...of an Asian American young adult. I will write about some of the different things, in which I have experienced living here in the United States of America. I am twenty-three and living in Necedah, Wisconsin with my mother, father, grandparents, and three younger sisters. My family and I are considered to be part of a minority group in the United States, even though I was born and raised in Necedah. I am labeled Asian Indian because of my ancestral background. However, I just like to tell people I am American. I continue to practice my family’s cultural traditions and religion. I am a believer in Hinduism. My family is from a city in India, in which is known as New Delhi. The city is India’s capital. My family and I visit New Delhi at least once a year to see family. India is a peninsula located in South Asia. India is surrounded by the Himalaya Mountains, Pakistan, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal. There are about 900 million people that live in India today, which makes it the most populated country in South Asia, and covers about 1.5 million square miles of land. The only other country in Asia larger in population is China. The first Asian Indians came to the United States was in the middle of the 19th century. Most of the Asian Indians, during that time, came to the United States in search of economic opportunity and worked mostly in agriculture and construction. Others came as merchants or traders. Towards the end of the 20th century Asian Indians...
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...have discovered the strength and power to be the central figure within the newly defined collective household in order to survive and provide for the children’s future. According to Confucianism, the family line is patriarchal and the man is to be obeyed. Women were expected to follow the three respects—her father, her husband and her eldest son; if not, the consequences were severe. Having women stay at home with the children is a way of life in mainstream Asian countries. In Asia, a woman would not and could not leave her parent's home until she is married, then she would live with and care for her husband's family. An unwed woman living on her own would be considered shameful and disgraceful to her family in Asian culture. Unlike the strict traditional ways of Confucianism, Vietnamese families are orderly and emotional (Freeman 88). Within the traditional Vietnamese family, the “disciplined authority of and obligation to the father, but also nurturance, sentiment and affection are associated with the mother” (89). Asian women, in general, are taught to be reserved and to keep thoughts and experiences private in order to avoid losing face and embarrassing the family; however, “more respect for the rights and powers of Vietnamese women” have contributed to a Vietnamese...
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...For over a hundred years, stereotypes of Asian Americans have dramatically changed from being viewed as uneducated poor laborers to being characterized as successful educated minority. It has changed from negativity to positivity. According to the article “Outwhiting the whites”: An examination of the persistence of Asian Americans model minority discourse, Asian Americans were stereotyped as the “Yellow Peril” before. It was a fear that Asian Americans were going to take power in America. Japanese Americans had lost a lot during World War II. They were imprisoned in internment camps, lost their homes, land, and property. After the World War II, people started to change their views on Asian Americans. The Japanese Americans were able to recover quickly. The media noticed how quickly they were able to recover and began publishing positive stories of how Asian Americans culture were able to succeed. From there on, the media continued to publish positive stories on how Asian Americans were succeeding which created the model minority stereotype. There were two articles that I analyzed, Asian-Americans: Are they making the grade by U.S. News & World Report, and The new whiz kids by Brand, D. I believed the two articles ended up combating the model minority model. Asian Americans have been stereotyped as the model minority. They are the smart, wealthy, hard-working, successful, and obedient minority. Some people believe in that, others don’t. It is not that simple...
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...“African – Americans, Asian – Americans, and Latino’s have been depicted in television, sports, and films in ways that have been changed in our society” (Omi 655). Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as “a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people.” (Webster’s dictionary) Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behavior and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes. For example, African- Americans are associated with basketball, and acting. Asian – American men are made out to be the bad guys in film, women are seen as prostitutes and are sexual abused. Last but not least Latino’s are popping up everywhere, in hit TV shows like Ugly Betty, in major league baseball and in the music business. Stereotypes have existed since the beginning of time in our everyday life through religion, politics and the media. Humans have the tendency to use stereotypes in their humour, their descriptions of others, and even in their beliefs. One may believe it is possible to rid oneself of such habits; however if one looked at the regular promotions of propaganda, it would make this objective impossible. Stereotypes, however, aren't...
