Читать книгу Asian America - Pawan Dhingra - Страница 54

Lost within these dichotomous stereotypes are the many Asian Americans who experience economic insecurity, poverty, discrimination, segregation, underfunded schools, and the like (as seen in future chapters). Asian Americans are not monolithic. Even ethnic groups considered overwhelmingly successful experience real social problems. But it becomes harder to recognize and address these problems, given the dominance of these stereotypes that diverts serious attention.

With this critique in mind, it is important not to forget that many Asian Americans have entered the middle class or even above. They have integrated in many ways, as fitting assimilation theory. Still, the notion of the “model minority” can still be a myth. The reason is that the stereotype is based on the faulty argument that somehow Asian culture drives all of their success, that the United States has no racial hierarchies, and that other minorities carry the blame for their continued challenges. The myth reinforces the notion that Asian Americans’ successes are due to the opportunities in the United States, opportunities supposedly available to all. Instead, the successes stem in large part from the educational credentials immigrants often arrived with, the family help they relied on, and a labor market in need of these immigrants’ skills and less expensive salary expectations. One can recognize Asian Americans’ accomplishments without advocating for the “model minority” stereotype or its threatening “yellow peril” cousin.

Towards that goal, assimilation scholars attempt to demonstrate Asian Americans’ successful integration as a minority without contributing to racist connotations. According to this perspective, Asian Americans may be seen culturally as threats or as foreigners, but this is minor compared to their overall acceptance as assimilating Americans. So the significance of these stereotypes is downplayed. Furthermore, this perspective maintains that there is nothing inherently wrong, much less racist, with crediting their success partly to their culture if evidence supports that (Alba and Nee 2003; Zhou and Bankston 1998). And the stereotype of the passive Asian American may have merit, especially when applied to recent immigrants with limited English abilities. In other words, the assimilation perspective sees the “model minority” stereotype as not malicious but instead as possibly accurate. Such scholars attend to the cultural and the non-cultural factors that define a group, such as income, residential integration, and the like, and they try to avoid racist implications for other minorities. This book will attend to multiple perspectives in analyzing Asian-American social trends.