Excellent article. This also should be a lesson to us. I have met many desis who seem to go arounding sporting the halo of their industriousness, work ethic , family values and other such real and imaginary virtues with which to assert their own racial superiorities over 'blacks'.
The only thing I would question in this article would be the validity of the notion that racist whites USE asians to further their own anti-black racism. I am certain many Asians harbor latent racism as an essential element of their own cultural baggages. No need to feel used at all. cm At 1:24 AM -0500 10/6/02, N.Bhattacharyya wrote: >From ZNet - a must read. > >------- Forwarded message follows ------- >--> If you pass this comment along to others -- periodically but not >repeatedly -- please explain that Commentaries are a premium sent to >Sustainer Donors of Z/ZNet and that to learn more folks can consult >ZNet at http://www.zmag.org > > >================================== > >ZNet Commentary >Con-fusion Ethic: How Whites Use Asians to Further Anti-Black Racism >October 05, 2002 By Tim Wise > >It happened again, for what seems like the millionth time. Once again, >in response to something I said about ongoing racism in the United >States, someone (a white male, naturally) pulled out the >all-too-common conservative race card (oh yes, they have one), which >they believe disproves the existence of racial injustice. It sounds a >bit like this: > >"If racism is such a big deal in America, then why have Asians done so >well? Why is Asian income higher than white income? Doesn't this prove >that the problem with blacks is simply a lack of effort?" > >Offered this challenge most recently by a disgruntled county employee >in Minneapolis who resented having to sit through a speech I had >given, I rolled my eyes, took a deep breath and considered the irony >of the query (ironic because it always comes from whites who insist on >their "color-blindness") before issuing my reply. > >As I pondered my response, I thought about the Asian women working >twelve hours a day in garment sweatshops both abroad and in places >like Los Angeles to make clothes for people like this guy's kids; and >I wondered, in what sense were they "doing so well?" > >I thought about the Vietnamese youth in California who are profiled as >potential gang members by police, for wearing the wrong clothes or >driving in the "wrong" neighborhoods; and I wondered, in what sense >were they "doing so well?" > >I thought about the Asian families whose members have to put in 80 >hours a week just to keep their heads above water; and I wondered, in >what sense were they "doing so well?" > >I thought about the Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi taxi drivers who >endure crappy working conditions, customers who get pissy about their >accents or "attitudes," and cops who are responsible for nearly eighty >percent of all anti-South Asian attacks-often against hack drivers in >places like New York; and I wondered, in what sense were they "doing >so well?" > >I thought about the demonization of Wen Ho Lee, and of Chinese >American political contributors during the Clinton Administration; and >the beating death of Vincent Chin; and the persistent refrain that the >Japanese are "buying up America;" and I wondered, in what sense were >they "doing so well?" > >But instead of getting into all of those things, which likely wouldn't >have been seen as responsive by my detractor, I offered the following. > > >First, I noted that the Asian "model minority" myth has long been a >staple of white conservative race commentary, though rarely have >members of the various Asian communities in the U.S. pushed the notion >themselves. The genesis of this argumentation goes back to the 1950's >and '60's, when prominent magazines ran articles lauding the >"hard-working" Chinese or Japanese, and explicitly contrasting their >"success" with the "failure" of African Americans. > > > >Of course, none of these ever editorialized in favor of lifting the >immigration restrictions that had kept Asian populations small in the >U.S. from the 1880's until 1965, despite their respect for their >favored persons of color. Neither they nor any adherent to the model >minority image spoke out against internment of "hard-working" Japanese >Americans during World War Two, or the killing of hard-working >Southeast Asians during the Vietnam War. > >Secondly, I explained that comparisons between blacks and Asian >Americans overlook a number of differences between them. Whereas the >African American population represents a cross-section of background >and experience, the APA community is highly self-selected. Voluntary >migrants from nations that are not contiguous to their country of >destination tend to be those with the skills and money needed to leave >their home country in the first place. As many scholars have found, >Asian immigrants are largely drawn from an occupational and >educational elite in their countries of origin. > >Indeed, Asian "success" in the U.S. relative to others is largely due >to immigration policies that have favored