Are Asian Americans a Model or a Marginalized Minority?
A recent issue of American Psychologist includes “Rendered Invisible: Are Asian Americans a Model or a Marginalized Minority?” Yip, Cheah, Kiang, & Hall (2021) note that, ”Since 2000, the Asian population in the United States has grown by 72%—the fastest rate of any racial/ethnic group in the country.” They first object to the umbrella term, insisting that it:
masks meaningful cultural, linguistic, ethnic, migration, gender, sexual/gender identity/expression, and socioeconomic differences. These intersectional identities result in experiences that are multiply marginalized, contributing to invisibility. The model minority stereotype highlights high-achieving and successful individuals, rendering the segment of the Asian American population that is struggling irrelevant and unworthy of attention.
While one could argue that the same is true for other groups lumped under racial and ethnic umbrella terms, there are some additional demographic findings that make desirable the closer scrutiny of the experiences of Asian Americans.
Asians are also the largest group of new immigrants to the United States since 2010 (Budiman et al., 2021). The rapid growth of the Asian population in the United States needs to be considered against another set of statistics; statistics that underscore the struggles of Asian and Asian Americans. For example, according to a 2018 Pew Center report (Kochhar & Cilluffo, 2018), Asians in the United States have surpassed Black Americans as having the largest income gap of any racial group in the country. In 1970, the income gap between the top 10% and bottom 10% of Asians in the United States was 6.1 times, meaning that the top 10% of Asians earned 6.1 times what the bottom 10% earned. This ratio was the lowest of any racial group, with White Americans having a ratio of 6.7 times, Latinx = 6.3 times, and Black = 9.1 times. However, as of 2016, the income gap for Asian Americans has nearly doubled to 10.7 times, meaning that the top 10% of Asians in the United States earn over 10 times what the bottom 10% earns. This gap is now the highest of any group, with the ratio for Black Americans = 9.8 times, and for White and Latinx Americans = 7.8 times. This large income gaps defies the common view that Asians as a group are economically thriving—a misconception which has excluded them from public discourse and policy related to poverty and income inequality.
A recent study found that Asian American college students have elevated levels of self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts relative to their White, Black, and Latinx peers (Liu et al., 2019). Despite elevated struggles, Asian Americans are less likely to seek mental health treatment (Lipson et al., 2018) due to cultural stigmatized beliefs and barriers (Yang et al., 2014).
One of their concerns is the prevalence of the model minority stereotype, noting, “In contrast to foreigner objectification, the mythical image of a ‘model’ minority highlights high-achieving and successful individuals (but often with a very narrow definition of ‘success’), rendering the segment of the Asian American population that is struggling irrelevant and unworthy of attention. Moreover, many Asian Americans may experience undue pressure from the model minority stereotype and subsequent psychological distress when they fail to fulfill its expectations (Yoo et al., 2015).”
Recognizing the stereotype of Asian-Americans being drawn to STEM fields, they also note adverse impacts of the pandemic. “Unsurprisingly, Asian immigrants and Asian Americans have also experienced higher levels of mental disorders during the pandemic than Whites, and COVID-19-related acute discrimination partially explain mental health gaps between Asians and Whites (Wu et al., 2021). Moreover, a larger proportion of Asian Americans experienced job loss than any other racial group, net of education, immigration status, and other covariates (A. T. Kim, Kim, et al., 2021).”
This is a longer than use usual post but the entire issue is well worth reading and considering.