The resolution embodies a mythologized imaginary of Asianness as a junior partner in America’s will to socioeconomic mobility that effaces cultural memory of radicalized violence with its every invocation thus denying the reality of racialized violence on the homefront as well as obfuscating the broader facets of Anti-Asian violence that plagues civilization – this enacts a forgetting, or erasure of Asian trauma and history, pushed to the peripheries of discursive and rhetorical sites

In an open letter, New York Times Editor, Michael Luo, addresses the woman who yelled at him on the streets of New York and demanded that he and his American-born family go back to China. The initial shock and anger that Luo experienced from this encounter of racial insults in Manhattan later transformed into pangs of sadness. Luo describes an experience of being othered, being treated as a foreigner, and not feeling a sense of belonging in this country that is familiar to many Asian Americans in the United States. When discussing the model minority myth, it is imperative to acknowledge the origin and deconstruct the meaning of this racial stereotype of Asian Americans as a model of upward mobility, socioeconomic success, and traditional family values. Sociologist William Petersen 2 first coined the term “model minority” in 1966 in an article that he wrote for the New York Times. The term model minority refers to an ethnic minority who has achieved success in the United States despite marginalization. However, the model minority myth ignores and circumvents the discourse of over a hundred years of pervasive anti-Asian sentiments, prejudice, discrimination, and collective trauma. Preceding the model minority myth were the years of relentless use of dehumanizing rhetoric to mark Asians as “racially inferior,” “threatening,” “exotic,” and “degenerate,” (Guo, 2016). The “yellow peril” was a racist and xenophobic phrase constructed in the 19th century in response to Chinese and Japanese migrant workers during the gold rush. The term yellow peril has been used to denigrate Asians in the United States, with “yellow” referring to the color of their skin and “peril” referring to the fear of Asians expanding and overpowering the West. The model minority myth flattens the nuances and complexities of Asian American identities and experiences. The model minority myth disregards and makes invisible over a hundred years of historical racism and discrimination, perpetual othering, treatment as foreigners, disenfranchisement, racial and collective trauma, immigrant and refugee experiences, and psychological harm and emotional distress. The myth ignores all that Asians have suffered, endured, and been transformed by – including racial exclusion, starting with the ban on Asian migrant labor in 1882; the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII; and the legacy of American wars in the Philippines, Korea, and Vietnam (Wu, 2012). The hegemonic construction of a new public image of Asian Americans as the model minority – capable of assimilating and politically nonthreatening – created a new dominant narrative about Asian Americans that has strategically served as a model for political cooperation. 3 Experts draw parallels between the political climate of the exclusion era and today, including a presidential election that amplified anti-immigrant sentiment, the growing economic fears of White Americans, and proposed implementation of policies that would drastically shape immigration laws in the United States (Chow, 2017). Cynthia Choi, Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action warns us: "This is important for the Chinese American and broader Asian American community, to stand up against the new targets to this new form of exclusion, for us to say it was wrong 135 years ago and it's wrong today. We're in a unique period where accurate information is not as easily attained, so there are a number of people who are on the fence, who are confused about the policies, who — more dangerously — feel as though this doesn't affect them." Understanding subjective history is paramount to deconstructing the origins of the model minority myth and how Asian Americans are positioned in the current dominant discourse on race in the United States. Subjective history includes the legends, myths, successes, exaggerations, and events remembered selectively or as never having taken place (Fisher, 1998). It is critical to recognize the underappreciated significance of history as actually remembered, as well as history as fact. When the nature of conflict issues and historical events involving Asian Americans are ignored and erased from American history, Asian Americans are cast into singular hegemonic narratives, such as the yellow peril and the model minority myth. Newer generations of Asian Americans may hold less compelling memories of their racial or ethnic group’s history and new history dilutes the old (Fisher, 1998), creating a subjective history in the current generation’s sense of ethnic identity, an erasure and invisibility of historical and present collective traumas, and a susceptibility to believing in and accepting the model minority myth. 4 In order to understand the current fight for Asian American visibility, it is essential to address how the media portrays, erases, distorts, and shapes the image of Asian Americans and the way that political leadership presents Asian American