Author: unknown"This article was written when I first learned about the model minority myth. I found the aspect that it was a tool originally intended to uplift new Asian immigrants, but instead used against them really interest. It kind of solidified the fact that the US is an inherently racist place and only cares about oppressing the "other", people of color, and will use other POCs to do that." The focus of this reflection is on the model minority myth. I always knew the model minority myth existed, but I didn’t have a full understanding of what it was. I found it really interesting that it originated from Asian American leaders trying to combat the racism that was affecting the Asian-American community when new immigrants were settling in. It was originally intended to share the message, “Wow! Look at these kids! They’re really being their best selves in America! Maybe we should stop oppressing them with all these horrible stereotypes and constant discrimination against them.” The whole purpose of showing the perspective that Asian-Americans were doing well in America was to stop the public’s xenophobic actions, but this idea took a turn for the worse. The US government decided to turn this concept against them. They forced this ideal down many American’s throats leading Asian-Americans to assimilate with white family culture. America turned the news that Asian Americans were making positive contributions to society into an idea that all Asian Americans were doing exemplary in all aspects of life and were the “perfect” immigrants, which wasn’t the case. At all. The model minority myth doesn’t allow any serious issues affecting Asian Americans to be brought to the table. Any issues that Asian Americans face and try to address gets squashed with the argument, “They’re doing fine! They all have high incomes and high degrees of education! And they’re so quiet too!” This is problematic in many ways as this notion of being “fine” and without an issues cannot be used to describe a whole community at all times. We can relate this to the delayed response that the AAPI community received after the increased hate crimes that were thrown toward them while Covid was at its height. The model minority is used to diminish problems that communities in need of help are calling out.
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Covid-19. CoronaVirus. China Virus. Kung Flu. How did an entire ethnicity get blamed for a pandemic? Origins of Covid-19 Although its specific origin is unknown, the first reported case of Covid-19 was in Wuhan, China. There are various speculations about how the first person got infected, many of which continue to stereotype Chinese food including uncommonly eaten animals. Many people allege that the first case spread through the consumption of a bat sold at Huanan Wholesale Market that was a carrier for Covid-19. Others state that a pathogen leaked from a science lab near the market. Within this theory of the pathogen escaping the lab, some maintain that the lab purposefully formulated the Covid-19 virus. In contrast, others say it was a mere byproduct of other inquiries. 4 The lack of knowledge about the virus’s source creates unease since no one knows who or what to blame. But, what is currently certain is that the first reported case was in Wuhan, China. The existing stereotype that all Asian people are Chinese guided the notion for Asians to be blamed for the start of the virus. People cling to the location of the first case by asserting the blame on China, Chinese people, and people who fit the stereotypical Asian-looking person. But, why was this so easy for Americans to do? Perpetual Foreigner Americans have continuously seen Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners who will never be “truly American” as they are inherently foreign. This ideology comes from the fear that “uncivilized” and “dirty” communities will ruin the seemingly “civilized” American community, directly connecting to skin color. Many identify Asians as having yellow skin which relates to the hurtful social phrase “yellow peril”. The phrase was forced on Asian Americans and it carries the fear, also known as xenophobia which is plaguing American culture. 3 In the 19th century, people considered The Bubonic Plague as a “racial disease” that infected exclusively Asian bodies whereas white bodies were thought of as immune. The legacy of white supremacy has caused the belief that white bodies are pure and people of color are unclean, uncivilized, threatening, and dangerous. This belief has created a strong divide in society and the pandemic has only exacerbated it. 1 Model Minority Pre-pandemic, the Asian American community was already suffering in silence, dealing with racism, stereotypes, micro-aggression, and more. However, the misleading idea of the “model minority” caused their struggle to seem insignificant. The model minority stereotype suggests that Asian Americans achieved financial and academic success by working hard. The idea proposes that Asian Americans have “made it” in America and no longer face any discrimination for being a minority. Some take this to the next level and say that Asian Americans take success away from Americans, which intertwined both the model minority and