Throughout this century, racism against African-Americans has been a prevalent and controversial issue. Recent events regarding police brutality has sparked conversation about racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. Why, however, has no one been talking about racism against Asian Americans? You are probably asking yourself if racism against Asian Americans is even an issue. It is - in fact - an issue, an issue that is not discussed because it has been so normalized in our culture.
For centuries, Asian Americans have faced constant prejudice and discrimination because of the onset of stereotypes. In the 1800s, Chinese immigrants came to America searching for new opportunities and were instead confronted with people judging them for being uncivilized and illiterate. The first big wave of Chinese immigrants came in the 1850s because of the California gold rush. Many immigrants who came were single men who were hoping to strike it rich to help financially support their families back in China. A majority of these immigrants returned to their home country after a few years with the money they had saved up. Still, many immigrants stayed in the United States and opened their own businesses such as restaurants, laundromats, and other services. Chinese immigrants also worked as agricultural laborers, on railroad construction crews throughout the West, and in low-paying industrial jobs. It’s safe to say that Chinese immigrants were very close to the bottom of the social hierarchy at this time.
Since then, Chinese immigrants have been facing a lot of adversity fueled by xenophobia in America. At the time, Chinese immigrants were working to send money back to their families and to repay loans to Chinese merchants who paid for their passage into America. These financial pressures left them taking up whatever jobs they could to support themselves, including menial labor jobs that were considered disgusting and abominable. Furthermore, many had to settle in segregated ethnic enclaves or strictly Chinese communities in order to protect themselves from attacks and violence. These “chinatowns” were often criticized and denounced by other businessmen and other higher powers in society.
Furthermore, advocates for anti-Chinese legislation argued that these immigrants were lowering the cultural and moral standards of U.S. society. Anti-Chinese sentiment continued to grow among other workers in the American economy, resulting in the creation of alienating legislation. Acts were passed mandating that all Chinese businesses had to obtain special licenses, which added another obstacle for them in their economic struggle. They were also intended to limit the immigration of Chinese workers to the United States and prevent immigrants from becoming citizens. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress and suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The act also required all Chinese people traveling in or out of the country to carry a certificate identifying their status as laborer, scholar, diplomat, or merchant. This contributed to the stigma and discrimination against foreigners or moreso Asians in America, forcing them to be labeled as if they did not belong in society or as if they were not allowed to have the same rights and privileges. In 1888, Congress passed the Scott Act, which made reentry to the United States after a visit to China impossible, even for residents. In 1892, Congress renewed the exclusion for 10 more years; in 1902, the exclusion was expanded to cover Hawaii and the Philippines; in 1943, the Exclusion Acts were finally repealed.
This xenophobia was not just targeted at Chinese but at many other Asian ethnicities as well. After the infamous bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese Americans were all seen as threats to Americans. A decision made by the native Japanese generals and leaders led to the defamation of all Japanese citizens in the U.S. who had called America their home for years. Because all Japanese-Americans were seen as a threat to the country’s security, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the relocation of Japanese immigrants (primarily on the West Coast) to internment camps. Many of those who were relocated were citizens and second/third generation Americans. Moreover, in the early 20th century, when the Philippines was still a colony of the US, American officials there denigrated Filipinos for their “unclean and uncivilized bodies” just because of their race.
This brings me to 2020, the beginning of a new decade and a new future for the Asian-Amerian community. You would think that after a century of Asians living in the United States, the situation would be better. This is far from the case, however. While stereotypes now may not be as severe or negative as they had been in the 1900s, the seemingly positive stereotypes now associated with Asians can be considered a double-edged sword, with a great deal of negative consequences as well. In 1965, the Hart-Celler Act was signed into law; this act gave preference to highly educated and highly skilled applicants and was on a merit-based points system. Because of this, new immigrants were very educated, hardworking, and competent, the exact opposite of the previous stereotype they displayed. This new wave of immigrants led to the establishment of a new stereotype for Asians: that we are all well-educated, studious, naturally intelligent students who attend the most prestigious universities, all while juggling our virtuosity for instruments such as the piano and violin. This was perpetuated by the values of Confucianism and the civil service examination system originating from East Asian history that were passed on throughout the generations. Another major contribution to the shift in stereotype could be attributed to the pressures inflicted upon Asian individuals to achieve the level of success that their families originally could not."
Today, Asian-Americans are now constantly trying to live up to these standards and are, therefore, putting an immense amount of pressure on themselves. Although you may think these new stereotypes seem like an accolade to Asians, they are paired with the stereotype that Asians are “too smart, too focused on academics, one-dimensional and lacking personal skills.” According to the New York Times, “Harvard has been accused of giving lower personality ratings to Asian-American applicants.” These generalizations prevent Asians from building strong friendships, getting into prominent colleges, and even getting leadership or management jobs because they are thought to be antisocial and incapable of leading a group. Although these stereotypes might be true for some Asians, it isn’t fair to classify all of us into this box, assuming that all Asians are academically gifted, emotionless robots who are always studying. Each person is different, and race does not define someone’s personality. And most importantly, it must be recognized that our success is not attributed to our race.
