Global Issue: Asian American Xenophobia

An Investigation of Systemic Racism

Introduction Video: Why Asian Americans Are Not The Model Minority

General Notes:
Asians are discriminate more than blacks in the workplace
Blacks report the discrimination more than Asians
At the core, the model minority myth is using parent’s success and expectations of what
Asian children should be.

The Model Minority: The Model Minority Myth & A for Average, B for Bad (only if you
have extra time) Elijah Steven

How do even positive stereotypes harm Asian Americans?

Positive stereotypes can injure Asians because when an entire race or ethnicity of people is
grouped together by assumed common traits, then the members of that race or ethnicity then
lose their individuality and unique identity, and instead get viewed as an identical group
lacking distinctive traits. This can result in a long-term identity crisis.

What was the Yellow Peril and how did it affect American’s perception and acceptance of
Asian immigrants?
The yellow peril is the Western (white) fear of the Asian horde invading and taking over
American ideals, culture, and life itself. As a result of the large numbers of Asian (mostly
Chinese) immigrants that came to America in the late-eighteen to early nineteen-hundreds,
small-minded Americans saw mass Asian Immigration as a threat to their very American
way of life. As a result, Asians as a group were often resented and ridiculed once they
arrived on American shores. Even now, the long-term result of this yellow peril is that
derogatory sentiments still exist in the minds of some Americans towards Asians even
today.

What are some emotional and psychological effects of the Asian American stereotypes?
The major emotional and psychological effects of these stereotypes is that Asians might
question their own identity and whether they are ‘Asian Enough’ if they happen to fall short
of these racist expectations. For instance, if an Asian child finds that she is not interested in
academics, and instead wishes to become an artist, she may feel that she is a disappointment
to her family and her race based on these preconceived notions of what it is supposed to
mean to be Asian. This feeling of inadequacy may lead her to feel pressured into pursuing
fields that do not actually interest her, just so that she may feel she has fulfilled Asian
stereotypical expectations.
How does the Model Minority Myth negatively affect other minority groups?
The Model Minority Myth is the very racist belief of some Americans that of all the groups
of immigrants, Asian immigrants are the least offensive group, because as a group, they are
falsely assumed to be smart, docile, and a benefit to the national economy through their
supposed mastery of math and science. This myth can harm other minority groups by
creating an imaginary scoring system where different nationalities and races are
misleadingly grouped together and judged as either a positive or negative group of potential
citizens. For instance, if Asians are considered to be the ‘good’ immigrants, perhaps other
immigrants, such as Hispanic or Caribbean immigrants, may then be seen as ‘bad’
immigrants, and that ‘bad’ groups will then suffer as a result of the comparison. This can
lead to an increase in racism and xenophobia directed towards those ‘bad’ groups because
they are found to be lacking in comparison to the ‘good’ Asians. Such an oversimplification
is pure racism and is not ‘good’ for anyone.

The Bamboo Ceiling: Define America & American Politics

What are the prominent stereotypes of Asian Americans in the workplace?

Submissive, smart, and docile. This makes people expect them to be quiet or avoid any type
of confrontation allowing others to believe that they can be easily exploited.

Define the Bamboo Ceiling:

Similar to the glass ceiling it is the discrimination against Asian Americans that prevents
them from gaining promotions in the workplace. They are seen as great workers but are
seen as incapable of leading people because of the stereotypes that they are constantly
placed in. While the model minority myth makes them seem like good workers it portrays
them as too submissive to be put in high-ranking positions.

What are some microaggressions experienced by Asian Americans in the workplace?

They are held to a high standard or seen as comparable to white people in terms of how
good they are when in reality Asian Americans still struggle in their daily lives. They can
also be talked over or interrupted in meetings since they are expected to be docile, causing
people to not respect their boundaries or opinions.

How does the Bamboo Ceiling translate into American politics? How many Asian
Americans currently hold positions in Congress?
Asian Americans are very underrepresented in politics since they are not expected to speak
out or hold positions of power. This can be seen today where there is only one Chinese
American in Congress. Because of cultural differences, many Asian Americans have
difficulty with breaking this barrier and many people also forget or don’t consider their
perspective in politics.
Common Stereotypes & Microaggressions: All Asians Are Smart (stop at min. 5!)
& #thisis2016 Elijah Steven

*There is offensive language in both videos, so viewer discretion is advised.