the perpetual foreigner stereotypes while implying that Asian Americans are not Americans. The model minority idea serves as a blanket covering the true depths of discrimination and suffering and has therefore been coined as the model minority myth. The model minority myth is problematic and dangerous for Asian Americans as it asserts that all stereotypically looking Asians are universally hard working, intelligent, and leading (or going to lead) successful lives causing their hardships to be invisible. Hate Crimes Near 3,800 incidents were reported from March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021, 503 incidents took place in 2021, verbal harassment (68.1%) and shunning (20.5%) were most common, physical assault made up 11.1%, More than ⅓ occurred at business; ¼ occurred in public streets. The pandemic has brought upon another “excuse” for the hatred that Asians and Asian women specifically have been facing. 2 Due to the overwhelming amount of hate crimes, organizations such as STOP AAPI Hate have vowed to keep bringing attention to this issue. 5
Author: Anika MayarThe proportion of vaccinated African Americans is lower in every state that publicly shared race and ethnicity data for vaccinated individuals 1. But why is this not shocking? The exploitation of African Americans by health care professionals throughout history has produced a relationship infected with distrust, fear, resentment, and hostility. During slavery, doctors claimed that slaves who wanted freedom, a fundamental human right, must have a disease influencing them mentally. Doctors concluded that the minds of slaves were not capable of functioning past the demands of slavery 2. This fatal injustice attitude against African Americans continued throughout history and is still potent in the health care system today. During the Flu Pandemic of 1918, healthcare officials used physical features to support scientifically absurd medical claims. They stated that African Americans could not be susceptible to the flu because the linings of their ‘big noses’ were resistant to the microorganism that affects the respiratory system. Doctors endangered African Americans by stereotyping them as having ‘big noses’ and then leveraged that to support false medical claims. Consequently, all resources were given to white communities because this incorrect statement circulated as truth, formulating a belief that the virus only contaminated white people 2. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the African American Male was an approximately forty-year human experiment, which started in 1932. The United States Public Health Service (USPHS) treated African American males as lab study subjects rather than humans with valuable lives. Public Health professionals lied to African American males infected with syphilis by promising them treatment. However, their true intentions were far from that promise. Instead, they kept these males isolated and used them to observe the progression of untreated advanced syphilis and then compared them to a control group. During these forty years, the USPHS did not allow their “subjects” to know their own health status. The USPHS carried such little regard for these men’s lives that they did not keep proper records, so there is no accurate number of deaths. It is estimated that over 100 died, but there is no way of knowing the real number of lives lost from this study without records. Later, once the cure, Penicillin, was discovered, the USPHS denied treatment to these infected individuals several times. The USPHS ignored the law in Alabama (passed in 1927) mandating the reporting and treatment of various diseases, which included syphilis. This study demonstrates a core cause for the distrust and fear towards healthcare professionals as African Americans were lied to and treated like lab rats. Over the forty years, other medical personnel, who had the power to act, did not speak out against the study showing the “moral astigmatism” present in health care. A CDC committee promoted the study’s continuation in 1969. It was not until 1972 when the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, stopped the study 3. In 1960 the government created programs to provide health care for disadvantaged groups, but this only lasted a decade. The African American health care crisis in the 1990s began directly after this inexcusable neglect. The government and health care professionals made a promise to African Americans only to break it and leave them in crisis 4. Today, while vaccines for COVID-19 roll out, the skepticism and fear in African Americans to get vaccinated is not shocking due to a history of being lied to, deeply mistreated, and targeted. Moreover, despite being impacted disproportionately harder, they are not being prioritized to receive vaccines. Now we have laws that aim to protect against prejudice-influenced behavior. However, there were laws in Alabama at the time of Tuskegee that healthcare professionals broke. What is to stop that from happening again? Too many racist patterns fill the history of health care for African Americans to know who to trust and who to avoid so they are forced not to trust at all.
Author: Anika Mayar |
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