Stereotypes Of Being Asian-American

To be young and Asian in America is a special brand of torture. There is an unspoken dictum of silence that grips Asian youth, a denial of our place in popular culture. Asian youth walk in America not quite sure where we fit in-black children have a particular brotherhood, Hispanic children have a particular brotherhood, white children own everything else. We cannot lay claim to jazz or salsa or swing; we cannot say our ancestors fought for equality against an oppressive government or roamed the great hallways of power across the globe. We do not have a music, a common hero, a lexicon of slang. Asian youth experience personal diasporas every day.

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

Growing up as an Asian American, I often struggle to identify my own cultural identity. Being the first generation of both my mother and father’s side of the family, I more than often get confused between American and Asian culture when applying them to society or at home. While being raised at home, I am largely influenced by culture and traditions from Asian parents and relatives. However, when I go to school or someplace else, I am heavily judged for practicing part of my Asian culture because it is entirely different than western or American. With that being noted, I began to learn and adapt to the western culture in hopes of fitting with society as well of trying to keep my Asian culture intact. As can be seen, this situation I dealt with is the same problem the whole Asian American community faces. Mainly focusing on younger generations like me for example, the Asian American community struggles to adapt to the western culture because they were raised with an Asian influence. Wishing to fit in society and be part of the social norms, the Asian Americans community faces issues that identify their cultural identity.

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

“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” (-Mark Twain) Being a child of immigrant parents who move to American can be hard. There is a lingering feeling of not feeling like a child belongs. They are stuck in the invisible world between where their parents came from, in this specific case, Asia and where the child lives now. It can be difficult to be raised as an Asian American and learning both culture and traditions. Many Asian American kids end up deviating from the Asian culture and embracing the American culture. However, children of immigrants should embrace their own culture in order to keep traditions alive and be proud of who they are.

Our history has taught us many things, but it doesn't emphasize a number of stereotypical situations over the discussions of race. Humans have created numerous stereotypes whether they are good or bad. Causing people to think that because of different races we have to compete for a dominant class. A popular so-called stereotype is the “model minority.”

Some may ask what exactly define an Asian American. The awareness of this controversies of the indefinite identity was during the emergence of the second generations of Asian Americans who were once known as “oriental” in the period between the 1900 to 1940s. They had shaped and constructed the idea of an Asian Americans by forging their own paths socially, politically, and economically through their experiences of being percepted as “oriental” regardless of their nativity and citizenship. In consequence, tensions among the first generations immigrant parents and second generation began to rise as changes began to transpire.

Over the weekend, as I was skimming through an online news publication, trying to reacquaint myself with the habit of news reading by clicking random headlines that bore a semblance of interest to me, a particular, and enticing, write-up on Huffington Post piqued my curiosity. In big, bold fonts, with cleverly capitalized letters at the start of every new word, the article’s heading happened to be titled “ ‘Ho Chi Chin’ Signs Targeting Asian Candidate Disrupt Maine Mayoral Race”. Intriguing, isn’t it? At the very least, it is from my perspective, taking into account not only the infrequent presence of the Asian-American community in the news media, but also the fact that that an Asian-American has managed to engage himself within the realm of American politics. The Huffington Post feature, in my opinion, accentuates certain salient points, for instance, highlighting how swiftly Dunne was to equate Ben Chin with Communism and Ho Chi Minh solely on the account that Chin is of Asian descent and “that his name rhymes with Chin”, despite the fact that Maine’s mayoral candidate Ben Chin is Chinese-, not Vietnamese-, American.

My name is Richard Hu: I am 30 years old and I am Asian American. This means that I am both Asian, and American. According to Park (2005), the latest census proclaimed that Asian Americans cover more than 4.1% of the population. In its totality that is 11.3 million people. Much like Park (2005) states, “we are not a new phenomenon: Asians have been apart of the U.S landscape from as early as the 17th century … the irony is that we remain “strangers from a distant shore””(p. My parents were born in Korea but relocated in order to give our family more opportunity to excel. I, like many others in my heritage consider myself to be a 1st generation immigrant. However, growing up in the suburbs of Hillsborough California I began to lose my sense of self. It wasn’t until I was much older that I began to identify with my Asian Culture. I whole heartedly feel that Park (2005) said it best when she argued that “Our perceived “foreign-ness” accentuates our “two–worldness”... not Asian enough to repatriate, not “American” enough to integrate” (p. 4). Although it still isn’t an easy concept for people to grasp, over the years I have learned to be more understanding of my Asian American upbringing (Question 1).

As you mentioned, I also think the stereotype of Asian Americans being perfect stem from the Asian culture itself that values on hard work and academic success. Because of this cultural value, Asian American parents expect their children to be a ‘straight As’ student and enter an elite college. In the past, as a minority in the U.S., the Asian Americans had to work harder than anyone in order to fully exert their power in the society. Having a better education and high-paid job have been the best way to get recognition from others, therefore, they have been focusing on academic accomplishment for better life. The stereotype of Asian Americans being geeky or nerdy shown in American films can be the portrayal of this American Asian cultural value.

Asian Americans face constant subjection to what has become referred to as the “model minority” myth. This myth enforces both a false narrative and broad generalization upon all Asian Americans as the ethnic embodiment of an idealistic work ethic and outstanding academic and socioeconomic success. The deconstruction of this “single story” requires the introduction of new perspectives and proper representation of the intersectional spectrum of Asian Americans, who oftentimes do not fit this typecast. Perpetuating this single story, is the lack of understanding of how Asian Americans can stem from 51 different Asian countries, struggle from the effects of poverty, and also remain unrepresented in popular media.

People of non-Aryan decent are often times the ones we see get unjustly persecuted by society. The demographic we often see get this type of unfair treatment includes but is not limited to Asian Americans. Asian Americans have been the butt of jokes revolving around ignorant stereotypes for years and it taints how society views them due to these preconceived notions. This paper will further delve into the world of stereotypes regarding this ethnicity and how Asian Americans combat and deal with these biases especially when living in the United States.

At last, Asian American are victims of cultural stereotypes. For example, it is told “that they practice martial arts”, “eat cats and dogs,” and “try to look European”.

Another part of my identity is Chinese. The Chinese population in Penn State is large compared to other minority groups. There are two typical stereotypes of Chinese. The first type is rich, party all the time and don’t study. The second type is nerd and study all the time. My parents didn’t really stress about my grade. In middle school, I was one of the worst students in the class. Macau does not have standardized test like SAT and ACT. It is very easy to accept into college in Macau. The unemployment in Macau is low. Even though I don’t study, I can still get a job in Macau. I didn’t feel the pressure like other Chinese does. I studied abroad when I was in high school. I met Chinese students from various backgrounds. Most of them had a

Don’t be racist, be PewDiePie. He is Swedish, looks American, lives in the UK, has an Italian girlfriend, and likes Mexican candy. The U.S. is no longer as racist as it used to be, as 200 years ago, you were likely a slave because of your skin color. However, today many Americans are being racist to Asians in a new way: stereotyping. Hello, I’m Dexter Chen, and today I will be discussing why you shouldn’t stereotype Asians because stereotypes aren’t true, are extremely discouraging, and because stereotyping is offensive in general. Before we get into this topic, let me explain what stereotyping is. Stereotyping is judging a group, religion, ethnicity, or even gender, although these stereotypes might not reflect on reality. This is caused by social media, the human tendency to reduce complex things to simple things, and prejudice. You might be thinking to yourself: Gee, how is stereotyping offensive? It’s just a playful way of describing someone! If you are thinking that doubtful thought, then pay attention, because I will show you why you shouldn’t stereotype anyone, especially Asians.