The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority

The essay “The harmful myth of Asian superiority” covers the problems faced by the Asian immigrants to America. The myth’s statement about how successful the Asian Americans are in the region makes some experts and politicians wonder, why the African Americans cannot   undergo such achievement. This myth sees the Asian Americans as successful in every department including business and office works. However, this is not the case. As Ronald Takaki, the author of the essay discusses, the Asian Americans do not have such success as they got termed to have. Most of them face extreme difficulties in their lifetimes, and the few who are successful read more and work more.

The author was not happy with the misconception that was there about how the Asian Americans lived a better life. This is because such myth leads to the fact that African Americans resent to the Asian Americans. It made the African Americans blame the Asian Americans for their problems, rather than the racism and an economy which influenced the young African Americans employees to be superfluous. The author wrote the essay to try and make the world see that the Asian Americans were facing a lot of problems. He tried to reduce the amount of resentment that the Asian Americans were experiencing from the other immigrants. The writer’s main objective was to educate the Asians in their countries who were willing to travel abroad. The misconception of life in America for the Asians was an influence on other Asians to leave their home ground for America. He wants the youth aspiring to leave for America in search of greener pastures to know that putting up life in America was not as easy and successful. The media made it appear to be easy.

In writing this easy, the author intends to reach the Asian in their home countries. The author wants the Asians to see that fleeing to America does not always lead to having a better life. This is pure speculations from the media who makes the Asians in America seem to be leading a comfortable life while they are struggling. To make an emphasis on this, the writer writes that the most Asians live in California, Hawaii and New York. These are the cities to have higher costs of living than the national side. The writer goes ahead and gives an example of a Chinese man who says that living in America is not easy for him. “Most immigrants coming into Chinatown who have a language barrier do not have the ability to go outside this confined area and into the mainstream of American industry,” an interviewed Chinese immigrant said. However, this article seems to be targeting another group apart from the Asians. It makes the African Americans see that the superiorities that the Asians are considered to be having are not actually true, but some think of misleading figures. The Africans in their home grounds can also learn from the article, that life in America is not as fashionable as they think it is.

The author’s style of writing is psychological. This is because the author studies the psychology of the Asians and the Americans. The myth has brought many psychological effects to the people. The Africans Americans have shown resentment to the Asian Americans. This is because they are found to be more successful than them. “If Asian Americans can make it, many politicians and pundits ask, why cannot African Americans? Such comparisons are considered to always   pit minorities against each other and generate some form of African American resentment toward Asian Americans. The victims got blamed for their plight, rather than economy and racism and   that has made many young African American workers superfluous.” The tone of the writer in the essay is a sad one. The author gets hurt by the fact that the Asian Americans are considered to be successful. He shows this when he says that comparing the income itself is highly deceptive. He says that the Asian Americans work more hours and have gotten more workers per family. This becomes his reason why, they get a higher income than the Caucasians. He says that about twenty five percent of the total people living in New York’s Chinatowns in 1980s lived below the poverty level. The author says that more than 60% of the workers in Chinatowns of Los Angeles and San Francisco are today crowded into low paying jobs. They work in garment factories and restaurants.

In writing the essay, the writer used short, uncomplicated paragraphs. Some of the words that the author uses are satirical. Some words like the Asian America being considered to be “model minority.” The author also says that the Asian Americans know that their “success” is largely a myth. Some of the phrases are repeated. Phrases like Asian American, Japanese Americans and African Americans have been repeated throughout the essay. This is done to emphasize the main theme of the essay, which is to remove the myth that talks about the superiority of the Asian Americans. The organization of the essay is a straightforward one with uncomplicated sentences and short paragraphs. A different writing pattern would not actually change the essay. Having longer paragraphs and complex sentences would not change the essay.

Conclusion

The essay “The harmful myth of Asian Superiority” has a wrong misconception about how the Asian Americans in America live. The author writes the essay in a sad tone, trying to advice the other Asians who might be willing to go live in America. The writer also tries to show the African Americans not to have resentment towards the Asian Americans.