In late 1960s, the idea of self-responsibility driven by neo-conservatism enhanced antipathy towards African Americans and Latinos who were thought to be relying on welfares. As response to growing visibility of minority group members and recent immigrants in economy, a reaction which can be described as "backlash" by White majority has been seen. The startled White majority began to criticize those minority groups who raise their voice to gain better social treatments in American society. In self-responsibility rhetoric, Asian people were praised for gaining better social position through their hard work following traditional "American value," as a contrast to other minority groups who actively participated in social movements. Asian people were said to be the role model for other minority groups due to their assimilative success and were given the name of "model minority." Through that representation, Asian people were positioned second to White people and their success stories were popularly broadcasted through mass media. In this paper, the theoretical background of this "model minority" representation is analyzed. Furthermore,  the change in media's Asian representation and the reactions to that change from social science especially the ethnic studies are examined. Through this attempt an enweaving relation of media and social science is illustrated in which ways a combined media and ethnic studies' response to "model minority" representation under influence of neo-conservative discourse worked to re-create the existing social order of American society.

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