identity in public discourse with respect to the process of contesting power. The media reinforces stereotypes of Asian Americans by portraying them as foreigners who cannot assimilate, immigrants who “take” from the U.S. without giving back, the flawless model minority with no humanity, Asians occupying restricted clichéd professions and are limited to supporting roles, Asian males with negative or nonexistent sexuality, and highly exoticized and subservient Asian females (Media Action Network for Asian Americans, n.d.). In order to understand this seemingly drastic shift of Asian Americans from yellow peril to model minority, one must critically examine and evaluate how the media and political leadership strategically influences these hegemonic narratives. While myths may hold some truth, their origins are often rooted in complicated histories with unintended consequences. Over time, the perpetuation of these hegemonic narratives and myths draws its strength from belief. The model minority myth is no different in that it has a complex history in the United States. Its meaning and impact on individuals of the Asian American community are vast, dynamic, and ever changing. The internalization of the expectation that one can be a model of success by working hard, climbing up the socioeconomic ladder, maintaining traditional cultural and familial values, while remaining politically invisible and seen as a perpetual foreigner has implications for the larger Asian American community. This paper will discuss the implications of the model minority myth on Asian Americans and their perceptions of self and others, identity formation, racism and discrimination, mental health, help-seeking behaviors, and barriers to accessing culturally sensitive resources. 5 CHAPTER II Literature Review Introduction From “hard working, studious, unassuming, and thrifty” to “inscrutable, sneaky, and competitive” (Naito, 1997), perceptions of Asian Americans continue to shift as they always have throughout the course of history in the United States. Asian Americans are believed to be able to overcome their status as minorities to achieve success by working hard, studying and achieving in higher education, and saving and sacrificing for the future. However, this present hegemonic narrative and seemingly positive stereotype of Asian Americans cannot be discussed in public discourse about race without also discussing how Asian Americans have also been perceived as the yellow peril: “military, cultural, or economic enemies and unfair competitors for education and jobs” (Naito, 1997, p. 72). By "Asian American" I will be referring to individuals of Asian descent who live in the United States, regardless of their citizenship status. The 2010 Census Bureau defines “Asian American/Pacific Islander” as including persons from over sixteen nations of origin and ethnic groups and over twenty Pacific Island cultures. I use "Asian American," rather than "Asian Pacific American" or "Asian American/Pacific Islander," not to exclude those from Pacific Island cultures, but because of the continual evolution of the language used to describe this highly heterogeneous group. I also include in my usage of “Asian American” those from 6 multiracial and multiethnic heritage who may not be included in the government's definition of "Asian American/Pacific Islander." The model minority stereotype has been used to purport a story of Asian Americans as a model of success in the discourse about ethnic and racial minorities, but in fact has deeper implications for the Asian American psyche and beliefs about self in society. The model minority myth has many repercussions: it dismisses the reality of racial prejudice and discrimination, leads to the erasure and loss of repressed Asian American histories and identities, silences and makes invisible disenfranchised grief which may present as traumatic grief that is unresolved and transmitted across generations, and shapes identity and emotional distress (Tummala-Narra, 2016, p. 20). This literature review highlights the importance of understanding the concepts such as internalized racism, racial trauma, and immigration trauma when working with the Asian American population. The purpose of this study was to explore Asian American beliefs and experiences related to the model minority stereotype and other forms of racial prejudice, discrimination, and bias. It also studied their attitudes towards the current system of mental health services, particularly psychotherapy, and their ideas about how these services can be adapted to become more culturally sensitive and improve rates of access and retention in treatment. This study aimed to answer the following research question: How does the internalization of the model minority myth impact Asian American mental health and attitudes towards help-seeking behaviors? My research study aimed to provide cultural validity by addressing the limitations of treating all Asian Americans as the same and by focusing on a small subgroup of Asian Americans as the research population. For the purpose of this study, aspects of the model minority myth and Asian American mental health will be distinguished and discussed: (1) Asian Americans, (2) The 7 Model Minority Myth, (3) The Yellow Peril, (4) Anti-Asian Racism and Discrimination, (5) Asian Cultures and Traditional Values, (6) Asian American Mental Health, and (7) Culturally Sensitive Treatment.