Racialization and Racism, higher education
A Critical Race Perspective on Asian Americans shows that they are often depicted as overrepresented in higher education institutions due to the large number of the East Asian ethnic groups, such as Koreans and Chinese, at the top schools (Nakanishi and Nishida, 1995). The belief of overrepresentation shapes how the Asian Americans are racially portrayed as model minorities. The model minority myth purports that racial and ethnic communities can persevere and subdue challenges linked with minority status despite inequalities in America.
The myth, however, does not consider the socioeconomic and ethnic diversity of the Asian Americans. The model minority myth combines the experiences of all the Asian Americans, despite that the community is made up of over twenty-five different ethnic groups with diverse immigration patterns, histories, and cultures (Escueta & O'Brien, 1995). In his study Buenavista (2007), employed a CRT framework and asserted that the model minority stereotype and generalization of Asian Americans is proofs of a general racial agenda aimed at maintaining the supremacy of the whites in the United States. The inappropriate aggregation of the Asian American ethnic subgroups leads to unfitting standardization of their experiences into monolithic experience, which mostly portrays stories of success (Hune and Chan, 2000).
[...] The media has also acted a duty in rendering of Asian Americans' triumphs in higher education. For example, the Newsweek outlined the explanations for the achievements of the Asian Americans as assimilation, acculturation and adjustment aspects linked with the group. Further, the Newsweek, published a piece named 'Asian-Americans: A "Model Minority”, which illustrated a constructive image of the Asian Americans and attributed some good principles such as strong family ties, sacrifices made for the children and minority group thrift. The New York Times also circulated a piece outlining the intents for the Asians ascendency in class and conveyed that the Japanese Americans had reached great success. [...]
[...] References Asian Americans in Higher Education: Charting New Realities. (2014). Ashe Higher Education Report 1-136. Butterfield, F. (1986). 'Why Asians are going to the head of the class'. New York Times Escueta, E., O'Brien, E., Nakanishi, D. T., & Nishida, T. Y. (1995). Asian Americans in higher education: Trends and issues. [...]
[...] U.S. Census Bureau. (2003). Population Estimates Branch. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau. [...]
[...] For example, the Maclean's article outlines the intertwining of the yellow peril with the model minority and it describes the rising fears over the over-achieving foreign Asian students taking over the Universities in Canada (Friedlay & Kohler, 2010). In higher education, the Asian Americans are likely to face the racial stereotypes regularly and experience increased negative consequences. For the male Asian Americans in higher education, the emasculating stereotypes can portray them as easy targets for bullying. The continuous exposure to emasculating stereotypes can also cause the male Asian Americans in higher education overcompensate by engaging in aggressive and hyper-masculine behavior due to the challenge posed about their masculinity. [...]
[...] Gardner viewed the overrepresentation as a challenge to racial balance and diversity. The assumption assumed that all Asian Americans are the same and that they have the same style of contributing to diversity, and they viewed the Asians as faceless, yellow perils, which the UC had too many. Critical Race Theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a developing theoretical, conceptual and methodological method that aims at disrupting dominant racial paradigms and racism in education. The theory originated from the field of law, where it was used to express how the legal system serves as a technique for sustaining white dominance in the United States. [...]
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