Study Document
Chinese American Racial Stereotypes in American Media Term Paper
Pages:3 (876 words)
Sources:1+
Subject:Social Issues
Topic:Stereotyping
Document Type:Term Paper
Document:#582070
Racial Stereotypes
Cultural Biases in America Against Individuals of Asian Extraction
Attention Getter
Personalize issue even for non-Asians
Racial Stereotypes
What they are in general
Why and how they exist culturally
Anti-Asian Stereotypes
Long-standing nature
Asians not seen as true Americans
Trading Cards
Advertising of past
Advertising today of anti-Asian nature
Negative Asian Stereotypes
What they are Why bad
Positive Asian Stereotypes
What they are Why no 'good' stereotype, good or bad
Violence Against Asians
Radio talk show host
Chinese delivery person
Call for Tolerance
Speech Text
Cultural Biases in America Against Individuals of Asian Extraction
Look around you. How many faces of color do you see? Or, perhaps you yourself are considered or consider yourself a person of color. We would like to think that we are all the same under the skin, so to speak. Yet our culture tells us differently. In the phrases of James Chan, the Chinese cultural historian, the media reflects the culture and serves the culture, but is also embedded in the biases of culture, and thus reinforces its worst aspects in all of our minds.
Unfortunately there are many stereotypes against individuals whom are deemed to be different, Asian-Americans as well as African-Americans and other historically discriminated against minority groups. Because Asians specifically are often thought to be relatively recent immigrants to America, it is common to think of discrimination against Asians as relatively new as well. However, sad to say, this is not the case. The construction of the 'exotic Asian' is an old one -- older, in fact, than television or electronic print on the Internet. Even trade cards, a kind of commercial business calling card popular in the 19th century, frequently made use of Asian stereotypes.
Think Asians aren't really that discriminated against? Think of some of the images of these cards from the hundred years ago past -- Opium smoker. Dog eater. Even if you find such stereotypes to be abhorrent, they are still present and available within our cultural context, and the trading cards of old show how long-standing a grip such images have, in our cultural, if not personal imagination.
Think that the ideas I have just listed are too harsh? What about "we'd be happy to do your laundry" or "pig-tailed coolies" or even "we obey." All of these trading-card images play into so-called positive or humorous stereotypes of industries Asians are or were supposed to dominate. They also highlight the supposed obedience inherent to Asians as a group, as embodiments of negative and characteristic 'groupthink.' Even the idea of the 'rat' analogous to Asians, as discussed in the title of Chan's article "Rough…
Sample Source(s) Used
Works Cited
Chan, James. "Rough on Rats" --Racism and Advertising in the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century." The Chinese Historical Society of America. Article retrieved on April 11,2004 at http://www.chsa.org/features/ching/ching_conf.htm
Ginsberg, Marsha. "Crisis inflames biases against Asians." San Francisco Chronicle. 2001. Article retrieved on April 11,2004 at http://americanmediawatch.tripod.com/id39.htm
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