Asian American Model Minority Essay

Despite Asian Americans extended history of discrimination in the U.S., on average they have surpassed or reached parity with their white counterparts in multiple socioeconomic indicators such as income, educational attainment, and net worth. Due to this success, Asian Americans have been labeled the “model minority”, attributing their achievements to cultural values such as hard work, devotion to education, and discipline. The model minority argument is an ideological argument framed by cultural racism to discredit the achievements of Asian Americans in the U.S. while simultaneously targeting the cultural values of other minorities in the U.S. This argument is used to reinforce the racial structure in the U.S. by granting fair-skinned Asian

Americans honorary whiteness, creating division within U.S. minority groups. The model minority argument, however, fails to address the disparities in socioeconomic status and educational attainment within the diverse Asian American community.

The Asian American community is incredibly diverse representing over 20 national origins in the U.S. Therefore, statistics on the Asian American community present a misleading narrative surrounding their socioeconomic status within the United States. Asian American subgroups such as the Hmong, Vietnamese, and Laotian haven’t experienced the same prosperity in the U.S. as their Japanese, Indian, and Chinese counterparts primarily as a result of the conditions in which they entered the U.S. As the fastest growing racial group in the United States more attention needs to be paid to the radically different experiences within the Asian American community. To determine whether Asians are indeed out-whiting whites I will investigate the socioeconomic status two ethnic groups (Indian and Hmong) within the Asian American

community.
Because Asian Americans are an economically diverse population, data derived from averages depict an inaccurate representation of prosperity and success. Because on average Asian Americans match or exceed the performance of white Americans the struggles of the 20th percentile is shrouded under the model minority myth. In 2010, the Pew Research Center reported that Asian Americans led the nation in educational attainment and median household income. While this data appears to point to prosperity within the Asian American community there are underlying causes that give a more robust interpretation. The Asian population in the U.S. is one that’s highly urbanized with nearly three-quarters of them living in metropolitan areas. California, which has the largest Asian American population, is ranked 49th in affordability by U.S. News & World Report. Because Asian Americans are highly concentrated in metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco their incomes reflect the increased cost of living. In 2014, it was reported that nearly a quarter of Asian American households live in multigenerational households. Additionally, Asian American households are twice as likely as whites to have at least two adult generations in the household. Therefore, greater median household incomes exhibited in Asian American communities is partially attributable to their family structure as opposed to improved socioeconomic status.
However, what these statistics don’t get at is the great disparity and wealth inequality within the Asian American community.

Disparities within the Asian American become invisible when solely comparing income, educational attainment, and net worth to white populations, while looking at wealth inequality provides a more accurate representation. Today in the United States wealth inequality is greatest within the Asian American population, indicating not all Asians subscribe to the model minority framework. In 2015 Indian Americans reported a median annual household income of $100,000 while Burmese reported only $35,000. The Center for American Progress reported that 90th percentile Asian Americans earn more than 90th percentile whites while 20th percentile Asian Americans earn less than 20th percentile whites. Therefore, the richest Asian Americans earned more than the richest whites while the poorest Asian Americans earned less than poorest whites. This wealth inequality is not only exhibited in annual income but net worth as well. 90th percentile Asian American net worth was valued at 1.4 million which included assets such as bank accounts, retirement savings, and home equity while 20th percentile Asian American net worth was valued at nine-thousand. Although on average Asian Americans earn more annually they experience higher rates of poverty which reveals that a large portion of the community is impoverished. While only 8.2% of Indian Americans live in poverty, which is

less than white Americans (9.4%), 22.5% of Cambodians, Hmong, and Laotians live in poverty. This stark contrast further emphasizes the dichotomy within the Asian American population and divergent experiences they face in America.
One of the most successful ethnic groups within the Asian American population is Indian Americans. Indian Americans report the highest median household income ($100,000) and the highest level of educational attainment (72% have at least a bachelor’s degree). The Indian American population is also highly concentrated in metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. which attributes to their above average income. Indians’ success in the United States is partially attributable to the conditions in which they entered the U.S. Indian immigration to the U.S. picked up during the 1960s and surged during the 1990s while immigration rules were flexible. Simultaneously private colleges in India became more accessible creating a large pool STEM graduates available to participate in the global economy. These graduates were able to immigrate to Silicon Valley during the dot-com bubble and benefit from the growing tech startups. 10% to 20% of all tech startups are founded by individuals of Indian descent and between 1995 to 2005 Indian immigrants founded more engineering and tech startups than any other immigrant group combined. Today Indians remain highly concentrated in the tech industry with more than a quarter of the Indian-born employed in the tech industry. Besides the tech industry Indians have been able to occupy various niches within the American economy. Indians own half of all motels in the U.S. and a large percentage of 7-Eleven and Subway franchise locations.
However, Indians’ success in the U.S. is primarily attributable to the filtering of individuals able to immigrate to the U.S. from India. The combination of the caste system and visa system severely limited the type of immigrants able to travel to the U.S. The caste system is similar to the racial structure in the U.S. in that it provides social and economic benefits to one group while subordinating others. Therefore, only those at the top of the caste system, Brahmins and Kshatriyas, had access to higher education and administrative careers. Additionally, students or individuals with an H1-B visa, which requires at least a bachelor’s degree, constitute the majority of Indian immigrants that enter the U.S. each year. The H1-B visa was designed for American employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations such as software engineers, computer programmers, and other jobs in the tech sector. The H1-B visa allows workers to live in the U.S. for up to three years at which the company can sponsor the employee for a green card which is often approved. Indians have taken full advantage of the H1-B visa system, making up 80% of the 85,000 recipients each year. Because the majority of Indians arriving in the U.S. are young, wealthy, and educated professionals they’re well-prepared to compete in the American economy in comparison to other Asian American subgroups.
Indians’ success in the U.S. is a special case in that they skipped the ghetto portion of immigration and arrived in America with steady incomes and secured careers. Most immigrants form ghettos when they initially arrive in the U.S. to ease the process of assimilation, however, Indian immigrants didn’t experience this same phenomenon. Indian Americans’ success doesn’t conform to the model minority stereotype because their success isn’t derived from cultural superiority but rather the introduction of primarily young and educated Indian immigrants into the U.S. who developed strong ethnic capital which benefitted following generations. Although Indian Americans are outperforming whites in multiple socioeconomic indicators they’re not an accurate representation of the Asian American population. Other Asian ethnic groups arrived in the U.S. under dire circumstances forced into occupations with limited upward mobility and little resources available to them.