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About ModelMinority.com: A Guide to Asian American Empowerment
As diverse and rapidly changing as the society we live in, Asian Americans do not conform to any single description. Despite this, Americans reluctant to address the realities of continuing racism and white privilege have consistently portrayed Asian Americans as a "model minority" who have uniformly succeeded by merit.
While superficially complimentary to Asian Americans, the real purpose and effect of this portrayal is to celebrate the status quo in race relations. First, by over-emphasizing Asian American success, it de-emphasizes the problems Asian Americans continue to face from racial discrimination in all areas of public and private life. Second, by misrepresenting Asian American success as proof that America provides equal opportunities for those who conform and work hard, it excuses American society from careful scrutiny on issues of race in general, and on the persistence of racism against Asian Americans in particular.
The mission of ModelMinority.com is to provide this scrutiny in every possible way, so as to educate, inform, provoke, and inspire movements by individuals and groups toward Asian American empowerment. Through ModelMinority.com, we intend to provide the Web''s richest collection of research articles, commentaries, stories, poems, pictures, and other documents on the Asian American experience.
Because of the urgency of this work in a for-profit culture that continues to marginalize Asian American perspectives, ModelMinority.com is, and will forever remain, a free non-profit service. We will happily publish all suitable materials and welcome your submissions.
P.S. After you register and log in, you will no longer see this introductory message.
P.P.S. Registration is fast and spam-free. We don''t send out mass emails or newsletters of any kind and will never give or sell your email address to anyone.
--Andrew and Judy
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Rejecting the Model in ''Model Minority''
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Posted by Andrew on Thursday, May 15 @ 07:00:41 EDT (2275 reads) |
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By A.R. Sakaeda
©2008 Chicago Tribune
May 5, 2008
I have a confession to make: I am a lousy model minority. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the majority isn't going to want me as the model for any minority, let alone my own people.
Unlike the mythical model minority, I am not quiet and polite. I am often loud, sometimes abrasive and I use the F-word a lot. (My mother doesn't read anything on the Internet, so I don't have to worry about repercussions from that last confession.) My math skills are only average. I do not own a calculator with a graphing function.
If I'm a lousy model minority, I'm an even lousier stereotypical Asian woman. The geisha and the "China doll" are deferential, obedient and demure. Me? I don’t own a kimono. I can’t bat my eyes. I cut off all my silky, ink-black hair because I got sick of people touching it. (Don’t touch my HAIR!) I even enjoy drinking beer out of the bottle and listening to loud rock music. |
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''Crash'' Course on Societal Racism Shortchanges Asian Americans
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Posted by Andrew on Thursday, May 15 @ 06:31:54 EDT (2012 reads) |
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By Erin Wong
©2006 Hardboiled
March 2006
Though Crash has been nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture, it is difficult to say how the film advances racial tolerance given its vilifying portrayal of Asians. Hailed as an honest and provocative depiction of post-9/11 racism in America, Paul Haggis's directorial debut dares to blatantly display common racial stereotypes, in order to deconstruct them through the reality of race. The film deals with society's perceptions of blacks, whites, Middle Easterners, Latinos, and Asians by depicting racial interactions that boil over, exposing the latent ethnic discrimination within the supposed melting pot of Los Angeles. Yet the film attempts to bridge these ethnic divides through unsettling sequences that dispel preconceived notions about race, advance universal tolerance, and promote understanding of people whose lives are ruled circumstance.
Crash brazenly shows skewed prejudices against minorities. Latinos become cheating Mexican gang bangers. Middle Easterners become stubborn and incoherent convenience store owners. Blacks become gun-toting criminals. Asians become greedy smugglers. And whites oversee this chaos with condescending bigotry. The film boldly takes the perspective of intolerant and quick to anger white Los Angelinos, a perspective filled with racial slurs, injustices, and narrow-mindedness, leaving viewers in disbelief. |
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Racial Preferences in the Dating World
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Posted by Andrew on Thursday, May 01 @ 05:06:03 EDT (4326 reads) |
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By Steve Penner
©2007 Seacoast Media Group
May 11, 2007
One of the more delicate areas I dealt with while running a dating service for more than two decades was the issue of race, and more specifically racial stereotyping by prospective members.
Stereotyping in itself is a volatile issue, and at some point during intake interviews, I often repeated the phrase “While there is some truth to all stereotypes, there are certainly many exceptions to every single one.”
