Blogger Cathy Hung, D.D.S., is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon practicing in New Jersey. She is an alumna of the ADA Institute for Diversity in Leadership and a wellness ambassador with the ADA Wellness Ambassador Program, which is supported by the ADA Dental Team Wellness Advisory Committee of the ADA Council on Dental Practice. Dr. Hung currently serves as the vice president of the Mercer Dental Society and a New Jersey Dental Association alternate trustee. She is a speaker, writer and life coach on diversity, equity and inclusion and female leadership.
When supermarket aisles were first taped and marked with unidirectional arrows to avoid crowd-crossing during the COVID-19 pandemic, I turned into an aisle without taking notice. An elderly woman bursted in my face: “You went the wrong way; I don’t know if you are sick!” Caught unexpectedly, I was shocked and angry and then realized that my Asian appearance appeared to trigger her verbal attack. The scab of “go back to your country” was picked open and bled again.
The opposite stereotypes of “yellow peril” and “model minority” attached to Asian Americans have been pendulating for decades.1 COVID-19 reactivated the fear and aggression toward Asian Americans, especially East Asian Americans, as evident by a rise of hate crimes across the nation in the past few years. According to the Asian American Foundation’s Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the U.S. Index 2023: Attitudes towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, 29% of Asians feel unsafe on public transportation and half of Asians feel unsafe because of their race. The memory of World War II and the Vietnam War contributed to the anti-Asian sentiments in the past; meanwhile, a whopping 73% of Americans surveyed in this report felt that attacks or incidents toward Asian Americans between March 2021 and 2022 were fueled by blames of Asian Americans for the pandemic.2
The dilemma of the underrepresented of the overrepresented
The American Dental Association Health Policy Institute surveyed the distribution of the U.S. population and dentist workforce by race in the years 2005-2020. As of 2020, 5.6% of the general population is Asian and 18% of the dental workforce is Asian. In other words, Asian dentists are “overrepresented” — there are higher percentages of Asian dentists than Asians in the general population.3
Are we optimistic, and what is the problem? The model minority myth of superachievers and hardworking bees once again prevails, as does the confirmation bias of “Asians are good at math” or “Asians work hard and don’t cause trouble.” However, the overrepresented Asian dentists are underrepresented in leadership seats. The STAATUS Index found Americans are “less comfortable with Asian Americans in positions of power and leadership.” This is partly influenced by news and media and the roles often portrayed by Asian men and women as kung fu fighters and sex workers, and also due in part to the diversity and fragmentation of subgroups of Asian cultures that are generally similar in values and beliefs with distinct differences, including a large number of languages and dialects spoken in a group lumped together as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
To date, there is no formal body in organized dentistry for AAPI on the national level, similar to the Hispanic Dental Association or National Dental Association. It is disheartening to think an overrepresented group in the dental workforce bears no representation on the national organizational level. Could this be attributed to the underrepresentation of AAPI in leadership seats or to cultural beliefs? In Chinese, there is such an expression as “sweeping your own snow in front of your door,” meaning, “just mind your own business and stay out from other people’s business.” In a way, this is in alignment with the conflict-averse Confucious central philosophy, as politics are often viewed as acts of stirring the pot. There is another Chinese expression that literally translates, “end the business, quiet the crowd,” which means, “let sleeping dogs lie.” Is the lack of a formal AAPI body of organized dentistry reflective of cultural stigma? Are AAPI children raised by their parents to believe the ultimate goal of life is to become a doctor working in a well-respected (and perhaps lucrative) profession and care about nothing else?
Chinese designer Guo Pei, best known as a designer dressing Rihanna, designed a limited edition Lunar Year Barbie doll with traditional attire. Social media’s responses were mixed, from celebrating Asian heritage to complaints about other Asian heritages. What about Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese Barbie? Can we get rid of the slanted eyes? What about South Asians not being included as Asians? Is Mattel’s attempt to increase inclusive efforts successful or rather creating more division among the already segregated group known as Asians?
