The (Un)Making of a ‘Model Minority’

The (Un)Making of a ‘Model Minority’

An odd racial pecking order puts Indian Americans in a curious place -- outside of whiteness, but distinct from other people of color. How’d that come to be? And is it changing?

We explore these questions by revisiting a story from Arun Venugopal, senior reporter with WNYC’s Race & Justice Unit, about how a Kansan community grappled with one of the first widely reported hate crimes following the 2016 election. Then he joins us to check in on that community today and walk through the history of the “model minority” myth -- and how perceptions may or may not be about to change, yet again.

Most recently, Venugopal penned “The Truth Behind Indian American Exceptionalism” for the January/February 2021 issue of The Atlantic.

COMPANION LISTENING:

White Like Me” (10/20/2016)

A history of what it means -- and has meant -- to be white in the United States of America, and what that meant for the 2016 election.

A Secret Meeting in South Bend” (6/18/2020)

How a group of Black families in the mid 20th Century carved out a neighborhood for themselves, and tried to make their American Dreams real, despite the terrorism of Jim Crow.

“The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Episoder(424)

Amber Ruffin Talks ‘The Wiz’ Revival, Writing for ‘Late Night,’ and Representation in Comedy

Amber Ruffin Talks ‘The Wiz’ Revival, Writing for ‘Late Night,’ and Representation in Comedy

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Voter Vibe Check: Why Trump Has More Support from Black Voters Than Ever

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A February 2024 New York Times/Siena College poll reveals as many as 23 percent of Black respondents said they would vote for Trump if the election were held right then. The numbers are strikingly hig...

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Comedian Bassem Youssef’s Honest Reflection on Fame, the Pressure of Representation, and What it Means to be American

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Egyptian American satirist and comedian Bassem Youssef was once known as “The Jon Stewart of Egypt,” after gaining notoriety for his criticism of the government during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Bu...

1 Apr 202450min

David Alan Grier Is Still Hitting Career Highs, More Than 40 Years After His Debut

David Alan Grier Is Still Hitting Career Highs, More Than 40 Years After His Debut

David Alan Grier has been a mainstay on TV, Broadway and film since his initial acting debut in the acclaimed Broadway show “The First,” about Jackie Robinson’s life and legacy. That role, in 1981, ea...

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Voter Vibe Check: Democratic Voters Are Torn Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

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A movement is emerging among registered Democrats across the U.S. In Minnesota and Michigan, collectively, more than 150,000 voters chose “uncommitted” rather than selecting Joe Biden on their primary...

18 Mar 202450min

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 5: What If I Could Have Grown Old With My Brother?

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 5: What If I Could Have Grown Old With My Brother?

In 1985, doctors at a methadone clinic in the South Bronx made the harrowing discovery: 50 percent of their patients had HIV. Three years later, in the same neighborhood, a pair of epidemiologists est...

15 Mar 202440min

How Actor Danielle Brooks 'Already Won' Before The Oscars

How Actor Danielle Brooks 'Already Won' Before The Oscars

Danielle Brooks, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress following her masterful portrayal of Sofia in the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple,” discusses her journey to the Oscars wit...

11 Mar 202450min

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 4: Respectability Politics and the AIDS Crisis

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 4: Respectability Politics and the AIDS Crisis

By 1986, almost 40 percent of people diagnosed with AIDS in the United States were either Black or Latino. As the full contours of the crisis became apparent, a group of Black gay men began to organiz...

8 Mar 202449min

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