Examples Of Discrimination In Asian American Society

Being an asian there are many stereotypes that people categorize me before actually getting to know me. It’s been a common thing and at times it does get annoying because your being put in such a general category that might not define you. Even so, I understand why people stereotype and I do admit I stereotype people as well. I believe everyone stereotypes and although we know it’s a bad thing, we do it unintentionally because it’s easy to just label and and categorize people into groups. Although Alexie was stereotyping Native American’s as alcoholics in his story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” I do not think it was his intent was to be malicious.

In Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California, Tomas Almaguer (2009) describes how race and racism coincides to facilitate the birth of white supremacy in California during the late nineteenth century. The idea of racial formation allowed groups to establish their power and privilege over defined racial lines. For each of the three racialized groups presented

According to the U.S. Census, 5.6% of the United States’ population is Asian. There are millions of Asian Americans who reside here, they exist. So why does Hollywood and other forms of media pretend like they do not? Unfortunately, when Hollywood does acknowledge their existence, Asian Americans are limited to typecasted roles such as a nerd, a taxi driver, or a kung fu master. Not only are these roles offensive, they also inaccurately represent an entire ethnic group. Asian culture is extremely beautiful and diverse; it deserves to be portrayed as such. Hollywood’s constant use of typecasting in it’s films contributes and reinforces stereotypes and racial biases towards the Asian American community.

Mark Twain once said, “The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.” Even as we as a globalized society have improved greatly, prejudice appears far too often and is expressed everywhere even in today’s world. During World War 2, prejudice was peaking in society. In Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatuski Houston and James D. Houston, the main theme is that silent prejudice hurts the most.

In retrospect, the history of the antebellum America is quite fascinating. During this period, the young republic faced several challenges. One of the most serious ones was the slavery issue. Reading the related materials, people might understand that the Founding Fathers had actually pondered about the solution to the issue; however, they did not pursue it because they foresaw possible turmoil in American politics. Unfortunately, the issue kept simmering until it reached the boiling point which resulted in the disastrous Civil War. It is also interesting to read how the anti-and pro slavery camps argued for their beliefs, how politicians abandoned their old parties and formed the new ones based on their common beliefs or interests and how they fought for their political gains. The period of the antebellum America presents such a tumultuous one, yet it shows how the young republic struggled to find a path to a better union among those hungry for power and wealth. Above all, it does require wisdom, vision, courage, determination and political maneuvers

Discrimination has plagued the world since the beginning of time and continues to happen today. People can be discriminated against simply for looking different or following different customs. It has been implemented by governments throughout history, but it has also been practiced individually. “In Response to Executive Order 9066” and “Legal alien” are two poems that discuss the topic of discrimination.

You may wonder what is a model Minority? A model minority is a group of people who others perceive to achieve the highest achievements and to be well off. This model minority is measured by income, education, criminal activity and marital status. The problem with this studious Asian stereotype is not everyone can live up to it. There are Asians that struggle for money and work. These binds make it seem as every Asian has the american dream. All Asians live in a picket fence world of perfectness. This is not the case in all instances. Some Asians are struggling to make end meet and are swallowed up and left behind because of this stereotype. In particular, lets look at a woman named Pranee Wilcox ,who worked as accountant back home in Thailand. She had a college degree. In 2001, the Thai ambassador offered her a job as his housekeeper in the Washington, D.C. She said yes -even though that meant leaving her babies behind in Thailand. Wilcox figured she would make more money working in the United States. Four years later, when her boss returned to Thailand, Wilcox decided to stay, however that meant living in the United States without papers and speaking very little to no English. Desperate for money, she worked 12-hour days, six days a week. First she worked as a cook, then in a nail salon. To this day she still feels

‘College students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like.’ Is stated in the article The Coddling of the American Mind. The authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt use logos, ethos, and pathos to discuss the issues and solutions for trigger warnings and macroaggressions on university campuses. The authors start the article off by giving examples and other pieces of literature written about trigger warnings on college campuses, these are examples of Logos. Logos is used throughout the document for example in the third paragraph the author observed the recent campus actions at Brandeis University. The actions presented stereotypical comments about Asian students such as “aren’t you supposed to be good at math,”

The relocation and internment of the Japanese in America is often seen as one of our nation's greatest mistakes. For many, the quest is to now understand why we committed such an atrocious act. The most common explanations include racist attitudes, military ‘necessity’, and economic reasons. Japanese relocation was a disgracefully racist act that the Government of the U.S committed, an act that was virtually unnecessary and unjustified.