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...Asian Pacific Americans are portrayed in the media in a variety of contradictory stereotypes, ranging from the "model minority" at the head of his or her class in school, to the non-English-speaking welfare recipient who is a "drain on the system." Asians are also characterized in film as unscrupulous businessmen and cruel mobsters, or as compliant, submissive and exotic. One-dimensional portrayals, coupled with the absence of accurate images and positive role models, obstruct public understanding of the Asian American community, which can contribute to an anti-Asian climate. Despite the diversity among Asian Pacific Americans, they are often misperceived as a monolithic group. Thus, even though an act of anti-Asian sentiment might be perpetrated with a particular ethnic group in mind (e.g., Indian, Filipino or Korean), a failure to make distinctions between Asian Pacific American ethnic groups causes members of all groups to become potential victims of hate crimes. Hate incidents are expressions of hostility based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. Hate incidents are not illegal. They may take the form of name-calling or using racial slurs, hate speech, the distribution of racist leaflets or other disrespectful behavior. Hate crimes are defined by federal or state statutes. A hate crime occurs when a person commits an act such as assault, battery, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass to property or mob action because of the victim's...
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...Jose Cruz Asian-Americans Soc/262-Contemporary American Society Nantrece Carraby August 10, 2015 Asian Americans According to the United States Census Bureau the definition of Asians refers to those people of origins of any original peoples of Southeast Asia, Far East, and or the Indian subcontinent. Asian Americans cover four point eight percent of the United States population. Asian Americans tend to have the highest educational accomplishments and income compared to other races. Along with other races and ethnicities Asian Americans have a remarkable thorough history. Analysis Cultural value of Asians towards education Educational goals from Asian American parents play a vast role in their children’s occupational outcomes. Many Asian American parents share common interest in educational goals for their children due to similar cultural backgrounds in Confucian ideology. Confucius taught that everyone that is human possessed the same potentials, and that education was the corrective means to restrain from any tendencies that will stray from ethical behaviors. Asian parents tend to spend much more time with their children to drive them harder, sometimes even at the cost of their personal time and ambitions of the parents themselves. Their parents view their children as trees that need trimming as they get older. Many people believe that Asian parents are dominating but, parents according to Confucius ideology are to give their children all the support...
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...The three Asian American women I have chosen from the novel to discuss are Jackie Ishida, Lois Sakai and Rebecca Nakanishi. Jackie Ishida is one of the main characters in the “Southland”. She is Frank Sakai’s granddaughter and a lesbian law student at UCLA. Those characteristics are three things that are challenges in the legal community….Asian female law student who is a lesbian. Jackie is given the task by her Aunt Lois of finding answers to questions about her grandfather’s will. Jackie reluctantly sets out to find out why he has left his grocery store to Curtis Martindale and why he leaves $38,000 in cash. Jackie breaks away from concentrating full-time on law school and embarks on this mission. All she has to go on are Frank’s old pictures and his box of documents. As she reminisces about him, she remembers being close to him when she was young. She spent a lot of time with him because her parents were too busy with their lives to care for her. Her mother was in medical school and father was a doctor. Jackie admits to losing touch with him even though he tried to be a part of her life. As she begins her journey to find out who Curtis Martindale was, she is led to his cousin, James Lanier. He is an African American social worker who was still very connected to the Crenshaw neighborhood. He did not know Frank very well, but he was willing to help her because he needed answers about Curtis, too. He eventually he becomes a mentor to her...
