Breaking Down the Model Minority Myth from the Eyes of a Hmong American Student
Author: Katherine Moua
“A-sian, not B-sian.”
I don’t remember the first time I ever heard this phrase. It might have been the punchline of a joke or the joke itself. This great joke reminds us all that as an Asian-American I am to succeed and be the best. Why would I ever have anything but straight A’s? Afterall, A-sian, not B-sian, am I right?
I actually do remember the first time I got straight A’s, because my parents used to give me money for every A I got. I think that they gave me $10 for that report card, which was less than what I should have gotten, and they stopped soon after. A’s were now an expectation for me, and report card after report card, I continued to meet the expectation. I fit into the wonderful definition of the “model minority”. I am proof that a minority can make it in a white-dominant world, that you can be successful if you try hard enough. But I never tried, academic success came easily for me. I was the student that didn't study and still managed to get good grades. Meanwhile, my peers who studied constantly received only average grades. They should have been like me, right? Getting A’s consistently and constantly, and being an overall amazing student. But I wasn’t the kind of Asian that you may picture. Majority of the Asians I grew up with were Hmong and very few outside of that ethnicity. Even then, there were Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese. The one outstanding feature that really tied us together was that we were all of Southeast Asian descent.
When most people picture someone who is Asian, they often imagine someone who is Chinese or Japanese. They don't consider how big of a continent Asia is and how many ethnicities live and exist on that one continent. American media holds an extremely narrow view of who is Asian and what makes you Asian. In America, it seems like only Chinese, Korean, and Japanese communities and people exist. And additionally by western measures, these groups are economically stable and secure. They are successful A-sian students and hold very respectable and high-paying occupations (I bet you’re thinking doctor, lawyer, or engineer). They prove that a person considered a minority can achieve a good and successful life if you simply work hard. But my peers who work hard are considered average and even disappointments by the standards of their parents. They are told that they should have been like their other Asian peers, the ones who are constantly on honor roll and get accepted into prestigious colleges. The other Asians are on paths to become a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, or whatever else our parents told us would mean that we were a success both financially and professionally and would be deserving of the praise of aunties and uncles. So if working hard isn't the answer, what is?
The idea that hard work is the simple recipe to success is all fake. By luck, I happened to be a good student; one that fit into a mold already made. My peers who did not fit that mold were considered outliers or better yet, failures and disappointments. As children, the model minority myth is unknowingly our expectation that our parents expect us to fulfill. Wild enough, society expects ALL Asians to fulfill it too.
Our parents just want us to be successful, but society has other plans. Being living, walking proof of this--while Asian--is the best kind there is. And if you can show a successful model minority to the world, you’ve won. You prove that your society is not catering to others, but that other minority groups just aren’t putting in the work like Asians. The notion that if they weren’t lazy and just tried a little bit harder, they too could be a model minority. The model minority myth negatively impacts and limits not just Asain but all minorities. For Asians, it is an impossible expectation from society and our parents. For everyone else, it invalidates their own hard work. For all of us, our individual success is never enough.