My BIL (white) was shopping w his wife (asian-american) when a stranger accosted him out of the blue to ask him if he thought China was a military threat to the US.
While this is true among some of the larger groups of immigrants (e.g. Chinese, 50% with bachelor’s degree, and Indians, 70% with bachelor’s degree), it is not true for all groups of immigrants (e.g. Mexican, 6% with bachelor’s degree, Cambodian, 7% with bachelor’s degree, and Vietnamese, 23% with bachelor’s degree).
African immigrants in america are the highest educated group. Surpassing whites, east asians and south asians.
It is generally true that many more of the recent Chinese/East Indian immigrants to the US in the past 20 year are college educated compared to their predecessors who immigrated to the US at least more than 50 years ago. Further, it is true that these recent immigrants represent a small percentage of college educated people in their native country.
However, many of the earlier Chinese immigrants, of the 1960’s and prior, were not college or even high school educated. Remember, for the first 50 to 60 years during the 20th century, there were great turmoil and instability in China (poverty, famine, WWI, WWII, corruption, imperialism, etc.). Many people in China lived impoverished and arduous lives. They wanted to get out of China. For those who were fortunate enough to immigrate to the US or even to Canada, they experienced hardship and discrimination in the US. Most early Chinese immigrants to the US worked in low paying jobs, including very long hours, in hoping to provide a better life for their children. Many of these children were able to complete college (even in prestigious universities) to became doctors, lawyers, educators, accountants, engineers, etc. The children of these earlier Chinese immigrants worked hard and achieved prosperity. This is a reason they are thought of as the “model” immigrant or minority. Subsequently, as the immigration laws became more lax, some of the criminal and bad elements were able to come to the US. That is why the “model” immigrant/minority is a fallacy. What is true is that even though these early Chinese immigrants did not attend college or high school, they knew that hard work and education were the way to get out of poverty. Today, many of their children are US born and are working professionals moving toward the twilight of their careers.
China has EIGHT nobel laureates. The United States has 356. Russian has 27. I think the advantage is more myth than fact. There are smart people everywhere. Just because a quarter of a percent of the whole Chinese population who is smart resides in the US doesn’t mean there is any advantage to their brain.
The number of immigrants from China to the US during that period was very small, due to US laws prohibiting immigration from China during that period. However, there were certainly descendents of pre-1880s Chinese immigrants in the US.
True, due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws, Chinese population in the US was small during the first half of the 20th century. In the 1950’s, the Chinese population in the US was greater than 117K, which was more than the Chinese population during the turn of the century. By the 1960’s the Chinese population in the US exceeded 200K, which more than doubled the Chinese population in the early 1900’s. Many of these Chinese were in California. By the 1970’s, UC Berkeley’s Asian enrollment was at least around 25%, with many of that segment Chinese. These Chinese were descendants from the Chinese immigrants of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The point is that the percentage of Chinese student at a renown university such as UC Berkeley was much higher than the percentage of the Chinese population in California. The Chinese got there by hard work and overcoming hardship and adversity.
I was writing late last night and have another point to make. My other point is that the Chinese immigrants of the 1950’s and 1960’s were the ones that were the first to be considered the “model” minority. This 2nd wave of Chinese immigrants came to the US in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This 2nd wave was generally uneducated and were manual laborers in China or very unsophisticated. They had to overcome a lot of obstacles and adversities, both, in China and in the US. They experienced a lot of hardships in China (mentioned in my previous posts) and again in settling in the US (encountered discriminations such not allowed to own real estate, barred from certain professions, etc. and other hardship mentioned in my previous post). Many of the descendants of the 1950’s and 1960’s Chinese immigrants went and finished college. The percentage of college graduates of this group (the descendants) was a much higher percentage than any other groups, including whites.
These Chinese descendants (generally many born in the US) from the 2nd wave, finished college during the late 1960’s thru the early 1980’s (shortly before the 3rd wave of Chinese immigrants to the US who were highly educated and in many cases had college degrees from overseas). However, most of the descendants of the 2nd wave went to college to become doctors, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, lawyers, accountants/CPAs, engineers or other profession which one can open his/her own business without having to work for a business where discrimination was subtle though not as open or blatant as in the 1960’s and prior. This group (the 2nd wave and their descendants) was the true “model” minority because, in general, they were not outspoken and kept quite. The criminal element, i.e., the gangs, rarely existed in this group. You do not hear much from this group because many did not get into politics and they just want to assimilate into the American culture to pursue the “American Dream”.
