Asian Privilege

Our society often talks about the "White Privilege" yet rarely of other races' privilege, so this task of considering my own privileges was a bit difficult at first. But, once I really contemplated and thought about "Asian Privilege," many ideas came to mind. 

1.  Just as Caucasians are less likely to be suspected or searched at the airport security check, I've noticed that Asian Americans are just as unlikely to be suspected or searched. I think my dad has been checked once though, which may be due to his extremely dark skin tone. 

2. Given the benefit of the doubt more often than others to make a few mistakes due to the stereotype that Asians are hard-working.

3. Even as an Asian American female, I think people usually assume that I'm docile and harmless.

4. While Asian Americans are considered a minority, Asian Americans often get experiences beyond that of other minority races due to being seen as the "model minority."

5. Due to Asian American genes, we tend to look younger than we actually are. This might actually help open up more opportunities to Asian Americans of the same age as other races. 

6. Asian Americans receive more opportunities in education and career choices due to the assumptions that Asian Americans are intelligent and hard-working. 

7. When discussing scientific, mathematical, or intellectual topics,  what Asian Americans say usually are respected due to the assumption that they're very intelligent and study a lot.

8. Asian Americans trust other Asian Americans fairly easily due to similar features, regardless if they're the same ethnicity or not. For example, Japanese people will trust me over a Caucasian person even though I'm not Japanese.

9. People assume Asian Americans are very filial.

These privileges are simply stereotypes of Asian Americans with a positive interpretation. I believe that any of these privileges can just as easily backfire and be disadvantages. For example, many people resent Asian Americans for being the "model minority." Sometimes, I've even heard jokes dripping with disdain about how an exam's curve was thrown off probably due to "some Asian kid" scoring a 100. Also, employers may also assume that Asian Americans are intelligent hard-workers, but they also just as easily assume that Asian Americans are too docile to be a good employee who should be innovative and takes risks. All that to say, these stereotypes of Asian Americans can be privileges or disadvantages, depending on the circumstances and the people's interpretation of the stereotypes.