Chiang

Pastiche Paper

Recently, race has been a seed of insecurity for me. While living in a majority-Asian

community (as an Asian), one might expect themself to be far from the confines of the

discrimination their mainland counterparts face. And while it may be true in some ways, my race

has played a significant role in my life - academics.

I consider myself one of the most Asian Asians I know - yellower than a slice of cartoon

cheese or a child's sun drawing - and my friends would agree. In the spring of last year, I enlisted

in the IB Diploma program (yikes). When I told my friends, the immediate response wasn't to let

me know what a dumb decision I was making or to wish me good luck on my tour in IB land; it

was to attribute it to my Asian heritage.

At the time, I thought nothing of it and brushed it off as some distasteful joke among close

friends. However, I've noticed a recurring pattern. Whenever I receive high marks on an

assignment, it's because I'm Chinese. Or Japanese. Or both. And whenever I don't at least match

my previous academic performance, it's because my "Asian ain't Asian-ing".

So I kept working to see that pretty letter A for every class so that I could feel like I fit in.

Was there ever a motivator greater than racial stereotypes?

In retrospect, my so-called motivation was the pressure that millions of young Asian

Americans have confronted since the mid-1960s due to the Model Minority myth.

Asians are the Model Minority, according to sociologist William Peterson who wrote an

article for The New York Times Magazine in 1966 titled: "Success Story: Japanese American

Style". In the article, Peterson suggested that the Japanese-Americans had overcome the

discrimination they faced during World War II and achieved success due to their inborn talent.
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However, what he - and most other accounts - failed to consider was the cause behind this

ostensibly achieved success. First, let’s analyze the 1965 Immigration Act. This act effectively

burst the dam which was built upon years of restrictive immigration policy and gave way to a

surge in immigration from Asia. While the government might have lifted limitations based on

geographics, it prioritized highly educated professionals and scientists. As a result, a large inrush

of skilled workers from Asia occurred.

Asians are the Model Minority, and statistics have long been used to push that narrative.

Oftentimes, statistics that point to higher levels of household income and education compared to

other races, including whites, are used to perpetuate this myth. What is left out, however, is the

fact that Asian-American households have more working adults than other families and that

Asians require more years of education to achieve a similar level of income as whites. Moreover,

according to the Pew Research Center, Asians account for a disproportionately large percentage

of those living below the poverty line and have the highest income inequality gap between the

highest and lowest-earning persons in their respective racial groups.

Asians are the Model Minority, and even if such a viewpoint is stereotypical, is it

inherently harmful? Even if it is a stereotype, it bears no ill intentions, and some

socio-psychological experiments have even indicated that stereotypes about intelligence can help

Asians perform better in test-taking situations. While this may be true, these stereotypes not only

compel Asians to fulfill racial stereotypes, leading to pressure and resulting mental health issues

but can cause them to feel invisible and harm other minority groups.

Asians are the Model Minority, and because of that Asian Americans can feel unseen due

to its influence in overgeneralizing a large, diverse population. By doing so, we fail to recognize
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and thus address the specific needs of an individual or ethnic subset of the general Asian

population. For example, when an Asian student struggles in their math class, a teacher might

assume it’s due to a lack of effort because they were born with a gift for academia. The student

will not receive help or attention and will struggle independently and silently, leading to a

pervasive epidemic of depression, anxiety, and imposter syndrome in an entire population. On a

larger scale, this issue is evident in the aforementioned income inequality, where some ethnic

groups belonging to the Asian category perform grossly above the others, thus increasing the

mean income and blinding the public eye to the obstacles other groups of Asians face. In short,

classifying all Asians as a single, monolithic group obscures the individual struggle with an

entire population, rendering the little guy unnoticed; and helpless.

Asians are the Model Minority, why can’t the African-American community be like them?

