Writing Feedback / Model Minority vindicating the American dream [NEW]

The topic I am discussing is this: "...[D]iscuss the manner in which the model minority stereotype "vindicates the American dream," but in the process reinforces racial hierarchies." What is the model minority stereotype? What is the American dream? How does the model minority stereotype vindicate the American dream? How does the model minority stereotype reinforce racial hierarchies? Why, in the question, is "vindicating the American dream" contrasted with "reinforcing racial hierarchies"?

To understand how the model minority vindicates the American dream, we must first ask two questions. What is the American dream? What is the model minority? Then we must ask the question of how the two concepts connect. The American dream has appeared to have been fluid lately while the model minority has been held the same over the decades. But that depends on what kind of minority someone is talking about. These concepts are no doubt, open-ended.

Well let's answer the first question. According to Sandra Hanson of the Public Opinion Quarterly, "The American dream is more about Spiritual Happiness than material goods (Hanson. 2010. p. 570)." The answer isn't right or wrong but what people hold true individually. Hard work and determination has been defined as central to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity. There has been a sense of pessimism lately over whether the American dream can be accomplished. This can be due to a range of factors; socioeconomics, education, political. Some Americans believed that the American dream has discombobulated due to immigration, income gaps, and poverty. It is believed that the American Dream has been accomplished only if you have become rich. The attitude of the American public has a lot to do with it and reportedly, more Americans have become depressed over the inability to achieve the American dream (Hanson. 2010. p. 570-573).

James Carr, an author of the Meaning of Difference, stated that "Hardworking, law-abiding families were not able to find avenues for upward mobility within the desperate conditions of the ghettos (Carr. 2012. p. 424)." People have the inherent need to succeed and move up the socioeconomic ladder so they can open doors for more opportunities in life. Upward mobility is also equated with the feeling that people aren't stuck in place socioeconomically. When people get the sense that they can't move forward in life, then frustration and pessimism builds up. Can the American dream be accomplished? It all depends on the attitude; whether hard work and determination is works. A majority of people believe in hard work and determination. When Hanson took another survey of people, a majority stated that it will be harder for future generations to achieve the American dream but will be easier to accomplish for immigrants. A key point here for minorities in particular is the type of discrimination they will face which can help or hurt their chances to accomplish the American dream (Hanson. 2010. p. 570-584).

Now onto the next question; what is the model minority? Well according to Nicholas Hartlep of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, a model minority is composed of high, intellectual people who are hard working. They are seen as people who get through their struggles without making excuses and blaming prejudices. In fact, the characteristics associated with the model minority are seen as nothing but positive. They also happen to be mostly associated with Asian Americans. This model minority myth not only puts Asian Americans in a positive light, but it also puts negative associates with African Americans. The myth categorizes African Americans as lazy and full of excuses. In other words, the myth states that Asian immigrants won't use discrimination as an excuse whereas African Americans will. Why the myth is constructed this way? Because some people support this myth when and if they see blacks who struggle and aren't as successful as Asian Americans. American institutions have now incorporated this myth when giving them a place in the job industry and categorizing their socioeconomic status.

According to Frank Wu of The Meaning of Difference, "The myth has not succumbed to individualism or facts because it serves a purpose in reinforcing racial hierarchies (Wu. 2012. p. 375)." I believe this means that the Asian minority are seen as not only the defining minority of the middle class, but as representing it. They are expected to be exemplars of the middle class as the dominant colored race and yet be content with that status, leaving positions of high leadership to whites. Wu talks about how the Asian minority aren't likely to move up the social ladder by much. In fact, the institutions in American society still put all whites over Asians even if some of them become smarter. Whites are still paid more than Asian with the expectations that they can be smart as them but with leadership qualities. Wu also makes another interesting point "Asian immigrants personify 'brain drain': the selective nature of immigration (We. 2012. p. 374) We is stressing the point in that immigrants such as Asian Americans are looked at to strike gold when they make their living in the U.S. by becoming successful doctors, lawyers, and technicians. Their intellectual qualities allow for institutions to place Asians in the role of money makers in which whites can take advantage to help the American economy. To be educated, law-abiding citizens, and be respectful to their elders constitutes the Model minority myth. In fact, this is the path that people say is successful in accomplishing the American dream.

Does the model minority myth vindicate the American dream? When looking at the question through a lens, filled with stereotypes then the answer is yes. The fact that immigrants associated with the model minority myth are seen as dedicated, hard working individuals who are independent and self-reliant when opportunities are available are seen as achieving the American dream. The myth for minorities includes that have come from countries with poor economies and rigid conditions to offering special skills that come in handy with technological success. They are seen as intellectual prodigies that to strive to provide America and themselves with economic success. They are expected to set examples of how to achieve the American dream if someone is not white.

