Takaki Essay Questions Concerning Asian American Success

Kelsey Webb
May 31, 2007

Ronald Takaki discusses Asian American success in “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority,” first appearing in the New York Times on June 16, 1990 and has since then been reprinted several times. Takaki’s thesis stems from his title and holds a bit of irony, exactly how successful is the Asian American population? Takaki opens his article by distinctly stating that “Asian Americans have increasingly come to be viewed as a 'model minority.'" However, he refutes his statement by questioning how successful the minority actually is and to whom it should serve as a model for. Takaki’s thesis is that Asian Americans may be considered successful in certain statistical analysis, but in general, they are still a minority and do not compare to Caucasian statistics.
Takaki presents evidence to defend his position throughout the entire essay. Although the media has considered Asian Americans as successful when it comes to university admissions and becoming effective shopkeepers, this is not always the case. When looking at earning figures for Asian Americans, this particular minority has been congratulated for achieving “high” earnings relative to Caucasians. However, this fact is misleading because most Asian Americans live in states with “higher incomes and higher costs of living than the national average,” states like California, New York, and Hawaii. Another misleading fact involves family income. Asian Americans have been noted for having higher family incomes than Caucasians but this is due to the fact that most Asian Americans have a larger family which can then in turn produce a higher income, relative to the amount of members bringing in an income.
Takaki refers to other minority struggles as well, alluding to the large percentage of Vietnamese Americans that live in motels or join gangs. He discusses that although a painter in Hong Kong may be highly qualified; in America, he will become a “dishwasher, janitor, or cook.” When an Asian American does land a successful position, most often he/she will reach the “glass ceiling” barrier, “the barrier through which high management positions can be seen but not reached.”
Perhaps if I believed that “Asian Americans are economically more successful in America today, relative to white Americans, than African Americans are,” Takaki would most likely agree but with disclaim. Takaki refers to the African American minority when discussing the model portion of his thesis. If politicians and pundits believe that the Asian American group should serve as a role model for others, specifically the African American minority, this belief creates resentment between the two groups. “The victims are blamed for their plight, rather than racism and an economy that has made many young African American workers superfluous.”
I believe that Takaki’s argument is convincing because he proposes evidence to defend it and proves the alternative wrong. If I read that Asian Americans tend to have higher family incomes than Caucasians, I would disagree with Takaki. However, since he refutes this position by stating that most Asian Americans also tend to have more workers per family and therefore the higher family income statistic takes on an entirely different meaning. Takaki does an excellent job in proving the misleading evidence wrong, and in doing so, convinces me of his thesis; the perception that Asian Americans are a successfully model for other minorities to follow isn’t entirely true.