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| Picture result after searching "Asian American" under images. |
Asian Americans are often aggregated with Pacific Islander's (PI's)When the term "Model Minority" was created, it definitely didn't have PI's in mind and I am not saying that in a negative way but in a sincere realistic way. PI's consist of the Polynesia, Melanesian and Micronesian people. In Shirley Hunes article "Asian Pacific American Women in Higher Education: Claiming Visibility & Voice" she uses the term "Asian Pacific American" when referring to how the Model Minority affects the women. However I know first hand that the "Model Minority" does not apply to PI's and if I am mistaken, the numbers are surely low. I don't see the use for trying to include the PI's in a struggle that isn't relevant to them.
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| Map of the Melanesian, Micronesian & Polynesian Islands |
Though this constant grouping of Asian American and PI's known as API's can be good for the sake of aggregation and having strength in numbers, it isn't when trying to figure out the needs for each community. Pacific Islander’s (PI's) for instance, when filling out standardized tests used to fill in the circle next to "Asian American/ Pacific Islanders" which was problematic because statistically PI's were doing great in school but in actuality they were struggling. The statistics were conveying the false notion that PI's were scoring high. Now however, the PI’s have a separate circle to fill in which really benefits the PI community because it is easier to discover what the PI students need support in.
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| "The Rock" |
In my Asian Pacific American Women's class today, Prof. Kwon asked the class to name five Asian American actors that are on TV nowadays and one of the biggest actors brought up was The Rock who identifies as Black and Samoan. Prof. Kwon used the Asian American as a term to embody both PI’s and Asian Americans because the two groups are usually compiled. Reference to Asian Americans and PI's gets confusing and frustrating at times because of the lack of consistency. Sometimes when authors say Asian Americans, PI's are not included and other times they are so there must be a consideration when terms such as API, Asian American, Asian Pacific American are to ensure clarity.
In Laura Koss-Feder’s article “Diversity Efforts Often Ignore Asian Women” she specifically uses the term “Asian women” in her text to illustrate who her article was concerning which was women of Asian descent. In Monica Eng’s article “Succeed or Die Trying: Fear of Failure and Competitive Stress Haunt Asian American Women” she uses the term "Asian-American women" to refer to the Asian-American women who were pressured to obtain high achievement. It was clear in both of those cases that PI's were not included in their study. However in Hune's article, which articulates the overall message about the harm of Model Minority, tries to include PI's in her study. She uses the phrase "Asian Pacific American" to try and demonstrate who has been effected by the Model Minority. The inconsistency between these articles sends the message that Asian Americans aren't sure themselves about what term to use. Now granted, I know that every researcher isn't going to use the same terms but this confusion could all be avoided if the PI's just had their own racial category because being under the shadow of the Asian Americans is overpowering. My opinion is not at all in a tone of disdain but a tone of sincerity. I just want to be PI, not API.
-Meryllia Luavasa
Your post definitely explains how many people do not know or forget to differentiate the different groups that fall into this category. I myself did not know the different ethnicities Asian American women are. You have brought to my attention that the ignorance of information about the different groups in every culture. What really caught my attention is that why is it that government does not make this clear. In my experience I have called everyone Asians or chinos, what mostly Hispanics called them but never know that pacific islander also felt into that category. Different demographics have shown that, the lack to separate different groups in their extent usually harms them. The benefits that they deserves fall into a hole that is lack of help they deserve, like education, healthcare and social status. The grouping of so many groups and consider them as one will affect them socially and discriminates them as a social group. Pacific Islanders need to step up into the plate, make their voices to be heard and demand their rights. The term meting pot comes to my mind when I read this article and don't think is fair that during this times they still doing that. The different culture that each group brings cannot be missed. The fact that we have to learn from each others customs, culture, attitudes creates a bigger and better society.
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