Essay Sample on Model Minority Myth: Discriminatory & Demographically Antagonizing Concept

Introduction

The model minority myth is a controversial concept that entails differentiating groups either based on ethnicity, age, sex or religion. It is deep-rooted in the culture of perceiving a certain category of people as more successful in the socio-economic paradigm. The concept is discriminatory and demographically antagonizes a certain category while depicting another group as protagonists who adhere to the law and contribute towards the development of the country or region. According to Li (2005), the model minority was coined in the 1960s to connote Chinese Americans who demonstrated great academic skills and started acquiring full integration into the US system and later included the rest of Asians namely the Japanese and Koreans in the 1970s (71). In fact, it is associated with the quintessential racial discrimination in the American community comprising of the White, Asians, Africans, and Hispanic citizens or residents. The Black and Hispanic communities are generally perceived as the antagonists involved with crime and comprise of the largest unemployment category in the U.S as well as a poor educational background. However, citizens or residents of Asian descent are commonly perceived to be in tandem with the Whites as law-abiding members of the community with exemplary financial records and good educational background stemming from high employment rates associated with them. The three relevant theoretical aspects of this topic are conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and functionalism. However, the conflict theory is the most pertinent in demystifying and probing socio-economic patterns that have the aspect of competition, suppression and manipulation in the allocation of resources, and interaction between different groups in society.

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A model minority is not an extensive societal issue as it is a predicament ailing individuals at a personal level. For a community of Asian Americans to be affected by this problem it presents an inherent deep-rooted issue amongst individuals. Take for example a student in school who is Asian American and is under pressure from the society to perform exemplary in school owing to the stereotypical perspective that they should perform better than other minority communities such as Blacks and Hispanics. The young person is deserted to suffer from depression or excessive stress trying to match his or her achievements to those of society. Li (2005) predicates that the stereotype has posed a threat to the advancement of the Asian students in school and society and has taken shape as a hegemonic device that disguises the challenges faced by most Asian children and especially the under-achieving (71). Thus, the preconception of the model minority is destructive psychologically in exposing the youth to undue pressure to attain the expectations of society. However, the focal point of this paper is the sociological impacts of the model minority that have far-reaching drawbacks such as pitting minority groups against each other in a socio-economic perspective while promoting racial discrimination and inequality.

The social conflict theory was incepted by Karl Marx and stipulates that people and groups in a particular community or society interact through competition on distribution for resources, power, and opportunities instead of using consensus. Dahrendolf (1958) propounds that social conflict is pigeonholed into exogenous and endogenous and by extension, the latter is classified according to structural significance based on the specific historical conditions such as the white man's enslavement of the Negroes (172). The above classification is pertinent to the model minority. Esteban, Mayoral, and Ray (2012) posit that existing ethnographic literature infers that the majority of social conflict issues in a country or society emanate from the religious and ethnic components (863). Social conflict is relevant in demystifying the sociological issues associated with the model minority myth. The myth entails racial discrimination instituted by the White society against other minority communities such as the Blacks and Hispanics while exerting pressure on the Asians to perform and match the standards of the Whites. Consequently, there is an imminent cataclysmic upsurge of the unemployment rates among the Blacks and Hispanics stemming from the Asians being given preference and opportunities in the economy. The predicament in this situation is that not only are the victimized minorities racially discriminated by the whites but also, they are predisposed to prejudice from their fellow minority group of Asians. This sets the trajectory for competition and more so conflict between the minority groups. The unfortunate thing is that with the Asians being elevated by the White community, the Blacks suffer in lack of education and high unemployment rates which continuously leaves them trodden and at the bottom of the economy. As a matter of fact, Gayle (2018), postulates that despite the decline in unemployment for the African American population nationally from 16.8% to 6.5%, the national numbers may be misleading since 14.3% of Africans are paid poverty wages while the Whites are at 8.3% and may be relatively low for the Asians (1). The social conflict theory infers that the model minority is detrimental to society and the parties involved. It promotes partisanship in offering opportunities in education, employment, power and ultimately wealth accumulation. This unfair treatment will hurt the economy and education sectors altogether. The political implication is devastating stemming from the concept that minorities already have equal opportunities since the Asians achieve success merely from being hard-working, diligent and obedient to the law. This idea antagonizes the other minorities as being lazy and having the inclination to be rogue and practice crime when they cannot achieve what the Asians attain. Thus, the political discourse will be against the minorities and will depict African Americans and Hispanics as communities that victimize themselves to receive support from the government. Li (2005), asserts that Asians' success reinforces the "blaming the victim" strategy when the other minority groups fail to attain success especially when a student fails in class. Although the model minority may seem positive since it tries to foster encouragement and depict Asians who are successful, as role models for other minority groups to realize success, it is used politically to maintain the status quo in society setting the under-achieving communities at a disadvantage in acquiring opportunities.

