I was raised by White parents, am a Chinese woman myself. We’re not rich, just somewhere in the middle class. My math scores SUCKED but I excelled in anything writing based. Hearing from teachers and other students that I “wasn’t really Asian,” or “not living up to” my heritage/background hurt growing up. Positive stereotypes are still harmful! They build heights to which we can never climb.

Just to let everyone know: yes, in Asian cultures, there is a VERY high emphasis on academics. Some families will even physically or verbally abuse their children if they get a low grade, and it is really damaging. But when classmates and friends start expecting you to be smart and better than everyone else, it just gets worse. All I’m trying to say is that when classmates and friends start making comments like “whoa you got a 70% on the math exam? I thought you were Asian” it just makes Asians feel more inferior and that they’re dumb. We get enough stress from our parents about good grades; the people we spend literally 8 hours a day with for most of the year shouldn’t put that pressure on us too.

This is quite interesting from a teacher's perspective. This myth has been so ingrained into the American culture that yes, typically when I have an Asian student, I do have to purposefully take a step back and not dig into the stereotype that somehow they will be my smartest and my best. In education, we've really focused on teachers addressing negative stereotypes that might be held about racial, ethical or religious minorities (yes, we DO discuss this with professionals, sometimes in meetings as often as once per week). We attend countless Professional Development meetings to combat treating some minorities differently (such as African American, Native American or Latinex students), but I've never attended a single one which has ever focused on Asian students. In fact, I admit, this past year when one of my Asian students began showing major behavior issues in class, I was really surprised. If any other race had done the same, I would have had an established routine for how to handle it. This is a very good episode. Even stereotypes which might seem positive on the surface can be very damaging if we look closely enough. We might not be able to change our initial reaction right away, if an idea has been presented to the point of muscle memory, but we can take the minute to consider our actions and ask if they are based in fact, or just on what we've always been told. As for my Asian student and her misbehavior: her parents were going through a divorce. I would have misbehaved too, in her shoes. My hope is that more awareness is brought to this issue in the classroom. We all know inherently that a person's race or ethnicity does not make them smarter or more focused than someone else, but it's good to sit down and actually address any subconscious stereotypes we are carrying-especially as teachers who truly need to be able to make each child feel welcomed, appreciated and cared for.

"Soviet propaganda started to make America seem racist " Lmao

Everyone in the comments arguing about politics, but no ones gonna mention the fact that they thought that was Travis Scott at the beginning.

"And frankly it's kinda ridiculous that we lump people from so many different backgrounds together as Asians" you can say the same about African Americans because Africa is not a country It's a continent with multiple countries.

We Russians are called Commies. Even though Soviet Collapsed in 1991.

Im asian South east asian And when i only said asian they imagine im chinese, or japanese, or korean

0:20-0:25 How I feel when they upload these 62 different times on 23 different channels

The most important part of this video seems to be flying over the head of most of its critics. The US government changed the immigration laws to be strongly based on merit, so a large fraction of Asians that live in this country are descendants of these rich and highly educated Asian immigrants. While most other races, both legally and illegally, came here through slavery or to escape poverty and war. So, citing statistics about how successful Asians are relative to African Americans and Latinos in the US means little because it is extremely biased.

the fact that this stereotype exists in many english/European speaking countries makes this myth more concerning and rather a understatement at this point

I need to update my list. "Cut it out" Joey "Have mercy" Jesse "Sammy and the rippers" Jesse "Watch the hair" Jesse Creating lists like this one, Danny

Asians also face a lot of discrimination from ALL races. They just don't talk about it as much.

