Since the 1960s, Asian Americans have been upheld as the ideal immigrant. As one 1986 CNN article put it, “they are smarter and better educated and making more money than everyone else.” At a time characterized by the Civil Rights Movement and contentious race relations between white and black Americans, the popularization of Asian American […]
Tag: model minority
Why Asian Americans Don’t Vote: A Theoretical Perspective
I recently watched the new Jackie Chan movie called, The Foreigner, which is basically a Chinese Taken (highly recommended, by the way). But what stood out to me was the title. The only reason this title is even pertinent to the movie is the character that Chan plays, an immigrant in the UK who fights […]
The Woes of the Model Minority: The Dual Existence of Asian-Americans in the United States
On January 9th, 1966, the New York Times Magazine published an article by sociologist William Petersen called “Success Story, Japanese-American Style.” In the article, Petersen wrote that Japanese-Americans, despite enduring the “most discrimination and the worst injustices” of WWII-era internment, have achieved great success in America “by their own almost totally unaided effort.” Petersen goes on […]