 If Asians are truly the model minority in America, then how come more people don't try to be like Asians? This is a different perspective on the model minority myth that maybe you haven't heard before. Yeah, I came across an interesting post that sort of like reframed the model minority myth in a new way, Andrew, that I had never seen before. So by the way, guys, you are not gonna find this discussion in your Asian American Studies 101 class or anything like that. So make sure you like, subscribe and turn your notifications, Andrew. This was a more social framing. He said, a model by definition is an example of imitation or emulation. But now ask yourself this, who exactly out there is trying to copy stereotypical Asian traits? Conservatives might love to talk about how hard-working Asians are, but do they put their kids through the same treatment? No. Do their kids want to be a stereotypical Asian? No. Instead, stereotypical Asians are made fun of and bullied by other children, despite having all the good stereotypical traits that people say are good. Hey, guys, we didn't really ask for this title, but it sounds sort of positive. Thanks for calling us the model minorities. I was just wondering, what do we get for it? Well, there's no bonus, but you just get whatever you earn. Okay, so like, do we get extra safety? The safety is completely up to you. Do we get like cool, proper representation in the media? No, it'll slowly get better over time, but no. Okay, so I guess if we do a good job, are you gonna promote us to like, you know, higher positions in companies? Well, there are some questions about your overall loyalty, trustworthiness, likability, and leadership skills. So we'd more prefer to keep you in the middle and upper middle. Wait, so how are people gonna wanna become like us? Well, what we meant is you guys are just the ideal cogs in the machine. Oh, what? Yeah, that's really how it feels like. I think I feel like, and we're gonna get into the quick history about where the term model minority actually came from in 1966, but it felt like they're really calling us the model cogs of America. Right. The model cogs of the system. The model workers, the model, not necessarily model minority, just model just, yeah. The model like anybody, yeah. The model like capitalistic system runner. Clearly not model human. Yeah. Because you don't model yourself after us. Well, real quick, in 1966, Andrew, this guy, William Peterson, he wrote this article in the New York Times, and that's where the term model minority got coined. A lot of people don't know this, Andrew. He actually was only talking about Japanese-Americans in 1966. He was not actually talking about all other Asians. Even, of course, most Asians came after 1966, whether it was the Hard Cellar Act, Southeast Asian refugees, but he did say some interesting things about Japanese people that still, I guess, hold true to the overall overarching stereotype and how it ended up being used nowadays. He said that the Japanese, they like to study a lot of STEM subjects and they kind of stay away from useless liberal arts school degrees. He also said they have some sort of samurai Confucianism that allows them to beat every barrier that America puts in front of them. But those barriers were unfair, you know, but the World War II thing was kind of 50-50. And he also predicts, Andrew, that Chinese were next up on the block in 1966 to potentially get interned. Yeah. I mean, I think that we got to talk about the reaction of the internet in different comments and we'll respond to them and kind of give our takeaways because I truly think that overall, I think the term model minority, it obviously doesn't ring true for most Asians. It probably should not be used. I don't think people should use it because it doesn't mean anything now. Yeah, it does not mean anything. It's never been good. I think Asians still keep striving for whatever they're striving for and working hard. But in terms of that term, dead that term. Yeah. Anyway, let's get into this comments. Somebody said, you know, there's just way too much mixed messaging. Yeah, everybody tells everybody to be like the Asians, but then the Asians are also viewed by larger society as dorky, weak, loveless, easily ridiculed and potentially traitorous on a geopolitical level. But then you tell people to be like them because they keep their families together. You know what's funny is like, I don't think there's ever been a campaign of like some signs like people marched and said, be like the Asians, be no, like no one said that. You know, they just say model minority because it sounds, I guess, like a positive thing. It's not, but people would just say that, but there was no plan to make people more like us. Yeah, I always hear people, whether it was like my white friends or my black friends always say stuff like, oh man, Asians are clean, but it felt like they're gonna stop taking off their shoes when they walk in their house. I kind of compare it. I don't know if this is a perfect comparison, but like to be like Mormons, you know how like Mormons maybe have like low divorce rates and somehow they're able to take care of like all, let's just say they have like five or seven kids. Mormons are typically known as nice people. Yeah, they got good like human development index metrics too, but if you ask somebody, hey guys, Mormons got great metrics on average or median in their community, you guys wanna be like them? Hell no, I don't wanna be Mormon. Yeah, we're just the model cog, model student. So somebody said, yeah, we're just the best cogs and the cogs, they don't cause problems and they work like robots and that is exactly what the system of capitalism needs in America and of course, white people are at the top of the system of capitalism. So why would they want to go against their best workers? Yeah, model cogs in capitalism, unfortunately. Somebody said, but yeah, being a cool cog doesn't mean that you're actually cool pop culturally because America is a country that really values badass, edgy people that in behaviors, I guess that Asians traditionally in Asia view as like degenerate. Yeah, yeah, I feel like, you know, it's kind of like in Star Trek, everybody thinks Captain Kirk is cool because he sits in the chair and he's like cool and he's like better looking. He gets with all the alien women. Yeah, yeah, and he's like the alpha guy, he makes the final decision and then all Asians are like, yeah, we need like, we need Spock, but Spock needs to stay Spock. I actually think there was two Asians in Star Wars, Sulu was always like shook. He was scared of everything even though he was smart and then Spock was like super smart and he knew everything, but he was just like didn't feel like a human because obviously he was half Vulcan. Yeah, I feel like that's the peak of Asians is basically being a Vulcan in Star Trek. Yeah, I mean, I don't know, American culture, I