In the United States, there's a bunch of stereotypes that exist about people of differing ethnicities. One of these stereotypes, the model minority, specifically targets Asian Americans. In class, we watched this TEDx Talk on one person's experience of the model minority in high school. However, for this blog post, I will be focusing on the TEDx Talk by Olivia Lai that's linked above, who discusses the effects that the model minority myth has on kids in school.
The model minority myth originally appeared in the 1960's at the height of the civil rights movement. (Zhou, 2003). It continues to be a stereotype that is placed on Asian Americans in our society today and it erases the differences among individuals. The model minority myth holds Asian Americans to higher standards and places high expectations on Asian Americans, specifically in school, which leads to successful careers in the science and medical fields.
As Olivia Lai talks about her experiences, she also discusses the impact that the model minority stereotype has on Asian American children in school. This consists of putting enormous pressure on themselves to do well in school, which leads to emotional isolation and hopelessness if they don't perform well enough to the high expectations that are placed on them. Lai also provides a shocking statistic during her talk: Asian American girls between the ages of 15 and 24 have the second highest rate of suicide.
On the other side, Lai discusses the reactions when Asian Americans don't get good grades and live up to the model minority stereotype. She talks about how many people are shocked/stunned when they find out about this.
Lai's TEDx Talk relates to class concepts through discussing the model minority and how it reinforces stereotypes about Asian Americans, rather than accepting the fact that not everyone is the same.
Artifact Type: YouTube Video/TED Talk
Works Cited
Zhou, Min. (2003). “Are Asian Americans Becoming White?” Race, Class, and Gender: Intersections and Inequalities. Ed. Margaret L. Andersen, Ed. Patricia Hill Collins. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2019. 374-379. Print.
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