^
Good analysis. But realize that a good chunk of people of Asian descent also live below the poverty line. This is especially prevalent in certain Asian sub-groups, such as the Cambodians, the Vietnamese, and the Hmong, for example. I will dig up some statistics too if people wish to know more.
There's no denying that Asian Americans are doing fairly well, CONSIDERING that we are a minority. Asian Indians are doing especially well - they have the highest proportion of the population with bachelors or advanced/professional degrees out of ANY racial group in the country, even more than whites and the Chinese (the 2nd highest amongst those people from Asia). So yes, you are right that Asians are over-performing. However, that does not justify why a struggling Vietnamese 18 year old from a gang-riddled neighborhood and a DIRT-poor refugee family trying to get a scholarship or admissions into a State College should be passed up over a black or Latino from similar backgrounds, just because he is Asian. How does one decide whom to admit? That's a tricky question that no one has a concrete answer to - yet.
But anyway, all that is a moot point. There are MYRIADS of ways to discuss whether or not a racial/ethnic group is "suceeding" or "failing" in the larger society. What about mental health? Asian-American women are statistically the MOST likely to fall into depression, and to commit suicide - out of all racial groups. Where did that come from, when all of them are supposedly wealthy and have fabulous material comforts? Clearly, financial success isn't the only yardstick of prosperity. Mental health and a healthy self image, for example, are also important indicators.
In this respect, Asians suffer a great deal, along with African Americans. The key difference however, is that on a superficial level, African-American get what I like to call "political/social lip-service". You see it on TV. African Americans are continually portrayed as doctors, lawyers, nurses, etc. Yet, except for the token female Asian doctor who's obviously just an 'armpiece' - she's usually sexually attractive and is paired up with a white male love interest - there is nary an Asian doctor/lawyer on TV shows. This does not reflect reality, because Asian medical students and medical professionals
literally innundate hospitals all across the country. For every black lawyer "stud" coveted by women on shows like Ally Mcbeal and Sex and the City (to give a really gay/corny example, sorry
), we should see about 3 Asian doctors and lawyers that fit the same description. Yet we don't, because to the media, Asians do not matter. We are just gun fodder for heroic Caucasian heros/cops/soldiers, evil gangsters, and "Wiliam Hung" type eunuchs. This is some serious BS that goes unchecked every day.
This also happens above and beyond print and TV media. I see white people trying very hard to include black people in social situations (esp. in supposed "liberal" scenes, like colleges or mixers or professional gatherings). Yet I personally feel that most whites, especially white males, do not make a concerted effort to make Asians feel comfortable and accepted. ESPECIALLY Asian MEN. This has been *such* a sore spot for me, and to this day, when I see a white guy pandering to black people "in the name of equality" while freezing out Asians, and espcially Asian males - I go into a quiet rage inside. It literally eats up up inside with anger. Yet, I see white men who have no problem with making an exception for Asian women. Asian women are not threatening either on a physical or sexual level.
By the way, I usually don't express this stuff in public and just let bygones be bygones. If some asiaphile whiteboy kisses an Asian girl's ass while ignoring or disrespecting Asian males, I let it go most of the time. But that does not mean that I and millions of other Asian-American men (and women) see thru some white guys' RACIST, SEXIST, WHITE SUPREMACIST bull. Ya hear? We dont' speak of it to your face, but
we know. We *so* know what you are upto.
And in regard to whites and the media really pandering to blacks while ignoring Asians and Latinos:
That's not to say that think society should 'take away' these pleasantries from black people. Hey - it's superficial and perfunctory lip-service, but it's better than nothing. Many black men and women know from personal experience that many people hide deep prejudices against blacks, even though they are ******dly friendly toward them. I've heard personal anecdotes from black friends or acquaintances. They KNOW that the respect is sometimes not real. But hey - IT'S BETTER THAN NOTHING.
.... in the meantime, Asians (and I'm guessing many Latinos) live with this quiet rage inside them that might one day just explode. As Eddie Murphy said: "You push a n*gga too far, n*igga pop. Just like dat." Same goes for us "chinks" and "wetbacks".
Yet having been advised by many Americans of non-Asian descent (white, black, Latino) that the American Way is not to bytch about inequalities but to overcome them in a 'DIY' fashion, I strive everyday to make something of myself. But when I do succeed and I am in the position to do something to change American society (for example if or some other Asian-American were to become a movie director or a studio executive or whatever) - I don't think white or other Americans who support this oppression of Asian Americans (basically thru blatant exclusion) should not expect an ounce of sympathy.