Posted by One night when I was 12 years old, while we were watching the evening news, my father told me that it was high time that I started studying for the SAT’s.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, incredulously. “I won’t need to take the SAT’s for real until 11th grade! None of my friends will be studying for the SAT’s yet!”
“Because in this country, you will always need to be 2, 3, or even 4 times better than any white person,” he replied.
I nodded and I took my sisters’ old Barrons SAT prep books up to my room and took a practice test. (I think I scored around 1200). Later that year, I registered for and took the test under real circumstances. I was the only 12 year old to take it.
I remember distinctly that my father didn’t say I would have to be better than Blacks, Indigenous, Latinx or other minority groups that have long been in this country. He specifically said white people. Because he knew that the power in this country is held by white folks. And in order to achieve in this country, I would have to do better than white folks. This is something I instantly understood. No one had to break it down further for me.
Head in the Sand
I like to think I’ve built a fairly solid, stable life for myself. I earn enough and am generally secure enough that I could support a girlfriend/spouse and kids if need be. In short, I live a comfortable, if unspectacular, life.
Now, as a South Asian American, I understand that any discrimination I might face will be small potatoes compared to the systemic and historical discrimination and dehumanization faced by Blacks. The fact that I do not believe I have faced much discrimination in my work career does not obviate the point that the infrastructure and systems in this country are designed to let wypipo excel at the expense of PoC, most notably Blacks.
South Asians can sometimes slide by under the radar. We’re BIPoC but we’re not Black. But just because I haven’t had to be 2, 3, or 4 times better than white folks in order to build a good life doesn’t mean that my father was incorrect. Yes, his statement played into the “model minority” myth… that putting one’s head down and working hard would alone be enough to rise above any potential discrimination.
That’s rayyycist!!
If I wanted to rise above my current, comfortable station in life, I have no doubt I would need to work harder and harder than a similarly-positioned white person.
And still, those results would not be guaranteed. Not simply because of the capriciousness of life. But also because I have some melanin. And because I’m (nominally) Muslim.
Looking back on that conversation, what is amazing to me is that I, a 12-year old boy, instantly understood and accepted his point. I don’t remember my parents talking much about racial or ethnic discrimination when I was young. I had not, at that point, faced any discrimination or hostility because of my racial, ethnic or religious background.
But I got it. I just got it. I accepted it and I set about trying to figure out a way around it. Or through it.
America can be a land of opportunity for anyone if they work hard AND AND AND AND AND they are lucky. America is the land of opportunity for white folks if they work hard. Sometimes. Maybe.
