Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time and the effort in your wording; I really appreciate it, espcially the attempt to lessen a hurt. And I wanted to say that I hope the comments below don't hurt you; they aren't intended to. Also, thank you for speaking up at all, particularly with such a potentially scary topic and question as this one!
1) You're right, one of the reasons I am hurt when I hear that people see Asians as white is because it feels like a denial of my identity. It's particularly touchy given my own personal experiences with not being fully American in terms of culture, having grown up in Taiwan. I want to be Asian, and I want to be able to enjoy being Asian, and it hurt a lot when one friend in college asked me why I had to be so Chinese.
2) Another reason is because I feel that they are denying my experiences as an Asian. More specifically, I feel that they are denying my experiences of discrimination as an Asian. "I see Asians as white" can become an argument of "I see Asians as white; therefore, you are being treated as white, and as such, you do not experience discrimination, and any time you say you do, you're just whining." It can effectively become a way to say that racism against Asians doesn't exist.
3) You mention the economic and educational status, and you're right. I think a lot of people do mean that when they say "I see Asians as white." My problems with this are: why does economic status and educational status equate white? Are they implying that somehow Asians as Asians are less likely to succeed economically and educationally and that only by being "white" can someone succeed in that way?
4) "I see Asians as white" as an example of the model minority stereotype: This is harmful to Asians because it assumes an experience that not all of us share. Personally, I get annoyed by it because I'm very much a liberal arts person. It can limit Asian students or lead teachers to ignore problems Asians are having in math or science because they assume that Asians will just be good at it. Also, much like #3, people can use it to discount Asian experiences of racism because it's not an obviously harmful stereotype.
4a) (whoo! I'm getting into letters now! Sorry about the length!) Frank Wu (who I seem to be quoting a lot these days) says in Yellow that the "positive" aspect of the model minority stereotype can quickly be turned on Asians. If there's a news article on how jobs in America are going toward Indian immigrants, the model minority stereotype can soon become "Asians are too smart. They're attempting to take over the country by getting engineering degrees, then working longer for less money." Or it can be, "Asian musicians just don't quite cut it; they learn everything by memorization and lack the emotion of other musicians."
4b) Not only is the model minority stereotype harmful to Asians, it's harmful to all minorities. People can use Asians as the example and say to blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans, "Look what the Asians are doing! Why aren't you more like them?" Insert ensuing interracial resentment. The model minority stereotype is much less harmful than the black thug stereotype, but it's harmful nonetheless. yhlee writes a lot more about the harms of the model minority myth too.
Er, does that make sense? Anyway, those are the reasons that I can think of on why "Asians are like whites" hurt. Well, 4a and 4b are more on the model minority stereotype, but 1-4 is on why it hurts. And I do get that people usually (I hope!) don't intend for it to hurt, which paradoxically makes it hurt more.
I hope this helped, and again, thank you for asking.
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Wed, Jul. 19th, 2006 08:51 am (UTC)1) You're right, one of the reasons I am hurt when I hear that people see Asians as white is because it feels like a denial of my identity. It's particularly touchy given my own personal experiences with not being fully American in terms of culture, having grown up in Taiwan. I want to be Asian, and I want to be able to enjoy being Asian, and it hurt a lot when one friend in college asked me why I had to be so Chinese.
2) Another reason is because I feel that they are denying my experiences as an Asian. More specifically, I feel that they are denying my experiences of discrimination as an Asian. "I see Asians as white" can become an argument of "I see Asians as white; therefore, you are being treated as white, and as such, you do not experience discrimination, and any time you say you do, you're just whining." It can effectively become a way to say that racism against Asians doesn't exist.
3) You mention the economic and educational status, and you're right. I think a lot of people do mean that when they say "I see Asians as white." My problems with this are: why does economic status and educational status equate white? Are they implying that somehow Asians as Asians are less likely to succeed economically and educationally and that only by being "white" can someone succeed in that way?
4) "I see Asians as white" as an example of the model minority stereotype: This is harmful to Asians because it assumes an experience that not all of us share. Personally, I get annoyed by it because I'm very much a liberal arts person. It can limit Asian students or lead teachers to ignore problems Asians are having in math or science because they assume that Asians will just be good at it. Also, much like #3, people can use it to discount Asian experiences of racism because it's not an obviously harmful stereotype.
4a) (whoo! I'm getting into letters now! Sorry about the length!) Frank Wu (who I seem to be quoting a lot these days) says in Yellow that the "positive" aspect of the model minority stereotype can quickly be turned on Asians. If there's a news article on how jobs in America are going toward Indian immigrants, the model minority stereotype can soon become "Asians are too smart. They're attempting to take over the country by getting engineering degrees, then working longer for less money." Or it can be, "Asian musicians just don't quite cut it; they learn everything by memorization and lack the emotion of other musicians."
4b) Not only is the model minority stereotype harmful to Asians, it's harmful to all minorities. People can use Asians as the example and say to blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans, "Look what the Asians are doing! Why aren't you more like them?" Insert ensuing interracial resentment. The model minority stereotype is much less harmful than the black thug stereotype, but it's harmful nonetheless.
Er, does that make sense? Anyway, those are the reasons that I can think of on why "Asians are like whites" hurt. Well, 4a and 4b are more on the model minority stereotype, but 1-4 is on why it hurts. And I do get that people usually (I hope!) don't intend for it to hurt, which paradoxically makes it hurt more.
I hope this helped, and again, thank you for asking.