Bridgewater College
In his Presidential Proclamation, President Biden stated, “ Today, the rights of LGBTQI+ Americans are under relentless attack. Members of the LGBTQI+ community — especially people of color and trans people — continue to face discrimination and cruel, persistent efforts to undermine their human rights. An onslaught of dangerous anti- LGBTQI+ legislation has been introduced and passed in States across the country, targeting transgender children and their parents and interfering with their access to health care. These unconscionable attacks have left countless LGBTQI+ families in fear and pain. All of this compounded has been especially difficult on LGBTQI+ youth, 45% of whom seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year — a devastating reality that our Nation must work urgently to address. ”
The “Model Minority” Myth Today people belonging to the AANHPI group are viewed as the “model minority”. This term was coined in 1966 by an article written by William Petersen titled “Success Story: Japanese American Style”. In his article Petersen states, “ Japanese cultures have strong work ethics and family values... These values prevent them from being a problem minority ”. Petersen’s article attributes the successes of Japanese Americans in America, a mere 20 years after World War II, to their cultural values, their family structures, their genetics, and their work ethic. This article was written after the 1965 Moynihan Report which alleged that the issues faced by African Americans in the United States of America was related to their culture and family structure.
Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in the United States
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti- Asian hate crimes are on the rise in the United States of America. The hate crimes against Asians have risen in the past two years by 164% according to a study done by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Cases are on the rise with elderly Asian people being willfully hurt by being physically shoved, slashed, slapped, set on fire, or shot across the country. The increase in crimes is related to blaming Asians for the spread of COVID-19. Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based organization, has received more than 2,800 hate incident reports and has recorded almost 7,000 hate incidents that involved Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This sudden increase in anti-Asian hate crimes has resulted in Congress passing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on May 20, 2021.
The “model minority” myth is problematic and in the present day AANHPIs vociferously fight against this stereotype for two main reasons. One, such a stereotype pits AANHPIs against other minorities and distracts from the reality of institutionalized racism. And second, because as Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center Acting Director Jeanny Kim said, “ This stereotype has plagued our communities for a long time... Its longstanding use is not only homogenizing but also harmful to Asian Pacific Americans whose experiences are not reflected in the stereotype. ” The model minority myth disregards the struggles faced by AANHPIs and the discrimination and institutionalized racism that they combat on a day-to-day basis. As a result, many AANHPIs have started fighting this stereotype.
2 | DEI Digest
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