However, when one is dealing with a sample of more than 20,000 single, divorced, and widowed men and women, I feel confident and comfortable making certain statements in a column titled The Truth about Dating.
Yet I was still hesitant to write this column, until a reader sent me an article from The New York Times, in which the author, John Tierney, published a story about racial preferences in the dating world.
Moreover, the article cited a study titled Racial Preferences in Dating that documented the preferences of more than 400 participants in speed dating sessions at Columbia University. A quick reading of both the Times article and the Columbia study seemed to support my own anecdotal findings.
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Dad: Virginia Tech Treated Suicidal Son Like 'Joke'
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, April 15 @ 16:34:19 EDT (3163 reads) |
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© 2008 CNN
April 15, 2008
RESTON, Virginia -- William Kim still calls the cell phone of his son, a 21-year-old senior at Virginia Tech, just to hear his voice. He feels cheated out of a chance to save his only boy.
Daniel Kim, 21, was a senior at Virginia Tech who had fallen into a deep depression after last year's massacre.
His son, Daniel Kim, wasn't a victim of last year's massacre that left 32 students and professors dead. His son committed suicide eight months later, after falling into a deep depression.
A Korean-American, Kim feared that classmates might mistake him for shooter Seung-Hui Cho. |
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Satire as Racial Backlash Against Asian Americans
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Students Show Up to Multicultural Fair Solely for the Food
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, March 08 @ 12:38:44 EST (3211 reads) |
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Editor's note: BoUNCe Magazine is a satirical online humor magazine published by students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
By Sarah Wolper
© 2007 BoUNCe Magazine
September 2007
The 9th annual Multicultural Awareness Fair, held last week in the Student Union, was deemed a great success by all in attendance, despite the fact that next to no multicultural awareness actually resulted from the event. Much delicious food, however, was consumed.
“Mmph. Oh god, these are soooo good,” said sophomore Janice Corrigan, as she devoured a samosa at the Indian Student Association table. “I don’t know what’s in these or how you people make them, but wow.”
Corrigan did not take a pamphlet on the upcoming Indian cultural festivals on campus, although she did take a fourth samosa and a plate of saffron rice.
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What It Means to Be Asian American
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What Was That? Researchers Explore Below-the-Radar Racism
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Photographer Charges Star's Staff With Racism
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Posted by Andrew on Friday, January 18 @ 12:45:21 EST (2822 reads) |
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By Marsha Lederman
©2008 Globe and Mail (Toronto)
January 16, 2008
VANCOUVER — Allegations of racism are being levelled at a member of Jennifer Aniston's staff while she shoots a film in Vancouver. A photographer trying to snap the Hollywood star's photo says the staffer repeatedly called his girlfriend, who is Asian, a "chink."
Rik Fedyck says the incident happened Monday after he tried to shoot photos of Ms. Aniston arriving on the set of the film Traveling, which began production in Vancouver this week.
It appears unlikely, though, that Mr. Fedyck, who has made paparazzi-related headlines before for an incident involving Denise Richards and Pamela Anderson, will be able to persuade police to lay charges.
Mr. Fedyck says his initial run-in with Ms. Aniston's staff happened Monday morning, when Mr. Fedyck was in his car with his girlfriend, who is Thai.
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New Trial Sought After Jurors' Racial Remarks
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After Murders, Indian Students Fearful at LSU
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, December 15 @ 17:26:04 EST (3113 reads) |
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By K.P. Nayar
©2007 The Telegraph (Calcutta, India)
December 15, 2007
Washington -- Authorities at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where two Indian students were murdered on Thursday night, swiftly moved to set up a “Komma and Allam Support Fund” to assist the families of the dead students.
The fund is named after the murdered students, Komma Chandrasekhar Reddy, 31, and Allam Kiran Kumar, 33.
Stung by criticism about neglecting security at the campus, authorities yesterday belatedly moved in to ensure visible vigilance at the Edward Gay Apartments, the scene of the murders, and other housing units on the notoriously insecure campus.
