Preview

The Model Minority

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
668 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Model Minority
“Whiteness” is a social identity which represents a prioritized social status for people with “accumulated wealth and power”. Different from “white people”, the whiteness is an ideology of white supremacy—a social identity that takes advantage over other racial groups on resource, power and opportunity.
“Whiteness has a cash value: it accounts for advantages that come to individuals through profits made from housing secured in discriminatory markets, through the unequal educations allocated to children of different races, through insider networks that channel employment opportunities to the relatives and friends of those who have profited most from present and past racial discrimination, and especially through intergenerational transfers
…show more content…
Their success was viewed as a “model” of racial groups because of their high level of average wages, education level and kept on the rails, but regardless of their language barrier, burdens in market discrimination, larger family size, and more working adult which made up the gross error of those measurements.
Although Immigrant Act of 1965 brought educated and skilled immigrants, their knowledge and skills seemed useless in the U.S. Most of them have to work on multiple jobs with minimum paid in order to support the living of large family. They were facing the same burden of discrimination as other races like poor blacks and Latinos. Due to the feudalism system and culture in Asian countries, “they were too scared to speak up and fight for their rights” (Amy Uyematsu).” Model minority’s examples of “success” of nonwhite people on society and “quiet” on politics has been promoted on purpose for quieting down other racial groups who were active on fighting for civil rights and equality. In other words, the promotion of model minority became a tool of strengthen

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    This article describes an elusive "unspoken" advantage toward white people in our society called " white privilege" which basically gives white people invisible privileges that work against people of color and keep them oppressed. It also says being oblivious to white privilege is ingrained in our culture and is kept that way by the "few groups who have most of the power already"(White Privilege,McIntosh).…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In ‘The “Morphing” Properties of Whiteness’, Troy Duster addresses that people view whiteness form two perspectives; race as arbitrary and whimsical versus race as structural and enduring. The classification of race is arbitrary and often whimsical, exampled by the fact that ‘one drop of blood’ from any race does not constitute labeling an individual as undeniably belonging to that race, the idea that race is something identifiable with fixed borders that could be crossed and mixed which means there is no base line to classify race. Also, it sees race as ever-changing. On the other hand, it discussed whiteness as an enduring privilege, that it is deeply embedded in the routine structures of economic and political life. However, those ‘white territory’ such as in the United States or parts of South Africa, do not give up racial privilege by simply denying that is exists at all.…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    White privilege is a hidden and transparent inclination that is often challenging to address. Only upon closer inspection do we see how it perpetuates a sense of entitlement, it generates perks and advantages for white people and elevates their status in the world. In Feagin and Vera, “Confronting One’s Own Racism”, they argue that the 'declining significance of race' theorists are at odds with the empirical evidence, which underscores their argument that racism is alive and well in America. Compelling evidence is presented, showing the racial inequalities in education, health, employment and income, which result in the fact that blacks are three times as likely as whites to be living in poverty. For Feagin and Vera the primary factor lying behind the social condition of blacks in America is white racism, defined as the 'socially organized set of attitudes, ideas, and practices that deny African Americans and other people of color the dignity, opportunities, freedoms, and rewards that this nation offers white Americans'.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Week 6 Assignment

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    |White privilege |Is a belief that a white person has an advantage over non-white people because of the color of their |…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh provides vivid examples on how "white privilege" is considered to be unapparent for many white individuals and negatively affects people of color. White privilege is an “unearned advantage” given to Caucasian individuals, as it “confers dominance” by establishing that the is white race is superior (McIntosh, 1990). With white privilege, white individuals are protected from the “hostility, distress, and violence,” which is often associated with individuals of color (McIntosh, p. 332). White privilege gives these individuals the opportunity to receive vital educational, political, and social resources that may possibly be inaccessible for people of color. By providing awareness on how white privilege works and how it can be detrimental in the attempt to gain racial equity for individuals of color, this concept can work to improve racial equity by establishing educational programs that inform individuals on white privilege and ending political policies that serve as a measure to oppress individuals of color.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Race is a cultural construct, but one with deadly social causes and consequences” (Lipsitz 2). In his book, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit From Identity Politics, George Lipsitz argues that it is in the best interest of white Americans to “invest in whiteness, to remain true to an identity that provides them with resources, power, and opportunity (Lipsitz vii).” Lipsitz’s book gives a substantial amount of evidence to show America’s investment in whiteness with historical facts, stories, and statistics. Although at times Lipsitz’s arguments are biased and hard to reference, because overall he gives competent, emotional, and logical evidence, it does not deter from his main argument that Americans do indeed have an investment in whiteness and his assertion that it is the duty of every person of color to take action to rid of this investment.…

