against a group, something
special must be done for it to balance the equation. It is thus not reverse discrimination; reverse
discrimination would mean that such privileges would be granted to another group who had not been
historically subject to discriminatory treatment and social disadvantages as a result of it.
Affirmative action demonstrates consideration that the historic adverse experiences of such
groups as a whole can and have attributed to their academic and professional lag. It is thus a form of
racial reparations, although there is much more to be done to truly balance the equation of social
justice, not merely in terms of race relations, per se, but in the genre of socioeconomics for all people,
including the vast portion of the “majority” group. Asian Americans, as minorities, should not be
prejudiced professionally in terms of affirmative action because they do not lag academically or better
yet because of Whites’ fear of being supplanted by them. There are enough resources to sustain us all
so that the White, Yellow, Black, or Red man shouldn’t fear lack or the potential of it.
Asian Americans’ view of the model minority image as burdensome is certainly not overstated.
But, taken in stride, Asian Americans will continue in their pursuit and achievement of excellence and
setting the precedence for not only other minorities, but for society at large, awhile asserting their
entitlement to social equality.
Amusingly, within a few days of submitting this essay and an amended version highlighting
utilized sources or reference material a South Korean student, Cho Seung-hui, who was a senior
at Virginia Tech, shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others before committing suicide,
reportedly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting. My antennas were
immediately raised, not just out of alarm for this incident, but because of the things I’d just
learned in this class about the harassment of Asian American men. I suspected that there was a
lot more to this situation than met the eye.