As the stigmas associated with being Asian continue to hinder the Asian-American community as a whole, we often forget how it affects us in other aspects. There is a huge toll placed on our mental and emotional health that plays a key role in how we mature and interact with others. This stems from the fact that many suffer from a taxing burden caused by stereotypes deeming it a necessity to be academically successful. Due to these pressures, Asian-Americans typically experience extreme stress and poor mental health, and they more than likely refuse to seek treatment due to the stigma against mental health. It is also much harder for them to get help for their abnormal levels of stress and anxiety since it has been reduced to merely being another characteristic all Asians normally possess.
Since the marginalization of Asians is usually overlooked, it makes it harder for people to pinpoint what racism against Asian-Americans looks like and how it is expressed. Due to the growing insensitivity to acts of discrimination against the Asian-American community, we do not see how severely Asians are mistreated unless it is recognized on major news outlets. Most of the time, it is only severe events such as physical assaults or harassments that are publicized, yet even those crimes are not classified as hate crimes or ones caused by racist motives. Society does not talk about how Asians in our country are constantly being targeted, whether it is the harassment of the elderly in public or how students were being forced to endure the bullying of being carriers of coronavirus (which in cases have caused them to be sent back home out of fear.) Oppression has not disappeared as time has passed; instead, it has manifested in other methodologies that unfortunately are ignored due to the normalization of these acts by law enforcement and society.
We should recognize that these stereotypes are oftentimes expressed as a passing thought through offhanded comments or microaggressions. These comments that elucidate passive-aggressive attitudes are based off of preconceived beliefs that even other people of color, minorities, or Asian-Americans themselves may develop. Most Asian-Americans admit to not noticing how inherently wrong comments such as “wow, of course you’d get a good grade,” or “he/she/they’re really pretty for an Asian” are, as they have become so accustomed to going along with these indignities disguised as compliments. Other examples of behaviors that are inherently racist yet are usually condoned are racial slurs such as ch*nk/ching chong/ling ling, generalizing the entire Asian race to simply just being Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Indian, and the cultural appropriation of our cultures. This mockery of our cultures whether it be the foods,, customs, accents, physical appearance of our people and our values, have only increased in severity as time has gone on, especially in times like these where many are suffering from effects of the pandemic. This is also further amplified with technology and the usage of social media platforms. There will always be those who will utilize the model minority myth stating that even as people of color, we have seemingly upheld a certain amount of privilege in society (which has especially benefited lighter-skinned or East Asians.)
Another major factor that has led to the normalization of racism against Asians is our own passive attitude when confronted with these remarks. In most Asian cultures, there is a notion based upon the principle of “ignorance is bliss” as immigrant parents raise their children with the belief that if you ignore the issues, you will not have to face the consequences. This contributes to the stereotype of Asians being docile and submissive in almost all aspects of society. This belief allows others to get away with their racist comments, and Asian themselves have been brainwashed to let it slide. However, we must not simply ignore these offensive phrases and instead acknowledge that all throughout the past and present, we face real struggles and hardships due to the normalization of racism. We must recognize how most have desensitized themselves into accepting these microaggressions due to the occurrences happening so often on a seemingly less severe scale and change this attitude. If we continue to allow this neglectful behavior to continue, then we are being complicit to the racism demonstrated against us in society and in politics.
Furthermore, Asian-Americans who do not meet the standards of a typical Asian suffer from low self-esteem and experience less motivation to achieve their goals when compared to their more outstanding peers. These stereotypes are usually fueled by the systemic pressures perpetuated by society. They are often pitted against themselves, fighting to be seen as the best student to receive approval from their parents and societies. Similarly, Asian ethnicities compete with each other to be seen as the best ethnicity despite belonging to the same racial community and enduring their own unique set of prejudices. Stereotypes are prevalent in each distinguished Asian culture, whether it be mere disrespect for Vietnamese nail technicians or the condescending attitude towards Asian immigrants with accents and broken English. We hide in shame and bury our animosity, opting instead to ignore and disassociate ourselves from these aspects of our identity instead of coming together to unite and fight against discrimination and prejudice.
The Asian-American community is undermined due to the model-minority myth and other stigmas that disallow for the actual severity of racism we face to be revealed. The racism we experience has always been minimized due to the conventional color of our skin, yet it is often forgotten that the AAPI (Asian-American Pacific Islander) community encompasses people of all colors. Asians are and will always be people of color, as history has allowed us to recognize how oppression and discrimination has affected the community. It is up to us to delve deeper to recognize that we should no longer stand for the normalization of prejudice and discrimination against the Asian-American community. It is our duty to use our voices to speak up against the racism, oppression and hatred that is inflicted upon Asians in this country and let it be known our race deserves to be defended the same way that oppressed groups are defended.
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