Asian Americans are a “reticent” minority group. Compared to the other major ethnic groups in this country, for instance, Asian Americans are less politically organized and vocal. Their reticence, combined with other cultural factors, has made it difficult for all Americans—whites, Asian Americans and other minority groups—to understand who Asian Americans are.
Instead, Americans have pieced together images of Asian Americans as a successfully assimilated minority group which has fulfilled the Asian immigrant’s dream of the “Golden Mountains.” While retaining vestiges of their cultural identity and ancestry, they are considered economically and socially assimilated. Although there may have been isolated incidents of discrimination in the past, society believes that Asian Americans today generally do not experience discrimination. If there is a flaw in this perceived success story, it is Americans’ difficult-to-articulate but uncomfortable feeling that perhaps Asian Americans are becoming too successful.
This simple image of Asian Americans is replete with “paradoxes”—the reality is much more complicated and much less positive. As Part I of this Article reveals, the belief that Asian Americans have suffered discrimination only in past isolated instances and do not currently experience discrimination is contradicted by the facts. Society’s image of the model minority that has achieved economic success and social equality is inconsistent with the plight of many Asian Americans and contrary to other images and stereotyping of Asian Americans. Broad assumptions that Asian Americans are well-integrated into all the professions is an overgeneralization.
via Pat K Chew, Asian Americans: The “Reticent” Minority and their Paradoxes
