Does Jeremy Lin Disprove Asian Stereotypes

The Asian athlete are often seen as the model minority for their overly conforming attitudes towards American culture (Martin, 2015). The Asian athlete offers the image of the patriotic immigrant subject who asks little to nothing of the nation and praises the nation for the opportunities it presents (Joo, 2012). One example is found by Mayeda (1999) regarding Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo’s first year in the major league (1995), as the American sports media viewed him conforming entirely to American beliefs and values. According to the author, Nomo embraced this perception by sacrificing personal comforts and remaining quiet to better help his team and teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming represented model citizenry in displaying a good balance of an ideal Asian, in that he was able to compete against non-Asian athletes and still maintain his individuality as a Chinese citizen to become a cultural icon of Chinese American communities (Bairner, 2008).

Michael Omi argues about the racism in media nowadays; the racial stereotypes are still perpetuating in our popular culture, such as “Mexicans are dark and Asians look smart.” The Mad TV show “Average Asian”, portrays Asian’s stereotypes well. People are expecting Bobby Lee to be stereotypical average Asian. They think he has right answers all the time and is good at everything, but driving. People expect something from Bobby Lee, but he didn’t fit any of their stereotype.

Most African American that want to make it to the National Football League (NFL) or the National basketball League (NBA), do not realize there is a slim chance to none of actually going into a professional sport. Gates writes “African American youngster has about as much of becoming a professional athlete as he or she does of winning the lottery” (1). Not many African American youngsters know that there are “12 times more black lawyers than black athletes” or there are only 1200 blacks who play in a professional sport (1). There are 12 times more black professionals that are in the communities accommodating to the needs of those who need the assistance with either legal or health issues. The youth can achieve greatness in today’s society by getting a degree and forming a foundation to make enough to be financially stable.

Stories and stereotypes make many people want to change themselves negatively and assimilate just to fit in with society. As time passes, society’s stereotypes for how people of each race should be, which race is more dominant than others, and which race you should be, all play a role in impacting someone’s self-esteem and their insecurities. This is portrayed through Jin Wang, a main character in Gene Luen Yang’s “American Born Chinese” when Jin Wang thinks his crush, Amelia, he instantly becomes happy. But then he thinks about Greg and Amelia together and gets mad. He finally zooms into Greg’s blond hair. The next day he goes to school with the same hairstyle. The hair symbolizes Greg’s all American identity because the stereotypical American is portrayed with blond hair and blue eyes. To Jin Wang, this hair symbolizes what he wants to be, so he changed his hair to an “American” hairstyle to get Amelia to like him. Due to stereotypes about how Americans are suppose to look like, Jin Wang feels insecure about himself and wants to change his identity and himself as well to assimilate into American culture and stereotypes. These stereotypes and the Anti-Asian stereotypes impact Jin Wang greatly and make him hate himself as well as his background and where he came from because he believes that in order to be AMerica, you have to be white. Another way that this is portrayed is from a personal experience I had as a kid. Growing up as an Asian kid in America, I didn’t really know

In the collegiate world of sports, basketball has become an increasingly recognized sport among African Americans, predominantly males. The hope of any young basketball player is that one day a scout will come and recruit them into stardom The question that presents itself as a problem to the lucky few who are chosen to go professional, is whether or not an education is more important than a million dollar shoe deal, “The NCAA's (1998) annual six-year study reported that only 33% of Black male basketball players graduated, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1999). Individually, basketball reported the lowest graduation rate in all divisions,” (Robinson, 2004:1). Basketball players have become so idolized in the eyes of young

The topic of race in sport, particularly African Americans in sport, has long been a controversial yet, widely discussed matter. Human and social issues are never easy subjects to discuss or debate, and racial differences tend to provoke very strong reactions. To begin, we will explore those whom claim that black athletes excel in sports as a result of their biological make up. Of all players in the NBA, more than 75% of them are black; of all players in the WNBA, more than 70% of them are black; of all players in the NFL, more than 65% of them are black (Hoenig, 2014). Evidently, black athletes make up a vast majority of these sports in the United States. Athletes must be of elite caliber to have the ability to play at this level, so this

stereotyped for so long as being inferior. In addition, I feel that the reason why

“I grew up during the 1950s in Brooklyn, New York. That was 70 years ago. In my neighborhood, almost everyone was Jewish or Italian. Our parents spoke little or no English. Sports were very important for boys like me. Following sports made us feel more American.” This explains that many African Americans, Jewish, and Italians want to play pro sports more than anyone else and if they worked hard enough, nothing could stop them.

