Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the Model Minority: Deconstructing Whiteness Through the Asian American Example

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cartographies of Race and Social Difference

Part of the book series: Critical Studies of Education ((CSOE,volume 9))

Abstract

This chapter explores the complex racial position of Asian Americans and its implications for the study of sociology of race and ethnicity. The paper argues that Asian Americans have been able to ascend to a model minority status through their conformity to Eurocentric notions of success which dominate the education system and other institutions in North America. Using the Black-White paradigm, this chapter argues that as a result of their subscription to White values, Asians are able to move up the racial hierarchy and seek benefits associated with Whiteness. Despite some mobility, there is a process of boundary policing whereby non-Whites are excluded from the top ring of the hierarchy. This is evidenced by the view of Asians as perpetual foreigners, whereby despite their citizenship or loyalty to their host country, Asian Americans will always be identified by their affiliation with their country of origin. This chapter therefore argues that the model minority stereotype does not exist to serve Asian Americans, but instead is used to perpetuate the myth of meritocracy and deny structural and historic barriers facing minorities. The implications of this in education are explored, along with possibilities for educational futurity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdulle, A. (2017). An exploratory paper on understanding whiteness. In A. Abdulle & A. Obeyesekere (Eds.), New framings on anti-racism and resistance (pp. 23–34). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, S. (2004). Declarations of whiteness: The non-performativity of antiracism. Borderlands e-Journal, 3(2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, K. J. (1991). Vancouver’s Chinatown: Racial discourse in Canada, 1875–1980. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bablak, L., Raby, R., & Pomerantz, S. (2016). ‘I don't want to stereotype… but it’s true’: Maintaining whiteness at the centre through the smart Asian stereotype in high school. Whiteness and Education, 1(1), 54–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baez, B. (2006). Merit and Difference. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 996–1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BonillaSilva, E. (2004). From bi-racial to tri-racial: Towards a new system of racial stratification in the USA. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6), 652–668.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chae, Y. (2008). Cultural economies of model minority creation. In Y. Chae (Ed.), Politicizing Asian American literature: Towards a critical multiculturalism (pp. 19–30). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho, K. (Director). (2004). In the shadow of Gold Mountain [Motion Picture].

    Google Scholar 

  • Dei, G. J. S. (2001). Rescuing theory: Anti-racism and inclusive education (pp. 139–161). Gender & Class: Race.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dei, G. (2008). Race and minority schooling in Canada: Dealing with questiosn of equity and access in education. In Z. Bekerman & E. Kopelowitz (Eds.), Cultural education-cultural sustainability: Minority, diaspora, indigenous and ethno-religious groups in multicultural societies (pp. 209–231). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dei, G. J. S. (2013). Reframing critical anti-racist theory (CART) for contemporary times. In G. J. S. Dei & M. Lordan (Eds.), Contemporary issues in the sociology of race and ethnicity: A critical reader. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dei, G. J. S. (2016). Lecture. Toronto: University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanon, F. (2008). Black skin, white masks. New York: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Findlay, S., & Kohler, N. (2010, November 10). The enrollment controversy. Maclean’s. Retrieved from http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/too-asian/

  • Ghabrial, S. (2012). Pink panics, yellow perils, and the mythology of meritocracy. In R. J. Gilmour, D. Bhandar, J. Heer, & M. C. Ma (Eds.), Too Asian? Racism, privilege and post-secondary education (pp. 38–52). Toronto: Between the Lines.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. L. (2007). The persistent problem of colorism: Skin tone, status, and inequality. Sociology Compass, 1, 237–254. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00006.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huynh, Q. L., Devos, T., & Smalarz, L. (2011). Perpetual foreigner in one’s own land: Potential implications for identity and psychological adjustment. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(2), 133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, K. C. (2001, April 25). Study finds persistent negative perceptions of Chinese Americans. Los Angeles Times. P. A18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keating, A. (1995). Interrogating “Whiteness,”(de) constructing “race”. College English, 57(8), 901–918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, C. J. (1999). The racial triangulation of Asian Americans. Politics and Society, 27(1), 105–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, L. (2013). The model minority thesis and workplace discrimination of Asian Americans. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(1), 93–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. J. (2015). Unraveling the “model minority” stereotype: Listening to Asian American youth. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., Juon, H. S., Martinez-Garcia, G., & Ma, G. X. (2009). Model minority at risk: Expressed needs of mental health by Asian American young adults. Journal Community Health, 34, 144–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, G. (2005). Other people’s success: Impact of the “model minority” myth on underachieving Asian students in North America. KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 2(1), 69–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, K. E. (2004). Deconstructing whiteness: Discovering the water. Counterpoints, 273, 153–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Memmi, A. (1968). Dominated man: Notes towards a portrait. New York: Orion Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, R., & Brown, M. (2003). Racism (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge/Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Omi, M. (2008). Asian-Americans: The unbearable whiteness of being? The Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(5).

    Google Scholar 

  • Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1993). On the theoretical status of the concept of race. In Race, identity and representation in education (pp. 3–10). NewYork/London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roediger, D. (2009). All about eve, critical white studies, and getting over whiteness. In Race and Racism (pp. 595–615). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, C. (2016). How French Canadians became white folks, or doing things with race in Quebec. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39(7), 1280–1297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmel, G. (1950). The stranger. In The sociology of Georg Simmel (pp. 402–408). New york: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • StatCan (2010, March 9). Study: Projections of the diversity of the Canadian population. The Daily. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dailyquotidien/100309/dq100309aeng.htm

  • Sue, D. W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2007). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(1), 72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takaki, R. (2001). A different mirror. In M. Anderson & P. Collins (Eds.), Race, class & gender: An anthology (pp. 52–65). Belmont: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tendulkar, S. A., Hamilton, R. C., Chu, C., Arsenault, L., Duffy, K., Huynh, V., & Friedman, E. (2012). Investigating the myth of the “model minority”: A participatory community health assessment of Chinese and Vietnamese adults. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 14(5), 850–857.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, L. (2008). Myths and realities of Asian American success. In Model minority myth revisited: An interdisciplinary approach to demystifying Asian American educational experiences (pp. 21–43). Charlotte: IAP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, J. W., & Twine, F. W. (1997). White Americans, the new minority?: Non-blacks and the ever-expanding boundaries of whiteness. Journal of Black Studies, 28(2), 200–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P., Lai, C. F., Nagasawa, R., & Lin, T. (1998). Asian Americans as a model minority: Self-perceptions and perceptions by other racial groups. Sociological Perspectives, 41(1), 95–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woo, J. & Al-Hlou, Y. (October 13, 2016). #thisis2016: Asian-Americans respond. Retrieved December 20, 2016, from https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004706646/thisis2016-asian-americansrespond.html

  • Yu, T. (2006). Challenging the politics of the “model minority” stereotype: A case for educational equality. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39(4), 325–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Elisabeth Dennis

Authors
  1. Elisabeth Dennis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisabeth Dennis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    George J. Sefa Dei

  2. OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Shukri Hilowle

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Dennis, E. (2018). Exploring the Model Minority: Deconstructing Whiteness Through the Asian American Example. In: Sefa Dei, G., Hilowle, S. (eds) Cartographies of Race and Social Difference. Critical Studies of Education, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97076-9_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97076-9_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97075-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97076-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation