Thread by @timjacobwise

1/ As I mentioned yesterday, I thought it might be helpful to reply to one of the main arguments used by conservatives (and sometimes those who aren't that far right but fall for their nonsense), in their effort to "debunk" the idea that racism is still a serious problem...

2/ Namely, the argument that "Asian American success" proves racism can't be a significant barrier to achievement, and thus, if blacks still lag behind whites in income, education, employment, etc, it must be due to their own cultural or behavioral norms...

3/ Yesterday, I dealt with the black "cultural pathology" nonsense in a separate thread, and by re-posting a couple of longer essays that deal with it. Today, I'll address the Asian American (hereafter APA for Asian Pacific American) model minority stuff…

4/ Before getting into specifics though, it's worth noting that this argument is a favorite among white nationalists and supremacists. They love to use it to bash black people while allowing them to deny their racism (see, we think Asians are smart and talented!) So…

5/ …when your fave narrative is one beloved by Nazis, u might wanna rethink your approach…Anyway, it's important to know the origins of an argument. It tells you a lot about its veracity as opposed to its political function. In the case of the "model minority myth…"

6/ It's origins are easily traced. In the mid 60s, pieces in US News and NYT Magazine focused on "hard working" Chinese & Japanese Americans & explicitly contrasted their "success" with black folks....

7/ Note, this is at the very moment the civil rights movement is at its zenith. This was no coincidence. These articles were a way of saying "why can't these people stop complaining and work harder?"...

8/ These writers & their publications had never had a problem w/the way the US had treated Asians historically, after all. They never inveighed against the injustice of internment, or the anti-Asian immigration laws (still in place really until 1965)...

9/ ...or the war we'd initiated in SE Asia and the bombing we were doing of Asian folks there. They didn't love APA folk, but could use them to bash blacks. This history is explicated, along with the way the model minority myth is utilized now, here:

npr.org/sections/codes…

10/ Over the yrs, the idea would b trotted out to argue against the idea of racism as a major problem, to argue against affirmative action & to bolster args about a culture of poverty among poor blacks (or even notions of genetic inferiority favored by others on the far right)...

11/ But all the arguments relied upon (and still do) disingenuous renderings of the relevant data and willed ignorance about the difference between various Asian sub groups (some of which are doing relatively well, others not)...

12/ ...As well as the inherent absurdity of comparing the experiences of mostly voluntary migrants w/those of a native-born racial caste group, like blacks in America...

13/ At the most basic level, before even looking at the data though, think about the silliness of the "cultural values" position being argued by the model minority notion's defenders (the argument that values/culture explain APA success relative to others)...

14/ To claim APAs have some cultural secret to success (let alone genetic superiority) ignores widespread poverty in the nations whence they come. After all, there are plenty of poor folks in China, India, the Philippines, etc. who share the same genes and cultural heritages...

15/ Not to mention ethnic Koreans & Buraku caste in Japan whose condition is much like an "underclass" there bc of historic/structural oppression. So, it's not some inherent 'confucian value system' or Asian cultural habits or whatever that explains Asian 'success' here...

16/ That some come from Asian nations where millions are poor, but "do well" here, says something NOT about Asian culture, but voluntary migration culture, broadly. Voluntary migrants tend to be exceptionally-motivated strivers anyway, by definition, wherever they're from...

17/ And if they have to cross an ocean (as opposed to a border, which is at least relatively easier) they will tend to be atypical in terms of pre existing class/educational status especially relative to native-born racial caste group members who are more of a cross section...

18/ And this is what we see with APAs. A dispro number of APA immigrants come to U.S. w/pre-existing socioeconomic status well above that of blacks and even most whites. They either have degrees or come here specificaly pursuing them. That is not a cross section of Asians…

19/ Those APA & Pacific Islanders who are not coming w/pre-existing advantges tend to be the ones who are NOT doing very well & are often struggling economically. SE Asians for example whose origins here are more as refugees post '75 than other APAs have high poverty rates…

20/ They also have much worse educational attainment levels than other APAs & high rates of unemployment. These are APAs who are most comparable to blacks in that they are starting out w/less advantage…and indeed, they do not do much differently than black folks economically...

21/ Obviously some APA folks from highly disadvantaged backgrounds do very well, as so many black folks. But neither debunks the larger systemic truths at play: that racism - past, present and a combination of the two - continue to restrict full opportunity to POC in America...

22/ Interestingly, when we examine APA status relative to whites we discover persistent evidence that Asian folk too, despite claims of their "success" are struggling and lag behind the dominant group. In short, their situation doesnt debunk the problem of racism. It proves it...

23/ For instance, when we compare whites and Asians of the same age and with the same degree of education, whites routinely earn more than their Asian American counterparts...

24/ For those with high school diplomas only, white males between 35–39 earn twenty-three percent more than comparable Asians :  a gap that grows to a nearly fifty percent advantage between the ages of forty and forty-four...

25/ For those w/undergrad degrees, white males between 30–34 earn 22% more than comparable APAs and by the time those white men are in their mid-forties they are earning forty-six percent more than their Asian American counterparts - almost $30,000 more each year on average...

26/ Additionally, claims that APA households are doing as well or better than white households , bc they have higher aggregate income and poverty rates that are only slightly higher than those for whites ,  rely on data that masks substantial disparities at state/local level...

27/ Over 1/2 of APAs live in 5 states, among the nation's higher income (and cost of living) states: CA, HI, NY, NJ and WA. As a result, they tend to have higher incomes/lower poverty rates than members of other groups who are more geographically dispersed...

28/ However, if we examine income and poverty data in the places where so many Asian Americans actually live, thereby comparing them to others who live in those same higher-income areas, things change dramatically...

29/ In cities with heavy Asian American presence like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Asian American poverty rates have routinely been double the rates for whites...

30/ In other words, despite claims of Asian "success" and the attempts of some to cast them as a "model minority" to be emulated by other more presumably problematic ones, Asian Americans too are struggling relative to whites...

31/ The reason APA income data is higher than that for whites  (the data point the deniers always point to )  is not just bc of geographic concentration though. It's also about family size and number of earners per family. ..

32/ Nationally, the average APA family or household is larger (meaning more mouths to feed), and they typically have an additional income earner, relative to the typical white family...

33/ If Asians are "outearning" whites but only bc they have 2 or 3 people in the home working, versus 1 or 2 for white families, that isn't proof that racism is gone; if anything, it proves that APA folks are still operating at a disadvantage...

34/ ...bc they gain only a small edge over whites despite more effort...When we disaggregate, we find that per capita income between whites and APA folks is the same and this, desite that APA folks are considerably more likely than whites to have degrees and advanced degrees...

35/ Again, if a group's memebrs, are much more qualified than those of another, but makes the same amount or less, that proves racism. It doesn't debunk it...

36/ Looking at NY State, APA families/households average about 1 extra person, yet have less median household income, 20% less median family income & 25% less per capita...

37/ APA folk in NY are almost 2x as likely as whites to be on cash welfare, 60% more likely to get SNAP, and 2/3 more likely to be poor...In NYC the evidence of unequal opportunity is even more glaring and debunks the debunkers of the racism thesis...

38/ White median HH income in Manhattan is 50k more a year than for APAs (70% higher median), while median family income is 123k higher (2.5 times the APA median)...Also in Manhattan APAs 3x more likely than whites 2b on cash welfare, 6x more likely on SNAP, 3x the poverty rate..

39/ In short, it is absurd to use APA folks as evidence that racism is no longer a big deal for black folks. It's a big deal for black folks and other POC, including APAs themselves, which becomes obvious when you actually analyze the data and research fully...

40/ But it's more than absurd. It's racist, if not in intent, certainly in effect. It furthers a narrative that rationalizes inequality & blames black folks for their position in the US, by ignoring inertia of hundreds of years of oppression, as well as modern discrimination...

41/ One final thought: this model minority shit is poison for APAs too. It sets them up. Imagine if yr APA but not doing well in school, not "making it."..

42/ ..and now bc of some asshole who says your people are "so smart" and "so studious," and culturally predisposed to sucess bc of some Tigher Mom bullshit, you'll feel like an especially big fuck up...

43/ Thats not helpful, but hurtful to APAs. And even for the ones who are succeeding, at what cost? I've met lots of APA folk who talk about feeling insane pressure to achieve, NOT just bc immigrant parents pressure them (as all immigrant parents do)...

44/ ...but also bc of the expectations this country has about them…That pressure kills. APA college/grad students have a very high rate of suicide, and at several schools where I've spoken I've been told by insiders that APAs have the highest rate of days in the infirmary...

45/ ...bc of mental and emotional stress to succeed...So yeah, maybe immigrant kids are killing it on the exam for Stuyvesant HS. But aside from how bsurd those tests are (no one even tries to claim that it reflects what one would have been taught at that point), at what cost?..

46/ Parents are pushing their kids to succeeed using this insane metrics that have nothing to do with anything…How is that helping them? And why should their success on those metrics ...

47/ ...which have nothing 2 do w/broad range of skills, or critical thought, or anything - be used to bash black kids who don't do as well? Answers: it's not helping them. But it is helping white folks bash blacks & undermine calls for equity. Which was its purpose all along. END