The article also explains the saying "ethnic capital," which is what highly educated immigrant groups build in the US economy. This idea made me think of institutional racism again as the article pointed out various ethnic institutions the ethnic capital produces such as after school tutoring programs or academic clubs. It was interesting for Lee to explore the path in which the information from Asian neighborhoods spreads to other immigrant groups. As a result of the information, or ethnic capital knowledge, circulated throughout Asian groups and beyond, children of immigrant parents have the ability to break educational expectations and be successful.
In comparison to Asian privilege, Mexican immigrants have had a much harder time becoming successful. As a less educated immigrant group than Asians, they do not receive or generate the same amount of income or have the same resources as other Asian immigrant groups. Although Mexican immigrants do not have same level of ethnic capital, the children of immigrant parents are becoming increasingly successful in education.
I thought this article was interesting and very informational. I hope everyone takes the time to read it because many new issues on privilege have been introduced to me.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/opinions/lee-immigration-ethnic-capital/
Lee, J. (2015, August 4). The secret to Asian Americans' success. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/opinions/lee-immigration-ethnic-capital/
Interesting article. The article and your summary indicate why it is misleading to use meta-ethnic categories, including Asian American. Asia America is not a monolithic group--if we explored just Hmong, Cambodians and Laotians we night come to a different conclusion about Asian America privilege. Or if we looked at Pakistan as a sending country compared to India or compared to China, yet another picture would emerge.
ReplyDeleteBeing Asian myself, I feel like I can relate to your post and the article as you had said you felt the connection yourself (being half Asian). After reading the article, my views of Asian privilege are slightly different because I didn't see it like that until I had read what Lee had to say. I do agree with Judith McDonnnell's comment as well though, how if we were to individually study various Asian countries, the results would be different. I understand China and their system to be collective when compared to the United States. Therefore, children and students are hardworking and diligent in their studies because they do it for their parents and want to impress and please them, and has been this way for many years. However, Mexican culture is not quite as collective in the sense that Asians are, which points to your statement when you say "Mexican immigrants have had a much harder time becoming successful"
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