Transcending the Racial Divide
As a second generation Asian-American student starting my career in the tech industry, I’ve always wondered about the normalization of Asians and tech and the current model minority myths surrounding our high success rates and involvement in computer science. After reading about one such high school, Westward High, and the struggles African-American and Latino students face regarding privilege and discrimination, I sought to seek answers to the disparities in tech between Asians, particularly Southeast Asians, and African-Americans.
While Asians are no strangers to racial discrimination, by the 1950’s and 1960’s, post World War II America was starting to push this idea of the model minority, a term first used in 1966. This term was first used as a “racial wedge” in minimizing the role of racism as a prominent reason for the struggles other minorities face. Our achievements in tech and more generally, the American economy, partially stems from our desire to be “good Americans” and our cultural platform of working hard to earn success and happiness. But according to Jeff Guo in his article “The real reasons the U.S. became less racist towards Asian Americans”, this is only part of the story. As racial tensions maintained and even intensified in the 50’s and 60’s, domestic and international political incentives fueled positive portrayals of Asian-Americans in the media. The U.S. wanted to win allies in the Cold War, and Japan, a nation re-building from the World War started to became an important ally. Domestically, black-freedom movements were starting to trouble conservative leaders. Soaking in all these issues, the story of Asian-American success started to almost become a way of telling African-Americans, Asian-Americans are staying out of trouble and finding success economically, there’s no reason you guys can’t do the same. Combine this with a strong desire for Asians to gain respect and become industrious American citizens, the model minority myth started to become a reality.
Since the 1960’s, the focus has shifted from political factors to education and opportunity. While many studies are quick to point out educational attainment, Asians were given more opportunity in the tech industry. In a reading by Estrell Margolis titled Normalizing the Racial Divide in High School Computer Science, the Westward High School situation points to even more evidence of this. African-American students interviewed at the STEM high school were quick to point out that Whites and Asians were the racial groups associated with intelligence and that their increased involvement in computer science is due to their ease of access to computers growing up. African-American students playing around in a computer lab were stereotyped as causing trouble and it is this continued discouragement and racial profiling that continues to result in low attendance in technical fields. Furthermore, there are cultural differences as well. Living in more affluent communities allowed Asian-Americans to develop an interest in tech at a young age.
Through our newfound exploration and learning of this topic we’ve concluded that a number of factors, some of which were surprising, contribute to this current racial divide in computer science. Underlying political motivations and a culture driven by respect and success has given Asian-Americans a place in modern day America where racism is a small barrier to opportunity and advancement. It is important for everyone to be cognizant of historical factors that lead to differences between minorities as we continue to strive for equality in opportunity and success for all races in tech.