immigrants with pre-existing >skills and education. As the Glass Ceiling Commission discovered in >1995, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the highly-educated APA >community in the U.S. already had college degrees or were in college >upon their arrival. > >Thanks to preferences for educated immigrants, Asian Americans are >two-thirds more likely than whites and three times more likely than >blacks to have a college degree. More than eight in ten Indian >immigrants from 1966-1977 had advanced degrees and training in such >areas as science, medicine or as engineers. > >Pre-existing educational advantages are implicated in Asian success >once here; but they hardly indicate genetic or cultural superiority. >After all, to claim superior Asian genes or culture as the reasons for >achievement in the U.S. requires one to ignore the rampant poverty and >lack of success for persons from the same genetic or cultural >backgrounds in their countries of origin. There is no shortage, after >all, of desperately poor Asians in the slums of Manila, Calcutta and >Hong Kong: testament to the absurdity of cultural superiority claims >for Asians as a group. > >Indeed, ethnic Koreans in Japan, as well as the Burakumin there-a >minority treated similarly to the Dalits in India-consistently >underperform economically and educationally, compared to dominant >Japanese. They are both the targets of discrimination, and although >they are culturally and genetically indistinguishable from other >Koreans or Japanese, they are consistently found at the bottom of >Japanese society, and do worse than others in Japan, or than Koreans >in Korea. > >Not only does this debunk the notion of pan-Asian superiority in genes >or culture, but it also suggests that a group's caste status >influences group outcomes: much as with blacks in the U.S., whose >position has been similar to the Burakumin and ethnic Koreans in >Japan. > >The primary argument put forth by those who push the model minority >myth is that APA income in the U.S. is higher than the average for >other people of color and even whites. As such, it is suggested, >racial discrimination cannot be a significant problem any longer. > >But the data that shows Asians doing better in terms of income than >whites, is family and/or household data, not per capita income data. >This is important because APA households and families tend to have >more family members (thus, slightly higher incomes are made to stretch >over more persons), and more earners per family (thus, it takes more >family members in the workforce in order to earn only slightly more >than whites, with fewer income earners). > >The average Asian household size, for example, is 3.3 persons, >compared to only 2.5 per household for whites. Likewise, Asian >American families are more likely than white families to have two >income earners, and nearly twice as likely to have three earners. So >while Asian household and family income is higher than that for >whites, the median income per person is lower for Asians: as much as >$2000 less annually. > >An additional reason why the average income of Asian families is >higher than that of whites is because Asians are concentrated in parts >of the country that have higher average incomes and costs of living. >The three states with the largest Asian populations and a >disproportionate share of the overall Asian population (California, >New York and Hawaii), rank 13th, 4th, and 16th in terms of average >income: all within the top third of states. Whereas 76% of all Asian >Americans live in the higher-income regions of the West and Northeast, >only 41% of whites and 28% of blacks are in these regions. > >Over half of all APA's in the U.S. live in just five major U.S. cities >(Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City): all >of which have higher than average household incomes, and much higher >costs of living than most of the U.S. > >According to the Census Bureau, in 1996, median household income was >about $35,500. But in states with disproportionate shares of Asians >(NY and Hawaii, for example), median household income was $39,000 and >$42,000 respectively. This means that APA median income will be skewed >upward, relative to the rest of the country, but given cost of living >differences, actual disposable income and living standards will be no >better and often worse. > >More importantly, claims of Asian success obscure the fact that the >Asian American child poverty rate is nearly double the white rate, and >according to a New York Times report in May of 1996, Southeast Asians >as a whole have the highest rates of welfare dependence of any racial >or ethnic group in the United States. > >Nearly half of all Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees in the U.S. >live in poverty, with annual incomes in 1990 of less than $10,000 per >year. Amazingly, even those Southeast Asians with college degrees face >obstacles. Two-thirds of Lao and Hmong-American college grads live >below the poverty level, as do nearly half of Cambodian Americans and >over a third of Vietnamese Americans with