While looking something up on Urban Dictionary I happened across an entry titled "curve setter." I was curious about what it was, so I looked. According to the author, Nick D, a curve setter is someone of Asian descent that does well in school, thereby breaking the curve for everyone else. This idea that Asians are smarter just because of their race is, frankly, ridiculous.
In this post Nick D uses racist language concerning Asians to further argue his point. At one point he says that they "[bring] the grades of normal people (white, black, Latino, and Asians that don't give a shit) down." So, according to him, not only do all Asians study all the time, but those that don't are considered normal, while those that study are abnormal. Just because some Asians might be attempting to get a good grade in a class (and perhaps get their moneys-worth out of their education) they are no longer seen as "normal." Instead, the normal people are those that get bad grades in a class, and instead of blaming themselves for not studying, they blame the Asian kids who are ruining the curve for the rest of the class.This representation of Asians as always being smart, like any stereotype, is harmful because it allows people to assume they will always be worse (or better) at something just because of their race. So, if/when someone Asian is smarter then someone of another race that person can blame it on the "other" without feeling like they need to change anything in themselves. Instead of, say, studying harder they instead just get mad at the person who did better then them and thereby don't learn anything at all.
This definition is harmful to Asians as well. If they are constantly told that their race is smarter then others, they may start to feel that they always have to get a perfect grade, since, according to this stereotype, all other Asians do perfectly in school. And if they do badly in a class then they may believe they are abnormal, or that something is wrong with them, therefore making them feel that they aren't living up to the expectations everyone has of them.
Personally, I study very hard for my classes, not to ruin anyone else's grade, but to get as much out of my education as I can. And (at least last time I checked) I'm not Asian. Maybe now the definition of "curve setter" should include white women as well, since they aren't going for accuracy anyway, and then they can add sexist to the list of stereotypes they believe.
I’ve never heard the term” curve setter” but I am aware of the common stereotype that Asian people are smarter academically than other races. I do agree that this is a terrible and negative stereotype. This affects everyone who isn’t Asian in saying that they aren’t and couldn’t possible be, as a whole, as smart as Asian people. This also alienates Asian people and can cause serious repercussions. I’ve heard media reports that have said because of such myths that many Asian men often become alcoholics and deal with what they think are their short comings in work and school by abusing alcohol. This is truly sad and we should understand that no one race is “smarter academically” by nature than any others. We all have to work at success, whether it be in school or our careers, you don’t inherit that according to your race.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your article, I was appaled! I never thought of a certain group to be smarter than another. I do know very smart Asain people, and I also know Asain people who are not smart at all. I know African Americans and Latinos who is just as smart as Asians, and Caucasians as well. My father is a school teacher, and I brought the article up to him. We had a long discussion and he showed me papers he was actually given at a meeting, telling him the "natural way" humans are smarter or dumber because of their race. I can't believe that the world can actually lable people in this manner, a complete and total form of discrinimation and a very large sterotype.
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested in reading more about this, you might want to read up on the "Model Minority Myth." It's a really complicated topic, because some Asian American populations (particularly East Asian and Indian) are actually higher achieving by a number of metrics (level of education, income, etc.) than the general population. However, these statistics are often used to both hide American racism (e.g. "Those guys 'made it,' so why can't blacks/Latinos?") and to deny resources to Asian American groups that don't fit this pattern (Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, to name a few, along with most Pacific Islander populations because the census lumps them together).
ReplyDeleteI hear this all the time, that Asians are smarter and the best at everything. It's not them being Asian that makes them smarter or better at something. My high school brother and his friend were talking the other day about a person they thought was amazing. My brother asked his friend how he thought this amazing person got so good at what he does. Then my brother's friend said "He must be part Asian". I thought that this was such a ridiculous thing to say.
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