Model Minority Stereotypes In American Sports

he past 40 years have witnessed an increase of Asian athletes in American sports. In addition to their low population, earlier Asians lived in an era when racial discrimination and oppression impeded their access into sports (Zhao & Park, 2013). Asians had been discriminated against since the arrival of Chinese immigrants as cheap labor for the railroad and mining industries during the mid-1800s. This discrimination became more obvious during World War II when thousands of mostly Japanese Americans were forced out of their properties, separated from family and friends, and placed in internment camps. There they were subject to horrific living conditions, extreme deprivation and brutality. Around the 1970s, many Southeast Asians (Vietnamese,

The minority athlete then becomes the symbol of the American dream for people in the United States and in the athlete’s home country. For most Asian athletes, this narrative of success entrenches themselves as a racial model minority (Joo, 2012). Being labeled a model minority suggests that Asian athletes are obsessive conformers, highly intelligent, rigorously self-disciplined people, and excessively hard-workers. The model minority stereotype appears to be very positive because it categorizes those Asians/Asian Americans as law-abiding and self-sufficient citizens, who completely embrace core American values. Yet, this perceived positive sometimes provides negative resentment amongst other minority groups and the majority of culture due to the overall abundance of success which Asians have had in school and careers (Nixon, 2015). In any case, the following examples of Asian athletes in sports show how some narratives have worked over time towards the sport media’s framing of the model minority