Model minority

By: Alina Gao

​model minority you whispered 
but that wasn’t good enough 
so we tried to erase the minority and only leave model 
we bleached our skin to try and look 
whiter 
purer 
better 
we dyed our hair blonde, brown, anything but black 
we managed to make double eyelid surgery as common in Korea as obesity in America you gave us stereotypes 
“good at math” 
“high achieving” 
“quiet” 
we embraced those stereotypes, embodied them, became them 
we thought being those things would let us fit in 
we thought being those things would let us become you 
you used us to try and undermine the BLM movement 
but nothing will stop the Black people of America from seeking justice why are we the model? 
did we follow the rules for long enough you decided to elevate us? or is it because you started to see us as humans? 
we didn’t ask for this label
you gave it to us like a mother forcing a child into a scarf as if she cares about them but you’re choking us 
pressure to be a model 
pressure to be a minority 
walking that fine line between the two of them 
is like balancing books on my head 
easy as long as I stay still 
and all I can think about as my classmates ask why I’m so bad at math because “aren’t you supposed to be good at it?” 
and I see Vanity Fair covers featuring the face of Breonna Taylor 
is 
they really should stop calling us that