The 2nd wave of Chinese immigrants also had one big disadvantage compared to the 3rd wave of Chinese immigrants. The 2nd wave had to overcome more adversity and obstacles. In general, they work long laborious hours to put their children through college. For many, it was their lifetime savings sacrificed for their children’s college education. The 3rd wave of Chinese immigrants had an advantage which was the fact that many had college degrees from overseas and though they might still face subtle discrimination in their employment, many had high income compared to the 2nd wave in supporting their children through college. In addition, this was a time of a changing world where China was becoming a major participant in the “world or global economy”. Many of the 3rd wave benefited from being able to converse in speaking Chinese Mandarin. The 2nd wave and their offspring were primarily Chinese Cantonese speaking and many of the descendants did not speak the business Cantonese language. However, the offspring of both the 2nd and 3rd wave of Chinese immigrants highly valued education as a means to chase the American Dream. Also, as someone inferred in a previous post, when one is surrounded by highly educated people, one tends to be like them.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act gave immigration preference to both family unification (of close relations) and skilled workers. Since the existing Chinese American population had been in the US for a few generations, it is unlikely that new immigrants from China in 1965 (your “second wave”) included that many close relations of existing Chinese Americans, so that new immigrants from China in 1965 probably mostly came in the skilled worker categories (though they later brought in their family members). It is likely their kids that made up the increased Chinese American enrollment in US universities in the 1980s – in other words, the selection in favor of highly educated immigrants started taking effect as soon as more than a trickle of Chinese immigration to the US was allowed again in 1965.
http://www.asian-nation.org/1965-immigration-act.shtml
Also, note that the decision to immigrate to a distant unfamiliar country is itself a selector for highly motivated people (more so back then when most people took long journey by ship and the flow of information about potential destinations was far lower).
Thanks for the above link.
The segment of the 2nd wave I was primarily referring to above was the close relationships/relatives of the original Chinese immigrants who were already settled in US prior to the 1950’s. The original Chinese immigrants in the US were mostly men from the Canton region (now called Guangzhou) and subsequently, when the immigration laws became more lax, brought their spouses to the US. These close relationships/relatives emigrated, generally from Canton, to the US, primarily CA. Both the original and the close relation/relative immigrants were Cantonese language speaking, which was vastly different in tone from the Mandarin speaking language. The majority of these original Chinese immigrants and their close relationships/relatives did not have much education and most lived impoverished lives prior to emigrating to the US. Generally, they came from impoverished areas devastated by the Opium War, conflicts, famines, droughts, floods, rebellions, civil disorders, government corruption, etc. In other words, China was in turmoil in the 19th century and at least the first half of the 20th century. The Canton area was especially effected by these events. Many Chinese from this region left for the US to seek better lives. The offspring, of these unskilled original immigrants and their close relations/relatives, were born in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Many of them finished college in the late 60’s thru the early 80’s to get into the professions I mentioned previously above. This is the group (the early immigrants and their close relations/relationships) I am referring to as the first model immigrant/minority. Many of the next group of immigrants (I referred as the 3rd wave) beginning in the 1980’s, were Mandarin speaking Chinese and highly educated and in many cases, college educated. Both groups have the same high value for education as a means to further one’s well being.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-two-asian-americas
“In the eyes of some, Asians in America are, Lee writes, “perpetual foreigners at worst, or probationary Americans at best.” If Asians sometimes remain silent in the face of racism, and if some seem to work unusually hard in the face of this difficult history, it is not because they want to be part of a “model minority” but because they have often had no other choice.”
Interesting artiicle. Thanks for the post.
Among the three weak nations as allies then, people in Taiwan could be considered as the luckiest. I read from elsewhere that the poeple in Philippines sufferred greatly at one time (around 1900) when that country was oppressed as the US’s colony due to its “following the sun”, “going west” imperialism back then.
