Narrating Toward a Bigger "We": How We Build a Model Majority

Narratives have consequences. They can mobilize people towards policies that diminish their power, divide communities to adopt negative views of people they live among, and teach people to be cynical about civic institutions and their relationship to them. In recent years, the power of one narrative–the Model Minority Myth–has helped to yield all three.

The Model Minority Myth parallels the myth about American exceptionalism. Both deny the histories of oppression and exclusion in the U.S., and current social and political factors that block progress towards equity and justice. Repeal of affirmative action could not have happened without proponents’ success in persuading Asian Americans of their ‘exceptionalism' – that their future and fate is not shared with other communities of color.

But the flip side: the Model Minority Myth is a myth. We know Asian American communities are far from a monolith and Asian American histories are deeply interwoven in the histories of Black Americans, immigrants, people living with disabilities, rural people, and working people. So why haven’t we been able to "debunk" the myth of the Model Minority? Because we have to have enough power to replace it with something else. That takes a bigger "we." To make a public narrative a shared reality means bringing our values and beliefs about who we are and who we want to be to the forefront of everything we do. We need to work towards building a Model Majority — based on equity, interdependence, and belonging that we want to see. That means having tough conversations with members of our community who may see themselves as outside or excluded from our side. And it means organizing as though the Model Majority is already here–because it is. Here are some guidelines we have put together for narrating with Asian American communities in this moment:

• Privilege your own narrative, not the opposition's–especially when it is racist. We get it: the temptation to clap back against stereotypes and disinformation is real. But repeating a lie only reinforces it and gives it more power.

  
  

• Storybank for bigger, broader audiences. Consider the audiences you want to reach and the values that resonate with them and who they are. Tapping into deeply held desires like wanting to feel seen, or the freedom to be ourselves outside of the Model Minority myth, has worked to move Asian Americans on tough issues like affirmative action. The more diverse and specific your storybank is, the more effective and nimble you can be when deploying it to shift narratives.

  
  

• Celebrate the wins - stories of survival, past and present, and shared histories of struggle, especially in solidarity, are powerful antidotes to racist stereotypes and have repeatedly moved Asian Americans toward solidarity across multiple issues.

We celebrate and uplift organizers whose work, we believe, moves us toward this Model Majority - an intergenerational, multiracial, multifaith, and multilingual constituency that recognizes the power of its own history and is actively envisioning a world that includes all of us.

• EMAC (Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities) is based in Stockton, California. California is home to one-third of the U.S. Asian electorate and Asians include the highest number of individuals born outside the U.S. of any racial group. Through youth-led journalism workshops, EMAC envisions building narrative power with a diverse Asian community and engaging with cultural and educational organizations to distribute youth stories. Youth-led storytelling is a powerful way to bring community together across linguistic, generational, and ethnic differences into a shared, collaborative project. 

  
  

• My Elders Taught Me: A project by 18 Million Rising, this digital storytelling initiative partners young organizers with movement elders for dialogue and mentorship. The stories will be distributed on TikTok and Instagram, a leading source of information for Gen-Z.

  
  

• We Belong Together: With the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Tsuru for Solidarity, National Bail Out, and Four Freedoms, We Belong Together is a narrative strategy campaign centering the stories of mothers and families impacted by immigration detention and family separation. Sixty-five percent of Asian Americans are immigrants. Focusing on care and mothering, the project both challenges harmful narratives about immigrants and advances helpful narratives about Asian Americans.

  
  

• Tsuru for Solidarity: Through its reparations campaign, Tsuru for Solidarity organizes Japanese Americans to support the effort towards reparations for Black Americans. The campaign brings communities together for dialogue, storytelling, and advocacy.

If you have more examples of organizing projects that are doing the slow, difficult work of building a bigger "we," or have some feedback, concerns, or questions, drop us a line at content@narrativeinitiative.org.

We would like to thank our partners at Asian American Futures for their feedback on this piece.