The LSU police department, working with the Baton Rouge police department, the East Baton Rouge parish sheriff’s office, and the Louisiana State Police, with assistance from the FBI, has launched an intense manhunt for three men, said to be African Americans, who were seen leaving the scene of the murders shortly before the bodies were discovered. |
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Complexities Facing Asian American Immigrant Students
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, November 20 @ 00:47:06 EST (3483 reads) |
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By Stacey J. Lee
Excerpted from "Additional complexities: social class, ethnicity, generation, and gender in
Asian American student experiences"
Race, Ethnicity and Education
©2006 Taylor and Francis
Despite the growing number of immigrant students in schools throughout the
country, many schools lack the expertise to adequately serve second language
students. In fact, many school districts face a shortage of certified bilingual and
English language learner (ELL) teachers. Although there is a significant body of
research that suggests that bilingual education programs are most effective, most
Asian American students who are English language learners are placed in English as
a second language (ESL) classes or other English-only environments (Hakuta &
Pease-Alvarez, 1992; Ramirez, 1991). ESL classes have been criticized for focusing
on oral communication at the expense of academic skills, offering low academic standards, and segregating students (Olsen, 1997; Valdes, 2001). ESL classes have also
been criticized for its assimilative nature. Valenzuela writes:
The very rationale of English as a Second Language (ESL)—the predominant language
program at the high school level—is subtractive. As ESL programs are designed to transition youth into an English only curriculum, they neither reinforce their native language
skills nor their cultural identities. (Valenzuela, 1999, p. 26)
Significantly, language and cultural loss among students from immigrant families
disrupts inter-generational relations. |
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Asian-Americans Label Angler's Death Racist
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Friends, Leaders Urge Renewed Probe Into Wone's Murder
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, August 07 @ 03:29:55 EDT (4843 reads) |
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By Judy Tseng
Special to ModelMinority.com
August 7, 2007
Friends and colleagues of slain attorney Robert Wone crowded into a meeting
room at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. for a press
conference on Monday, Aug. 6. Wone, 32, was stabbed to death in a
college friend’s townhome northeast of Dupont Circle last year, and no arrests
have been made.
Attorney Benjamin Razi, a former colleague of Wone who now represents his
widow Katherine Wone, said of the press conference, “I hope that the passion of
this group will get the city’s attention and motivate people to action.”
“Everybody we’d been able to talk to now has a lawyer, so there hasn’t been a
lot of keeping in contact,” said Capt. C.V. Morris, head of the D.C.
Metropolitan Police Department’s violent crime section, of the men present in
the home when Wone was stabbed. “That’s the card we were dealt. There’s no
reason to try [to contact] them at this point.”
The event took place in a large meeting room where Robert Wone had organized
an attorney development seminar in April 2006. After brief introductory remarks
from Covington & Burling attorney Benjamin Razi, Kathy Wone was the first to
speak. She thanked everyone for attending. |
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Lieu Leads California Fight for Asian American Judges
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Asian Americans Nationwide Remember Vincent Chin
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Posted by Andrew on Wednesday, July 04 @ 23:26:43 EDT (7108 reads) |
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By Judy Tseng
Special to ModelMinority.com
July 4, 2007
It has become required viewing in Asian American
Studies and Ethnic Studies classes nationwide: “Who
Killed Vincent Chin,” a documentary produced by Renee
Tajima and Christine Choi, chronicles the June 19,
1982 Detroit hate crime that took the life of a young
man a day before his wedding and left a community
reeling from the leniency afforded to the murderers.
For those who have not seen this film yet, a very
brief synopsis of this chapter in Asian American
history follows:
On June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin and his friends were at
his bachelor party in Detroit, when they got into an
argument with two white autoworkers,
Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz. The two stated, “It’s
because of you little motherfuckers that we’re out of
work!” Ebens and Nitz later followed Chin to a
McDonald's parking lot. They beat Chin with a baseball
bat, cracking his skull. Chin died a few days later,
the day before his wedding. Ebens and Nitz did not
even spend a night in jail, instead getting three
years of probation and a $3000.00 fine, because Judge
Charles Kaufman thought they were otherwise upstanding
citizens. Interestingly enough, Judge Kaufman, who
died in 2004, had been a navigator for the Army Air
Force in World War II; after 27 missions, his plane
was shot down and he was held by the Japanese as a
prisoner of war. Perhaps his experience in Japan led
him to view Asians, as well as Asian Americans, as the
enemy. |
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25 Years Later: In Memory of Vincent Chin
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, June 19 @ 08:24:24 EDT (7187 reads) |
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By Sehjong Hamjong
The Daily Texan
©2007 Texas Student Publications
June 19, 2007
Today is a solemn day for many across the United States, as it is the 25th anniversary of the hate-crime murder of Vincent Chin. His murder signifies the beginning of the contemporary Asian Pacific American, or APA, civil rights movement.
