Posted on September 9, 2010

Interesting piece today in the L.A. Times regarding the long duration of unemployment faced by Asian Americans during this economic downturn. As you know, white conservatives often use Asian Americans as an example of how “hard work and good cultural values” are all you need to make it in the U.S. They will argue, in keeping with this model minority myth, that blacks and Latinos need to follow the Asian example, rather than complain about racism and discrimination. In fact, they point to Asians as evidence of the virtual non-existence of racism in the modern era.

It’s always been a cynical and dishonest argument — and I address it directly and at length in my newest book, Colorblind — but as you can see from this article, it is especially dishonest in the current economic crisis. Asian Americans may have lower unemployment rates than members of other groups, but once unemployed they face an especially difficult uphill battle at finding new work. This is because, according to the article, such large numbers of Asian Americans in places like L.A. work for smaller employers — often family businesses — that are especially affected by the downturn. Then, when they try and find jobs elsewhere, rather than being valued for their “good values and work ethic,” they get passed over.

This is in keeping with national data by the way, which I cite in my book, which says the same thing about Asian unemployment durations across the country, so it is not just a Los Angeles thing.