The Human Condition: Let’s be a better model majority

By Daniel Schnee on May 25, 2022.

One of the first things a dedicated student of anthropology learns is that human relations are deeply complex, so much so that it is hard to completely measure them at any given moment. But when we see predictable patterns emerging we can start saying we know something about humanity.

One of these patterns is the idea of a “model minority,” that Asian-Canadians immigrants for example are one of the “good” minorities when compared to others. This implies that less socially successful minorities instinctively have wrong attitudes or behaviours for which Canadian values are the correct solution.

But although some mean ‘model minority’ as a positive description it actually is misleading, as it ignores political history and the sociological structures that lead to imbalance. It is also based on a number of incorrect assumptions about immigrants and behaviour.

When I lived in Japan, for example, it became very clear from the start that I was going to have a much better time of things than my fellow immigrants. Being white, for a number of reasons, is so beneficial that I had a very privileged position within the social hierarchy, though it was designed to limit my advancement.

To be clear, I love Japan deeply, and have significantly more praise than criticism for my beloved second home. But it is a fact that since my Canadian values aligned with many Japanese values, I was seen as “following” Japanese values instead, making me good by default. Also, I was so enthusiastic about various opportunities I admittedly didn’t question the social order, making me “better” than those complaining about injustice.

Also, as a semi-citizen of Japan I carried a special Alien Registration card. One of my best friends – born and raised in Japan; fully Japanese by any standard – had to carry the exact same card… because his grandmother is Korean. We were both model minorities; citizens of a world that, for me, worked best when I didn’t question or change it.

Maybe the biggest fallacy though is that a minority is also best measured by majority reason, rather than good reasoning in general. For example, 18th century African-American slave Phillis Wheatley could read Latin and Greek classics by the age of 12, and by 19 had written a full volume of poetry. Experts decided she was smart, thanks to the “civilizing” effects of her Western education, implying that without it she was a savage. She was a model minority only (and especially) if she abandoned the languages and arts of Africa; that learning Greek literally made her smarter than learning Igbo.

Such views are subconsciously baked into classical literature, or music study. A common stereotype is that classical piano playing for example makes children more orderly in thought and better behaved, i.e. higher class and more moral. Thus to study something like West African communal drumming is to become the ‘opposite,’ though it requires equally valuable intellectual and creative skill.

The point is this: praising minorities for behaviours that suit the needs of the powerful is useful in maintaining power itself. Minorities do not require our “civilizing” touch; they arrive seeking what we all value. Their hard work and pre-commitment to what is good teaches us that maybe we need to be a model majority instead.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is a cultural anthropologist and jazz/rock drummer.

11
-10