degrees. > >Indeed, Asian "success" rhetoric ignores the persistent barriers to >advancement faced by Asians relative to whites. On average, Asian >Americans with a college degree earn 11% less than comparable whites; >and APA's with only a high school diploma earn, on average, 26% less >than their white counterparts. > >When Asian American men have qualifications that are comparable to >those of white men, they still receive fewer high-ranking positions >than those same white men. Asian American male engineers and >scientists are twenty percent less likely than white men to move into >management positions in their respective companies, despite no >differences in ambition or desire for such positions. > >Of course, beyond the statistics, there are obvious points to be made. >First, if whites truly believe that Asians are culturally superior and >add to the quality of schools and workplaces, then why aren't these >folks clamoring for a massive increase in immigration from Asian >nations? Why not flood the borders, since we could all benefit from a >little more Asian genius? Why not have white CEO's step down from >their positions and let Japanese managers take their place? > >Secondly, the whites who trumpet the model minority concept would be >the first to object if Asian Americans began to bump their own white >children from college slots, even if they did so by way of higher test >scores and "merit" indicators. Just ask yourself what would happen if >next year the top 3500 applicants to U.C.-Berkeley, in terms of SAT >score and grades, happened to be Asian Americans, especially since >there are only 3500 slots in the freshman class. > >Would the regents allow the freshman class at the state's flagship >school to become 100% Asian? Or for that matter even 80% or 70%? How >would white Californians react to such a development, including those >who praise hard-working Asian kids for their educational excellence >and scholarly achievements? > >How would white alums react if their favorite "model minorities" were >suddenly seen as taking slots not from black and Latino youth, but >from their own white children? To ask the question is to answer it. > >And finally, to argue-as supporters of the model minority myth do-that >Asians "have made it, so why can't blacks," is to misunderstand the >issue of moral and ethical responsibility to correct the harm of >wrongful actions. > >Even if we accept the notion that groups victimized by racism can >"make it" without assistance, affirmative action, or reparations, that >would not deny (or indeed speak to in any way) the fact that society >has an obligation to compensate the victims of injustice. After all, >if my leg is blown off in an industrial accident, it hardly matters >that many people with only one leg go on to succeed. The issue of >compensatory justice remains, irrespective of what gains one can make >without compensation. > >I have little reason to believe that any of this made much difference >to the individual who chose that day to trumpet Asian success as a way >to denigrate African Americans. Given some of his other comments-that >African sexual promiscuity was to blame for AIDS on the continent, and >that he resented the "fact" that his black son (presumably adopted) >has more opportunity in life than his white son (despite the fact that >the former is unemployed and the latter in college)-his ability to >rationally decipher much of anything seems doubtful. > >Nonetheless, challenging the model minority myth is a worthwhile >enterprise, especially when one considers how many decent, >well-meaning individuals often fall for it. > >Those who trumpet "Asian values and culture" (based on stereotypical >understandings of both, not unlike the white guys who covet mail-order >Asian brides for their anticipated "docility"), do Asians no favors. >If anything, they set them up in a way that not only harms the groups >against which they are contrasted, but in a way that harms Asians as >well. > >To be considered a group filled with math and science geniuses and >passive, sensual, and willing female companions, not only objectifies >Asian Pacific Americans, but results in a special stigma for those in >the various Asian groups who aren't good in school, don't know how to >fix your computer nor care to do so, or who don't fit the sexist >stereotypes that are so comforting to Western male tastes. > >The model minority myth, in other words, is a setup: a carrot offered >to certain groups so long as they don't get out of line, assert their >rights, strike for better wages, or try to determine their own >sexuality. And as with all carrots, there is an even bigger stick, >ready to throttle those who don't go along with the game. > >Ultimately, justice and equity will remain elusive so long as whites >feel no compunction about using one group of color against another >group of color, in an attempt to make fools of both. > >Tim Wise is an antiracist essayist, lecturer and activist. He can be >reached at (and footnotes for this article can be obtained from) >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
