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Paper Tigers Response

Good Essays

Austin Jones
ENC 1101 -037
10/8/13
Yang Response In his essay “Paper Tigers,” Wesley Yang discusses his own experiences as an Asian American, tying them into the larger picture of Asians functioning in American society today. Yang’s argument is that even though Asian Americans are one of the most successful ethnicities in the country, stereotypes that Asian Americans are exposed to affect the way other Americans view them. Because of personal bias and racism, human society fails to see other people for who they are and put too much emphasis on what they are supposed to or not supposed to be in America today. Stereotypes cloud people’s vision and judgment and keep some from achieving their goals because others have a pre-created …show more content…

The stereotype that Asian Americans just naturally have a step up above the rest that paves the path for the jealousy other ethnicities is really the result of ridiculous amounts of dedication and this group of people should be praised for their work ethic.
These cram schools can be found all over Flushing, a town mostly occupied by Americans of Asian descent. In Flushing, NY lives a young Asian American writer named Jefferson Mao who wrote to Yang seeking guidance about “’being an Asian writer (535).’” This is a great example of how stereotypes are affecting people today. This young man should not have to worry about being an “Asian” writer, but attempt to be a great writer no matter what his background is. Unfortunately, not all people think this way, and the Asian community suffers because of it. For example, “Princeton sociologist Thomas Expenshade has calculated that an Asian applicant must, in practice, score 140 points higher on the SAT than a comparable white applicant to have the same chance of admission (536).” This is incredibly unfair to young Asian Americans who strive for greatness and must work harder to not only meet the standards that are required for an individual to receive admission, but to get the standards needed for an Asian to get in. An example of fair acceptance on the collegiate level would be UC-Berkley. Ten years after outlawing any “racial engineering” at the State’s public

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