What stereotypes come to mind when you think of Asian Americans? Quiet, compliant, brilliant? They are the "model minority," right? A.R. Sakaeda, who identifies herself as a Japanese American, Asian American and person of color, believes being a model minority means being a model citizen who speaks out against injustices big and small. I first spoke with her four years ago when she was working on a grassroots campaign protesting derogatory Asian stereotypes. A native Chicagoan, Sakaeda grew up in Albany Park. She credits her parents and activists like Helen Zia, Yuri Kochiyama and Grace Lee Boggs for teaching her the many and richly diverse ways to be Asian American. This is A.R. Sakaeda’s essay:

I have a confession to make: I am a lousy model minority. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the majority isn't going to want me as the model for any minority, let alone my own people.

Unlike the mythical model minority, I am not quiet and polite. I am often loud, sometimes abrasive and I use the F-word a lot. (My mother doesn't read anything on the Internet, so I don't have to worry about repercussions from that last confession.) My math skills are only average. I do not own a calculator with a graphing function.

If I'm a lousy model minority, I'm an even lousier stereotypical Asian woman. The geisha and the "China doll" are deferential, obedient and demure. Me? I don’t own a kimono. I can’t bat my eyes. I cut off all my silky, ink-black hair because I got sick of people touching it. (Don’t touch my HAIR!) I even enjoy drinking beer out of the bottle and listening to loud rock music.

And for some reason I keep forgetting to acknowledge the superior rightness of men. It just keeps slipping my mind somehow.

Yet the stereotype is pervasive.

Here’s another one: Asian Americans will not protest mistreatment. My mother, who looks just like a sweet little old lady, once noted how often white people cut in line in front of us. We won’t protest, eh? Little do they know!

Once, when I was waiting for my overpriced coffee, a man pushed his way in front of me and demanded immediate service. The clerk told him politely that she’d be with him in a moment. He raged about being made to wait because he was in the middle of a “big deal” at the office.

“What are you doing here, then?” I asked. He turned to me, his mouth hanging open. “Get back to the office! You’re critical to the big deal! Send one of your lackeys out to pick up your coffee!”

When he didn’t move, I yelled, “Go on, now! GO!” So much for cutting in line in front of a member of the model minority.

Was that too harsh? I prefer to think of it as forthright. I couldn't care less what most other people think of me (with the exception of my mother).

When people talk about the model minority, "model" is code for never making other people feel uncomfortable about racism. "Model" means not being like all those other troublesome people of color. It means keeping your mouth shut and your eyes lowered. It means smiling brightly and nodding along. Yes, sir! Whatever you say, sir! It means never complaining.

Members of the model minority often are used to shame other people of color. They can do it, why can't you? If you would only have those same close-knit families. If you only valued education more. If you only worked harder. Racism is a thing of the past.

Holding up Asian Americans as a model divides communities of color, making it difficult for us to see our commonalities.

"Model” too often means you don’t have to ride in the back of the bus. You can ride near the front of the bus, but you have to be very, very careful never to say anything about the people forced to ride in back, as writer David Mura notes. But being silent means being complicit and I can not afford to be either.

Being the model minority means never speaking out against racism. I once launched into a tirade against white co-workers who repeatedly used the N-word. Perhaps the reason they felt free to use it was because they considered me to be more like them. But after my tirade, they probably presumed I was part black. The angry Asian American isn't a stereotype, at least not yet. But we are out there and racism makes us angry. Witness the popularity in the Asian American community of the ‘Angry Little Girls’ comic strip by cartoonist Lela Lee and the ‘Angry Asian Man’ by blogger Phil Yu.

Asian Americans are often overlooked in the dialogue about race in the United States. Sometimes I think that's because many non-Asians are not even aware that we have opinions. We exist only on the fringe of their radar. The stereotype of the quiet, passive, compliant model minority is extremely strong. Non-Asian people tell me that Asian Americans are not politically minded and that we have no interest in social justice issues.

But we have voices and many of us refuse to be quiet just for the sake of conforming to the model. Being the model minority is contrary to the values of my country. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Our challenge as Americans, Asian Americans and non-Asians alike, is to protest injustice where we see it. Our challenge is to not just exalt a model minority but create a model America that fulfills its potential and promise to all of its citizens.