The consistent combing by uncle sammy sure resembles his desperation to create a perfect(fake) image

My mom thinks this is fake. She thinks the Chinese worked hard and got the "model minority" status all on their own rather than from government propaganda. (my mom is Chinese and doesn't include other Asians in the "model minority" except for Koreans and Japanese)

Actually, the "Yellow Peril" idea started In the UK and moved over here. Ever heard of Dr. Fu Manchu? The author of that series "Sax Rohmer" (real name Arthur Sarsfield Ward) hails from Merrie Olde England. 1900's London was dealing with the "yellow peril" question, a term evolved from the imagined threat and racial bias concerning Asian immigration. Films and books as well as the politics of the day reflected this attitude. From Ch. II The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (1913); "Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government-- which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man." * Heady words for heady times. From the thriving merchant trade Chinese communities were established in London's Limehouse district, populated partly by dockworkers and sailors. Tales of opium dens, illegal immigration, corruption, and death were rampant topics in the news and intoxicating material for readers and novelists including Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. Rohmer's The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu profited from these morbid worrying expansionist effects. The evil genius and his wickedly sadistic and cunning daughter Fah Lo Suee fight the Western powers embodied in Commissioner Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie. Mysterious Eastern instruments and shadowy evil figures are at their disposal. The novel was an instant best-seller. www.online-literature.com/sax-rohmer/ Blaming the US Government ALONE for this attitude is ridiculous and a cheap shot. Hell, it was the UK that exported Opium TO China (not the other way around) www.britannica.com/topic/opium-trade started that whole myth, It is as silly to point fingers at the US for this as it is to single our nation out for racist attitudes to people of African descent. Look up the original title of British Mystery Queen Agatha Christie's classic AND THEN THERE WERE NONE sometime...she didn't get that from us. She was inculcated with her racist attitudes in good old Great Britain: www.amazon.com/Agatha-Christie-Niggers-Indians-Paperback/dp/B01M6YBLGA www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/28/no-reason-to-doubt-no-irish-no-blacks-signs And check out a subplot about an Anglo-Indian nonconformist preacher who (because of his light brown skin coloration) was referred to by the "N" word in Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novel UNNATURAL DEATH www.amazon.com/Unnatural-Death-Peter-Wimsey-Mystery/dp/0062311921 Yet I have watched Samuel L. Jackson commenting on how Britain was never racist like the US. Nick Fury is an idiot if he believes that. 😎 Ask him why British Soldiers during the 2nd World War were known to refer to people of color as WOGS. It was because they had the bad habit of referring to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of God as "That Dirty Little (insert N word here)" and were ordered by Montgomery to refer to him as that "Worthy Oriental Gentleman". *The only thing Fu Manchu doesn't have is the thing he is most famous for. A "Fu Manchu" thehannibal8.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/karloff-as-fu-manchu.jpg dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/FMCL.jpg www.orderofbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Fu-Manchu-by-Sax-Rohmer.jpg

I taught ESL in Korea. I told them that American stereotype Koreans as studious. They laughed it off, knowing that's far from the truth.

Asia is a continent not a country. A lot of people tend to forget that there are many countries in Asia and that each of these countries have completely different cultures, languages, history and so on.

They tried to do this model minority thing with Africans too, it’s really stupid

"This is all your fault. Get outta my room!" *touches hair* "Woah, watch the hair!"

You were years ahead of the times by creating this video. Well done Adam!

I'd like to point out that German Americans *were* also interned en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_German_Americans On a significantly smaller scale; but it nevertheless *did happen*.

As an Asian-American creator, I also am in the fight to change asian stereotype.

"Why didn't you do that to German Americans?" They did. 36.1% of all interments during WW2 were German Americans, however the vast majority of those interned were Japanese Americans.

Hopefully this will help people see through government propaganda. This needs to be seen by millions more. Thank you.

I’m Asian and I almost failed high school 2 times And my parents took all my Chinese New Years money

Couldn’t tiger parents also be partial blame for this too? Because of them the stereotype breaths more because they make their kids act just like the stereotype. You want to make your child a math wiz? Make them study math during the summer pay for extra lessons in mathematics, make them do math problems every day with breaks to do other homework related stuff, ect. Heck most kids of extreme tiger parents can’t even go hang out with friends because their parents make them study, study, study. It’s not all tiger parents but the extreme ones are the worst.

It also puts other Asians down. For example asians that came as refugees don’t have the same success rates as their wealthier counterparts parts. Asians having the biggest wealth gap of any demo in the US. But because of the “model minority” myth, Asian poverty is overlooked and many can’t get the resources to get out of poverty.

