After reading Lung-Aman’s chapters “The New Gold Mountain” and “A Quality Education for Whom” I find that I am still grappling with the ways in which Asian Americans disrupt the “Whites on top” narrative. I know from this reading, other classes I have taken here at Bowdoin, and personal experiences, Asian Americans “outperform” Whites in many ways – especially in schools. However, I find it interesting how Whiteness continues to operate as the supreme crème dela crème when that is known to be false. Whiteness has been painted in such a way that it is the standard for everything and all things. I wonder perhaps if this is why the plight of poor Whites in rural areas is often forgotten and / or completely undermined. It seems as though whiteness is associated only with perfection – the ultimate standard of success. By virtue of being born white, you can do no wrong. In this manner, I wonder on the parts of Asian Americans – is chasing the American Dream apart of chasing whiteness? Or perhaps Asian Americans are forcing Whites to realize the holes and the fallacies of their success and their place as the “top dog.” Does this then provide explanation as to why Whites feel in many ways threatened by Asian Americans? Does it explain why Whites continue to move and create their own homogenous communities?

A year or so ago I read an article (I can’t remember the source unfortunately) that argued Asian Americans were soon to be lumped into the category of whiteness. With the changing demographics of our country and the decreasing majority of White Americans, the author asserted that the boundaries of whiteness would be expanded. Lung-Aman’s work makes me ponder this idea more closely. I wonder, is that even possible? Is it possible that Asian Americans can become associated with whiteness? And have they already? I think back to the history of other European immigrant groups that were once marked as “other” (Irish were once regarded as Black!) and I am reminded as to how whiteness (which is a ticket to opportunity and privilege) was granted to all of those groups. Are Asian Americans next? Will this fear of Asian Americans and the threat they pose to Whites change the way in which we think about whiteness? Will it restructure the way we think about minority groups in the U.S.? Or will whiteness maintain the steadfast grip it has over U.S. politics as the dominant group by expanding the conception of whiteness? (In my mind this seems so unlikely but I curious to hear what you all think)

Asian Americans blur the lines and boundaries of race-based hierarchy and class-based hierarchy in the U.S. White people know it and yet they seem to make excuses for the success of Asian Americans. Grant it, Asian American is an umbrella term that does not capture the many identities and nationalities concealed in it. Nevertheless, I find it fascinating how mass perceptions of the plight of Asian Americans are created and excuses are made to explain their success rather than actually discuss the impact it is clearly having in the U.S.