Ever since their arrival in the United States, Asians have been attributed certain characteristics in order to maintain the hegemony of the dominant culture. Nowadays, there are certainly many examples for the relationship between representations of Asian Americans and hegemonic racial projects. Among them, there are two which, I believe, deserve special attention: the myth of Asian Americans as the “model minority, ” and the belief that Asian Americans are spies of China. The “model minority” myth says that Asian Americans are high achievers who work very hard but never complain. As a consequence, they have managed to solve all the major problems within their ethnic minority group and, therefore, do not need any help from the government. However, advocates of this image of Asian Americans tend to overlook the fact that among Asian Americans poverty is much higher than in the general population. Moreover, they do not see that Asian Americans have limited job opportunities because many of those in the country right now are recent immigrants with poor knowledge of English. Furthermore, although the number of college degrees among Asian Americans is higher than the national average, this does not mean that they will more likely be employed in a high, for example managerial, position than whites. Finally, the fact that Asian Americans are terribly underrepresented in the government is not taken into account at all.
Ever since their arrival in the United States, Asians have been attributed certain characteristics in order to maintain the hegemony of the dominant culture. Nowadays, there are certainly many examples for the relationship between representations of Asian Americans and hegemonic racial projects. Among them, there are two which, I believe, deserve special attention: the myth of Asian Americans as the “model minority, ” and the belief that Asian Americans are spies of China.
The “model minority” myth says that Asian Americans are high achievers who work very hard but never complain. As a consequence, they have managed to solve all the major problems within their ethnic minority group and, therefore, do not need any help from the government. However, advocates of this image of Asian Americans tend to overlook the fact that among Asian Americans poverty is much higher than in the general population. Moreover, they do not see that Asian Americans have limited job opportunities because many of those in the country right now are recent immigrants with poor knowledge of English. Furthermore, although the number of college degrees among Asian Americans is higher than the national average, this does not mean that they will more likely be employed in a high, for example managerial, position than whites. Finally, the fact that Asian Americans are terribly underrepresented in the government is not taken into account at all. Altogether, the success of Asian Americans in American society is widely measured in white terms of how well they have been assimilated into the mainstream. What is usually emphasized are the positive examples of successful Asian American individuals, whereas the downsides of poverty, under-representation, and limited job prospects of a large number of the overall Asian American population are generously overlooked. One of the deficiencies in such an assessment is amalgamation of many diverse groups under the term “Asian American” without taking into account the different waves of immigration.
The quite paranoid idea that Asian Americans could be spies sent by China to infiltrate American society goes probably back to the Cold War but did not disappear with the end of the Cold War. During the last election, rumors were heard that a major source of Al Gore’s campaign funds came from Chinese Buddhist temples. Although it is true that Buddhist temples had made contributions to finance Gore’s campaign, the major part of sources of both candidates came from American sponsors. Gore gave the money back to the Buddhist temples, which left his competitor in a superior position as to campaign resources.
The widely spread representation of Asian Americans as a “model minority” is a means of the “divide and rule” tactic of the dominant society, which has proven successful in many instances throughout history. On the one hand, Asian Americans are pitted against other minorities which are, in the eyes of the white majority, not as successful in assimilating to mainstream culture. This prevents unity among oppressed minorities and a struggle for improvement of their respective situation. On the other hand, Asian Americans are denied much needed help for their problems, they are, for instance, excluded from affirmative actions programs. So racial minorities fight against each other in their attempt to improve the lot of their respective communities at least to a minimal degree. With the minorities completely occupied by this “fight for the crumbs,” the hegemonic forces do not have to fear for their leading position. They can simply sit back and watch the diverse minorities fighting each other for the very limited improvements of their lives that they are willing to grant them in order to keep them in this state of fighting for more.
The answer to the question how Asian American Studies was, is, is not, can be, or cannot be an oppositional non-racist racial project is one of great complexity. Asian American Studies was an oppositional non-racist racial project in so far as it intended to re-vision America as a multicultural society in order to solve the problems of society along with those of the Asian American community and its sub-groupings. This was to be done y raising a new ethnic consciousness and self-awareness among Asian Americans, by creating new educational materials, by developing new radical social and political perspectives and research methods, and by rendering culturally sensitive services to Asian American students and communities 1 . However, today it still is an oppositional non-racist racial project to the extent that there are many, most Asian American, students who are committed to apply what they have learned in classes to their communities to effect change. However, Asian American Studies in the context of the university has become inflexible. Survival has become one of its most important goals and has relegated the original ideals to a minor position. As a consequence, Asian American Studies has developed into an academic area of research which has lost its connection to the community. The ideal balance between academic aspirations and community work is yet to be found. Moreover, through the denied participation in affirmative action programs, the number of professors as well as students has diminished. Although many aspects of the original concept of an Asian American Studies program characterize such a program as an oppositional non-racist racial program, there is one aspect in James Hirabayashi’s essay Ethnic Education: Its Purposes and Prospects, that I believe is not at all in harmony with the ultimate aim of a non-racist racial project. Hirabayashi states as one of the conditions for a successful education of minorities the necessity of a first-person perspective. This excludes everyone else than members of the ethnic group in the educational process on the basis of ethnicity or race. This would also imply that all the problems of society, which are to be solved along with the problems of the Asian American community, can only be solved by minority groups. Since many diverse groups are involved, I wonder which one would be predestined to take the final step. At any rate, this reasoning reminds me of the justification the dominant society has always used in justifying their hegemony, namely racial superiority over another group of human beings. Consequently, Asian American Studies can be an oppositional non-racist racial project provided that judgments in relation to valuable contributions are not made on the basis of color, ethnicity, race, or physical appearance. These are certainly not the only categories determining one’s commitment to social change. Although it can be argued that someone who has had a certain experience is more capable of passing it on, it can also be argued that, once it comes, for instance, to historical experiences, any member of an ethnic minority, especially those who have come to the US during the first wave of immigration, is equally far away from having made the experience than any person not belonging to this specific group. If Asian American Studies remains as exclusive it certainly cannot be an oppositional non-racist racial project.
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1 William Wie: The Asian American Movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press 1993. p. 135.
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- B.A. Stephanie Wössner (Autor), 2002, Hegemony and Counterhegemony, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/138128
