Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Asian Americans, the Spelling Bee and the myth of the "model minority..."

When Snigdha Nandipati became the fifth consecutive Indian American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee last month, the 14-year-old did it by successfully spelling out “guetapens,’’ a French-derived word that means trap or snare.

In fact, Nandipati is the 10th Indian American to nab the title in the last 14 years. What a model minority, right?

Ah, don’t fall into the guetapens.

 The myth of the “model minority,” typically applied to Asian Americans (including Indian Americans), is a fiction that reinforces a single stereotype of an extraordinarily diverse community. This myth falsely suggests that Asian Americans have overcome the same challenges other communities of color have failed to surmount and ignores the history of selective immigration and the significant number of Asian Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Why do Indian kids dominate the US Spelling Bee?
  2. Indian kid wins US National Spelling Bee 2012...
  3. Asians 42 times more likely to be held under terror law...
  4. Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice...
  5. Incarcerated Childhood: US kids prosecuted as adults...
  6. A non-Muslim white girl puts on a hijab and walks into a mall...

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