All week the class had been working on webquests. I chose a webquest discussing the plight of Asian Americans. My task was a three paragraph post on my opinion about how Asian Americans are treated. It was eye-opening.
Racism in America is a disturbing phenomenon affecting all minority groups. But when people think of racism only a few groups come to mind: Jews, African-Americans, and Muslims. But what about Asians? Asian Americans have a long laundry list of stereotypes that are constantly used against them. Asians can’t drive. Asians can’t see. Asians try to be smarter and better than everyone else. Yet, who pays attention? From what Mike Hong says, no one cares. “However, calling an Asian a "chink" and calling someone who is African American a "nigger" is of the same nature and yet when an outside party hears both, one is clearly seen as more offensive and more racist than the other. In the same sense, "chink" is deemed the result of adolescent behavior and not punished as racism.” (Hong) Not caring about racism is racist in itself, as if a group of people doesn’t matter enough to take action against being discriminatory towards them.
“No, it would not surprise Sergeant Maples to hear that Kabuo Miyamoto had killed a man with a fishing gaff.” (Guterson) The quote from the book Snow Falling on Cedars is a prime example of the racism and stereotypes against Asian Americans. Not only does it illustrate racism by citizens, it illustrates racism by those meant to protect: the police. This links to my opinion that no, racism against Asian Americans is not being successfully dealt with.
Racism against Asian Americans is just tangled in a mesh of xenophobic tendencies against any foreigners. We fear Mexicans entering the country, we fear Arabs on plans in general, and we try to keep Cubans out. It’s a constant stream of fear. “Anti-black racism, which has been the paradigm for thinking about U.S. racism, can be, and has been, theorized apart from xenophobia.” (Sundstrom 2008) The article housing the previous quote goes on to say most major racism in the country is not associated with xenophobia. It is rather based on superiority. Calling an Asian American “dragon-lady” or commenting on the hypomasculinity of Asian American males could be passed off by the government as xenophobia or, as depicted, ignored by already racist authority figures. So no, I don’t think the racism against Asian Americans is being dealt with.
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I hate to take issue with your statement, my friend, but to maintain that “… when people think of racism only a few groups come to mind: Jews, African-Americans, and Muslims” you are being incorrect in stating that Muslims are a racial group. Islam (and the believers in Islam are known as Muslims) is a religion. You leave a very large hole in an otherwise very readable argument by confusing these two groupings. People throughout the world embrace Islam, Caucasian, African, Asian (both Sino-Japanese and Southern Asian, as in the SubContinent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Islam is a worldwide religion as is Christianity, and does not depend on ethnicity.
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