Why the Model Minority Myth Was Never True

The idea came out of historically discriminatory practices, and its damage continues today. 

By Andrew Wong

"I’m an A-sian, but you’re a B-sian,” I said to a friend in high school after our calculus test was returned. I had earned a higher mark than his less than satisfactory grade. 

My comment was made in reference to the stereotype that, as Asians, we excel in school, pursue STEM majors, and achieve excellence through self-reliance and hard work. All of these assumptions can be summarized as the “model minority” stereotype, or the idea that the success of Asian Americans should serve as a model for other minorities to follow. 

At first glance, the model minority stereotype appears to be a desirable label. After all, wouldn’t everybody want to be known as hardworking, intelligent, and successful?

This stereotype fails to account for the diversity of individuals and cultures within the pan-ethnic nature of the Asian American label. The ancestors of the United States’ 20 million Asian Americans originate from more than twenty countries, each with a unique history and culture. The use of “Asian Americans” as a general gloss for anyone of Asian descent living in America creates a monolith out of one of the most diverse groups in America. The resulting perception ignores key variances from health disparities and wage gaps to generational wealth. 

For example, in Los Angeles, Japanese households have a median net worth of nearly $600,000, compared to a median net worth of $23,000 in Korean homes. Across the country, the poverty rate for Cambodians sixty-five and older is 23.3 percent, compared to a poverty rate of 7.1 percent for Filipino seniors. And in 1990, Chinese Americans enrolled in college at a rate of 66.5 percent. Only 26.3 percent of Laotian Americans entered college, far lower than the 34.4 percent national enrollment rate.

The model minority stereotype is not even rooted in reality. On top of that, Asian Americans have the most significant rate of income inequality in the country, with the top 10 percent of earners making over ten times more than the bottom 10 percent of Asian American households. 

In addition to its false premise, the model minority myth has contributed to higher rates of suicide, depression, and anxiety in the Asian American community than in any other ethnic group. High and unwarranted expectations of success are placed on Asian Americans. Failure to meet these expectations has led to many believing that they have brought shame to their family and culture, leading to a downward spiral of anxiety, depression, and suicide. 

The origins of the model minority myth trace back more than a century. In the late 1800s, after the California Gold Rush, California experienced an economic downturn [1]. In need of a scapegoat for these financial failures, local leaders pointed the finger at Chinese immigrants. This led to the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese workers. By 1924, immigration from nearly every Asian nation was banned. At the same time, Americans took it upon themselves to violently force Chinese workers to leave their communities in what is known as the “driving out” era. This era culminated in the creation of a Chinese registry—not unlike the proposed Muslim registry of the current administration. 

In the mid-twentieth century, the Chinese Exclusion Act was overturned to strengthen our alliance with China. Each year, one hundred and five Chinese immigrants were allowed to enter the country. This policy gave explicit preference to immigrants with immediate family in the US, followed by highly-educated professionals like doctors and engineers.

At the same time, Americans were becoming increasingly concerned about communist influence in the West. Rumors began to spread that Chinatowns were a seedbed for the Chinese Communist Party to gain control in the US. Suspicion, fear, and discrimination toward the Asian American community grew. Asian-owned businesses were boycotted, neighborhoods segregated, and employment opportunities limited. This discrimination was directed not only toward Chinese Americans but all Asian communities. 

To counter this perception, Asian American leaders attempted to distance their communities from communism. Chinatown leaders pushed a false narrative around Chinese traditional values. Claiming their children were obedient and hardworking, leaders led a PR campaign to protect their communities. They propagated the idea that Confucian ethics taught a Puritan work ethic, traditional family values, and unwavering obedience.

This narrative ignored the high crime, dropout, and poverty rates prevalent in Asian American communities. Besides, Chinese immigrants were not always successful in Western countries. Alejandro Portes’s research has shown that second-generation Chinese immigrants in Spain demonstrate the lowest educational goals and expectations of any group.

Emphasizing similarities with Anglo-Saxon culture ignores the complexities of Asian American culture. Asian and Asian American cultures cannot be reduced to a subset of the majority culture. This “flattening” of Asian culture has also alienated it from other ethnic communities; Confucian ethics are far more similar to Mexican American and African American cultures.

Despite these imperfections, white politicians embraced this false narrative to win allies in the Cold War and as a response to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1966, the term model minority was coined by sociologist William Petersen in an article he wrote for New York Times Magazine, titled “Success Story: Japanese American Style.” The idea was that Asian Americans should serve as models for other minorities to achieve success in America. If the Asian-American community could “rise up” after World War II internment camps, why couldn’t other communities of color do the same? 

The model minority theory failed to recognize the discriminatory immigration policies that had given only the wealthiest and most educated Asians the ability to immigrate to the US. It also ignored the historical and ongoing discrimination of the Asian American community and other communities of color. 

This myth has also served as a wedge to separate Asian Americans from other minority communities, fostering distrust and disdain. By casting Japanese Americans—and by extension, all Asian Americans—as a model minority, politicians have belittled the struggles of African American communities. By blaming the struggles of other communities of color on “fatherlessness” or “lack of education,” politicians have ignored the existence of persistent racist policies that have oppressed communities of color. Additionally, the narrative surrounding affirmative action pits Asian Americans against African Americans, despite the benefits that the Asian American community has received from this policy.

The goal of learning the history of the model minority myth is not about knowledge or awareness, but to grow in our love of God and neighbor. While the model minority myth has driven a wedge between Asian Americans and African Americans, the people of God must choose to fight racism together. In the body of Christ, if one suffers, all suffer (1 Cor. 12:26). To do this, Christians should actively seek to include people of all backgrounds at every level of leadership in the church, discuss issues of racial injustice from the pulpit, and seek further education related to the complexities of the cultures of all minorities. 

For Asian Americans specifically, we should not view ourselves or our culture as inherently better or more successful than other communities of color. Instead, we should recognize the history of discriminatory immigration policy in America that has created the stereotypes present now. Furthermore, we must repent of anti-Black racism that persists in our communities. Finally, we must move forward together honoring the gifts of God that each individual and community has to offer in service to the church (Rom. 12). 

Finally, the gospel is a royal announcement of Yahweh’s victory and reign through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as promised in the Old Testament. As Christians, we should embody a community that lives in light of the kingship of Yahweh. As people of faith, our churches should be characterized by unbreakable unity and unhindered compassion. Our churches should give the world a glimpse of what the kingdom of God will look like, on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection did not only secure justification by faith alone but fellowship by faith alone as well (Gal. 3-4; Rom. 3; Eph. 2). As followers of Jesus, we must lay aside “hollow and deceptive philosophy” (Col. 2:8) that divides, and instead move forward in full fellowship, of one mind, in Christ Jesus.  

[1]  Lary Michael Dilsaver, “From Boom to Bust: Post Gold Rush Patterns of Adjustment in a California Mining Region. (Volumes I and II).,” n.d., 479.

A version of this article was originally published on the Thomas Table.

Photo by Rostyslav Savchyn on Unsplash

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Andrew Wong graduated from Texas A&M this past May with a BS in civil engineering. He now works as a business analyst for Capital One and moonlights as a ThM student at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is passionate about the role of culture and contextualization in theological method, particularly for the "least of these” in society. For the past four years, he has been ministering to international students and at-risk kids by partnering with their communities in whole-life discipleship. He currently writes for the Thomas Table. Connect with him on Instagram.