What is the Asian American Dream?
Escaping the social, economic, and political hardships to achieve a level of prosperity and success impossible in their homeland
What is the Problem With It?
There is a complex balance for young Asian-Americans to find. They need to find a balance between assimilating into American culture while maintaining their roots well enough to please their parents.
We’ve also seen the fight against affirmative action, with Asian immigrants unfortunately leading the charge. Asians whose families have only spanned one or two generations are typically the ones who are against it, claiming it favors Black students over Asians. That sounds fucked up. The top five Asian immigrant groups in the US -- Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and Koreans -- are more likely to have a college degree than blacks, and all except Vietnamese are more likely than whites. Asian immigrants have sabotaged the chances of social mobility for Black students to achieve their own.
The Asian American Dream is one that causes us to pit ourselves against other minority groups. I’ve heard Asian parents say that they’ve worked harder than anyone else, that they’ve struggled more than anyone else. And maybe they have. But when you are willing to undermine other people and communities to reach your hopes and dreams, you’re crushing someone else’s.
Today we’re talking about the Asian-American Dream, the only thing to break an Asian child’s self-esteem quicker than a plastic slipper. Whether you’re Asian or not, you’ve probably heard the stereotype. Asian immigrant parents force their kids to pursue their academics aggressively and eventually become a well-earning career— usually a doctor, engineer, etc. All the while, they enforce the BFF rule: no breaks, no fun, no friends.
Every single conversation I had with my dad was always about finding a better life in America. It was still about “how much better we had it” or how “we’ll never understand how rough he had it.” No matter how it started, it always ended the same way— he brought us to America to achieve a level of prosperity and success that was impossible in his homeland.
Despite being praised today for producing successful children, its origins told a different story. Asian immigrants first came in steady flow during the Gold Rush era in hopes of achieving prosperity. The Chinese immigrant population quickly became a crucial part of the US workforce. By 1870, Chinese workers made up 20 percent of California’s labor force.
However, despite being contracted for cheap labor from southern China, the Chinese-American population quickly faced anti-Chinese sentiment. Those affected by the depression of 1876 began accusing Chinese immigrants of taking away their jobs. This negative opinion eventually prompted Congress to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1883, a law that made immigration and naturalization almost impossible for the Chinese.
In the late nineteenth century, Chinese immigrants were replaced with immigrants from Japan, Korea, and India, as Americans still wanted cheap progress. However, as before, anti-Asian sentiment quickly arose. Around this time, however, the United States government wanted to pave the way for technological advancement. The outcome was a piece of legislation that encouraged foreign-born engineers, doctors, and scientists to immigrate to America.
Along with introducing the model minority myth, the Asian-American Dream solidified into an expectation for Asian-American youth. And yet, like all dreams, it’s not real. For instance, the Asian-American Dream meant becoming an American. Being something “non-American” meant facing hate, discrimination, a lack of opportunity. To be successful, you had to become something you’re not. Whether it’d be learning English, having a pronounceable name, or eating “American” food, Asian-Americans like me had to sacrifice our culture for conformity.
For my Asian-Americans out there, you remember the “Lunchbox Moment”? That moment when you pulled out your cultural cuisine only to receive looks and sounds of disgust or confusion from your classmates. For me, everyone else enjoyed their Lunchables and Subway, while I quietly nibbled at my leftover fermented fish and A-Choy with rice. While I was fortunate to have my city eventually become an Asian-majority city, others weren’t so lucky.
To make matters worse, every attempt at becoming more American was met with backlash from my parents. Even though becoming more “American” was necessary to succeed, they tried their best to instill what little Chinese culture they could within me. There was a complex balance to find. I had to find a balance between assimilating into American culture while maintaining my roots well enough to please my parents.
And there will always be a looming pressure to succeed in this society. But for Asian immigrant parents, especially mine, success meant college, then some well-paying job like a doctor, lawyer, etc. To Asian immigrant parents, the most significant thing was financial stability— the kind they could never have as a child. While I can’t speak for every Asian immigrant parent, I know that some of that pressure resides in every Asian parent’s heart.
And sometimes, some parents are willing to do anything they can to resolve that pressure. Take, for example, the fight against affirmative action. For context, affirmative action is a set of laws and policies to help prevent racial discrimination, especially in college admissions. Earlier in 2019, Harvard was sued by Students for Fair Admissions. SFA claimed that Harvard discriminates against Asian applicants by holding them to a higher academic standard, resulting in lower ratings and a lower admission rate. Their solution was to ban the consideration of race and ethnicity altogether.
However, the case fails to acknowledge that not all non-white groups suffer the same. To say that Asian-Americans suffer an immense amount of discrimination in academics would be inaccurate. The top five Asian immigrant groups in the US -- Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and Koreans -- are more likely to have a college degree than blacks, and all except Vietnamese are more likely than whites.
Affirmative action was created to help historically excluded groups gain access to education and employment. It was never made for Asian-Americans, and yet we continue to misunderstand. And to think that Asian-Americans were willing to take it down just to win a few more admission spots for Harvard is something grotesque. Because there were probably other people who didn’t get into Harvard, they were probably just as discriminated against, or even more than, Asian-Americans. And you know what they did? They moved on with their lives.
Ultimately, every step of the Asian-American Dream has hurt us and others. As Asian parents further divide themselves from their children, they also pit themselves against other marginalized groups. The Asian-American Dream was meant to be a hope for the future. A hope that meant bridging the gap in a society where merit was all that was needed. And yet, that “dream” has only deepened the divide between us.
I’ve heard Asian parents say that they’ve worked harder than anyone else, that they’ve struggled more than anyone else. And maybe they have. But when you are willing to undermine other people to reach your hopes and dreams, you’re crushing someone else’s. In a way, you’ve truly become an American. You just happen to be the worst kind.
But, this “Asian-American Dream” doesn’t have to be this way. We have the power to change this nightmarish thing we’ve created. A dream of empathy, understanding, and community uplift— these are the things that build us up, instead of tearing us down. In the end, it really comes down to us to make this dream a reality.
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Written by Isaac L. from Irvine, California
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