Pan-Asian Ethnicity: Can We Really Fit into a Perfect Mold?

Jennifer Le
Section 1
Reflection 1: Response to 2010 Census
 
 I remember that when growing up in a community that was made up of a predominant Hispanic and Vietnamese demographic, I often believed in Asians general were low-income and had many of the societal struggles that  Hispanics faced. I came from a normal low-income family that came from immigrants, and struggled against the academic structures alone because my parents could not grasp the multiple facets of American life. This made it easy to dismiss comments from non-Asian peers when they mentioned how wealthy, privileged, and lucky I was to be Asian.
    From my personal background, it made it difficult to comprehend how Asian-Americans could fit the mold of the "model-minority", and questioned if there was really a simplified idea of pan-Asian ethnicity. After seeing the statistics from the 2010 census, it was easy to understand how American-society can have a preconception of the Asian-American community. Even though demographically Asian-Americans make up a small presence in American society, it seems we are privileged based on income and education. The median household income for the Asian-American community is $68,780 a year, greatly higher than that national median income of roughly $53,000. While only 28.5% of Americans nationally get bachelor's degree or higher, Asian-Americans disproportionately overshadow this statistic by grossing 50%.
    However, this data can only be taken by face-value, and does not insulate a shared Asian-American experience. If you look at further statistics, there is a large range of socio-economic differences within the Asian-American community. We are not  comprised of a signal, homogeneous makeup. For instance, the median income of the Southeast Asians is considerably lower in comparison to their South and East Asian counterparts. And beyond the factor of income, there is also a self-imposed division of class within the Asian-Americans, listing East and South Asians at the pinnacle of this class, while looking down on Southeast Asians. These statistics leads me to the question- is there really a Pan-Asian ethnicity?