The kid went in the closet Japanese and out a Russian

The idea that the Stereotypes of Asians being “smart,” “Successful,” isn’t just American Propaganda. Asian cultures during the medieval era were heavily based on sword combat and “honoring” your family. If you were a youth male your decency was based on how honorable you were. With the extinction of sword combat and the depletion of war. This culture has shifted towards academics. Many Asian family’s have high standards for academics.

Dear Adam, in Mexico there is a project called the Mayan Train, that will pass in the states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo, the problem is that many people are against for the fact that it can cause an ecologic damage, and there is people who is in favor because the Mayan Train can give a great inversion in the states that will pass. ¿Does the Mayan Train is something good or bad?

I remember the first time I heard about the Asian American stereotype of being smart. I was either 12 or 13 and my friends were doing some kind of weird thing where they got in a circle, put their hands into their sleeves and gripped it, while their arms pointed forward moving up and down as if they were doing some kind of cult worship thingy (I swear, that was the last time I ever saw them do it). Me, feeling left out and lonely, just decided to squeeze into the circle and join in on whatever this was. They started saying "Food, food", next thing, I know one of them says, "Wait we're all Asian." So then, they started saying "Straight A's, straight A's...". I got SO CONFUSED. I didn't understand what grades had to do with anything. Later, I asked my dad about it and he explained it to me. It shocked me because the smartest people I ever knew up to that point came were of many different races: Chilean, Italian, African American, and yes, also Filipinos, Indians, etc. So, it just didn't make sense that the "nerdy, smart" stereotype only racially got labeled to Asians.

This actually brings to light another factor about the model minority myth I think many people tend to overlook. How politically active are Asian-American people? You see activism from Black Americans all the time but political activism and participation doesn't seem near as prominent amongst Asian-American people...

I've had a former manager genuinely tell me that I'm good at math..haha. I'm actually pretty bad at math 😆

Thank you for sharing this. This is sooo important.

June 2020: couldn't be more appropriate to watch

Having taught in Asia, the UK and Australia I can tell you that my classroom was as diverse in terms of smart and...'not so smart' students across the board. The parental pressure varied but that didn’t make the kids any smarter, they were just incredibly stressed out!

It is kind of ridiculous to clamp people from many different backgrounds together as Asians I’m impressed so much

this guy is so cool, those whimsical glasses, that goofy but rad haircut. that physique only soda, burgers and a couch can chisel. i better listen to him!

Asap rocky and Jeremy Lin!!! How'd you get them on the show?!?

Good to see Randy Wagstaff found a better home.

4:45 Isn't the exact thing people do when they say someone says he/she is African-American?

Dear adam conover, Thanks for ruining everyone's faith in humanity and doing my jon for me. Love, Satan

My friend mentioned the “model minority myth” to me, so I wanted to look into it more.

Coming in through the window with a ladder is reference to Clarissa Explains It All.

Adam: TV and Movies are rampant with Asian Stereotypes Shang Chi: imma stop you right there

Hey Thanks for the FULL HOUSE references!

But we gotta admit, Asians are one of the most dedicated in terms of academics

Adam stereotypes isn’t just about race, it’s also about how someone presents themselves. Example if someone where’s sweater vest and glasses you will assume that they are smart.

To be fair, most countries prioritize immigrants with skills over unskilled immigrants. That is why I can't move to Canada.

"It's a Sitcom Thing" 👍❤️👏

What others hear: WOAH! WATCH THE HAIR! | What my ears hear: WOAH! WATCH THE AIR!

Who else thought that the Tray looked like Travis Scott (not to be racist

I’m Japanese and used to live in America around 5years, experiencing too much expectations on academics just because I’m Asian. It made me study more and more than any other student and finally i managed to enter one of the most prestigious universities in America. But once i failed an exam, i started to feel inferior to other Asian students, even whites... I know this way of thinking is ridiculous and kind of racism but all started with the stereotype against Asians... I’m ashamed of what i thought. My color, race and language do not matter on my grades.

The last thing I need is my teachers ignoring my help requests in school...

Knowing a lot of Asians in Australia and having a step grandma being asian there a lot more demanding and try a lot harder

Since when did A$AP Rocky start doing his homework?

What Adam leaves out is the actual economic boom of Japan and the Tiger States (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hongkong) in the 1960s, which validated the idea of the "model minority" in the US.

