TOW #5: "The Asian Advantage" (Written)

As I was merrily traversing the Internet for TOW ideas, I came across an article titled "The Asian Advantage," complete with a smiling middle-aged white man's author portrait next to it. I clicked on it, ready to hear some more pseudo-science about the Model Minority myth. Although I was pleasantly surprised, I finished the article feeling like the author, Nicholas Kristof, still had some ways to go in making his argument.

Kristof wrote this Op-Ed for the New York Times and clearly intended to reach a general, fairly educated public. The purpose of his article is to explain why Asian-Americans seem to be so much more successful than any other demographic in the United States, but also to overcome the nearsighted mindset resulting from the model minority myth that racism is "over" for Asian-Americans. For what it's worth, Kristof seemed to understand the hesitations readers like me would have toward his credibility. Plain and simple, I'm always a little nervous when a white man decides to wax poetic about race relations in the United States. To appeal to ethos, Kristof references himself in some older articles he authored on white privilege. This shows audience members that he has, at least, a basic understanding of sociological theory and the effects of white privilege in American society.

To achieve the first part of his purpose, Kristof appeals to logos. He includes numerous statistics and studies on the effects of "positive stereotyping" and education status. In a compound appeal to ethos, Kristof also quotes findings from a book on the same topic written by Chinese authors. At the end of the article, when he reminds audience members that discrimination can still be hurtful to Asian-Americans and other racial groups, he uses allusion and narrative to appeal to pathos. He writes, "Why should the success of the children of Asian doctors, nurtured by teachers, be reassuring to a black boy in Baltimore who is raised by a struggling single mom, whom society regards as a potential menace?" Kristof references the string of highly publicized and controversial deaths of black men across the U.S. (Baltimore is likely a reference to the death of Freddie Gray) Additionally, the characterization of the victims appeals to readers' sympathies. He uses the word "boy" instead of man and "struggling single mom" to mimic feelings of vulnerability and helplessness.

Although Kristof covered his research extensively and still showed surprising sensitivity toward racial issues, I still felt that his explanation of "The Asian Advantage" was lacking. His biggest faux pas was to generalize all Asian-Americans as a monolithic, homogeneous group. The references of increased wealth are mostly about East Asians (Koreans, Japanese, Chinese), the group that most white people think of as Asian anyway. Many Southeast Asians (such as Vietnamese, Thai, etc.) struggle in the United States, though this number may not be represented in statistical studies because, guess what, most people forget that Asia includes more than Korea, Japan, and China. Finally, as an Asian-American reader myself, I would have trusted Kristof's argument if he had quoted from more Asian individuals than the single book. Two lone authors cannot possibly represent all the views of Asian-Americans, who, as I've stated, are incredibly diverse and numerous. The article was a fairly interesting read, but it was still a subpar representation of the Asian-American community.