Madeline Y. Hsu, “The Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority” (Princeton UP, 2015)

With high educational and professional attainment, Asian Americans are often portrayed as the “Model Minority” in popular media. This portrayal, though, is widely panned by academics and activists who claim that it lacks nuance. Madeline Y. Hsu, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin, provides such nuance through here historical account of Chinese immigration to the US, entitled The Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority (Princeton University Press, 2015). Dr. Hsu brings focus to “side door” immigration–students, paroled refugees, and even current H-1B visa holders–that has been crucial to Chinese immigration to the US for well over a century. Through her historical analysis, she shows that the US immigration policy towards China has mostly been skewed towards a selection of higher skilled or more educated émigré. Dr. Hsu joins New Books in Education for the interview to discuss her book. For questions or comments on the podcast, you can also find the host on Twitter at @PoliticsAndEd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education