Week 2 - Leigh Bagood

Leigh Bagood
Section A02
Week 2

Nancy Chung Allred’s Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again discusses Asian Americans’ place in the affirmative action discourse, relating such discourse to the Model Minority myth and “contemporary” Yellow Peril. This article is pertinent to analyzing Asian Americans in the context of higher education, and how affirmative action plays a positive or negative role. While reading, I was led to introspect about my own educational experiences as someone who identifies as Asian American. Having attended elementary and middle school at predominantly White schools, I encountered the model minority stereotype all throughout my childhood. While at the time it may have seemed like comments about my academic achievement from my peers because of my “Asian-ness” was something to be proud of, in retrospect I can indicate harmful effects. I was forced to associate myself with my race in ways my White counterparts did not, which I now know was “other-ing” and White privilege at play. When I started attending a high school with majority Asian Americans however, the consciousness and pressure practically dissolved. Consequently though, because my high school was distinguished with high performers, I was blinded to the diverse experiences of Asian Americans all over the country when it comes to pursuing or not pursuing higher education. We bought into the Model Minority stereotype because it applied to us, and from there it’s difficult to recognize the implicit effects. For me, the track was obvious and easy, so that was all I knew. It was not until college that I was exposed to the complexities of race/ethnicity within the education system, especially for Asian Americans who are underrepresented in secondary education curriculum. And until reading this article I never considered how Asian Americans impact or are impacted by affirmative action, which comes to show how easy it is to be unaware of things that have never directly impacted you. My mind has definitely been opened to how important it is to be aware of my position in society and at a university, and think more critically about mine and others’ experiences.

Question: What are ways that stigmatization and the formation of hostile divisions can be remedied without eliminating affirmative action in its entirety?

References:

1. Allred, N. C. (2007). Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again . Asian American Law Journal, 14, 57-84. Retrieved October 1, 2017.

2. [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2017, from https://stjohns.digication.com/eng1000c_investigation_3_model_minority/Digital_Text