Being Asian in America

By Sofia Legaspi

At the 2016 Oscars, Chris Rock’s monologue about Hollywood racism provoked backlash and prompted the Academy to issue an apology. Bringing three suit-clad and briefcase-bearing Asian children on stage, he perpetuated three stereotypes about Asians and Asian Americans: STEM geniuses, child laborers, and timid immigrants.

Today is the age of political correctness—often in excess, some might argue. People tiptoe around marginalized and underrepresented groups, careful not to be labeled “offensive.” So why is it still acceptable to make fun of Asians?


Perhaps it’s because Asian stereotypes are more subtle than others. For example, labeling African Americans as criminals or Middle Easterners as terrorists is clearly offensive.

According to Dr. Teresa Borromeo: “I think it’s more just an awareness thing. People don’t realize that what they’re doing is stereotyping. It’s ignorance, basically. And I think they’ve done a better job educating about African Americans, but they haven’t done the same for other cultures.”

Borromeo is a Filipino pediatric physician in Des Moines. Born a U.S. citizen, her family moved back to the Philippines when she was a toddler. As an adult she lived in New York, Connecticut, Guam, and eventually Iowa in 2007.

Borromeo listed some of the stereotypes she has heard: “The Koreans are the dry cleaners; the Vietnamese are the ones that do your nails; the Filipinos are the maids and the nannies.”

Other stereotypes are common to all Asians. They’re bad drivers, they eat dogs, they are quiet and quick to obey. They all look the same and know martial arts. Their parents are strict and have unreasonable expectations for their children.

Still, many Asians would say they don’t really mind the stereotyping.

“I’m not necessarily offended,” said Borromeo. “I just think they’re hilarious!”

The American entertainment industry seems to think so, too. In popular media, Asian characters often provide comic relief. In some cases, they are not even portrayed by Asian actors. During Hollywood’s early years, Asian characters were played by Caucasian actors wearing yellowface, which involved tinting the skin yellow, arching the eyebrows, and pulling the corners of the eyes. According to a New Republic article, “to this day, more white actresses have won Oscars for playing Asian characters than Asian actresses have won at all.”

A prime example of yellowface is Mickey Rooney’s exaggerated portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Even though yellowface is long gone today, Asian Americans continue to be cast as the unusual or exotic (see Lilly Onakuramara in the Pitch Perfect franchise).

Contrast this to society’s acute sensitivity toward other groups such as African Americans, likely an attempt at compensating for the past. While it is true that Asian Americans have not experienced anything as extreme as forced slavery, they have had their share of hardships.

In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Acts made Chinese the first “illegal aliens,” barring immigrants from naturalization and stripping citizenship from those who already had it. The 1924 Immigration Act enforced immigration quotas, including banning all Asians from the United States. During World War II, over 100,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated to internment camps.

After the war, things changed for the better. The 1965 Immigration Act permitted entrance into the U.S. based on merit instead of race. The Asian American population began to grow—so much, in fact, that the Pew Research Center suggests they will become the largest immigrant group in the nation, outnumbering the Hispanic population by 2055.

Despite their increasing presence in the country, the Asian stereotyping remains. According to a report from the National Center for Educational Statistics, Asian students are the most bullied ethnicity. 54% of Asian American students reported bullying, compared to 31% of Caucasian students, 38% percent of black students, and 34% of Hispanic students.

Not all the stereotypes are bad, however. Asians are often labeled the “model minority” (a term first used in 1966) whose diligence and excellence, especially in school, all other minorities should strive to emulate. This may sound like a compliment, but it has its problems.

“There are some cases where they can overestimate you, and then you feel pressure to do amazing things,” said Jude (who requested his last name not be used), a 9th-grader at an Iowa Catholic high school. Jude was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States at age four.

Komachi Brown was born to an American father and a Japanese mother and moved from Japan to the U.S. in 2009. When asked how she felt about the model minority stereotype, she expressed a sentiment similar to Jude’s.

“That I have to be a model minority, too. That I have to fit into that positive stereotype,” said Brown. “I don’t want to ruin the good stereotype that you have of a certain group.”

Additionally, the myth trivializes an Asian person’s hard work since success an expected side effect of their ethnicity. Of course you earned an A on the test—you’re Asian! What’s the big deal?

There is some truth in the myth—an understandable result of cultural differences. However, generalizing the entire Asian population ignores the struggles of certain subgroups, such as Southeast Asian Americans. Casting Asians as the model minority may also minimize the accomplishments of other minority groups in the United States.

Finally, the positivity of some Asian American stereotypes tends to deemphasize actual instances of racism and discrimination. Borromeo recounted an instance of being treated differently in the workplace because of her ethnicity.

“Sometimes there are people who feel that if you did not graduate medicine in the United States, then you’re not as good a doctor,” she said.

During one visit, Borromeo sensed some hostility from the patient’s father. She felt “like he did not have any faith in me as his child’s physician,” so she suggested they seek a second opinion: “I said, this is something you should do because I feel that you should be happy with whoever’s taking care of your child.”

In the end, the mother apologized and continued bringing her child to Borromeo—without her husband.

Some of Borromeo’s fellow Asian American doctors have experienced worse. One patient asked if the doctor had arrived to give them a manicure. Another patient screamed something along the lines of “you yellow piece of sh*t!”

Nonetheless, stories like these do not mean Asians are not also guilty of discrimination.

“I think we have our assumptions also of people who are Caucasian. We assume they will not like the food we eat or they will not appreciate the different aspects our culture,” Borromeo said. “In a way, that’s also discrimination.”

The good news is that for the majority, discrimination—whether by Asians or against Asians—doesn’t seem to be a big problem, especially for the younger generation.

“I’ve never been truly discriminated against or anything like that,” said 14-year-old Jude. “I think the people, at least that I’m around, do a good job of not making that an issue.”

Brown, a sophomore at the University of Iowa, said the extent of “discrimination” she has experienced is occasionally being mistaken for another Asian person, often one to whom she bears little resemblance.

For Brown, being biracial has brought its own unique struggles.

“I’m Asian, but I'm also white at the same time, and it’s kind of a hard thing to think about sometimes,” she said. “Some people see you and think you’re Asian and other people see you and think you’re white [. . .] The way they treat me depends on the way they perceive me, even though I am both.”

Brown later said: “In your head, you’re just you. You’re not anything else. But then you realize other people see something else, and then you’re like, ‘Oh yeah.’”

Still, standing out in a crowd has its unexpected perks.

“In the Midwest, especially when we first came here, there were very few Asians. So our pictures are always in the paper,” recalled Borromeo. Once, her children’s school asked her to be in a promotional video.

“And I always wonder if the reason for that is I add color!” she said with a laugh.

Aside from the photo opportunities, being a minority has one big benefit.

“You have a sense of community with other Asians and other minorities,” said Brown. “A special bond [. . .] that you really can’t have with a person who’s not a minority.”

“It’s nice to have some people that you can find an immediate connection to,” said Jude.

At the end of the day, everyone is the same.

“You have the same aspirations and dreams; you all want the same thing. You all want to be safe, you all want your children to have opportunities. I think if you focus on those similarities rather than the differences, then you become less of a stereotype and more of a human being,” said Borromeo. “Everyone comes from immigrants. That’s what makes this country great. I think we always have to remember that.”

PHOTO CREDITS:

ComedyHype.com

Flickr

The Economist

Time Magazine