As a native Taiwanese, I am a Pacific Islander, but I am not part of the aboriginal tribes of indigenous peoples of Oceania who reside on part of the Taiwan island. I am ethnically Chinese and studied Chinese history and geography in traditional fonts without ever setting foot on mainland China due to politics. My heritage was post-colonial Japanese with Fukien dialect-speaking immigrants as ancestors, and I am the 17th generation of my family in Taiwan. I am not the only Asian with unique lineage and heritage. Everyone has a story. For AAPI to amplify our voices, we need to forgo the notion of staying in the background as a virtue of humility. Step up and speak out about our concerns, find our common ground and unify our voices. In my book “Pulling Wisdom,”4 I talked about my feelings of “perpetual outsideness” as an immigrant. Although I have resided in the U.S. for more than 30 years, continued comments such as “where are you from” and “your English is so good” lessen my sense of belonging as an American. AAPIs who are born and raised here are not free of verbal slights due to stereotypes and marginalization, which erode their long-term sense of wellness and self-identification as Americans. During this month, I am urging our colleagues to take action toward building a stronger community for conversation and support, as it is my hope to see a formal body of organized dentistry for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the very near future.
References:
1. Li, Y., & Nicholson, H.L., Jr. (2021, November 2020). When “model minorities” become “yellow peril” — Othering and the racialization of Asian Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociology Compass, 15. 10.1111/soc4.12849.
2. The Asian American Foundation. (2023). STAATUS Index 2023. https://www.staatus-index.org.
3. Wright, J. T., Vujicic, M., & Frazier-Bowers, S. (2021, April). Editorial: Elevating dentistry through diversity. JADA, 152(4), 253-255.
4. Hung, C. (2020). Pulling Wisdom: Filling the Gaps of Cross-Cultural Communication for Healthcare Providers. Advantage Media Group.
Excellent and well researched article. Thank you for sharing. We do need a national Asian Dental Association. Especially given the statistics of representation in the dental community. Appreciate all your efforts Dr. Hung!
Thank you for your feedback Dr. Deshpande! We need you to be part of the equation!
Thank you for this article! This is something I have thought about for some time, but have no idea what is involved in creating such an association. How do we connect with other dentists in the AAPI community?
First of all, I want to thank you for sharing your experience and background. Sometimes it is difficult to express how we feel. Each of us as dentists has a family history as well as a personal history. We come from those varied backgrounds together with a professional history of attending dental school and practicing as dentists. Dentists make up a minority. The number of dentists per 100,000 people in the United States was 61 in 2020. Some would say we sort of have our own language. When we talk about dentistry, non-dentists usually want to walk in the opposite direction. While it is good to recognize our unique differences, it is very important to remember that our professional joys and challenges are more alike than they are different. It is dentistry that brings us together as ADA members.
While we celebrate our differences, recognize our past, and what brings us together is our common goals professionally, in our community, etc. What you experienced in the grocery store during the pandemic was heart breaking. Call it out, but also realize that when it comes to organized dentistry, we all benefit from the differences of those around us. We can multiply instead of divide. We can build up instead of just show up. Be inclusive. That is my challenge to all of us. I am certain you are not alone in your feelings. I challenge you to show up at your local, state, and national ADA meetings. Be present as a dentist and a colleague and be inclusive. You never know who might help you with your next break through. Then, if you are so inclined, find dentists locally that fit into the AAPI group you would like to create at those organizational meetings, and invite them to lunch at your favorite restaurant. You have extensive leadership skills and could easily lead such a group. Watch where the conversations lead. I think you will be surprised. You may each talk about your unique background and how your family identity and heritage has influenced your lives, but soon you will find the conversation moves on to topics and discussions you could see yourself having at any ADA or State dental meeting with colleagues of any heritage. When I first attended local association meetings, I was the only female general dentist among a large group of male dentists and one female specialist. Do you know what I found? A lot in common with the male dentists. Lead with courage, be open to change of thought, and be inclusive. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Thank you for sharing.
Dr. Hung, thanks for shedding light on the AAPI experience in dentistry. It’s eye-opening to see the leadership gap despite our strong presence in the field. Your personal story adds depth to the broader challenges we face. Here’s to hoping for a more inclusive future in dentistry. Appreciate your voice in this!