Stereotypes: A view from the other end of the horse

Conor Friedersdorf has posted an interesting article at the Claremont Institute's web site on the contradiction between two not-so-widely-discussed racial stereotypes: "The Model Minority Myth contends that Asian Americans are stereotyped as unusually successful citizens" and they benefit from a "native intelligence" and a culture that encourages success and compliance with the law (ie, low crime rate), and the "White Male Privilege (that) refers to the notion that ... white heterosexual males benefit from an inherent position of privilege".

Yet, as Friedersdorf anecdotally documents,

"It's a testament to academia's insularity that no one seems to realize White Privilege and the Model Minority ... are the same thing! After all, both concepts involve racial groups who are stereotyped as successful because of their skin color rather than judged according to their individual merits. But academic theorists and student activists act as though this "success stereotyping" hurts Asians even as they argue that it helps the privileged status of whites. Yet one could just as accurately talk about Asian American Privilege and Model Majority Myth without changing anything else about the theories save the skin color of those affected."

And people wonder with scorn and ridicule over past and current attempts to give Affirmative Action programs a hard, critical second look.