In conclusion, the American dream has stayed the same throughout the decades. It has been defined as working hard and being dedicated to achieve success. With economic conditions not being great, pessimism has grown with the perspective that the American dream has been hard or impossible to achieve with each, successive generation. However, the model minority myth states that Asian Americans can achieve the American dream even if they are presented with many barriers along the way. They are intellectuals who don't make excuses and vindicates the possibility of accomplishing the American dream as long as the individual is dedicated enough. The social institutions that exist allow for selective upward mobility that has been placed upon the racial prejudices built up between whites, Asians, and other people of color.

Undergraduate / Ignored my gut instincts; Readmission essay/low grades&wrong major [2]

I am reapplying to Purdue since being dropped due to bad grades and being in a wrong major, please check my answer and see if it is ok.

On behalf of myself, Harvinder Thiara, I would like to talk about the factors that lead me to being academically dropped and why I perform better if readmitted into the College of Liberal Arts.

Since my freshman year at Purdue, I found biology to be not only a challenging major but overwhelming as well. I've encountered many obstacles while seeking to pass exams and completing homework assignments. One of the many reasons biology became overwhelming was I didn't understand or knew I needed to understand the fundamentals. I would constantly ignore my gut instincts and tell myself the material would eventually come to me. I also went through my class materials not fully understanding the concepts taught in each class yet became satisfied of somewhat understanding what had been taught. As a result, I tried to keep up with the pace of the biology and chemistry courses; I ended up skimming through class notes, skipping reading assignments and not really understanding the material that was taught in class. I thought if I could manage to "survive" or "barely pass" that the end justified the means. Overtime, I would fall behind each semester trying to play the catch up game towards finals and regrettably fail in each attempt. However, it wasn't just my time management skills or lack of understanding the material that were the core issues; the root cause was that I didn't enjoy what I was learning.

There were many times that I considered changing my focus to liberal arts courses during my sophomore year but my family kept telling me that if I studied harder and focused more, the light bulb would turn on and suddenly "I'd get it" and I believed it. My family wanted me to go into medicine and become a doctor. It was their dream that one child would become a doctor or if that fell through, I would be able to get a well paid job working at a biotech company. In their opinion, I wouldn't get anywhere with a liberal arts degree and it would be a waste of their money. Therefore, I kept trudging along in the biology and chemistry programs while ignoring my gut, slowly decreasing my confidence level and more importantly doing what made me happy and excited to learn.

What has this experience taught me and why do I think I can succeed if I'm readmitted to the College of Liberal Arts? Why liberal arts?

While majoring in biology, I had to take a few courses in psychology, political science, and sociology. I found myself enjoying the subject and looking forward to not only class but studying the material. I excelled in my liberal arts courses than I ever did in biology and chemistry. I looked forward to reading the material and contributing to class discussions. Eventually, after talking to my parents, the thought of majoring in liberal arts was not an option. At that time I didn't realize that my academic strengths were in liberal arts and not in the sciences.

Since my academic drop status at Purdue, I've spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what went wrong and about direction I want to take my academic career and future goals in. I've tough heart to heart discussions with my family about where my strengths lie and what I am passionate about studying. I've realized what I enjoyed studying the most during my time at Purdue were the liberal arts classes where I genuinely thought about the subject and was eager to learn more.

There are already considerable steps I've taken to assure academic success while taking classes Ivy Tech College. Tactically, I've started to manage my schedule and time. This means creating a spreadsheet and calendar of assignment due dates and exam dates to scheduling chunks of 1-2 hour blocks to find a quiet place to study alone without distractions as well as forming study groups. I've also learned that it's important to focus on the purpose of learning the material, to not just read the assignment reading but to genuinely think about the subject. Lastly, the most important part of part of growth was to understand the basics. In biology I realized I constantly had a weak foundation, which resulted in failing exams. In my coursework at Ivy Tech, I started with simple steps of understanding the basics.

The school I intend on applying to is the College of Liberal Arts. What I want to major in is Political Science, since this major would coincide with my level of reasoning skills. I could also see myself in the future performing government work or as a political analyst.

In the last few months, I have experienced a lot of change in my personal growth. I have developed more improved logical, reasoning and communicative skills that would help in the field of Political Science. My best performance academically comes through passion along with discipline my studies. It also has been important to be honest with myself when facing difficulty and knowing if I am keeping up with the class. Seeking input on help from my instructors has also been important to know how much understanding I have of the concepts and lessons taught in class. Discipline wraps around my studies because it is important to divide my work up each day so that I am not left with learning to many or too little concepts at one time.

In conclusion the following have been key factors to my personal growth; honesty, passion, and discipline. It was a mistake to be dishonest to myself that pushing through Biology was be a good idea. I hope you will take the time to consider how much I have learned through this recent experience and the personal growth that will be helpful when taking classes at Purdue again.