Takaki: The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority

Asian Americans have been given the label of "model minority" because of their seemingly superior intelligence and work ethic. They are viewed as being more productive and achieving higher job status than other minorities. In Ronald Takaki’s essay, The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority, he offers facts to dispel the myth of Asian superiority and its harmful claims.

If I held the viewpoint that Asian Americans are more economically successful than Americans or African Americans, Takaki would strongly disagree with me. Takaki offers many statistics to support his claim that Asian Americans are not achieving the status that they are being credited for. Takaki's essay, that originally appeared in the New York Times, included the following statistics. The article stated that twenty-five percent of the people in New York City’s Chinatown lived below the poverty level in 1980, compared with 17 percent of the city’s population. Refugees from from Laos have unemployment rates that reach as high as 80 percent. Also in 1988, only 8 percent of Asian Americans were "officials" and "managers," compared with 12 percent for all other groups. He also states that, in 1988, Koreans in the New York metropolitan area earned only 69% of the median income of non-Asians.

A fact that I found surprising was that more than three-quarters of Korean greengrocers came to America with a college education. Many had been engineers, teachers, or administrators in Korea. This fact made me question if Americans were not willing to give them opportunities because of their Korean ancestry. Further more, some Americans may hold prejudices against Koreans because of events that occurred during the Korean Conflict. Perhaps Korean immigrants may have if found it easier to start their own businesses than to try to enter the work force in an unfamiliar and different culture.

My first thought when reading Takaki's essay was that he may be bias because of his own Asian background. I wondered if he held any prejudices because of personal experiences or those of his family and friends. As I read Takaki's supporting facts, his claim that Asian Americans are no more successful than the other minorities began to have merit. I realized that I have been guilty of assuming the "myth of Asian superiority." The media, especially television programs, portray Asians as very intelligent and focused on education. There have been many articles written about how American students are falling behind in academic performance when compared to Asian students. Stories about a few Asians attaining economic success leads Americans to assume success is occurring for all Asians.

Ronald Takaki does an adequate job of supporting all of his claims with solid facts throughout his essay. He convinces his readers to share his views and to feel the same way he does after reading his facts. By the end of the essay you have a sense that Asians as a whole are not as successful as Americans perceive them to be.