This is an intelligent, clear-sighted article. It’s one of the few I’ve read that discusses cultural difference in a value-neutral way, pulling shit apart without falling into the traps of useless generalisation, essentialising, political correctness, or hysteria. There’s definitely an awareness of cultural capital, the significance of community as a value (and as something that drives values), and the problematics of assimilation.
“If it is true that they are collectively dominating in elite high schools and universities, is it also true that Asian-Americans are dominating in the real world? My strong suspicion was that this was not so, and that the reasons would not be hard to find. If we are a collective juggernaut that inspires such awe and fear, why does it seem that so many Asians are so readily perceived to be, as I myself have felt most of my life, the products of a timid culture, easily pushed around by more assertive people, and thus basically invisible?
The failure of Asian-Americans to become leaders in the white-collar workplace does not qualify as one of the burning social issues of our time. But it is a part of the bitter undercurrent of Asian-American life that so many Asian graduates of elite universities find that meritocracy as they have understood it comes to an abrupt end after graduation.”
