The term model minority first appeared in a January 1966 New York Times Magazine article by sociologist William Petersen, titled "Success Story, Japanese-American Style." Later that year, U.S. News and World Report ran a similar story about Chinese Americans. Both appeared during the civil rights movement and contrasted Asian Americans with Black Americans, suggesting that hard work, not policy, explained who succeeded.
The myth erases large differences among Asian Americans. Pew Research Center found that income inequality in the US is greatest among Asian Americans, and poverty rates differ widely by origin group. Burmese, Hmong and Bhutanese Americans have much lower incomes than Indian Americans. It also overlooks how US immigration law favored highly educated immigrants after 1965.
The myth harms Asian Americans by hiding real need, discouraging people from seeking help and casting Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners. It is also used against other people of color, to argue that racism does not hold Black and Latino Americans back. The challenge to race-conscious admissions that the Supreme Court decided in 2023 centered on claims of bias against Asian American applicants.