Asian Americans can be seen as the paradigm of immigrants coming to the United States. Originally, the Asians were looked down upon as “yellow peril,” and were avoided, ostracized and shunned. They were the subjects of exclusion and discrimination on the basis of race. This began with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This was the first, and only group to be excluded from immigrating to this country. By 1917, this act was extended to all peoples of the south and east Asia. It was not until 1943 that the Chinese gained the right to become citizens and in 1952, with the McCarran-Walter Act, naturalization was extended to Asians as a whole.
Nowadays Asian Americans are thought of as the “model minority.” They are depicted as high achievers and are typically more accepted into the middle class than other racial minorities. It is common to find Asian Americans in affluent suburbs and their children attend excellent institutions of learning. The Asian story can be thought of as one of the success stories of American Immigration. In less than one hundred and fifty years, Asians have turned their lot around. Having faced discrimination, Asians rose above the hardships and successfully made a life for themselves in this country.
In my opinion, part of the change in perception from “yellow peril” to “acceptable neighbor” has to do with education. Many of the Asians who came to this country recently came with college degrees, and were highly educated. They came looking for well paying respectable jobs. This is as opposed to the immigrants who came to the country with no skill set. Also, many of the Asians have high expectations for their children, and want them to be highly educated. This fits in well with the American idea of building yourself up through education. Americans are happy to be associated with these people who have succeeded to build themselves up as a well-educated, well-respected group.
