Examples Of Stereotypes About Asian Americans

I am in the gym locker room, about to head out the doors. A boy enters. “Hey, Jeremy Lin, you’re pretty good at basketball. It’s so hard to play you though because I can’t tell if your eyes are open or not! It looks like you’re sleeping out there.” he says. I hesitate for a moment but decide to just walk away. There used to be a time when I was emboldened enough to snap back; however, now I am indifferent to such remarks. Although all ethnicities come with their stereotypes, it is fair to say that Asian Americans come with one of the largest load of acceptable ones. For example, people around me chortled when the boy said the aforementioned Jeremy Lin joke, and nothing was made out of it. Although jokes about other groups of people, such as

Asians have tolerated this behavior, not because it is okay, but because of discomfort: we are reticent in order to avoid the awkward standoffs and moments of “take a joke” or“but you know it’s true”. These stereotypes were made—not by us, but by others. Meanwhile, over time it has become acceptable for others to brazenly make stereotypical remarks about Asians since backlash is so rare. These beliefs concerning Asians have become so normalized that even though we see this current movement of combatting stereotypes and fighting against racial prejudices, we fail to consider the Asian prejudices and misconceptions. Accordingly, Asians have internalized this behavior and these thoughts have unconsciously assimilated into our minds so much so that we expect stereotypical statements to be made of us routinely. Perhaps these prejudices are based on the fact that we are viewed as a “model minority”: since Asians have experienced burgeoning economic and social success after immigrating to the United States, it is okay to make “light-hearted” and stereotypical remarks about Asians because some of the stereotypes are somewhat positive. Nonetheless, many stereotypes such as Asians always eating dogs, or the critiques of our physical appearance are unjustified and only made acceptable because we Asians have had a fortunate transition. Ultimately, these sorts of remarks are internecine to both parties: those who say such statements only display their ignorance, while we who receive these remarks internalize this and allow society to continue to mock us and our Asian