Asian Americans: The Model Minority in the 1960s Immigration Movement - Essay Sample

Introduction

Model minority discourse is a term that first became popular around the 1960s, the period during which there was an immigration and nationality move. The move had put an end to the quotas set against African and Asians migration and in turn, created a preference for the skilled professionals. The term referred to the economic success that Asian Americans had achieved in comparison to other minorities (Kat). During this period, there were propositions to spend billions on uplifting minorities, yet Asian Americans, who were part of the minority group, were doing well without seeking help from anyone. The other minorities were associated with negative traits, including early pregnancies, high school dropout rates, and crime. These traits had led to the establishment of state-aided activist programs aiming to counter racism and poverty.

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One section of the whites praised the Asian Americans for their achievements in education, behaviour, and law-abiding. Conversely, the other clique of white conservatives focused on race relations to intervene and critic other minorities. For the white conservatives to advance their argument, they used a minority model discourse. They referred to Asian American success when denigrating other minorities and suggested that they should have worked as hard and therefore, should not rely on state programs (Kat). Asian Americans responded to be denouncing this discourse and argued that its concepts were exaggerated and distorted. The factors that had led to prosperity were different from those that affected other minorities. As such, it would be unfair to regard the other minority groups as lazy or undeserving of government support to uplift their status.

Political Factors That Led to the “Phenomena” of Transnational Asian Adoption in the 20th Century

Cold war. After the Second World War, the plight of orphaned children became more evident in the US personnel in different nations, particularly Asian countries. Subsequently, proxy adoptions began where US citizens could adopt international children (Min and Anthony, 411). Such adoptions gained a footing when one couple from Oregon, Harry and Bertha in 1955, adopted eight orphans from the Korean War. The adoption process then went beyond Korean children, as many Asian children were brought into white families, resulting in transnational adoptions. The people argued that love was enough to make a family regardless of one's race or nationality.

Besides, several movements were advocating for the adoption of Korean children. Instead of America fighting, it eschewed and the political issues of the time and instead focused on the home aspect. Subsequently, they called for legislation that would allow them to adopt children from other nations. Additionally, the adoption of children from different races served to bring a new definition for the word family. A family would comprise of people who loved each other regardless of their race. The move served to embrace a cultural mix further.

The Second World War. After this war, there were many parachute kids in different parts of the US. These children came from places such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many US families took the responsibility of taking care of such kids (David, 27). Besides, both the US and other nation's soldiers in other nations identified kids whose families had been killed or could not take care of them. They took the initiative of bringing them back to the US during their return. The period between 1950 and 1956 witnessed the bringing back of many kids from abroad.

Further, in the aftermath of this war, orphan trains resulted due to the high number of deaths in war camps. Also, a large number of children had been separated and abandoned during the war creating a situation where many had no one to take care of them. This setting sparked the beginning of international adoptions both in the US and other nations. The fortunate ones were taken to the US and other European countries that were relatively stable and where they could receive proper care. People in countries such as the US were at the time empathetic and ready to accept such children and embrace them as their own.

One Figure in the Continual Struggles for Civil Rights in the 1960S and 1970S

One of the figures that led to the struggle for civil rights was Martin Luther King Jr. He used his oratory skills and courage to draw national attention. He organized mass demonstrations aimed at equal and fair treatment of black minorities. His main achievement was in 1963 at Washington DC, where he attracted about a quarter-million people. The main goal of the time was protesting in advocacy for a world that people would not be divided by race (Archive admin). The speech was powerful and led to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. This law called for equal employment for all and limited the use of voter literacy tests, which often cut off blacks.

While protests in other places were marked by bloodshed, Martin Luther's political move advocated for non-violence in efforts to overturn racism and systemic apartheid. He was determined to changing the era of protest from one that was filled with violence to peaceful approaches. He called for social changes through strategies such as civil disobedience and marches. The core goal of this approach was to steer changes in segregation laws for the fair treatment of blacks (Archive admin). His views were widely welcome even among the whites as some of them supported him and joined in these protests. However, the protests were not wholly non-violent as in some instances; people met with police and violence erupted.

Works Cited

Archive admin. San Francisco State On Strike! (1968). 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5O_gDvpdM0. Accessed 19 Feb 2020.

David Eng, "Transnational Adoption and Queer Diasporas," Social Text 76: 21, Vol.3, 2003, 1-37

Kat Chow, "Model Minority Myth Again Used as a Racial Wedge Between Asians and Blacks" NPR (2017).

Min Zhou and Anthony Ocampo. "Mapping Multiple Histories of Korean American Transnational Adoption," in Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader, Third Edition, ed. (New York University Press, 2016.) p 404-427.