Complicating the Model Minority Myth

With the passing of the National Origins system in 1924, which enacted strict regulations on the immigration of Asian immigrants to the United States, a culture of nativism and xenophobia infected the country (Le, 2015). Yet post-World War II, the United States became an “international superpower” (p.1), and could no longer justify this isolationist stance (p. 1). The 1965 Immigration Act was passed, the 1924 National Origins systems was abolished. Because of the restrictions to the types of immigrants allowed into the country during that time, those with higher educations and careers, the “model minority” stereotype grew as a means to compare Asian Americans and Asian immigrants to other minority groups, and to discredit the civil rights movement (Chin, 2001). However, as the number of immigrants and refugees from South and Southeast Asia continue to rise in the United States, statistics show that this population of students is not necessarily more successful than ethnic groups.

This archive brings together resources for educators who are interested in beginning/challenging a conversation about the origins of the "Model Minority" stereotype or, perhaps, the Asian American/African American binary.

It's complicated, let's talk about it.