Model Minority Stereotype

I'm up to "Rice Paddies and Math Tests" and I knew he wasn't going to involve Indians because when you think of Asian only Japan, Korea, or China really come up so I wasn't surprised. But what really irks me is how he says, "Go to any Western college campus and you'll find that Asian students have a reputation for being in the library after everyone else has left. Sometimes people of Asian background get offended when their culture is described this way, because they think that the stereotype is being used as a form of disparagement" (page 238-239). I love when non Asian people tell me that a stereotype that is used to mock and define Asians is not at all belittling because it's not like Asians are constantly told, "You should be good at math because you're Asian" or "You should become an Engineer or go into Business because you're Asian", oh no not "a disparagement" says the non Asian person. Sure you can say rice paddies and the number system is what makes Asians good at math, but what about the rest of Asia? What about the Asians who are wealthy and grew up in urban areas? Sure you can say those Chinese proverbs do encourage hard work but that's because their lives depended on those rice paddies, but that doesn't automatically make Asians good at math, it's because they learned various skills to help them survive. People think that Asians don't have learning disabilities, or are quick to laugh about family pressure like that meme about the Asian father disowning their child because he got a B on his test, that sure was hilarious :). I don't care if it's a positive stereotype, or that every stereotype has some truth to it because it doesn't apply to everyone in that group. You try being Asian and being told by your family you're a disgrace for being an artist. You try being Asian and being constantly told "you're smart" just for being Asian. You try being Asian and having to deal with intense family pressure of having to become successful for your parents because family is so big in your culture (as is in many cultures). You try being Asian and being mentally ill and having it brushed aside because people expect you to be a workaholic 24/7. Try, because I'm sure if you could, you would see that this stereotype is definitely a disparagement. I don't need Gladwell telling me why I'm supposed to be good at math, I can speak for myself and not be the stereotype he's so persistent to prove. This stereotype is almost dehumanizing and maybe I'm overreacting but I rather overreact then let people define me with this assumption.

If you don't believe me or support my point at all, you don't have to, but to go further on this I have a source that is a report done by The University of Texas at Austin that goes into more depth on why the Model Minority Stereotype (e.g Asians being good at math) does more harm than good:
http://cmhc.utexas.edu/modelminority.html

This message has been brought to you by your local Asian American. :)

Outliers- Avianca Plane Crash

Thank you Navdeep for asking my thoughts on the Colombian Plane Crash in the 2nd part of the book.

As I am sure most of you are unaware, I am of Colombian decent from both sides of my family. So I was very interested in what this book had to say about my heritage and it's ties to "legacy." In these moments my father is in his birth place of Medellin, Colombia and is due to fly back up to JFK in two days, so this really has a connection to me at this moment. 

In the question I was asked by Navdeep, there is a quote from the book on page 202 in which Ratwatte (a skilled pilot himself) states that "What if there was something about the pilots' being Colombian that led to the crash?" By reading this in the question I immediately thought, "of course not! Why should a specific ethnicity matter?" I then went further into trying to find why this might be the case. Gladwell points out on page 194 the act of mitigating and why this isn't the best thing a pilot should do in an emergency situation. Mitigating is usually done when someone is speaking to another who is ranked higher than they are. In page 201, Ratwatte brings up that Air Traffic Control (ATC) in New York City can be rude and aggressive because they need to control so many flights in such a small period of time. The pilots on the Avianca flight 52 were both Colombian and Caviedes (51) had some difficulty speaking in English with ATC and wanted translating when he got to tiered. His co-pilot Klotz (28) throughout the transcript didn't use terminology that he needed to in an emergency situation and continued to mitigate instead of saying that they were in an emergency situation. 

One thing that came to my mind is how much I could relate with Klotz when he was speaking to ATC. I mitigate in almost every conversation I have. I don't directly say anything just so I wont sound rude and aggressive (much like the opposite of ATC in NYC). Caviedes and Klotz even in a dire situation like the one they were in weren't going to say, "This is an EMERGENCY situation! We are limited on fuel and we need to land ASAP." That wasn't going to happen. So I can agree that this could have affected the mistakes leading up to the crash. I then read on pages 207-209 about power distance index and how Colombia is ranked as one of the higher ones. This means typically Colombians tend to respect authority and see themselves underneath superiors. This was what led Klotz to not being assertive enough to place the planes need above the demands of ATC. I feel that the evidence Gladwell used to explain this idea was good but I don't actually agree with it. Yes, there can be that respect of authority that Colombians might have but there can be differences within the population itself. Colombia is a place of many cultures and there is plenty of places where PDI can be higher than others. If Gladwell wanted to make a bigger point, he should have researched the different places Caviedes and Klotz came from within Colombia. If they had came from farming regions in the southeast where guerrilla warfare is something to be worried about than they will have some kind of respect for those above them. If Caviedes or Klotz came from the city there would be a much lower PDI. 

