Asian Stereotypes In America

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of the Issue

The purpose this report is written is to investigate the consequences of Asian stereotypes in America and how it has affected the teenagers living in America. This topic has been widely studied by many researchers to find a correlation between Asian stereotypes and the effects on them.

Asian-American stereotype, also known as “ model minority ”, portrays an Asian as someone that does not comprehend or speak English well, excels academically especially in Mathematics, timid, anti-social ,moral, uptight, and lacks non-verbal knowledge etc. (Zhang 2010). The array of Asian stereotypes had been manifesting itself since the 1850s and slowly evolved into today’s well known “ model minority ” stereotype

At first it was a separation between the Whites and the Asian minorities (Padgett n.d.). By the 1900s it was used to justify the discrimination and wars between other Asian countries; throughout 1947 to the 1970s the Asian stereotype “model minority” was publicized to obtain citizenship for some residences in the Japanese and Chinese communities without a permanent residency in America (Nakagawa 2014).

In 1965 the restrictive laws for immigrants entering from Asian countries were amended and passageway into America was an easier process (Washington 2012). Due to the publicity the “model minority” received back then, many people’s perception of an Asian were based on the characteristics often portrayed by mainstream media, even in modern day media (Zhang 2010). To enter an Ivy League school Asian-Americans have to stand out amongst the other academically excellent students, therefor they are placed in a more competitive environment and are expected to excel in extracurricular activities. Much more time and effort is put into their studies to obtain results that are higher than the average score, which often encourages students to achieve more than satisfactory marks; the application process takes into account a student’s academic grades and also their extracurricular

Many Asian-American teenagers feel unable to connect with others to express their worries because they don’t have friends that relate to their predicaments or they feel as though they need to conform to the stereotype and grit their teeth and plough through without any complaints, their need to be perfect causes stress. Many Asian-Americans do not socialize with other Asian-Americans even though they feel alienated because they assume others are under extreme pressure to perform and may cause them to feel stressed and pressured too. This general grouping of Asians has led to racial discrimination and bullying amongst teenagers, some may be called hateful names and are often picked on because of their race. Many teenagers find difficulty in communicating with their parents, some due to no communication or miscommunication (Paterno 1995). CNN news did a piece on suicide amongst Asian-American women and the highest suicide rate of Asian-American women are within 15 – 24 year-olds, even children have thought of suicide before. (Cohen