The American Asian student excels, almost as if without effort, we think and to reaffirm this, the Supreme Court ruled against institutions that discriminate against them, in preference for other less qualified minority groups. Anti-Asian violence is another real concern. Of eight people killed in March 2021 in Atlanta, six were Asian women. Trying to juxtapose these two extremes, I’ve often wondered what Asian Americans think about their place in America.

The resolution to name May Pacific/Asian American Heritage Month was made official in October 1978 by President Carter. In May, we turn our gaze to Asians; like all other immigrants, they enjoy the same human ordinariness, and feel the same weight of racial animus. In May we celebrate histories of Americans from Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It is a time to speak out, share stories; time to debunk myths about Asians.

I had the honor of discussing the state of the Asian community in Colorado with Fran Campbell, president of the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Colorado, in the podcast I host for CoAGG, Coalition Against Global Genocide. The current state of Asian businesses in Colorado is quite dire. Many restaurants and retail shops suffer the usual vicissitudes of the changing business climate, but during the COVID pandemic, a majority of them closed. Many proprietors were ignorant of various federal government plans, such as the PPP, to keep businesses afloat.

The chamber’s job is, among others, to educate owners of the businesses in question about good business practice, indeed a perplexing idea — many non-Asians believe Asians have an innate business acumen, illustrated nicely in Spike Lee’s movie, “Do the Right Thing.” Korean shop keepers opened a store in a building previously boarded up in Brooklyn, and the neighborhood’s Black denizens patronize the store, grumbling: that Koreans owned the store and at their own lack of initiative to start such a business.

We discussed the role of the Chinese workers in the construction of the transcontinental railway when 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants were considered unfit for the job by construction supervisor James Strobridge, until most White workers showed no interest. The Chinese worked long hours, in brutal conditions and for a pittance.

The point of all this is that Asians and other minorities have lived at opposite ends of the same street, suspiciously eyeing each other. This situation needs to be righted for in the end, all minority immigrant communities contend with similar discriminatory attitudes. One exception exists for many Whites. Asians are a model minority: smart, hardworking and Nice, they say. They of course forget that Asian Americans consist of East Asians, South East Asians, South Asians, Pacific Islanders; they’re not a monolithic group. In as much as attempts are made to increase the dialogue between the varying Asian groups so they can work together and support each other, it is just as important that they seek understanding with other Non-Asian minorities, all of whom are held in the same vice grip of the dominant group’s weight.

It’s a myth that Asian Americans have a higher median household income — $78,000 per annum compared to the average US income of $66,000. Reality is, the highest earning Asian groups are Indian and Taiwanese Americans — groups with the highest levels of education. In the case of Indians, post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1948 policy of building as many universities as possible has paid unimaginable dividends. Native Hawaiians, Burmese, Nepalese and Laotian Americans — have comparatively lower levels of education and earning power, a reflection of atrocious conditions in their home countries.

Asian immigration is not thought much about even though it’s as important as that of other groups at our borders and ports. Of 11 million undocumented immigrants in America, 14% are from Asia; Mexicans lead with 51% undocumented. Compared to other immigrant groups, South East Asians are three to four times more likely to be deported for old criminal convictions. Talk of model minorities.

Asian Americans are underrepresented in positions of power and have the lowest degree of representation in political office compared to other racial or ethnic groups. Only 73% of Americans surveyed were comfortable with a possible Asian American President, while 92% are happy with an Asian doctor.

I belong to Colorado Mathematics Awards, a group that engages in K-12 mathematics promotions and testing. Most kids participating are Asians and recently a group of them established an organization to mentor underprivileged students. They indeed are our model citizens.

Pius Kamau, M.D., a retired general surgeon, is president of the Aurora-based Africa America Higher Education Partnerships; co-founder of the Africa Enterprise Group and an activist for minority students’ STEM education. He is a National Public Radio commentator, a Huffington Post blogger, a past columnist for Denver dailies and is featured on the podcast, “Never Again.”

Pius Kamau, M.D., a retired general surgeon, is president of the Aurora-based Africa America Higher Education Partnerships; co-founder of the Africa Enterprise Group and an activist for minority students’ STEM education. He is a National Public Radio commentator, a Huffington Post blogger, a past columnist for Denver dailies and is featured on the podcast, “Never Again.”