Symbolic interactionism, as interpreted by Aksan et al.,(2009), is a theory that examines the meaning emanating from reciprocal interactions between one individual with another at a personal level in a social environment while seeking to establish the symbols and their meanings. Thus, the focus of the theory is human interaction between two people and the meanings elicited by the symbols used. Symbolic interaction will address the interpersonal issues regarding the model minority which in particular means that the study will entail the individual reasons that cause the myth to be internalized. According to OpenStax (478), an interactionist addressing a social pattern may probe norms, tactics and individual motivation towards participating in a movement. Thus, in this case, symbol interactionism may seek to address the personal issue affecting the Asians who perform well and those who don't and the pressure exerted on them to attain the success standard. It may also seek to understand the interaction between an Asian American and a member of another minority group. Basically, understand the model minority at a personal level by investigating members of the Asian community. The theory would not be pertinent based on the fact that the predicament is a social and historical issue for that matter. As categorized by Dahrendorf as a social issue whose perspective lies in the historical context of the sociological issue. Thus implying that the symbol interactionism would not define the issue with the weight and the proportion required. Addressing a socio-economical issue with an individualistic approach may not address the main issue.

Functionalism predicates that society comprises of different institutions and components that have a particular role in addressing an issue. Thus, a functionalist may approach the model minority as a social pattern that plays a specific role in the community. This means that it would view the phenomenon as a positive factor that encourages performance and achievement. OpenStax (478) posits that a functionalist will focus on why a social pattern comes into being, why they have perpetuity and the social purpose they fulfill. Although this approach focuses on a broad picture and perspective by probing the essential details, the problem would arise in the determination of the purpose of the phenomenon which would, in turn, overlook the social inequality inherent in the issue.

Conclusion

In conclusion, conflict theory aside from probing the educational and economic impacts of the model minority also indicates the flaws in the U.S health care system. The U.S has a faulty healthcare system due to the inequality portrayed in the allocation of resources and services. The social conflict theory predicates that the privileged communities such as the whites and Asians have a better opportunity at health care since the system only enriches and empowers those who are advantaged racially while the minorities lack access to good healthcare as a result of not getting the opportunities to earn a living enough to cater for medical services. Thus, the model minority is an evil that causes detriment based on historical or preconception ideas in society to undermine those erroneously perceived as lazy and uninspired while empowering those with a historical advantage of succeeding not based on merit.

Works Cited

Aksan, Nilgun, et al. "Symbolic Interaction Theory." Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 1.1 (2009): 902-904.

Dahrendorf, Ralf. "Toward a Theory of Social Conflict." Journal of Conflict Resolution 2.2 (1958): 170-183.

Esteban, Joan, Laura Mayoral, and Debraj Ray. "Ethnicity and Conflict: Theory and Facts." Science 336.6083 (2012): 858-865.

Gayle, Caleb. "The Truth about Black Unemployment in America." Kansas, Missouri. (2018)

Li, Guofang. "Other People's Success: Impact of the" Model Minority" Myth on Underachieving Asian Students in North America." KEDI Journal of Educational Policy 2.1 (2005).

OpenStax. "Introduction to Sociology."