Chinese+Stereotypes

Unfair Stereotypes


Many people have experienced unfair stereotypes, and Asian Americans are no exception. Read this link about perceptions people have about Asian Americans, then come back to this page and write a 2-3 paragraph reaction to it. Consider if you have ever had these thoughts about Asian Americans, where the stereotypes come from, how this unfair stereotyping may affect students (teenagers in particular), and what can and should be done to help.

Put your responses right on this page, under your name (first name only, please).

Gena L: This article is so interesting!

Chinese Stereotypes Kashi

Stereotypes about Asians are very present in American culture, but their existence is not acknowledged as much as other stereotypes. This is very difficult for Asians in America because people have certain thoughts about them, but are not aware of it. Little is done to help these people and reverse the effects of assumptions made about them. One stereotype that caught my attention was how Asians are thought of as overachievers. I found this interesting because I often try to put more quality into my work than people expect. I can see how the idea of Asians being could push students too hard to do well academically, at a time when they are also struggling with their emotional development. People would just assume that they would do well in school, and it would be very easy. Because of this, Asian students would not get enough help and support when they are having trouble.

To help students who are being stereotyped, people should try to understand what the stereotypes are and what the students are going through. The students should be encouraged to seek help. It may be more effective if the help was confidential, so that they would not have to worry about others making fun of them.

Forrest This article made me kind of sad, because I know Asians as well as other minority groups have had a hard time in America with racial discrimination as well as having equal rights and treatment. The main common stereotype people have of Asians is that they’re insanely smart. Sure, there may be Asians out there who are smarter than a white person, but it doesn’t mean every Asian is like that. Many people believe Asians want to be like they typical white American, but that’s not always true. People should be proud of who they are, not try to be something they aren’t. People are so racist against Asians for the same reason they're racist against black people: they look different. But who says different is bad? In my book, different is great! There is so much to learn about different cultures, but the only thing we hear is, “That’s bad!” It was like the Nazis with the Jews, Poles, Gypsies, etc. I think another unfair stereotype that a lot of people forget about is that people believe Asians are supposed to be superior at the martial arts and that they’re supposed to be able to beat people up easily. There have even been reports that specific groups of Asians distancing themselves, such as the Korean students and the Southeast Asian students, because they didn’t want to be seen as “welfare sponges.” And you have to think about it this way: What if you were an Asian? How would YOU feel if you were being picked on? That might make you think twice about teasing someone just because they look or talk differently than you! This discrimination affects Asian teens in school. Having no friends is one side of the continuum and depression and suicide are on the other side. I think that stricter laws need to be passed banning discrimination. Regulations need to be set in school for stricter punishments as well. Anyone who lives in America, whether they're black, white, Asian, Hindu, or anything else, should have the same rights and should be treated fairly. If it takes law and order to do so, then so be it.

Xandria

This article answered many of my questions about Asian Americans. I always wondered why the Asian students were always in the advanced classes at my public school and why most of the students and why most of the students at the University of Pennsylvania and other IV league universities were Asian. How could a whole race be mentally superior to the rest of the world? I always thought what if I lived in Hong Kong and went to school from 7am to 5pm and then had four hours of homework? I don’t think I could do it. So how can all those students in Hong Kong do it? I didn’t know all of this was because of a stereotype and not some genetic gift. This stereotype must make life a nightmare for Asian American youth, especially the ones with learning disorders. The way to eradicate this stereotype is asian American teens need to rebel against the stereo type and show the world who they really are. Educators should not make assumptions about students based on their race and notice if a student is working to hard. Asian youths should be encouraged to seek help and be reassured it is nothing to be ashamed of. Jeff ®  I find this article very intriguing. What really got my attention was the fact that the stereotypes covered almost everything. For example, in the behavior types, there were "try to be like Caucasians" and "not willing to mesh with American Society." This is very sad because it seems like whatever Asians do, they are negatively stereotyped for it. It seemed like for almost every set of stereotypes, both ends were negative. I never really realized this, but it does seem that people see every action that Asian Americans take as a strike against America, which it is not. I now see how badly Asian Americans are stereotyped. On the other hand, people try to keep a "good stereotype" of Asian Americans by saying that they are always very smart. However, "good stereotype" is and oxi-moron. This stereotype causes Asian Americans to try too hard to do well, and if they don't, it is a shame. Since they are expected to do very well, they do not want to get help because it is like stooping to a lower level. This is very sad because people can't see that this stereotype is hurting Asian-Americans, not helping them.

