13 - Unravelling the Model Minority Myth and Breaking the Racial Silence: A Collaborative Critical Auto-Ethnography

Summary

Introduction

In the wake of the COVID- 19 pandemic, the backlash of anti- Chinese and anti- Asian racism and violence in white dominant societies was swift and confronting. This anti- Asian sentiment, which was present prior to the pandemic, continues to impact the lives of Asian people across the world beyond the height of the pandemic. Increases in anti- Asian hate crimes in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy have resulted in much harm and even death (Human Rights Watch, 2020; Han et al, 2022; Ballantyne and Giarrusso, 2023; Schumann and Moore, 2023). The pandemic has shown how easily and quickly Asian people can be racially vilified, with any social or cultural traction they may have gained through education and employment being undermined as they are reminded of their marginalized position in a racially stratified society that centres whiteness.

Multicultural settler colonies with white majority populations, such as Australia, have a history of anti- immigration and racist policies towards Asian immigrants. This commonality is reflective of the globalization of whiteness or ‘global processes of (neo)colonization whereby apparently separate white nations share common histories of domination over non- white peoples’ (Leonardo, 2002: 33). In Australia, people of Asian descent living in Australia have been depicted as the ‘yellow peril’ at various points dating back to the violent anti- Chinese riots of the gold rush era (Schamberger, 2017) and the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 (better known as the ‘White Australia’ policy), which limited non- white immigration to Australia, particularly from Asia.

On the other side of the coin, Asian people are also often praised for their values of hard work and thrift, resulting in academic achievement, economic success and upward social mobility. For example, Asian Australian students are over- represented in high- performing schools, prestigious university courses and professions, drawing admiration and anxiety through two competing discourses: competitive and aspirational versus excessive and threatening (Ho, 2017). This contradiction is explained by the model minority myth concept, which refers to the ‘systematic construction of people of Asian descent as representing successful assimilation into a white dominant society’ despite persistent racial inequities (Walton and Truong, 2023: 391).