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...Thien) Week 1: RATIONALE & DEMOGRAPHY r Why (is it important to) study AAs? r How does the US census define who is an AA? What does the US Census tell us about Asian American communities? r The model minority stereotype. r Characteristics of contemporary Asian American communities r Japanese Americans were the top group, in terms of numbers in 1970; what’s happened to their overall ranking now, and why? r Significance of TWLF strike at San Francisco State Week 2: BASIC CONCEPTS r Prejudice r Ethnicity r Ethnocentrism r Acculturation r Assimilation r Pluralism r Separatism/separatist identity r Four types of discrimination Week 3 & 4: IMMIGRATION r Significance and effects of US legislation laws, including but not limited to: o Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 o Hart Celler Act / Immigration Act of 1965 o Tydings-McDuffie Act o Alien Land Law o Gentlemen’s Agreement o Education Exchange Act of 1946 o Walter McCarren Act of 1952 o 1980 Orderly Departure Program o Refugee Act of 1965 and 1980 o Operation New Life r Seven characteristics of early Asian immigration to the US mainland r What characteristics exemplify the “refugee” as a type? Week 5: ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE r Vincent Chin case 1982 (1984 and 1987 trials) r Thien Ly case r Hate crime r Anti-Asian hate incidents r What factors contribute to Anti-Asian violence?...
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...second-generation Asian American students at the University of Illinois feel about being Asian American, particularly those who are not of Chinese, Korean, Filipino or Japanese descent. In other words, we are focusing on students whose background ethnicity represents Southeast Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indonesian) and South Asian (Indian, Bengali, Pakistani) and so forth. We want to explore how various Asian ethnic groups identify socially and culturally with the term Asian American. We asked for written responses from Asian American students, who have these background ethnicities, to describe in their own words what being Asian American means to them. In addition, we walked around campus and interviewed several second-generation Asian Americans. In their explanations, we encouraged the students to explain if it was a struggle growing up in America, whether they have ever been a victim to stereotypes or discrimination and how they have dealt with it. We took these statements and compared them to the stereotypes placed immigrants of the 1900s. In addition to the interviews, we analyzed our finding with an article published by Jerry Park of Baylor University titled, “Second-Generation Asian American Pan-Ethnic Identify: Pluralized Meaning of a Racial Label” who did a similar study in four public universities, along with other readings from class. The term, Asian American, was formed as a significant symbolic move in constructing an ethnic identity for the pan-Asian community in...
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...The Asian American Political Alliance “Asian Americans were never your quiet, passive-aggressive, model minority. We’re still not. We’re out there raising hell—fighting for our families, our communities, and ourselves. Try putting this in your chop suey.” Declaration of the Asian American Political Alliance, 1969. The 1960’s was a period that stained the United States’ history with anger and discontent. Indeed, it was a time were African Americans, Chicanos and other ethnic minorities felt lost in a culture of standardized racism and discrimination. Generally speaking, people were in the search of their identities while struggling to balance the importance of their immigrant roots with their integrity to America. The second or even third generation of young immigrants gradually became involved in this cause by getting involved in various movements mostly lead by college students. Indeed, College Campuses were the most favorable environments for youth activism since it represented a place where people from different religious and cultural backgrounds came together to strive for a common goal of being successful in life through academic enrichment. One particularly interesting youth activist group was the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) born in Berkeley in 1969. Based on the example of the AAPA , this paper will first analyze the goals and reasons that motivated the youth to take action, and then describe the means and tactics used. Finally, it will show the impact...
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...March 9, 2012 Asian Americans have been living among us for many decades. We see them throughout our everyday lives, we see their colorful culture. When was the last time we have asked ourselves what their experiences are today and throughout American history? Or, What have been the political, social, and cultural issues and concerns of Asian Americans throughout American history? Or how about what legislation meant to constrain race within prejudicial boundaries was enacted? How did the Asian American fight this legislation? And what legislation meant to alleviate prejudicial boundaries has been enacted? How did the they promote this legislation? During the beginning of the Gold Rush in California in the 1800s, the Asian American immigrant was welcomed, but had to live under restricted laws. One could assume that the Asian American did not have it easy in the beginning. From violence to being denied citizenship, the typical Asian person in America did not seem welcomed anymore. This is why there was no arrival from any Asian countries from the late 1800s and the end of WW2. However Asians were still not the most welcomed people in America, since they were thought to be spies and were ordered to live in camps much like the Jews in Eastern Europe during the war. Today in the 21st century, an Asian American is as much as an American as an child born on American soil. Though the experience throughout American history that includes Asian immigrants, Asian individuals are tougher...