The Model Minority myth has slyly been used to disparage other minority groups, including the

Hispanic and African-American communities. Asians and their supposed conquest of

discrimination have been used as a weapon against other minority communities. An example of

this can be observed from Andrew Sullivan of New York Magazine, where he says: "Today,

Asian-Americans are among the most prosperous, well-educated, and successful ethnic groups in

America. What gives? It couldn't possibly be that they maintained solid two-parent family

structures, had social networks that looked after one another, placed enormous emphasis on

education and hard work, and thereby turned false, negative stereotypes into true, positive ones,

could it? It couldn't be that all whites are not racists or that the American dream still lives?" This

demented rationale ignores the historical and systematic differences in oppression and racism

between Asians and other minority groups and uses the perceived collective success of Asian
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Americans to denigrate other minorities. By doing so, it creates divisiveness between Asians and

other minorities and redirects the attention away from the root of the issue. How can we fight

oppression when we are fighting each other?

Asians are the Model Minority, and it looks like it will stay that way for a while. And

despite its pernicious effects on Asians and the minority community as a whole, its place as a

“positive” stereotype seems to be accepted in modern-day America. And, although this myth

pressures Asians, makes them feel invisible, and uses their success to put down other minorities -

creating divisiveness and continuing the cycle of oppression in America - it doesn’t matter.

Asians can take it, they’re the Model Minorities, aren’t they?

Rhetorical Analysis

In my paper, I used logos, pathos, ethos, and other rhetorical appeals to debunk the Model

Minority mythos.

Logos is the appeal to logic and reason. Throughout my paper I utilize statistics, cite

historical causes and examples as well as modern examples, and facts to build an argument that

appeals to Logos. An example of this is when I address the tier system used to filter immigrants

from Asia and explain how it caused America to only see the most successful and

highest-educated Asian immigrants, contributing to the creation of the Model Minority myth. By

using logos, I allow the reader to feel like the information they intake makes sense, is factual,

and is plausible, and thus allows me to persuade the reader of my paper.

Pathos is the rhetorical appeal to emotions. I achieve pathos by using a personal anecdote

to evoke feelings of pity, sympathy, empathy, etc., and by showing vulnerability I allow the
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reader to connect with my story; and the message. I also use pathos to cause the reader to feel

anger, or share in my frustration when I share the quote from Andrew Sullivan of New York

Magazine. By using pathos I cause a reader to feel certain emotions that are conducive to the

persuasion of my claim.

Pathos is the appeal of credible sources and information. I use ethos by citing statistics and

credible sources such as the Pew Research Center. Also, my Asian ethnicity adds to my

credibility as a writer, since I have experienced the issues I talk about in my paper. By using

pathos, I make the reader trust the information I tell them which makes them easier to persuade.

I also use other rhetorical appeals in my paper, such as rhetorical questions and

counterarguments.

By asking rhetorical questions I engage the reader and ask the reader to consider my stance

more deeply. An example of how I use rhetorical analysis is when I end the paper with one,

causing the reader to connect all the points and ideas I shared and engage with them on their

own. I also use them to start ideas or stanzas, sharing the main idea and engaging the reader.

Additionally, those rhetorical questions can represent an argument, off of which I build

counterarguments. By addressing opposing viewpoints and preemptively refuting any potential

objections to my claim, I show a deeper level of understanding and build my ethos and logos.

An example of how I use counterargument is when I start of stanzas with possible objections and

then refute them using the rest of the paragraph.

Works Cited
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Budiman, Abby. “Key Facts about Asian Americans, a Diverse and Growing

Population.” Pew Research Center, 29 Apr. 2021,

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-ameri

cans/.

Chow, Kat. “‘model Minority’ Myth Again Used as A Racial Wedge between Asians and

Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017,

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-

myth-again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks.

Kochhar, Rakesh. “Income Inequality in the U.s. Is Rising Most Rapidly among Asians.”

Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, 12 July 2018,

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/07/12/income-inequality-in-the-u

-s-is-rising-most-rapidly-among-asians/.

Nguyen, Viet Thanh, and The Committed. “Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap

of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All.” Time,

Originally published: June 25, 2020,

https://time.com/5859206/anti-asian-racism-america/.

Washington.edu,

https://depts.washington.edu/sibl/Publications/Model%20Minority%20Section%2

0(2011).pdf. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.