Well, maybe it’s not breaking news for regular readers of this and other Asian-American centric sites, but the AA community is finally getting some real research to back up our assertion that we’re an extrodinarily diverse and complicated community. The just released report, “Facts, Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight“ by New York University and the College Board, attempts to dismantle the stereotype that Asian-Americans are all a bunch of math & science geeks focused on nothing but academic acheivement and without legitimate needs. Basically…we ain’t the model minoritiy.
From the New York Times article:
“It pokes holes in stereotypes about Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, including the perception that they cluster in science, technology, engineering and math. And it points out that the term “Asian-American” is extraordinarily broad, embracing members of many ethnic groups.
“Certainly there’s a lot of Asians doing well, at the top of the curve, and that’s a point of pride, but there are just as many struggling at the bottom of the curve, and we wanted to draw attention to that,” said Robert T. Teranishi, the N.Y.U. education professor who wrote the report, “Facts, Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight.”
“Our goal,” Professor Teranishi added, “is to have people understand that the population is very diverse.”
The report goes on to highlight how the mass lumping of Asian-Americans into a singular monolith of achievement severly underscores the struggles of some subgroups within the community such as the Hmong.
And even more impressive…the report actually calls out universities and suggests that Asian-Americans may be held to higher admissions standards at more selective colleges AND also suggests that the “model minority” stereotype unfairly pit Asian-American students against African-American and Latino students. Damn! Honesty. At last!
You can download the full report for yourself.
Wow, I’m really impressed by the level of depth in this report. Reading the report summary really feels like validation. Nearly ever Asian-American I’ve known has had to deal with the unfair implications of being perceived as “the model-minority” at some point in their life. Maybe this report will lead to actual change in academic policies and perceptions. One can hope.
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Efren wrote:
Since I’ve been involved in teaching Asian American studies in the mid-90s and a few years ago, and having been myself benefited from UC’s policy of having Filipinos being considered as part of affirmative action, I’m really glad that this report came out. It’s vindicating to see that this report finally says that the struggles among Asians, and making clear distinctions between Asians who are international students, vs. Asian Americans who are immigrants, and finally Asian Americans who are 2nd, 3rd, etc. generation are totally different. Lumping Asians all into one category really puts many of us at a disadvantage, and obscures that while many of us do well because we have resources available, as well as histories of family members graduating and doing well in college, many others don’t.
Even though I did really well in high school and got a scholarship that potentially gave me a full ride at where I did my undergrad and benefited from affirmative action, I struggled as an undergrad partly because I was thrown into a whole new world that my family didn’t know of since I was the first in my family to go to a 4 year American university and my parents couldn’t understand why my grades were relatively slipping compared to the success I had in high school. Thankfully I got my shit together and finished a double in 4 years, partly because I was able to make a strong support network from other Filipinos and Fil-Ams who were in similar situations, and finding other queer people of color in the sciences who understood that I had the constant pressure of doing well but also being forced to hide my sexuality for fear of being disowned. Unfortunately, a lot of other people aren’t so lucky.
Teaching at SFSU Asian American studies was an eyeopener since I finally got to see firsthand how my Filipino students were doing. Unlike the other high-level universities that I had gone to (UC system), most were barely scraping by in their classes, with a number of them on academic probation. I remember how one girl who I saw had enormous potential but got caught up in family drama, drugs and alcohol and ended up getting kicked out of her house and having to sleep on her friend’s couches, and had to drop my class, even though she was acing it. It was very encouraging to see her a couple years later, seeing her get her act together and studying to become a nurse.
It’s nice to see that some people in Asian American academia are finally coming up with numbers and facts that back up all these anecdotes that most of us know about, and that hopefully it will begin some sort of change in how the needs of Asian and Asian American college students are addressed.
Posted on 10-Jun-08 at 10:26 am | Permalink
ajhfkj wrote:
This whole distinction idea applies to Latin-Americans too me thinks. You know thinking that every Hispanic/Latin person is a burrito eating Mexican alien. I’m only stating this because other minorites should be able to relate to people of Asian decent…plus I’m half Asian and Latin so I experience both stereotypes [I'm supposed to be brilliant because I'm Asian, but then I'm not expected to achieve in academics because I'm part Hispanic too]…Being mixed race can also be a challenge when you feel that you can’t be accepted as whole..only in parts.
Posted on 10-Jun-08 at 11:58 am | Permalink
Jeff C. wrote:
Weird… I thought our parents all raised us to be engineers, doctors, or lawyers, yet the last two aren’t specifically called out in the article.
Also, the way I was taught, the “model minority” was harmful to Asian-Americans because it lumped lesser-achieving Southeast Asians with affluent East Asians, thereby being disadvantageous in securing funding and support for the Southeast Asians.
And I have definitely seen cases where studious Asian-Americans are being denied admission to top universities despite having 4.0+, high SAT scores, numerous high school activities, volunteer work, etc. This could be solved by simply abolishing Affirmative-Action and replacing it with a plan that provides a chance to socio-economical disadvantaged [in other words, inner-city] students regardless of race.
Posted on 12-Jun-08 at 12:09 pm | Permalink