"... I also love Ultimate Frisbee" Yeah.. Definitely Korean-American.

Yes and no. He didn't touch on the culture differences. Asian cultures tend to be more collectivist. They also tend to follow the rules more due to a culture that understands the need for order. He completely neglected the cultural differences and how those end up making Asians more desirable for society. Things like family values are far different and impact the success of a student. These factors do give Asian Americans a huge advantage. So while he quotes Asian poverty, it's not accounting for Asians consistently outperforming all other ethnicities in academics, regardless of economic status. This is due to their culture, and not their ethnicity of course. If everyone adopted parts of their culture, they likely would see similar results.

That moment when your part European and Asian

“An Asian American can never be president of the United States” Andrew Yang: “hold my beer”

Uncle Sam's actor is the best person ever.

Fun fact most laughter traces where recorded in the 1950's your listen to dead people laugh

I love this video. Thank you so much for making this!

I am Asian and O started believing the stereotype

how much ketchup would i need to chug to physically feel my brain?

Rock'n Roll uncle who takes a lot of care of his hair... Is that a Full House reference?

2:22 the irony is that this is exactly what we are doing to blacks, screaming that they were oppressed and then showing thousands of success stories.

No one's gonna mention Kenji? That's a real dude from an American concentration camp in WW2. Look it up

I like that they use the same actor to be Uncle Sam.

travis scott was really good in this video!

When we finally get to Mars, will we then refer to a race know as earthlings?

"It gave preference to immigrants who had training, talent, or skill sets that would benefit the US economy." Isn't that a good thing?

Why do many Full House references?! I'm not complaining! 😂

Moral of the story: “positive” stereotypes are still stereotypes, which are bad!

"And inherently good at math" more like inherently good looking.

America seems to want us to forget the concentration camps, transcontinental railroad, chinese exclusion act, and more.

Just gonna say look at the captions at 5:18. Can someone tell me if that was an incorrectly edited cut from the actual shop or...

Anyone know the name of that piano piece that starts at 4:22? I think it's stock music but can't find it anywhere.

With stereotypes there’s always someone who fits the bill. Not the race as a whole but an individual or two

Weeping for humanity

I'm back here after watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I knew I'd heard this before. They even use some of the same sources.

4:00 that look

I'll say it once more there were indeed internment camps for German Americans as well it was not just the Japanese

It’s probably not down to only one factor. Yes the Model Minority myth might have contributed to the stereotype but also a lot of immigrants will have high expectations for their children to do well because they want the second generation to have a better life than their own and they don’t want them to take anything for granted. Honor and obedience is also highly valued amongst East Asian cultures. That’s why a lot of students will strive for a higher education. I mean South Korea has one of the highest educated labour forces in the OCED. So it’s a range of factors that contributes to the stereotypes

That’s my professor!

Asian lady referencing a 60 year old study. Without a doubt, Asians get the model minority label because they come to America with little resources, they excel in academics, they are underrepresented in the legal system and they have a strong sense of family values (take care of elders, don’t shame the family which includes failing school and getting arrested). They did not get special treatment and are often rejected in high numbers when applying for Ivy League schools despite their accolades. The marks spreading random views in this episode does not explain anything about the model minority label. If you need to, visit Irvine Ca. It will tell you all you need to know.

"Asians are so smart" Me: what's Asia? Is it a Japanese thing? Also me: *is Asian*

oh frick kenji’s now a russian

Went to a state level math competition, and I can confirm over 2/3rds of the kids there were Asian

When does this ever happen

Uncle Sammy!

I love the laugh track as "Uncle Sammy" shoves a teenage minority in the closet 😂

Aparently the claim that there were no internment camps for germans is false. There were around 11 000 people in those. However the number in japanese internment camps is more than 10 times higher to 120 000

From a vietnamese point of view. Parents are strict about children getting top grades . Higher grades = better success later in life . Work hard ,earn more.

Finally, I can watch this show on netflix

If you're going to take away a "positive" stereotype about Asians (i.e. we're smarter than everyone else), could you also take away any of the multitude of negative stereotypes we have to suffer through?

Anybody see how the guy wears his sneakers on bed?

What episode is this?