“Let Me Guess...you're Asian, so You're Really Smart.”

Cantu, Hector, and Carlos Castellanos. “Let Me Guess...you're Asian, so You're Really Smart.” Cartoon Stock, 22 Sept. 2017, www.cartoonstock.com/directory/r/racial_stereotypes.asp.

The image above accurately represents the model minority myth that a lot of Asians live their lives by. In the media, Asians are usually portrayed as the smartest kids in the class who work hard, never have fun, and eventually become doctors. The model minority myth is similar to controlling images where they are deeply rooted in pervasive stereotypes. We have fashioned Asians as smart go-getters that don’t have any disadvantages and this downgrades other minorities. Asians experience microaggression and are tired of being expected to be polite, reserved geniuses according to Masako Fukui, an Asian Australian audio producer. Asians still are asked “no, where are you REALLY from?” and some non-Asians still do not see a problem with questions like that.

            Another common belief with the Asian American stereotype is that along with being doctors and engineers, they make more money than any other race. This is so far from the truth, however. While rich Asian Americans are getting richer, middle and lower class Asian Americans are growing poorer. The income inequality for Asian Americans has almost doubled from 1970-2016. People think Asians are living similarly to those in the movie Crazy Rich Asians while they actually are the most economically divided racial or ethnic group in the country. Harmful stereotypes can put pressure on Asians to perform a certain way. These struggles are internalized and just feed into the other domains of power and further the model minority myth.

Course Concept Citation: Zhou, Min. 2003. "Are Asian Americans Becoming White"? Contexts, 3(1):29-37.