NEC Perspectives Forum | Breaking the Mold in Model Minority: Parts I and II

During this last year of unmitigated progress towards racial equality, we delve into the different layers of inclusion felt in the Asian community as we continually stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. With the recent rise in numbers of violent, hate crimes targeting Asian Americans, there has never been a more appropriate time to survey the history of the Asian American struggles from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Japanese Internment Camps of the 1940s to the destruction of Koreatown during the 1992 LA riots.

Led by violinist Jae Cosmos Lee '06 GD, Founding Member and President of A Far Cry, this two-part conversation on Monday, March 15 and Monday, March 22 will explore the larger context of the racial stereotyping and gaslighting of Asians in the paradigm of race relations in the 21st-century melting pot through two different viewpoints: the Asian American and the Asian Native. It will also take a look at the angle of Asian assimilation to the White American culture and re-examine the pejorative "Model Minority", but ultimately search to bridge the differences by turning the mirror to ourselves and investigating our own prejudices against the American experience.

Part II, March 22 – WATCH STREAM:

Part II Panelists:

• Hyunjee Chung ’16 GD
• Jae Cosmos Lee ’06 GD
• Lei Liang ’96, ’98 MM
• Mai Motobuchi, NEC faculty
   

Watch the Part I Stream from March 15:

Part I Panelists:

• Wha Kyung Byun ’74 MM
• Kiyoshi Hayashi ’16
• Jae Cosmos Lee ’06 GD
• Jing Li ’03 MM

MORE ABOUT NEC PERSPECTIVES FORUMS:

The NEC Perspectives Forums, which launched in the summer of 2020, provide opportunities for the NEC community to explore how we all can make a better NEC and ensure it lives up to its commitment of Cultural Equity and Belonging. By listening to the experiences and perspectives of our students, alumni, faculty and staff, we will explore ideas that will have a positive impact on our community and build a more hopeful future for our current and prospective students.