(Please donโt repost or edit my work. Reblogs are always appreciated) The โModel Minorityโ concept is a racist lie that flattens the experiences of Asian-Americans into a monolith in order to conceal our struggles and put a cap on our successes. Itโs so ingrained that many are unaware theyโre perpetuating it. Throughout history, anti-Asianness has been written into American policyโthe Chinese Exclusion Act, Alien Land Laws, Filipino Repatriation Act, Japanese internment camps, etc.โand continues today, with targeted deportations of Southeast Asians and continuous conflicts abroad in Asia. While the methods differ, the domestic treatment of Asian-Americans and foreign policy towards Asians abroad has the same goal: to exploit Asian labor and resources while stripping us of our voice. Ultimately, Asianness means experiencing white supremacist harm no matter where you live. Usually, when people say Asian-Americans have โAsian privilege,โ 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. So when discussing the privileges Asians might have, it is important to be specific and not inadvertently perpetuate a white supremacist narrative that harms Asians (and other people of color) by suggesting that Asianness has been anything but vilified domestically and abroad.