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...The ethnic group that I chose are Asian (Asian descent) The first settlement that is recorded is of Filipinos migrating to America in 1763. They came to America by escaping the imprisonment aboard Spanish galleons. When they escaped the Spanish galleons they fled into the bayous of Louisiana. As stated in the Ancestors in the Americas: Asian America history timeline, In the 1830s Chinese were "sugar masters" working in Hawaii. There were also Chinese sailors and peddlers in New York. Ancestors in the Americas: Asian America History Timeline, as retrieved from http://www.cetel.org/timeline.html A resource from one of the largest, up to date survey, which is the American Religious Identification surveys shows that not one religion can claim the majority for the Asian American Community. It shows a 27% of Asian Americans follow Eastern Religions such as Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Sikh. This report also shows that 17% of the Asian Community is Catholic. This percentage has declined from 27% in 1990. The Asian Nation website states, “Chinese Americans are the oldest and largest ethnic group of Asian ancestry in the United States. They have endured a long history of migration and settlement that dates back to the late 1840s…”, Lai, E., Arguelles, D. (2012) The New Face of Asian Pacific America: retrieved from http://www.asian-nation.org/chinese.shtml. Most Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States as contract labor. First in Hawaii for plantation followed by mining...
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...------------------------------------------------- Religion and Ethnic Diversity Culture Diversity June 2, 2013 June 2, 2013 Religious Group Jehovah Witness The religious group Jehovah’s Witness was founded in the 1870s by Charles Taze Russell; he believed that hell did not exist. Jehovah’s Witness also believe in the end of times and Armageddon. Jehovah’s Witness reject the cross because to them the cross represents a fertility symbol; they do not wear crosses nor print the cross on their bibles. “Although Jehovah’s Witnesses identify themselves as comprising a Christian denomination, other groups regard them as a cult that stands outside orthodox Christianity.” (Sharpe, 2010, p. 1) There are other religious groups like the Roman Catholics that believe in forgiveness of sin with a church ritual through confession with help from a priest, the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world; he is the only way to return to the heavenly Father. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world. Hinduism believe in reincarnation and Karma which tells a person’s destiny in the life they are living now and in the next life. The beliefs and views of the Jehovah’s Witness is not shared by everyone. “In the precedent-setting 1944 Prince v. Massachusetts decision, which involved a Jehovah's Witness, the court ruled that a child's welfare trumps the religious beliefs of the parents.”...
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...Life of Filipinos Immigrants and their American dreams Filipino Americans are now the second largest group of Asian Americans as well as the second largest immigrant group in the United States. According to the U.S. census, there are approximately 9 million people living in America who are of Asian descent. Twenty-three percent of that are of Chinese ancestry; 20% are Filipino; 12% are Asian Indian; and Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese each share about 10%. They are neither alien nor citizen, and they are US “national”. Similar to other Asian groups, they were hired as cheaper labors. It is never be easy to leave the home country and migrant to another country. Sometimes life can be difficult for many immigrants, and life can not be impossible, especially those who don’t speak broken English and people of color. Pinoys struggled a lot and could not adjust themselves to the mainstream culture therefore; they experienced a lot of discrimination in the United States. They could not marry to a White girl, or they could not own properties. Their wages were extreme low and work longer hours in a day in the field, and their never gain respect from white people. Their lives represent the diversity of the immigrant experience and their narratives are a way to understand ethnical identity and Filipino Americans history. What are the impacts of the US colonization on Pilipino? One of the major impacts was education. Education was one of the best ways to pacify the Filipinos. US...
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...The 2017 Music Billboard Awards shocked many, as the Korean-pop boy group BTS won top social artist against US artists. My Cambodian friend had just recently gotten into K-pop, and while watching the award show, she said her grandma was moved to tears since it was the first time she saw Asian men on American television. At that moment, I realized how big of a deal this was to many other Asian Americans. They finally saw themselves in an attractive, desirable light. My sudden revelation comes to show how minorities have been deprived of respectable representation for so long and how normalized it is. For too long, minorities have been stereotypically viewed and placed lesser than whites. Blacks are only athletes and criminals. Hispanics are...
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