The Political Sphere

The chase and fail of the American dream derives from present-day racism, xenophobia, and the anti-immigrant and anti-Asian history of the United States. The spread of this sentiment today has created a hostile environment, especially during the Trump presidency. With someone as conservative Donald Trump who embodies these racist sentiments, he took it upon himself to publicly spread anti-Asian and anti-immigrant rhetoric while president². During the Coronavirus outbreak, he stimulated Asian hate to defend his nationalistic ideas. Le states that with this and the past anti-immigrant policies he has endorsed like “build the wall”, it crushes the chances of Asian American immigrants achieving the American dream³. The non-white marginalization is detrimental, and this idea of socioeconomic success became even more distant that it was before for Asian American immigrants.

In “Sanctuary”, Paik also comments on the political climate influenced by Donald Trump, but she connects it to the U.S. Sanctuary Movement⁴. She does so in order to shape the harsh reality of immigrants moving to the United States. The U.S. Sanctuary Movement constitutes a crusade in which the U.S. should provide refuge to people fleeing their home countries due to political or social hostility. However, this is extremely ironic—immigrants are fleeing hostility just to find hostility in another form in America⁵. The U.S. consists of xenophobia, internalized and externalized racism, and a clear socioeconomic ladder based on race and wealth. It is impossible for many immigrants to achieve upward mobility as they lack the financial and social resources to thrive in the United States, while surrounded by a poor political climate influenced by the Trump presidency. The widespread influences from a racist president–one who condemned immigration through his “build the wall” campaign and deemed the Coronavirus a “Chinese virus”–created a racially hostile environment with the reinforcement of white supremacy⁶. Immigrants typically come to the U.S. with limited money and resources, which adds another disadvantage to them in the socioeconomic sphere. Minorities like Asian American immigrants automatically lay dormant beneath white Americans on the social ladder, making it more difficult for them to achieve upward social mobility in pursuit of the American dream. 

The Model Minority

The negative response of white natives to Asian immigrants may also stem from a place of insecurity. According to Kim, white people who feel threatened by the presence of Asian Americans immigrants deliberately degrade the status of them in pursuit of supremacy⁷. This stems from the fear that immigrants will “steal” jobs from native-born Americans and climb the socioeconomic ladder into being as successful as many upper class white citizens. Asian Americans have received the name “model minority” from stereotypical Asian qualities: intelligence, a hard-working mentality, and a desire for success. This title, however, is backhanded as white Americans who do so pawn Asian Americans for their own gain⁸. This title is not a compliment nor an invite for upward social status, but rather is an attempt to degrade non-white races. Although some white people claim that Asian Americans receive this title for their stereotypically respectable qualities, this is extremely presumptuous. The title clearly states that Asians are a minority in an inferior manner.

First vs. Second Generation Immigrants

Additionally, the disparity between first and second generation immigrants contributes to why Asian American immigrants cannot achieve the American dream. Cohen-Marks analyzed the political aspect of United States culture in order to cultivate a better understanding of why achieving this cannot happen. During his terms, President Bill Clinton advertised the American dream to people desiring to immigrate to the United States. He claimed that if one “works hard and plays by the rules,” they can achieve socioeconomic success. This inspired high hopes but led to crushing disappointments⁹. Asian Americans wanting to migrate to the United States have been lured by the fact that American-born Asians are successful, thus believing they will be able to mimic this success¹⁰. However, nativity plays a vital role in this: those born and raised in America who live by American ideals are able to maneuver their way through this chaos. They typically have the social and financial resources to do so, as they have grown up in the U.S. and learned how to succeed in such an environment. Plus, first generation immigrants typically immigrate due to a financial burden; second generation immigrants typically do not have these problems. Foreign-born immigrants also have not grown accustomed to American culture, so even if they “work hard” they cannot necessarily “play by the rules” because of their ignorance and vulnerability.

Wealth and Job Disparity

The oppression in the United States is not limited to the unwritten socioeconomic hierarchy–oppression and racism have manifested themselves into verbal and physical violence. Wang defines the linguistic racism of white Americans against Asians as symbolic violence, describing the implications it has on the Asian-American population¹¹. Wang achieved her conclusion through the experience of an international student from China: symbolic violence, portrayed through verbal and nonverbal language, produces arbitrary power, control, and domination for whites¹². This is a form of racial oppression which contributes to the ongoing, deeply-rooted white nationalistic thoughts that circulate throughout society. These ideas cultivate an extremely exclusive and white-supremacist-like culture that holds any minority back from climbing up the socioeconomic ladder. Thus, having the financial success that alludes to the middle and upper middle class corresponds with race¹³. Ultimately, this makes the American dream nearly unattainable for Asian American immigrants. 

Wyatt-Nichol also proposes that the American dream is a myth for immigrants. There has been declining mobility due to racism, increasing income inequality and publicized anti-Asian rhetoric¹⁴. With a recently declining economy, there have been more job losses along with lower wages. As a result, there are less people that are able to obtain a job, creating observed competition among the races¹⁵. In relation to the American dream, less job opportunities correlates with a more difficult path to achieving financial success. Because anti-Asian sentiments exist in the United States, this marginalization mythicizes the American dream. White owners who embody this mindset will choose to hire employees of their own race over Asians and other people of color; statistically, the most successful business owners are white¹⁶. Less opportunities for an ample occupation prevents Asian American from improving their socioeconomic status. Patraporn’s argument corresponds with this as well. There is a wealth inequality among minorities and whites, which illustrates how wealth within American society is majorly based on foreign-born status and ethnicity¹⁷. Patraporn conducted a study that validated the relationship between the number of years one has in the U.S. and their English language proficiency with their economic gain. He concluded that the Asian-white wealth gap is due to differences in ethnicity, immigration history, and their historical experiences. This has been impacted by immigration policies and has “manifested into ethnic differences in wealth”¹⁸. 

The wealth disparity between Asian American immigrants and native-born Americans is also grounded  in the ideas of the Price of Nice Nails.¹⁹ Nir exposes the cruel treatment of Asian immigrant workers in the nail salon industry. Nail salon owners take advantage of their ignorant employees by exploiting them in such manners that they are often left unpaid, overworked, and humiliated²⁰. They use their ascendancy and the ignorance of their workers to profit by withholding wages and forcing their employees to work an illegal amount of hours. Their ignorance derives from the fact that they have immigrated from a different country with a different cultural and social life, so they are not accustomed to their environment in the United States. Additionally, the employers have the financial and social resources to thrive in the United States, whereas the poor immigrant workers do not. Additionally, some of these workers are also verbally abused at work by the affluent, privileged, and typically white women who are customers²¹. Unfortunately, the employers do nothing to stop it–they simply want to attract affluent customers for their money and loyalty. Many of these women have a racially motivated superiority complex and are living by high-class standards, thus acting as if women of color (especially ones who are evidently immigrants) are extremely inferior to them. The burden of receiving a job with such heinous treatment is another barrier to achieving the American dream. With inadequate pay and mounds of racially-motivated disrespect from employers and customers, it inhibits socioeconomic success for Asian American immigrants.