South Koreans had their shares of suffering because of the new powers acquired by earlier industrialization by western worlds (mostly Russia) and Japan, and later due to the major conflict between the western world (the “democracy” side) and the communists.
Relatively speaking, Taiwan sufferred by being colonized by Japan in a milder form (at least no disaster like the Korean War.) Also, by luck, the US decided to not to fight against Japan on the ground of Taiwan during WWII. The US’s seven fleet protected this country for quite many decades, and the US generously opened its market to the allied countries like Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, etc., You could not get luckier than this!
Taiwan did have its share of humiliation when the US, because of its “business/national interests” after the Cold War, together with Japan, decided to abandon this long time ally. The “baddest” enemy country could all of a sudden become a friend or one of the favored trade partners, when the mutual business/national interest becomes apparent. Getting off the high chair of high morale or idealistic lecturing; at the end of the day, it all comes down to the national interests. Money talks.
The following is an interesting part from the link posted above.
"Then the fate of Asian-Americans began to turn. The Cold War remapped dynamics between nations. Taiwan, the Philippines, and South Korea, considered weak nations, were now allies. Their citizens couldn’t be targeted by official policy in the same way. The civil-rights movement, meanwhile, took on open racism, including that faced by Asians. Still, when Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, dismantling racial quotas and allowing skills- and family-based immigration, he didn’t do so to help Asians; rather, Greeks and Poles and Italians had cried foul about the larger immigrant quotas for Northern Europeans, and those cries had been heard. Johnson, not known for his modesty, cautioned that it was “not a revolutionary bill” and would “not affect the lives of millions.”
Sometimes, I think Asian-Americans should be thankful to the African Americans (not so much to the whites) for the gain of their status or “better treatment” in this country when the Asian Americans as a group were weak in every aspect in this country – well, they are still relatively weak as of Today.) Because of the sweat and blood of African Americans’ suffering/fight prior to and during the civil right movement, Asian Americans got a free ride for their betterment of their life in the US.
It is usually the case that whoever has the interest won’t give it up voluntarily.
Suppose that this is the case. An interesting question is that, once these immigrants have been in the US, do they still face implicit or explicit discrimination (say, at work place or in some more elite parts of neighborhood) OUTSIDE the college admission where there is affirmative action to give them some unjustified/unnecessary boost?
@mcat2 I don’t think the Taiwanese living under the white terror imposed by the kmt would consider themselves lucky. Nor the many political prisoners tortured and killed, nor those murdered on 228. Taiwanese didn’t have any real political freedom until the late 1980s when martial law finally ended. Though I agree that economically they were better off than most.
I think black immigrants face much of the same discrimination and other issues black Americans face. With the main difference being relative wealth, which provides a little insulation.
This is is how black immigrants perceive the issues faced by African-Americans.
http://www.theglobalist.com/african-americans-african-immigrants-differ/
Many Chinese mainlanders look longingly at the freedoms now enjoyed by the people in Taiwan and wonder how their lives might have been if their parents or grandparents had made the trip to Taiwan during the end of the revolution. I certainly am thankful my grandparents made that fateful decision to escape and enjoy what we have today.
““In the eyes of some, Asians in America are, Lee writes, “perpetual foreigners at worst, or probationary Americans at best.” If Asians sometimes remain silent in the face of racism, and if some seem to work unusually hard in the face of this difficult history, it is not because they want to be part of a “model minority” but because they have often had no other choice.””
Those “some” are the uneducated yee-haws that still populate some parts of this country – not the educated upper middle and upper classes. Those “some” who are treating Asian-Americans poorly are treating African-Americans just as poorly, Hispanics just as poorly, etc.
Go ahead, and ask the average white person would they rather their child …
- Go to a college with a large % of African-Americans or a large % of Asian-Americans
- Room with an African-American or an Asian-American (in the absence of any other info about the roommate)
- Date / marry an African-American or an Asian-American
- Move to a new city and take up residence in a neighborhood with a lot of African-Americans or a lot of Asian-Americans
I think you’d be hard-pressed to find too many “average” white people who wouldn’t answer Asian-American over African-American in these situations.
One can not make sweeping conclusions about blacks and their perceptions from a posting of an op ed piece from the conservative publication the Globalist