The word “coolie” comes to us from a Chinese term for “bitter labor,” and in Park Avenue law firms to this day there is an assumption that the heirs of these immigrants are the ones to be given the grunt work. White people in the same firms, says law professor and writer Tim Wu, manage to float above that, to seem like officers rather than cannon fodder, managers rather than minions. Guess who gets promoted to partner and who doesn't? “The loudest duck gets shot,” is a Chinese proverb. “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” is a Japanese analogue. In English, we say, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
In a culture soaked with identity-based grievance, it might be satisfying to blame simple racism for the relative absence of Asian-Americans from positions of power in American life. According to one study, only about 0.3 percent of corporate officers, less than 1 percent of corporate board members, and 2 percent of college presidents are Asian-Americans. Even in Silicon Valley, where Asian-Americans are about a third of the engineers, they hold only 6 percent of board seats.
