Stereotypes And Stereotypes Of Western Media

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

Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these

The stereotypes of Chinese immigrants and Chinese immigrant women in particular shaped the way the government created legislation, with laws passed to keep them out of the country. This in turn caused a stigma to form around Asian immigrants. The power of perception played a prominent role in the racial discrimination and social conditions that Chinese women faced in the late 19th century and beyond.

Individuals in this world tend to be judgmental, and judge people in groups instead of the personality. Yet, in the article, “Asian American and Stereotypes”, Denise Wong Peck claims, “As Asian American, we are too often judged not by our individual characters, but by stereotypes” (Peck). Peck explains that as Asian Americans; people do not see Asians as individuals but rather as copies; since Americans assume Asians are all good at the same thing. For example, some people assume that all African Americans are good athletes. This is a common stereotype to explain the reason

“America the land of opportunity, to all” has always been a driving force for many people from poor, undeveloped societies far away from America. This simple saying has brought over millions and millions of people from they’re native countries, leaving behind families and friends. Some never to return. Once in America, reality sets in for most of these groups as that suffer thought unequal treatment, racism and discrimination. One such group involved similar treatments were the Chinese- Americans, in the documentary “Becoming American- the Chinese Experience” we are given a first hand looks and descriptions of the hate that Chinese- American suffered in America. This paper will discuss these events including the documentary and class notes, further it will also describe the difference treatment that Chinese- American face in present day compared to the past.

The Chinese immigrants were stereotyped as anti-white. Henry Grimm, in his 1879 play, entitled “The Chinese Must Go”, attempted to show the racism of the Chinese toward white Americans by writing the following dialog for a Chinese character: “[W]hite man big fools; eaty to muchee, drinky to muchee, and talkee to muchee” (Doc. A). The dialog reveals the hatred the Chinese had against the whites. This stereotype generalizes that the Chinese looked at themselves as being superior to whites. The tension between the Americans and the immigrants separated them, and eventually lead to the Chinese Exclusion Act.

After the increased suppression of international slave trade during the mid nineteenth century, Chinese immigrants were frowned upon in America due to the fact that they were depicted as a threat to the U.S economy. As a result, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed and banished a vast majority of Chinese people in America. Based on the documents provided, it can be concluded that the Chinese Exclusion Act, despite being morally incorrect, was an inefficient ordinance that caused an abundance of controversy in America. Based on document A, during this time frame, there was a great amount of racist feelings towards the Chinese. This is shown in a play called “The Chinese Must Go” by Henry Grimm, which depicts the Chinese in a negative

The white people thought of the Chinese as lesser people to themselves. This is inherently obvious based on published works that depict racist stereotypes of Chinese immigrants who conspire together to make sure that all jobs are held by the Chinese. Large amounts of white people were willing to act in a hostile and xenophobic manner to the Chinese, despite the supposed values that America was built upon.

Chinese people would be shunned in society, only able to get jobs white people thought were beneath them, but these were only the better cases. “[Reports of] humiliating, berating, harassing, beating, and murdering of chinese [people] were so commonplace [...] that newspapers seldom [bothered] to print the stories,”

Both groups were persecuted and shunned when they arrived in America. I think Scharf’s article was probably meant for anyone who believed the Chinese were being intrusive. However, this essay would also be very effective in persuading those who were not quite sure if the Chinese were ‘good or bad.’ My parents said that when they came to the United States in the 1990s, they were not treated badly. In a way, America gradually began to accept different people and that is why America is so diverse

Amongst the Asian immigrants who were the first exposed to the hatred of nativist white folks, was the Chinese immigrants who came here in the 1800s for gold and other opportunities that China could not give them. Before coming nobody ever heard stories of how much hate white Americans had for the Asians, so there was no way of knowing. Amongst all things newspapers were one of the top contributors on the fight against immigration and put out some really hurtful editorials. Thomas Magee who was aligned with the Knights of Labor an organization against immigrant labor, writes in one of his articles “MEN FROM CHINA come here to do LAUNDRY WORK...Every one doing this work takes BREAD from the mouths of OUR WOMEN.”1 A very provocative statement

We’ve spent so much time in our class on various racial issues seen in the United States of America. It’s our national sport, in a way, it’s always as if there is only one side: nonwhites. But this is one of those binaries where you need both sides to make sense of it. When comparing Asian Americans in America during mid-19th century and the turn of the 20th century, there were many similarities and differences. One way in which they were similar was most Asian Americans intended to work hard, make a lot of money, and then return to their families and villages as wealthy men or stay and fulfill the American dream because this goal didn’t differ from Asian Americans from many immigrants who came to the United States. One way in which they were different was that many white/ European Americans looked down on all immigrants, but Asian Americans were considered racially as well as culturally inferior because most Americans believed that Asian Americans were too different to ever assimilate successfully into American culture. This view was expressed and reinforced by the stereotypical “imaginations” and “images” of Asian immigrants in the 19th and 20th century.

Throughout American history, the Chinese were never talked about in great detail despite their impact. The first generation of Chinese that came to the U.S after the California Gold faced finding their identity in a new country. They defined themselves in american culture with the establishment of Chinatown and the construction of the continental railroad, but they also faced hardships of discrimination leading to the Chinese exclusion act. America talks about the blacks, the latinos, the Irish being discriminated but hardly ever about the Chinese. Since the moment they arrived, the Chinese adapted to the new land around them and strived to make America their new home despite constant setbacks employed by the United States government.

Before they largely started to relocate to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush. The goals of most men was to work hard, make money and return to their homeland as wealthy men, but that wasn’t the case for most of them. When they came, they were unwelcome in their new home of opportunities. In an article from Teachingresources.com it states “ The Chinese were criticized for following a different religion, using opium, playing different gambling games (fan tan), speaking a different language, wearing different clothes and styles, eating different foods, celebrating different holidays, and for living in a bachelor society rather than as family men with wives and children”. Proving the large amount of ignorance in society existing when talking about other minorities and cultures. The U.S also went to the extents to put restrictions on immigrants coming to the U.S intended to limit their growth in the country. “ During the 1920s, Asian American suffered from the prejudices of European Americans. Anti-Asian sentiments were expressed through a series of immigration laws and other regulations intended to limit the growth of the Asian American community as well as it’s civil and property rights”(Pg.24). The U.S installed these laws to prevent minorities such as the Asian Americans from gaining power in

he United States has claimed for years to be a melting pot, where race or various preferences do not define our role in society. Most everyday people do not even realize or notice the amount of stereotyping that occurs in mass media. It is important to understand the different types of discrimination marginalized groups face. Stereotypes can affect everyone, whether it is based on their race, gender, or sexual preference. Media makers could easily find ways to not discriminate against people, but perhaps this would make that specific media outlet less popularly attended to.