Megan This article made me feel sad and angry at the same time. I never knew that is was some of the things people would say. That is just mean and not really necessary. I have friends who are Asian Americans and would have never thought to have called them a whiz kid. Yeah, sure they were smart, but i only looked at them as a friend to help me out if I needed help on a school subject.

In a way I kind of know where some of these stereotypes come from. You see I like learning about different cultures. In Japan the kids have to take really hard test called entrance exams to see what school they will be moving up to for middle school, high school, and college. Others come from how they look, like the color of their skin.

Josh It is very sad to see that while we have come such a long way with being kinder to African-American's, Latinos, and homosexuals, but we still look at Asian-Americans stereotypically, though it's not always in the same stereotypical way, as most of the stereotypes contradict each other. This is no light matter, and one young Asian-American proved it a few years ago, when he killed 32 students at Virginia Tech. It was found out later that he was made fun of in school for the color of his skin, which may very well have been one of the things that drove him to do such a horrible thing. Sometimes people may treating Asian-Americans differently without really knowing it, because of their subconscious stereotypes, or may mean to joke, but still sound cruel and unkind. Neither of these are good enough excuses though, since you need to watch what you say, but nobody's perfect. I'm not going to pretend that I'm innocent when it comes to this, as I've sometimes had stereotypical thoughts and comments about Asians, usually just to joke, but that doesn't make it okay. With almost all generalizations, it's a lose-lose for the group being generalized against, because it means that whether they're being viewed negatively or positively for their stereotypes, they're going to have to live either completely either outside or inside the stereotype box, and Asian-Americans are no exception. We may never get rid of all of our conscious and subconscious generalizations, but if we can notice that we have them, and try to not act on them, that will take us a long way.

Kyri This article didn’t make me evoke any emotion, because I am very aware of most of the stereotypes in the world. All though, this article made me even more aware of how much Asians-Americans go through in this country. Like Xandria, I have always wondered why when being placed in advanced classes, the classes where mostly made up of Caucasians, Asians, and me. But, after read the article I realized that some of the Asians kids didn’t belong in those classes, they were there because of the stereotype that all Asians are “wiz kids” and “geniuses.”

Emily In my old school, one of my circles of friends was entirely Asian. Some kids called me the white Asian (since I was the only white person with them), but it honestly never bothered me at all. I was very close to two of the girls in the group (one I had known since preschool). They, and the fact that I was in several advanced classes, was probably the reason I hung around with them. There are a few stereotypes (which in my friend’s case are true…) that I can think of that I didn't see mentioned in the article; those being Asians are perverts and that if they don’t get straight “A’s”, their parents would be pissed. We called getting anything below an “A-” an Asian fail. At my school, labeling wasn’t really an issue, since everyone fell under one that didn't bother them. “How about the girl who makes strange noises all of the time? Yup, that’s the animal-obsessed freak. The patch of chicks wearing Juicy jackets, Abercrombie mini skirts, leggings, and UGGs? Oh, there’re the queen bee’s followers!” I fell into the nerd (and mind you that there is a quite a distinction from nerds and geeks!) category with my Asian buddies. No one ever really tried to rebel against the labels and rules, so I’m not really familiar with the unfair side of the stereotypes. Sure, there were Asians in my school who weren’t in our “smarties club”, but they had their own group of friends. I suppose there are many kids who face the terrible part of the labels, but there is really nothing to be done. Maybe if our world was a utopia, where everyone is accepting and forgiving, it could happen. But it’s not. Until then, only the aware people can try to stop this mess of racism. Everyone deserves a chance of fitting in; unfortunately there just isn’t enough of that pie to go around.

Rachel Reading that article made me wonder many things. I, for one, have had Asian friends. I've known many Asians. The stereotypes that they talk about in the article were, in all honesty, not rarely seen. At least, for me. Perhaps I was ignorant to the goings on around me, but in truth, I saw African Americans and Hispanics discriminated against more than Asians. Maybe it was more subtle than other kinds of racism or maybe not. I also have to wonder-- At the end of the article, it lists sources that the information was taken from. Many of the information was from Asian authors. While they most likely know the brunt of Asian racism, can they truely compare to racism against others without being biased? As I stated before, though, I have rarely ever seen racist remarks thrown at Asian students around me. More do tend to flock to the advanced classes, yes, but I just saw that as intelligence, not discrimination, nor the most, if not all, the kids in my grade at my last school. The most common racist remarks I have seen, though, are that Asians are "perverted" and the "disgusting". This is not true, but from what I have gathered, it is viewed as such because of a great deal of Japanese pop culture and media references. Their society is different than ours', but that gives us no right to judge them on it.