Far from Home: Shattering the Myth of the Model Minority

by Mary Chung Hayashi

Mary Chung, founder of the National Asian Women's Health Organization (NAWHO), shatters the myth that Asians are the model minority group in the U.S. and reveals the hidden health crisis that endangers 11 million people in the Asian American community. In the last decade, NAWHO has worked to established the facts to demonstrate how serious and widespread the problems

Genres: Asian American

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Mary Hayashi is an award- winning author, national healthcare leader, and former California State Assemblymember. With a distinguished career in public service, Mary has spearheaded substantial reforms in mental health services, championed gender equality, and forged powerful, unprecedented partnerships for social causes that previously had no financial or public backing. Recognized as “Legislator of the Year” by the American Red Cross and the California Medical Association, Mary has also been featured on Redbook’s “Mothers and Shakers” list and Ladies’ Home Journal’s “Women to Watch.” As Principal of Public Policy & Advocacy Solutions, she has successfully advised business and policy leaders on some of today’s most complex public policy matters. Mary remains a steadfast proponent of social justice expansion and the rights of underrepresented communities.

Reviews

[Heather Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rights and Racism: Even as Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan was defending Plessy vs. Ferguson, he couldn’t stomach extending civil rights for everyone. “There is a race so different from our own,” he wrote in the landmark decision, “that we do not permit those belonging to it to become citizens of the United States. Persons belonging to it are, with few exceptions, absolutely excluded from our country. I allude to the Chinese race.”


From adjectives of ignorance like “inscrutable” and “submissive” to inflammatory tags like “yellow peril” and “gook,” from the bucktoothed farce perpetuated by Jerry Lewis to the high-achiever model found on sitcoms, the Asian immigrant has been subjected to discrimination both subtle and blatant.


Rosalind S. Chou and Joe R. Feagin try to get to the bottom of it in The Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism (Paradigm, 978-1-59451-587-3). Dozens of interviews with Asian Americans who have encountered racism in their daily lives fill out this detailed critique of a society “framed” by white people to exclude those of color. Any color. (ForeWord Magazine)

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The part about her life story is interesting. How her family dealt with and reacted to her sister's suicide was very memorable. This really struck a chord with me in how important it is talk about mental health and not deny, especially, the feelings of those close. What we do and how we act really affects others. Hayashi also goes into her professional networks for health education. Her health advise is mostly obvious but apparently not obvious to the immigrant communities who haven't heard it before.