Asian American Stereotypes: Dangers of “Model Citizen” Labeling

In order to fully understand why Asian Americans are defined as “model citizens,” we must first take a step back and look at the etymology of “Asian American.” The term Asian American was first used in 1968 by Yuji Ichioka when the Asian American Political Alliance was first created. In the beginning, this term was a way for individuals of Asian descent to unify and combat racism. Unfortunately, in the 1960s, politicians and media outlets began to call all Asian Americans “model citizens” due to the stereotype that Asians are hardworking, academically talented, and compliant. These classifications paved a path for racist laws and discriminatory classifications. For instance, even though Asian Americans only make up 5.7% of the US population, Asians are not considered minorities in workforces, clinical studies, or college applications, which leads to them being denied many scholarships and higher-paying positions (despite their qualifications). 

It’s important to understand that the group of Asian Americans includes more than 30 diverse and unique countries. This idea that all Asians are successful downplays the struggles of certain subsets of Asian Americans. For instance, over 55% of Chinese Americans hold bachelor's degrees or higher, but only 16% of Cambodian Americans hold bachelor's degrees or higher. Since Chinese Americans make up a large percent of the Asian American community, the lower percentage of Cambodian Americans with higher education is clouded. Similarly, the US census reports that only 10% of Asian Americans live under the poverty line, which is lower than the 13.4% US poverty rate. Statistics such as these make the general public believe that Asian Americans are the most successful minority. However, this simply isn’t true. Immigrants from less developed countries in Southeast Asia, such as Burmese Americans have a poverty rate of 25%, almost double the US poverty rate.

Labeling Asian Americans as model citizens also negatively impacts the psychology of second and third-generation Asians. According to national statistics, suicide is the leading cause of death among Asian Americans from the age of 15 to 24. Thus, this constant pressure to maintain the idea of “model citizens'' has generated a negative mentality in the community to conform to the stereotypes.

The irony behind this issue is that the term Asian American was once a way to unify the population, instead, it is now used to stratify Asians instead. Therefore, the idea of model citizens must be abolished as soon as possible, not only due to its racist origins but also because of the cultural stigmatization it generates.