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Well, as someone not asian from the outside looking in...</p>
<p>I have noticed the societal pressures Asians are under. In fact my friends, and myself included, are literally dumbfounded when we see an asian who is bad at math. The sad thing is Asians are often divided into two categories, Asians, who have the 4.0, perfect SAT, dominate in math, play tennis and piano or violin, and dumb Asians, who are really just normal people who dont fit the stereotype.</p>
<p>I've watched as throughout school my Asian peers have either chosen to work themselves to death the live up to the expectation, or to completely not try at all so that they dont risk failure. </p>
<p>Asians and African Americans are very much in similar situations, just in reverse. However, this Asian stereotype is often beneficial to their success, despite the drawbacks.
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<p>Thanks for sharing your thoughts Tyler.</p>
<p>It made me think that I was having this sort of discussion at a Black Interest forum. One Black person (a PhD in engineering) was saying that Blacks could do great if they could be just like Asians. The Black PhD was praising endlessly about how Asians are just so perfect in everything and are absolutely flawless. he would give a laundry list of how Asians are just perfect: they're intelligent, well-educated, have degrees from the most elite universities, and are very wealthy. He says that if Blacks are to survive in society, they should embrace Chinese/Korean values.</p>
<p>I commented on how superficially, East Asians are seen as a model minority, but that despite the image of Asians as the super-smart Ivy League overachiever, we Asians have our share of problems. I pointed to the not just the parental expectations, but also the societal pressures of living up to the overachieving model minority image because that's the only way we're accepted in society. Society only accepts us if we're intellectually and academically superior -- we don't have a right to be ourselves because we must conform to the overachieving model minority expectations that society places on us.</p>
<p>I also talked about some of the problems Asians have face, particularly with the rise of mental health problems, depression, suicide attempts, etc. That Black PhD person then completely lashed out at me. He was yelling at me, accusing me of being patronizing. He says how pathetic I am that I worry about the mental health problems of Chinese people. He says that I'm utterly pathetic and that it's my own damn fault that I couldn't handle pressure from my parents and society and that he says that I don't deserve sympathy for not living up to the model minority.</p>
<p>The Black person says that I should be grateful if the only problems I face in life are trying to overachieve to live up to the model minority stereotype. The Black PhD talks about how he lived in poverty most of his life and he says trying surviving when you're "living in the ghettos" and you have family members who are drug users. He tells me that Blacks have all these problems and he says that I have some nerve to whine about having to live up to societal and parental expectations of the Asian overachiever...</p>
<p>The Black PhD says that he "wishes" he would have the pressure of living up to high expectations. Because he points out that sometimes people having high expectations of you gives you an incentive to work hard. HE says that many Asians have the incentive to work hard because society expects them to; he wishes Blacks had that same high expectations placed upon them.</p>
<p>The Black PhD tells me that if your worried about your mental health and whether you'll get depression or anxiety because of pressures to get good grades and attend top universities, you should feel utterly lucky. He pointedly tells me that I should try worrying about living in the ghetto and just having enough food to eat each day....</p>
<p>In many respects, I guess what the Black PhD is telling me is the truth. Many East Asians I know believe that it's worth it to sacrifice your mental health and personal happiness if it means high achievement -- top grades and prestigious universities. East Asians believe that these sacrifices are worth it. Mental health is a psychological thing....</p>