The "Model Minority" concept is a racist lie that flattens the experiences of Asian-Americans into a monolith in order to conceal our struggles & cap our successes. It's so ingrained that many are unaware they’re perpetuating it. 1/
(Please don’t repost my art. RTs appreciated)
(Please don’t repost my art. RTs appreciated)
Throughout history, anti-Asianness has been written into American policy—the Chinese Exclusion Act, Alien Land Laws, Filipino Repatriation Act, Japanese internment camps, etc.—and continues today, with targeted deportations of SE Asians & continuous conflicts abroad in Asia. 2/
While the methods differ, the domestic treatment of AsAms & foreign policy towards Asians abroad has the same goal: to exploit Asian labor & resources while stripping us of our voice. Ultimately, Asianness means experiencing white supremacist harm no matter where you live. 3/
Usually, when people say AsAms have “Asian privilege,” they are intentionally or unintentionally referring to privileges such as class, education, light skin, white-passing/actual white privilege (white-mixed Asians), East Asian (only in the context of other Asians), etc. 4/
So when discussing the privileges Asians might have, it is important to be specific & not inadvertently perpetuate a white supremacist narrative that harms Asians (and other people of color) by suggesting Asianness has been anything but vilified domestically & abroad. 5/5