Jackie, Melba, and Feng have all faced life changing experiences that shaped their countries. Jackie Robinson was the first black player in the major leagues. Then, Melba Beals was one of the first African Americans to go to a white school. Finally Feng Ru was the first Chinese man to make a working airplane.In “I’ve Never Had It Made”,”Warriors Don’t Cry”, and “Father of Chinese Aviation” have all faced life changing experiences that changed their lives and their countries.

Although Asian Americans comprise only about 5% of the U.S. population, this group is the fastest growing segment of American society. Despite such rapid expansion, Asian Americans are widely underrepresented throughout media, whether in television, cinema, or literature. Moreover, there are different stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. One of the most pervasive stereotypes details how Asian Americans are a “model minority”. In essence, this myth describes how anyone who is Asian American will become a successful individual able to achieve the “American dream”.

By definition, Media Literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. The power of the media should not be underestimated. Millions of teens and adults spend hours watching television and surfing the web on a daily basis. With the use of media literacy, these individuals that utilize hours of their daily lives can be protected from pressures of media disinformation that also pushes them to become the idealistic human model it wishes them to be. By teaching majority of our communities about media literacy, we can free them from the standardized pressures of society itself. These free beings will no longer feel the needs to live up to the expectations of the media as they will discover the falsified truth when analyzed deeply. Educating the population will not only free their minds mentally, but it will strengthen their capability of thinking also. Media Literacy provides opportunities for anyone to build communication skills, boost his or her confidents to interpret multiple media sources at the same time, and as well as realistically designating the portrayal of his or her position along with others’ in a perspective view. One can take advantage of media literacy to improve his or her media use habits, such as constant television viewing behaviors. With the impact of educating the life of an individual with Media Literacy, we can advance the habitual uses of media of that human being’s family and develop more intellectual

Asian stereotypes are a product of prevailing myths propagated by various media, from books, plays, movies, television, to even historical propaganda. Generally speaking, the stereotyping of Asian women often swing to extreme types: the docile, subservient sexual object, or the dragon lady. Asian Americans only make up a small percentage of the United States population and live mostly on the west and east coasts of mainland United States and Hawaii. Consequently, the rest of the American population will most likely get their exposures to Asian Americans through television and movies. Popular media exposure to Asian Americans lacks one-on-one acquaintance with Asian Americans. It hinders the process

Chinese Americans often stayed in Chinatown in San Francisco and while it was a cultural center that provided a strong community, racism and gentrification were inescapable. As Kathleen Yep analyzes in her article about this pastime, “basketball was used to carve out an empowering space against the context of poverty, racism, and the multiple forms of patriarchies in their lives.” Informal pickup games between a few women turned into an organized pastime where they trained to become better than any other women’s team, and even some men’s teams, in the city. Basketball was also used as a tool to combat racism. The Chinese women would consistently win over white women even without their privilege. They broke norms in the name of winning and bringing success to the ‘ghetto’ of Chinatown. Yep writes, “the Playground players defined themselves as Chinese American women through their strength, stamina, and toughness,” which is the complete opposite of the popular image of the small, frail, and timid Chinese

     Asian Americans only make up a small percent of the American population. Even more significant is that this percentage live mostly on the west and east coasts of mainland United States and Hawaii; leaving the rest of the American population to most likely get their exposures to Asians through television and movies. However the exposure they have receive throughout the history of cinematography has been hardly flattering. Throughout the course of history Asians in film have been portrayed as evil or the "yellow peril" as described by others. If Asians are not being classified as evil in this picture then they are most likely the comic relief, with their lack of coordination or grasp of the English

“Basketball was once a game for the Irish and Italian Catholics in Rockaway and the Jewish on Fordham Road in the Bronx.” (Greenfield 210). Back in the beginnings of basketball ethnic names like Red Holzmans, Red Auerbach, and the McGuire Brothers were etched as stars of the NBA (Greenfield 210). But in the present names such Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson are a fixture of pro basketball with national television exposure and million dollar salaries. This is a far cry from the old school basketball of white men with status playing it for leisure. Greenfield and Wolf believe there is a question of style with today’s modern player.