Asian American Studies

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Asian American Studies
Robert G. Lee in Keywords shows how some Asian American studies are biased towards the publicized stereotypes developed during colonial times. The culture developed during the colonial era of racism and discrimination toward Asian Americans led to the development of stereotypes toward them.
Shilpa Dave also explains in the media article how the media puts Asians and Asian Americans into one group. However, Asians and Asian Americans are two separate groups of people. The reading shows how the media has failed to appreciate the Asian Americans’ authenticity.
The videos history of Asian American cinema emphasizes the journey Asians Americans have traveled trying to get their culture understood through media productions. The video remembering Yuri Kochiyama by the Blue Scholars is a celebration of Kochiyama who was an Asian American activist who fought for the rights of both Americans and Asian Americans.
There were a lot of stereotypes regarding Asian Americans around as I grew up. Many media such as movies depicted the Asian Americans to be different from other people (Schlund-Vials et al. 49). These stereotypes made me feel hatred towards Asian Americans. While growing up, the yellow peril was prevalent with many of the white people calling Asian Americans yellow faces (Chou and Joe 1). The Chinese were believed to be dog eaters and considered to be aliens. They were thought to have migrated to America to overthrow Natives by taking up their jobs since they offered cheap labor.

The media portrayed the Koreans as antisocial and violent. Most of the movies depicted the Asian Americans with Muslim decency to be terrorists evident in most of the film showcasing terrorist characters wearing scarfs and praying in mosques.
Today, I no longer hate Asian Americans. I appreciate their culture and physical appearance. The reduction in the stereotypes makes me feel that American society is ending racism. The stereotypes of Asian Americans have reduced due to their presence in all spheres of popular media such as social media (Schlund-Vials et al. 50). Some American Asians in social media are always trying to fight the stereotypes labeled on them. Many have become bloggers in the social media running the blog sites advocating against the spread of negative stereotypes on them and their community. Moreover, other Asian Americans have been participating in movies which depict them as Americans. A chef of a Chinese descent hosts the America series Hell’s Kitchen, and this shows how Asian Americans are trying to identify themselves as members of the American society. Their presence in the media has made me change my attitude towards them.
Lee’s quote in Keywords means that Asian American studies should focus on the daily life of the Asian Americans to understand what activities they engage in which define them. Lee also implies that the Asian American imaginary culture has been used to form the basis of questioning divisive politics which encourage racism and discrimination. Robert refers to the lack of focus by many studies on the social aspect of the lives of Asian Americans. Several Asian American cultural productions make use of the Roberts approach. Many recent Asian American movies such as The Brave have characters who portray the social lives as well as the culture and their struggles to fit in an American community (Nakanishi and Yamano 1). The American television series The Brave incorporates an Asian cast who describes the social efforts of an Asian American living in America where she is seen as an immigrant whereas he was born in the United States (Reyes 1).
This week’s readings raise several questions for me. Is the media is putting enough efforts towards eradication of the stereotypes about Asian Americans? Do recent Asian American studies focus on the struggles of Asian Americans as they try to fit in the social image of America?
Works cited
Chou, Rosalind S., and Joe R. Feagin. The myth of the model minority: Asian Americans facing racism. Routledge, 2015.
Nakanishi, Donald, and Tina Yamano, eds. The Asian American educational experience: A sourcebook for teachers and students. Routledge, 2014.
Reyes, Angela. Language, identity, and stereotype among Southeast Asian American youth: The other Asian. Routledge, 2017.
Schlund-Vials, Cathy J., Linda Trinh Võ, and K. Scott Wong, eds. Keywords for Asian American Studies. NYU Press, 2015.