The either/or exchange in the Asian American community

Sarah Moon Cassinelli, in her article “If we are Asian, then are we funny,” explains how “cultural acquisition is an either/or exchange, where an individual must decided to abandon the “original” culture to make room for the new “American” culture” (132). This is interesting because even when Asian Americans mimic the model minority stereotype, this means participating in the either/or exchange, whiteness remains unattainable; thus, the forceful mimicry becomes just a façade to keep Asian Americans excluded from mainstream and makes white American norms and ideals unfeasible (Eng and Han, 4). Moreover, as Cassinelli states, this binary process of assimilation and forceful mimicry of the model minority further contributes to the homogenization and essentialization of the Asian American community.