    • 1702 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The model minority myth is a flawed and harmful ideology perpetuated on people of Asian descent by the white upper classes to oppress other historically underrepresented peoples. The model minority myth, as interpreted by Dr. Kong, is a tool of whites to oppress all minorities by creating racial triangulation in society. It praises Asians as a whole, yet marks them as foreign enemies, all while alienating everyone else and maintaining the classic Eurocentric dominance structure currently in use in American society. The model minority myth affects everyone by creating a societal ladder that cannot be climbed by other underrepresented peoples, but are expected to by the white dominant class.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Invisible Knapsack

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages

    White privilege is refers to the advantages inherent in being categorized as White. White privilege is usually not something a White person can notice but more of feature that come with being in the White race. It is not a privilege that exists but it is set in motion by people and is enacted upon. As Golash- Boza points out, A privilege enjoyed by White Americans would be not being followed around in a store because they are statistically less likely to shoplift. Also a privilege pointed out that Golash- Boza explains is the fact that when you are White, people you see on the street are more likely to smile at you instead of clinching their purses.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Whenever the economy is in a down fall and wages are being depressed, land prices start rising, and consumer products become inflated politicians all too quickly blame the ethnic minorities for the community’s problems (87). According to Gibbs and Bankhead in order to be considered an American and superior to others, they had to have bleach blonde hair, resemble models, tanned lifeguards, and look like they had just stepped out of a magazine or off a billboard. If they were not considered to be a “real” American they were going to be discriminated…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On White Privilege

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Imagine two job applications came across your desk; one belongs to a Caucasian female and the other belongs to an African-American female. Which one would you choose? The African-American female who has experience in your specific work field or the Caucasian female who graduated from a good school and received a Merit scholarship for college? Would you look at their individual background or their individual skin color? A lot of businesses tend to choose the Caucasian woman. In today’s society, no matter where you go, there will be white privilege. White privilege is an advantage that white people have over non-whites and it is manifested by preferential treatment. By analyzing Difference Matters by Brenda Allen, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and Jennifer Pozner’s article in Barclay Barrios’ Emerging, we can understand white privilege as an rarely talked about concept but certainly can be recognized when people of other races are treated less fairly as if they are below white people.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Path of privilege

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In this spellbinding lecture, the author of the bestselling White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son offers a powerful inside out look at race and racism in America, surveying the damage white privilege has done not only to people of color, but to white people themselves.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After discussing the type of education my mother received during her childhood, we realized how all these events affected her ability to obtain social mobility later on in life. Because she was placed in remedial classes, she fell behind in school, causing her inability to graduate high school, which greatly limited her job opportunities.…

    • 1901 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the revelation of people gain unfair advantage than others just base on their skin color. She slowly realized the serious consequences of white privilege, and she decided to explore the issue first in herself, list those “unfair advantages” that she enjoyed, used her own daily experience to tell people about harm of white privilege, and how does it unfair for a person in another ethnic population. She listed forty-six different special circumstances and conditions that she experienced, and I decided to choose several important ones to explore the main idea of this article.…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Gilded Age

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Roediger, David R. 1991. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class. London: Verso. Print.…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The article demonstrates the problem of discrimination against immigrants of color, which has been happening in the United States for a long time. It is hard for the immigrants of color to become employees and find a job. Thomas found the job in her field and improved her education at Northwestern University to achieve the MBA degree. Thomas had a good start before some problems came to her visa. H1B in other words is the visa for high skill people to come to the United States to work. If the government allows immigrants of color to stay in some positions and live here, they can transform society. Immigrants of color and international students who graduated in the United States can find a job to continue living in the country. In the article “Immigrants Who Thrive in the United States,” Noah Smith explains that African immigrants is the group has more achievement in education than other immigrants’ groups, even the US-born. “Nigerian-Americans, for instance, have a median household income well above the American average, and above the average of many white and Asian groups, such as those of Dutch or Korean descent” (Smith 2). The statistic shows that the African immigrants are more likely to have better education and higher…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays