"Model minority, my ass"
Eugene Volokh writes about Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court:
That's obviously important for a wide range of issues on which the liberal position would trouble not just conservatives, but also libertarians and moderates: the individual right to keep and bear arms, the right of Asians and whites to equal treatment under the Constitution's racial equality provisions and federal equal rights statutes,
I am so sick of people using Asians to drive wedges and otherwise cover up their real agendas.
Sidebar: Volokh is obliquely referring to the claim, mostly made by anti-affirmative-action types, that Asian-Americans are harmed by affirmative action policies, mostly by focusing on university admissions. See the Nation for a good rundown on why Asian-Americans consistently reject an end to affirmative action policies.
Members of the model minority often are used to shame other people of color. They can do it, why can't you? If you would only have those same close-knit families. If you only valued education more. If you only worked harder. Racism is a thing of the past.
Holding up Asian Americans as a model divides communities of color, making it difficult for us to see our commonalities.
"Model" too often means you don't have to ride in the back of the bus. You can ride near the front of the bus, but you have to be very, very careful never to say anything about the people forced to ride in back, as writer David Mura notes.
Honestly, I remember the 80s, specifically for me growing up in Vancouver as Chinese immigration surged. I think the reasons American conservatives try to lump Asians with whites (essentially against other minorities) is (1) because it sounds better than just saying "the right of whites to equal treatment under the Constitution" and (2) because there are relatively few Asian-Americans in the US. If the numbers of AsAms in the US was a lot higher, I don't think that 'solidarity' of the kind Volokh espouses would have a whole lot of staying power.
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