The model minority stereotype has been an albatross around the Asian American community since the 1960s (photo by Logic Speaks).
The framing of Asian Americans by the media as a minority enjoying phenomenal success has lead some to equate Asian Americans with whites. The most recent examples can be found in numerous stories about the diversity figures released by major technology companies in California’s Silicon Valley in which story after story talked about whites and Asians dominating the work place at these companies.
But as a story in today’s San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, Asian Americans are severely underrepresented in management positions despite their large presence in the work force.
A blog last month in AsAmNews was critical of media coverage of Asian Americans in Silicon Valley. It broke down the numbers and concluded stories proclaiming ” nearly 90% of Twitter’s workers are either white or Asian” were an oversimplification and that a closer look at the numbers told a different story.
Another blog posted today in Al Jazeera America asserts that the definition of whites is becoming more and more blurred as an increasing number of Asian Americans intermarry. It asks the question if this inclusion comes at a cost.
What do you think, has the line blurred between whites and Asians? Do Asians enjoy white privilege? In this writer’s opinion, most Asian Americans would answer no. But how those outside the community might see Asians is becoming more and more skewed.