What are a few positive stereotypes that are commonly used today? What effects do these
have on Asian Americans?
While no stereotype is actually positive, some stereotypes may be less damaging than
others. Some of the less offensive stereotypes towards Asians are that they are uncommonly
intelligent, particularly talented in STEM fields, and are highly disciplined and motivated
employees. While these may seem to be complementary assumptions, in actuality these
stereotypes put undue pressure upon Asian students who may not be talented or gifted in
these subjects. For instance, if an Asian child finds themselves struggling at school,
particularly in a math or science class, they may be too ashamed or embarrassed to ask for
help, because they know that others will assume they are naturally gifted in these subjects.
So by being assumed to be naturally smart just because they are Asian, the stereotype might
affect them in a negative way at school, thus causing them to do poorly because they are
assumed to be naturally talented in a particular area, and are therefore ashamed to ask for
help.

What are a few negative stereotypes that are commonly used today? What effects do these
have on Asian Americans?

There are several negative stereotypes that are associated with Asians, including that they
eat socially unacceptable animals such as cats and dogs, that they are all from one
mysterious country called Asia, and that they all speak the same language and eat the same
food. Many of these stereotypes fail to differentiate between the various cultures and
countries of Asia, and instead lump all Asians together as one homogenous group. There are
also many degrading stereotypes regarding the sexuality of Asian people, mostly fetishizing
Asian women as exotic sex objects while demeaning Asian men by questioning their
manhood. All of these negative stereotypes cause Asians to feel like outsiders, often within
their own country.

Underrepresentation: Yellowface is a bad look, Hollywood & Asian Americans in News

Media
What is Yellowface and how has it evolved over the past century?
Yellowface is the practice of non-Asain actors portraying Asain characters in films or
television. Throughout the history of media, yellowface has been a consistent method of
“diversifying” casts. Over time, this institution hasn’t evolved very much at all; many white
or non-Asian actors continue to represent other ethnicities, in often offensive manners.
While these portrayals are growing less overtly mocking, they are nonetheless inaccurate
and insulting as it symbolizes an outcasting towards other cultures and fails to accurately
represent populations.

What percentage of media workers constitutes Asian Americans? What contributes to this
astonishing figure?
Only three percent of media workers are Asian-Americans. Some contributors to these
statistics are the fear and prejudice towards Asian-Americans. Because Asian-Americans
have historically been underrepresented in media, most tend to believe that representing
them now is an outrageous or risky move. There are also outdated stereotypes, such as past
violence involving Asians, that tend to push many employers to avoid hiring them.

What are a few damaging effects that result from this gross underrepresentation?
Some effects include a continued sense of underrepresentation, discrimination, and
ignorance towards Asian-Americans. By continuing to fear and judge other cultures, there is
no hope of progress or acceptance; many fear that they will continue to be discriminated
against if conversations and movements to make a change don’t begin.

Covid-19 Related Violence: Racism Against Asian Americans Intensifies

& Threats Against Asian Americans Are On The Rise

Explain why there has been an increase in Asian American hate crimes this past year:
There has been an increase in Asian American hate crimes in this past year due to the fact
that the coronavirus pandemic stems from China, therefore, people ignorantly discriminate
against all Chinese people assuming they have and are spreading Covid-19

What are some ignorant things that people believe and hateful things that people are saying
and doing?
There have been both verbal and physical attacks towards Asian Americans because
Americans assume all Chinese people are foreigners who are all infected and bringing the
Virus to America and those ignorant people do not want the virus from Chinese people.

How is the Asian American community fighting back?

Due to the increase in all forms of racism towards Chinese people, there are new
organizations to speak up and bring attention to this new discrimination towards Chinese
people. These organizations expose the brutalities of racism to mainstream media making
all Americans more aware of the need to aid and protect the falsely oppressed Chinese
people.