The Asian Survivor Guy

The following is taking from tv.com forum for the Survivor: Cook Island reality TV show. As most of you know, CBS divided the tribes into races this season. The original post thread is at: The prejudice against Asian Americans. Yul is kicking arse on Survivor.

The prejudice against Asian Americans – Yul Kwon case study | 09/16/2006 6:28pm This message is really for the majority of Americans who think Asian Americans are completely accepted and face no prejudice in the United States. The so-called ‘model minority’ myth is also conveniently used by some to decry other minorities who are not as successful. I’m not angry or trying to call folks racists. I just hope folks who read this can honestly reflect whether they hold these prejudices, which are common. (Everyone has them, but we should learn to eliminate them if possible).

I’ve noticed that some people are calling Yul Kwon a ‘quiet sleeper’ candidate for winning this Survivor. Is this grudging respect? Or continued condescention to Asian Americans? The primary thesis of this post is to call this sentiment out as an example that most Asians have to work twice as hard and be twice as smart in order to achieve the same level of grudging acceptance. (The same scenario often is true for other minorities).

I’ve seen people say that there’s no overwhelmingly strong player this year. No ‘GI Joe’ like all-American-boy Colby. Yul Kwon, who by all qualifications appears to be some mutant uber-American man, with the most insane qualifications I’ve ever met, white-asian-black-latino-whatever, is considered only moderately strong. Yeah, right. In what world will Americans then actually consider an Asian American male a strong challenge, a tough and powerful leader? Or is his natural talent negated because he’s ‘overachieving’.

Let’s review his qualifications:
1. Valedictorian at high school. (Okay, good big no big deal. Thousands of valedictorians out there)
2. Stanford Phi Beta Kappa (Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Clearly smart. Actually immensely smart. We’re looking at .01 percent of total Americans smart)
3. Helped start a national drive to increase minority bone-marrow donors. (Pretty impressive to obtain national reach as a college student. Still, he was helping a close friend, but that emphasizes loyalty)
4. Yale law school (Nothing more unusual here. No more impressive as Stanford PBK)
5. Passes two bar exams before he’s 30, including the very difficult California bar. Then helps write homeland security legislation with Sen. Joe Lieberman. (Alright, so he’s not just smart, but showing clear ability to become a leader and speak with rare articulation — remember, he’s a lawyer).
6. Passes the Marines officer candidacy. Boxes and is a novice Ultimate Fighter. (Okay, so he’s not only a leader, but extremely strong individually. Reinforces a willingness to serve the public)
7. Joins McKinsey and Google. (Aside from some small hedge-funds, McKinsey is the single most exclusive hiring company in all the world. They look for smart folks, of course, but more importantly folks who are able to easily convince a group of CEOs of cooperation and advice. His departure for Google shows an independent streak that is willing to explore new challenges, despite the fact that working at McKinsey is already so exclusive it’s sick).

I ask you to find another person in this world who matches Yul Kwon’s qualification in brains and brawns combined. Frankly, I can’t find another… maybe one or two people in this country. Now I ask you this question: if you put two white folks in a room, one who has someone like Colby’s skills and another with Yul Kwon’s skills, who would you consider a favorite? Of course the white person with Kwon’s qualification.

But here in American an Asian American guy with that qualification is barely registered as equal or inferior to someone like JP. Remember, we’re not just talking about brains here.

How does this become a problem? Because Americans rarely think of Asians as strong leaders with group skills, some Asian male who is fighting for a promotion in his company has to be clearly twice as strong as his white counterpart. This is why you rarely find Asians as executives despite the fact that they excel during the more meritocratic process of schools. Once ‘perception’ and ‘connections’ come into play in terms of moving up the corporate ladder, then Asians have to suffer the same prejudice as other minorities.

Seriously, that Yul Kwon is a freakin’ beast. Of course he might not win a game show, since luck factors prominently, but purely on abilities he is not just the strongest Survivor on this island, but EVER. Compare any other young man on past shows.

~ by laozi on November 22, 2006.