4 Asian Canadians are dismantling the pervasive and harmful 'model minority myth'

Intelligent. Hard-working. Quiet. Obedient. Analytical. High-Achieving.

These are the pervasive stereotypes of the "model minority myth" some Asian Canadians and immigrants say plagues every aspect of their lives, keeping them from being seen and living as their full authentic selves.

Now younger generations say they want to dismantle the competition for white approval the myth creates between Asian communities and other communities of colour.

This Asian Heritage Month, CBC spoke to four artists and activists who are pushing back on the limits the stereotype imposes on who Asian Canadians can be.

"The toll that the model minority takes on you is very insidious because, from the outside, it just looks like you're a happy, successful person," said Zoe Si, a writer and illustrator in Vancouver. 

As a child, Si was good at school and considered the stereotypes as part of her identity.

"It didn't occur to me that the fact people didn't see the other parts of me, that they only saw me as a Chinese kid who was good at school, was a bad thing," said Si.

But when she began working as a litigator as an adult, Si felt she was constantly underestimated.

The racial justice reckoning and anti-police brutality protests in the spring of 2020 finally made her realize she needed to stop trying to prove herself.

She slowly expanded her side work illustrating cartoons and eventually received a deal for her first book. 

Now Si is a contributing writer and illustrator for the New Yorker, where she was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for illustration in 2022.

"Being able to step fully into a career as an artist has changed me," said Si. "I never knew that this could be my career path."

Growing up in India, Nishant Jain was in his late 20s the first time he realized others saw him as a minority.