Karim talks about how the “model minority” of successful South Asian immigrants, who had already come prepared and with wealth, were used as an example by the state on how America had succeeded in overcoming structural racism. Now, everyone in America, including immigrants, could make it. This is a class example of the American Dream. However, this hierarchical, economic based structure of merit also created conflicts within different communities. “The hierarchies of discrimination embedded in white supremacy— African Americans are treated differently from Latinos who are treated differently from Asian Indians who are treated differently from West Indians— make it possible for those who experience one form of racism to discriminate against others” (Karim 29). The idea of multiculturalism, or cultural celebration as Karim calls it, reminds me of companies who come out with merchandise during black history month, celebrating black people or movements like BLM, when in reality there is no real, structural, legal or economic change that is going on in this country to help black or non-white communities. If racism is declared as a thing of the past, there doesn’t need to be any work into dismantling a racist system, and white supremacy and supremacy of the billionaire class can continue in this country. Today, we see how these false neo-liberal politics allowed a second and more damaging Trump administration to roll back years of DEI efforts, as they posed no real ideological opposition in the first place.
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