don't know if it changed since 1966, but it is what it is. Somebody just said, you know, coolness never gets measured in the hard government stats when they're measuring certain things. So that's just the one thing about being cool. Yeah, and it never gets like measured on a quantitative level. And I feel like by being cool, we also mean it relates to being happy and having a good life, having fun. Because here's the thing, the definition about model minority, whatever you think the definition is, none of it has to do with living a good life. Tons of Asians who have achieved a lot formally as far as like education-wise and job-wise and financially, you could pull them and a lot of them would be like, yeah, I didn't really like have a comfortable childhood. I didn't really like growing up. I was depressed for a while and yeah, but I guess now I have things. Obviously, yeah, this is not 100 out of 100 at all, but I would say in the Asian-American community, even amongst high achievers, there may be an abnormally high rate of like, I don't know, resentment from childhood or something like that. Dude, whether it's depression, a high stress or not feeling like you belong in America, all those things rank high for Asians. Yeah, because there was actually this study that came out, Andrew, it was kind of like, I guess I don't want to say like a woke study, but they were trying to say, yeah, there's no way the model minority myth is true because it shows that a lot of people are dissatisfied with their lives when they get older. But the truth is Andrew, to the 1966 definition, obviously they were not taking coolness or a good life into consideration at all. So I guess this kind of brings us back to our takeaways, Andrew. What is this term? Is this term good? Is it bad? I've only been taught that the term is a myth and bad, and I totally understand now why after looking into the history of it, because Asians got way more diverse in terms of the whole spectrum after 1966. It wasn't just Japanese-Americans anymore, and there's still a portion of Asians that theoretically fit into the model minority myth, but there's people all across the spectrum now. Yeah, I think everybody knows that the model minority, even if it's like a real term, it doesn't apply to all Asians because we have a diverse range of Asians in America now. It might apply more so to a small group, like a smaller group of it, like educated middle class, like these Asians, I don't know, maybe it applies more to them. But I think overall it's not, I don't want to pretend and say like, oh, it's the most poisonous term, like it made Asians, like it held Asians back. I'm like, I don't personally think so. I don't think people should use it, but as Asians, you just have to take responsibility and admit that enough Asians fit into it and that's why it lasted. But we need to break it down now. Yeah, but I do think it's reductive and that I don't think a lot of people want to be considered a model minority because it also kind of indicates that maybe you're really viewed as really uncool in American pop culture and you're what people like to call a square or a lane. Yeah. I guess like, why does it always seem like American culture fluctuates between embracing toxic male masculinity where you just do whatever you want? I guess sort of like a Trump archetype and then you're like docile and weak and like lipid almost like a Jimmy Carter archetype. Yeah. And of course there's people in the middle like Obama or something like that, but then like those are the two ends that like the framing of your group behavior is just like fluctuates between. I mean, I guess there just needs to be more models for like a different way to do things. I guess, you know, some people point at beast from X-Men. He's a doctor, but he's also one of the most quickest and athletic X-Men, right? It would be like, that would be like if a computer programmer at Google also looked like Mike Chang from Six Pack Shortcuts. Which there are. That exists. Well, it's a growing archetype, I see. Yeah, I think there's a lot of nerds hitting the gym. A lot of Asian guys are still nerds and Asian women are still like nerdy people, but they're fit and they can, you know, maybe defend themselves or whatever. So you're kind of taking away one of the weak stereotypes of being a model minority. Now you might still fit into it kind of like, you know, I guess we all talk about Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lin, as many stereotypes as he broke, you could say he also fit into some stereotypes being a Harvard grad, you know, playing dough. He wasn't like a super wild dude or anything. Yeah, he was like very, very conservative actually in the way he lived his life. But a great basketball player and very athletic, you know, as he played when he played. So it's like, kind of like, I guess there just needs to be more, I guess, modeling. I guess like that, you know? Yeah, I guess the one thing I would say, and because I always like think of what dad used to say, Andrew, you know, growing up dad would be like, just go to school, study hard, get a good job, get your accolades in the academic world. What does it mean to be cool? In America, you just be bad and you will be cool. I don't like that. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's an American culture type thing where I guess in a, if you were hypothetically, you needed to use the term model minority and you needed to keep calling Asians model minority, you need to reward Asians more. You gotta give us more. You gotta make us look cooler. Cause how, this is, it's a horrible marketing plan. If you're like, yeah, everybody, Asians are great, right? Be like the Asians and then just give the Asians nothing. Yeah. Just make us uncool, pick on us. Don't give us any sort of bump in the business world. Don't promote us. Don't do nothing, right? And by the way, guys, we are talking about very macro things. Your own individual life may or may not fit into this, but I'm sure if you think about society at large, you probably get what we're talking about. Anyway, let us know what you think in the comment section below. I think a lot of these things Andrew, the truth is Andrew, they don't really have a clear answer. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, does the change just come within Asians, but then Asians have no leaders or they're unified? I don't know. I guess what should Asians do guys? I don't- Do they need to act like an ideal, unmodeled minority to break the stereotype or does that not gonna break the stereotype cause there's still gonna be people confirming it or what? I guess be a sporty, athletic, martial arts, stem nerd still at least. I don't know. Is that a solution? Like, does everybody need to do that? Do you let me know in the comments down below? Thank you. Oh, ran out of breath. Thank you everybody for watching the hot pop boys and until next time, we out. Peace.