Friday, October 2, 2015

Ending the Model Minority and Empowering All People of Color

Sam Soleta
Blog 2 - A03
October 2, 2015


Swept under the rug and too often normalized by the American public is the national crisis of Black death. Soya Jung’s article “Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans” explains the reality of institutionalized racism in the extremely binary racial society we live in. Most Americans see race as black and white - despite African Americans making up only 13.2 percent of the nation. Criminality is normalized under the condition that it serves the higher interest. It’s a disgrace to see that murderers have predestined fates based on the color of their skin. Meanwhile, those who fall between the lines of black and white are simply ignored under this racial binary umbrella.
In American media: black death is justified, white death is a tragedy and Asian American death is not mentioned - but it’s there. As the “model minority,” we as Asian Americans do not serve a purpose to higher interests in the instance of tragedy. Many media outlets and police forces justify the brutality and militarization of Ferguson to normalize black criminality. Asian death would never get the same coverage, as we are the “model minorities.” With compliance, we pose no threat to the institutionalized white supremacy of America.


Question: By ending the concept of a “model minority,” how much would this further the movement against institutionalized racism and the normalization of black criminality?


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