Assimilation is usually meant to indicate what happens to immigrants in a new land. However, “rejection, loneliness, discrimination—these were the byproducts of living in the United States” (Ghymn 37). In Marilyn Chin’s essay on assimilation “How I Got That Name,” the speaker acquaints the readers how she got the American name “Marilyn.” The tension between the two cultures is evident, for the speaker is treated as “Model Minority.” Her race and ethnicity define her; in fact, the stereotypes inscribed with her race restricted and cage her significance in the society. Similarly, David Hwang’s 10-minute play “Trying to Find Chinatown” centers on an encounter between Ronnie, a Chinese-American street musician, and Benjamin, a Caucasian tourist from Wisconsin who identifies himself as Asian-American, in the busy street of New York. In the play, “each character defines who he believes he is: Benjamin is convinced he is a Chinese American, and Ronnie sees

When filling out surveys or job applications, all Asians must check off the “Asian American” box regardless of national origin or place of birth, forcing a single classification on an extremely diverse group. This aggregated approach to understanding Asian American is not new, it has been present since the us versus them Occident-Orient approach that powered racism against early Asian immigrants. With the increasing presence of second and third generation Asian Americans, it is time to redefine what it means to be Asian American and to discover a new manner of framing the Asian American experience as unified yet diverse. The best approach to emphasize diversity is through stressing the national, socio-economic and gender differences within the Asian American

Nowadays, Asian-Americans are still the target of stereotypes against them, but those stereotypes have evolved with the time. Among those stereotypes, a stereotype pretends that Asians are so called bad drivers, and another pretends that they are all smart and good in math. The first is often due to the image medias and experience give us to Asian traffic, overall China, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and India because of the growing population and accidents. Furthermore, in Asia, traffic rules are hardly ever respected. The origin of the fact that Asians are smart and good in math can be explained by the Asian educational system which promotes sciences, math and technologies in school’s programs to create new searchers who could be useful to economic growth and scientific progress in development countries. Yet, those stereotypes are wrong concerning Asian Americans. In fact, they learn to drive according to the laws of the country they live, and do not all like school.

In Kat Chow’s essay “My ‘Oriental’ Father”, she conveys her thoughts on the word “oriental.” Her father, who had come to the U.S. from Hong Kong, still uses the word “oriental.” The correct terms used by scholars and activists are Asian or Asian American. Chow would prefer her father use one of these scholarly terms instead. She is worried if he continues to use the word “oriental,” people will continue to view him as foreign. This is something she has felt throughout her life. As a young girl, Chow had an experience with her white friend who used racist remarks against her. When she was a teenager, a woman at her place of employment, was surprised by how well Chow knew English. Chow was offended by this, because why wouldn’t she speak English

The stereotypes have brought negative recognition to these ethnic groups. According to an article by Simply Psychology, stereotypes can interfere when an introduction to another race occurs. An individual might sum up the person characteristic based on the stereotypes of the person’s ethnicity. An individual can assume that all Asian Americans are Chinese, and therefore can speak the Chinese’s language as well. This is a negative stereotype of an Asian American that they encounter in their own country. The article, mention that stereotypes can lead to social categorization, which leads to prejudice attitudes towards a certain race. In this case Asian Americans are seeing as bad drivers due to the shape of their eyes. They are criticized for being intelligent, but still expected to be successful in life. Young Asian Americans are seeing as hard-working, submissive, obedient and uncomplaining. In reality these stereotypes hide the truth according to an article called “Model Minority Stereotype for Asian Americans”, Asian American college students are more likely to seek medical leave, more likely to go on academic probation, and are less likely to graduate in 4

There’s a myth about Asian Americans, that generalizes them into one group. People create false images of us through stereotypes. These stereotypes have been manifested in books, movies, and literature, but they have repercussions for Asian Americans in society. We are often treated as foreigners, people leading us to believe that we don’t belong in American society, and that we have no purpose being here.