In 1982, 27-year-old Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American draftsman and engineer, got into a confrontation with two white men, Ronald Ebens and his stepson Michael Nitz, at a strip club in Detroit, Mich. where Chin was having his bachelor party. During the early 1980s, the U.S. auto industry in Detroit faced tough competition from Japanese automakers, and many workers were laid off as a result. Mistaking him to be Japanese, Ebens yelled at Chin, "It's because of you little motherfuckers that we're out of work," according to a 2002 article from www.tolerance.org.
The verbal confrontation escalated into a physical scuffle between Ebens, Nitz and Chin, taking the fight from throwing punches to grabbing chairs and culminating in the three being kicked out of the club. In the parking lot, Nitz took a Louisville Slugger baseball bat out of his car, and Chin told the two men, "I'll fight you guys more if you want, but put the baseball bat down." When Nitz refused, Chin and his friends left.
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Obama Apologizes to Indian Americans for Memo
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, June 19 @ 07:16:04 EDT (5722 reads) |
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By Lynn Sweet
©2007 Chicago Sun-Times
June 19, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Seeking to limit damage within the Indian-American Democratic community, White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said Monday it was a "screw-up" and "stupid" and a "mistake" for his campaign to issue a memo slamming ties rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and her husband, Bill, have to India and Indian-Americans.
"In sum, our campaign made a mistake," Obama said in a statement released through a group of Indian-American supporters called South Asians for Obama '08.
"Although I was not aware of the contents of the memo prior to its distribution, I consider the entire campaign -- and in particular myself -- responsible for the mistake."
In Iowa campaigning, Obama told the Des Moines Register on Monday, "It was a screw-up on the part of our research team." He added, "I thought it was stupid and caustic." |
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Discrimination Against Asian Americans Linked to Health Problems
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Decolonize Our Minds, Cross Our Borders
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, May 19 @ 00:00:00 EDT (6063 reads) |
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Editor's Note: Yuri Kochiyama turns 85 today
Yuri Kochiyama with her late husband Bill. Mr. Kochiyama
dedicated his life to supporting his family and his wife's activist efforts. |
By Yuri Kochiyama
Speech given at Duke, Princeton and Boston Universities
April 1996
First, I wish to thank Steve Kim of the Asian Caucus and Don Brown of AHANA for inviting me to your school, and encouraging students to come out today. I am really heartwarmed that Asian Pacific American students are interested in learning about their history, their culture, their language, and that of other people's history, culture, language. I have chosen the topic - "Expanding Our Horizons, Decolonizing Our Minds and Crossing over borders." I feel this is the task for Asian American students today. Those in power and society itself, want us to have a limited outlook, cocoon ourselves from others, withdraw within ourselves, not interact with nor trust others, and narrow our perspective. A polarization has been taking place, dividing us from one another. How do we challenge this? Why must we challenge this?
Actually, American history has been one continuous narrative of events that have divided us - by race, color, class, gender, religion, politics, culture, region, and even accents. Americans are a divided people because America wants us divided. Americans do not look at one another as equals, or consider one another as brothers, sisters, neighbors. And I feel the basis for this is because of racism and slavery that began with America's birth. Racism has contaminated life in these United States, has tainted its institutions, deprived and denied its people who have been targeted and marginalized, stigmatized and looked down upon, most often because of color/race/national origin. History has shown this over and over again. Sadly, we Asian/PacificIslanders, while having been victims, have also been influenced by negative aspects of Euro-American ideas and thoughts. At the same time, we cannot blame everything with an American tag on the ills of society. Oftimes it could be our own frailties. But we must change the course of American history. And we are changing it, little by little. All of you are changing it, thankfully, because you are aware and concerned. You would not be organizing these wonderful events called Asian Pacific American Heritage Months, except for the fact that you want to bring APA people together and discuss the issues that pertain to you. APAs back in the 60's were the pioneers in this movement. I am glad that your generation is continuing the legacy. |
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CBS Radio Pulls Show After D.J.’s Prank Call to Chinese Restaurant
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Posted by Andrew on Monday, May 14 @ 00:43:03 EDT (6053 reads) |
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©2007 Associated Press
May 13, 2007
One month after the firing of radio host Don Imus, a pair of suspended New York shock jocks have been permanently pulled from the air by CBS Radio for a prank phone call rife with Asian stereotypes.
