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The Societal Impact Of The Model Minority Myth

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Si Ting Chen Asia America and Empire April 5th, 2024 The Societal Impact of the Model Minority Myth The model minority myth that is attached to the Asian American image is something that would have been thought of as impossible in the early age of Asian immigration to America. However, as this model myth persists among generations of Asian Americans and the society that surrounds them, it creates a tremendous societal impact and pressure on them that shapes the way that individuals live as a part of the Asian American whole. The original intent of the model minority myth may have been created out of necessity and had been used to survive for that original generation. However, the world has moved on, and so has the myth's place since the Instead of being used to help Asian Americans, the myth …show more content…

It made sense for the Asian Americans of the time to have taken advantage of the myth. When being thrown a bone of positivity after being mistreated for so long that, out of survival, they would do whatever it took to make the best of the situation that they were put into. Thus, out of the need for survival and the hope of being able to thrive, the model minority myth of Asian Americans may be most succinctly characterized by its passive conformism, which is keeping quiet, playing it safe, and thus being "good," (Yano, Christine and Neal Adolph). However, as the times have moved on, so too has the place of the myth and how it is being used in society as a whole. The model minority myth is this conception that the Asian Community portrays the ideal characteristics for minorities to be able to survive and thrive in normative American society standards. In a way, the myth is that the American Dream has been taken and amplified to the next

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