Comparing Wu's Yellow: Race In America Beyond Black And White

The book Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu affected my self-view by really putting into perspective my role in issues. The biggest impact of this would have to be in the affirmative action issue. Prior to reading Yellow, I had not really thought much about affirmative action since it had not affected my personal life. In Frank Wu’s discussion of affirmative action however, he reveals how affirmative action is not just a black white issue, but something that many Asians are also concerned about. Even through the experiences I have had in the past couple years with topics about Asian Americans, the discussion of affirmative action is not something that has been brought up very often. Although I had known about Asians

For example, with the model minority myth, Frank Wu covers extensively the actions of whites in history and the motivations of their actions based on their perceptions of Asians as either a passive race that in their willingness to be taken advantage of, then takes over, or as so successful that they have no issues at all. For African-Americans, their point of view is that it is finally time for their turn in seeking justice. For everyone, these perceptions lead to people asking, as Frank Wu puts it, “You Asians are all doing well. What could you have to complain about anyways? Why would you abject to a positive image?” While I now see how this attitude is harmful for Asian Americans, I also see how this affects other populations too. Because people think that all Asians are successful, some people use it as a justification for racism. By using Asians as a false example, people are then able to justify their attitudes towards less successful groups by saying, “If Asians can do it, why can’t you?” This disregards all considerations of previous privilege and lumps all Asians together into one group while insulting groups by accusing them of not working hard