Yes, there can be some culture ties related to plane crash but it was really the lack of miscommunication the pilots had with ATC. I found an article from the LA Times which states that Colombian pilots at the time never used the terminology that the Americans at ATC were accustomed to.   http://articles.latimes.com/1990-06-22/news/mn-109_1_specific-emergency 
They didn't have to use this terminology because they would just say what was happening instead of using these terms. It might not have to do with culture after all but just what is said and done to train the pilots themselves.  

       

Outliers

I'm really glad this book turned out to be way better than I expected. I think it is incredible how when I start reading the book I completely get lost in time. The two points that I found most interesting in Part 1, was the idea that to be truly successful or “pro- good” at something you need to have 10,000 thousand hours of practice in the specific area. When Gladwell first mentioned it, I was like “no way, people can do it in less time” but as I started to read the stories of all the outliers and the time they spent practicing in what they chose to do,  realized that maybe he was right and 10,000 was the magic number that does make someone successful. Although I feel like 10,000 hours of practice is the magic number, i'm still not willing to completely accepted. I feel like there is a few prodigies out there that can become as successful as Gladwell says in less than 10,000 hours. The other idea that messed me up and got me thinking was the idea that almost nobody goes from “rags to riches” on their own. These people, like Bill Joy, become successful, but only through the opportunities offered to them or presented to them. It got me thinking that in order to be somebody big, you have to have an advantage that somebody else doesn't and that you're not going to become big based only on your ambition but on who helps you feed that ambition. That is something that's going to take me a while to get my head wrapped around. Honestly, I can say that i'm truly enjoying this book.

Outliers

As I read through chapter two, The 10,000 Hour Rule, I noticed that Gladwell made an important point when he states that the events occurring in society during a person's life contribute to the opportunities they have or the way they think. For instance, Gladwell points out that Bill Joy was successful due to the computer advancements (time-sharing) that were made in the mid-1960s before he became interested in programming. I believe that this connects all of us, since the decisions that our nation makes and different events that occur around the world impact our lives. Let's say Bernie Sanders somehow manages to make colleges free, then students will be granted with more opportunities but other aspects of our lives would be impacted. Another example would be the opportunities that were granted to undocumented students in the United States. That law will grant many students with benefits that they would otherwise not have. Overall, I think that Gladwell's point in the second chapter is relevant to society, as well.

@Danna Garcia I wanted to ask you about chapter 7 in Part 2, "Legacy" and wanted to hear your response on Ratwatte saying, "What if there was something about the pilots' being Colombian that led to the crash?" (page 202), do you agree or disagree with Ratwatte's statement and how Gladwell uses sources to describe Colombian culture? Is it accurate in your opinion? I'm really excited for your response so take your time!!! ^_^

Outliers

In chapter 2 "The 10,000- Hour Rule", I found it interesting how almost everyone who has reached success had been working for at least 10,000 hours. The chapter focuses on how those who are most successful generally study or work for 10,000 hours or more. I just found this really surprising because when I think of success I don't tend to think about the amount of time they put into their work, sure, they work a lot but working for 10,000 hours never crossed my mind. Also the chart in part 6 of chapter 2 shows the wealthiest people in all of history. This chart shows how wealthy people were but it also shows where they came from and what's most surprising is that 14 of them come from the United States. This isn't the only shocking part, but what's even more shocking is that these 14 people were all born around the same time, from 1831-1840. These people all had the luck of being born around the time that the American economy was facing its greatest boom yet. If t wasn't for them being born around this time, would they still be able to become as wealthy as they did? It might be highly unlikely, just like Gladwell states, "If you were born in the late 1840s you missed it. You were too young to take advantage of that moment. If you were born in the 1820s you were too old: your mind-set was shaped by the pre-Civil War paradigm," (pg 62). All of this makes me wonder if the same will happen for our generation, or if it's already too late, especially since those born in the 1950s have already found success. This just adds to the stress that teenagers already feel, 'will I be successful?' and 'how can I make sure that I will be able to live a comfortable life?'. Seeing previous generations become successful gives us hope, but there is always going to be those who aren't as successful as others and Outliers allows us to see that.

-Ashley M.

Students, I hope you are enjoying a much needed respite from classes. I also trust that you are finding Outliers both interesting and thought provoking. (I can't wait to discuss it in class!) As I said, your only HW this week is to read that book and to discuss it with your classmates. Each of you will be responsible for posting a two-to-three hundred word response to the book here at least once (although you can feel free to do so more). Be sure to refer to a specific passage in your post, and explain why you chose it. You can ask a question, make a connection, comment on style or content, etc. Then, you will respond to at least TWO of your classmates' posts. Initial posts should be made no later than Sunday, and your responses are due on Monday night. Enjoy the book and the rest of the week.