“The Dog House with JV and Elvis,” featuring Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay, “will no longer be broadcast,” CBS Radio spokeswoman Karen Mateo said yesterday.
CBS Radio dismissed Mr. Imus in April for a comment he made about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. He plans a $120 million breach of contract lawsuit.
The cancellation of the other show yesterday, nearly three weeks after Mr. Vandergrift and Mr. Lay were suspended, was another indication of the increased scrutiny on radio hosts and the heightened sensitivity of management to complaints in the wake of Mr. Imus’s firing.
“This is a victory not only for the Asian-American community, but for all communities who find themselves constant targets of racist and sexist programming,” said Jeanette Wang, an executive with the Organization of Chinese Americans. |
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Asian-Americans' Diverse Voices Share Similar Stories
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Posted by Andrew on Sunday, May 13 @ 05:20:12 EDT (5671 reads) |
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By Manav Tanneeru
©2007 CNN
May 11, 2007
Being Asian and American is often a complex balancing act. The challenge for millions of people is managing to assimilate into American society while maintaining the principles of cultural heritage. About 13.5 million U.S. residents say they are Asian or a combination of another race and Asian, according to a 2004 census report. The number represents 4.7 percent of American households. The 1990 census counted 6.9 million Asians. The demographic includes dozens of ethnic groups, languages, religions, customs and origins from across the globe, stretching from Japan and China to Pakistan and India. Academic observers and community members say the diversity within the group is so rich and disparate, it seems folly to treat it as a single bloc. |
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American GIs Frequented Japan's ''Comfort Women''
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Auburn Assault Said to be Because Victim is Asian
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Weighing Cho's Heritage, and Identity
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Asian American Churches Face Leadership Gap
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Clinton Staff's Gaffe With Chinese American Newspapers
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Posted by Andrew on Sunday, March 04 @ 03:30:48 EST (5847 reads) |
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By Vanessa Hua
©2007 San Francisco Chronicle
February 27, 2007
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign excluded reporters for
the Bay Area's two largest ethnic newspapers from a fundraiser Friday at the
Sheraton Palace Hotel -- a perceived snub that led to days of harsh coverage.
"Our main concern is open access for Chinese media and other ethnic media
in this presidential campaign," said Joyce Chen, news editor for Sing Tao, a
daily published in Chinese. "We stand by our commitment to serve our readers
and our community, which often lack access from government and exposure from
mainstream English (language) media."
Readers in the Chinese community have an intense loyalty to Sing Tao and
the World Journal, said Sandy Close, head of New America Media, a national
ethnic media coalition based in San Francisco.
"If they're disrespected by a candidate, no matter what the security
conditions, space requirements and pressures they were under, (campaign
officials) should move to remedy it immediately," said Close, who counseled the
Clinton campaign when it sought her advice this weekend. "If they move quickly,
they can use it to build a bridge, not burn a bridge."
Reporters from Sing Tao and Chinese-language daily World Journal, as well
as the smaller China Press were denied entry to the noon fundraiser. |
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Racial Microaggressions and the Asian American Experience
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The Anti-Model Minority Myth
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Posted by Andrew on Sunday, January 21 @ 12:41:02 EST (17130 reads) |
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LuXun writes "or Why E.R. Will Never Have an Asian Male Doctor
©2005 By Lu Xun
Special to ModelMinority.com
June 2005
Several years ago, I had a ritual where I would have lunch with several Asian American friends at a Chinese restaurant every Sunday afternoon. Although women were often a part of this lunch group, it was mostly young Asian American men. Unintentionally, it turned out that most of these Asian American men in my Sunday lunchtime ritual were either physicians or attending medical school. " |
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sir_humpslot: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (09:16) quinn: The Yellow Fever Pages (01:28) quinn: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (17/9) quinn: New Trial Sought After Jurors' Racial Remarks (17/9) quinn: In Our Own Language (17/9) quinn: Satire as Racial Backlash Against Asian Americans (17/9) bwfish: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (17/9) quinn: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (17/9) quinn: Rejecting the Model in ''Model Minority'' (17/9) sowelu: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (14/9) |
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