The reality for Asian Americans is feeling like a perpetual foreigner in their motherland and constantly defending their right to call America their home. Although America is known as the melting pot of unique and different ethnicities and backgrounds, the general public tends to associate the term “American” with a person of European descent. This biased mindset leads to microaggressions and in turn escalates to the recently seen hatred and violence.
Some examples of microaggressions would be assuming that an Asian person does not speak English or was born in a foreign country. Ignorant assumptions like these imply that an Asian person could not possibly be born in America and do not belong in America. These seemingly harmless microaggressions are often the most damaging. As they accumulate, the recipient begins to question their self-worth and struggle with identity. Due to generalizations such as the Model Minority myth, Asian American struggles tend to be disregarded and labeled as insignificant. This Model Minority myth paints Asians as the ideal minority and downplays the discrimination and other issues they face. Part of this myth depicts the typical Asian as one who immigrated to America, worked hard, and easily achieved success and the American dream. This mentality has a plethora of repercussions ensuring that Asian Americans are seen as perpetual foreigners. Upholding the false narrative that Asians are the ideal minority leads to minorities being compared and pitted against each other. Although this should be a time of support for one another, it has brought more division and dispute among the minorities. A reason why we rarely hear about Asian hate crimes is because the Model Minority myth only adds to the pressure Asian-Americans feel to keep quiet in fear that they would disturb that “perfect image.” On top of this, The Model Minority myth not only applies to the current generation of Asian Americans, but it undermines the treatment Asian Americans endured long before the current decade. The racism and hate that Asian Americans combat everyday when merely stepping out of their homes must be recognized and understood in order for change to occur. Having their status as “real” Americans constantly being challenged has been the reality for the millions of Asian Americans living in the United States for many years. However, as a result of the pandemic, racism has amplified immensely. These attacks on Asian Americans are not the first to occur and will continue to happen if people do not start to educate themselves on Asian American oppression. Therefore, we ask you readers to digest the truths laid out in front of you and take your newfound knowledge to become an advocate for stopping Asian hate and, better yet, become an advocate for all hate against minority groups. Comments are closed.
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