China Overseas Chinese Network, July 6th, Question: Is it because the Chinese have good grades because they have money at home?
Stereotypes should be broken!
Recently, the superintendent of a school district in San Diego, California, was fired for making inappropriate remarks against Asian Americans.
At a training session in April, the district superintendent was asked why Asian-American students did better than other students, saying that Asian-American students did well because they "come from wealthy Chinese immigrant families," which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wan buys property in the community, and the Chinese family has parents and grandparents raising the children at home.
And some Latino parents are too busy at work to help their children at home.
As soon as her remarks came out, people in the Asian community were strongly dissatisfied, especially the Chinese community, who believed that she had strengthened the Chinese stereotype.
Many Asian-American parents say their children do better in school because they come from a culture that focuses on education and family, and many say they came to the U.S. not rich at all.
Data map: In April 2021, hundreds of people participated in a rally against discrimination against Asians in Millbrae, San Francisco Bay Area, United States.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Guanguan
Although the director has apologized several times, the Asian community does not buy it.
Over the past two and a half months, the school district board has been receiving protests from the Asian community, and a petition calling for her to step down has been signed by more than 2,700 people.
At the end of April, the school district board decided to put her on paid administrative leave, and on June 26, the board unanimously voted to dismiss her as district superintendent, effective August 15.
Some people think that this is a big deal. After all, the director has made a lot of achievements during his tenure, and he has also apologized for his remarks.
However, the anger in the Asian-American community is understandable because Asian-Americans are already suffering from stereotypes.
Stereotypes and prejudice against Asian Americans permeate every aspect.
In 2016, at the 88th Academy Awards, host Chris Rock introduced three Asian children to the stage, with Asian accents, suits and briefcases.
Locke called them "the most dedicated, hard-working, and precise accountants out there," a clear stereotype of Asians who are "hard-working and good at math."
And Locke then added: "If you don't like the joke, you can tweet on your phone. And your phone is also made by these kids." This sentence is suspected of alluding to Asian child labor.
The incident caused strong dissatisfaction in the Asian-American community and sparked discussions about breaking stereotypes.
Many Asian film practitioners have said that, as the most developed industry in the United States, the entertainment industry actually lacks relevant inclusiveness.
In Hollywood movies and TV dramas, even if Asian faces appear, the image they create is usually relatively simple, either the image of some little people working as coolies and attaching great importance to money; or the image of a gangster who knows kung fu.
The images of Asian (Chinese) women appearing on American screens and videos are mainly of two types: one is a low-level, servant-like and pitiful image, and the other is a vicious, so-called "Dragon Lady" ".
Jeremy Lin, a Chinese basketball player, also said that while he was playing and studying in the United States, he suffered from this kind of racial discrimination countless times.
"Model Minority", this label not only affirms the achievements Asian Americans have achieved through their own hard work, but also puts the shackles on Asian Americans.
In the 1960s, when the civil rights movement in the United States was surging, openly talking about racism became taboo, and in order to strengthen the centrality of Anglo-Saxons, the United States divided and ruled various ethnic groups.
During this period, stories describing the success of Asian Americans appeared in the American media. The Asian Americans in the reports were obedient, diligent, educated and accomplished, and were called "model minorities".
For Asian Americans, this label seems like a halo, but it is a yoke—they are both isolated from mainstream society and viewed as outsiders in race relations.
Data map: In April 2021, a parade against Asian Americans was held in New York, and tens of thousands of people held signs and rallied in Foley Square in Manhattan.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
In 2021, the Asian American Investment Managers Association released a report titled "Asian Americans Are Good Employees, Not Leaders."
The report points out that for many Asian-Pacific Americans, the barriers they face often come from their day-to-day workplaces, and are often in the nitty-gritty -- such as co-workers who often confuse Asian-American employees or management's perceptions of Asian-American employees. Preconceived assumptions that they are a "model minority," usually more timid or reserved.
This phenomenon may hinder the career development of AAPI workers and prevent them from obtaining promotion opportunities.
In addition, in this survey, almost all respondents (90%) believed that the "bamboo ceiling" had an impact on them, and 65% of Asian Pacific American managers regarded the "bamboo ceiling" as a moderate or even severe impact on their careers. The problem.
In Silicon Valley, only 1 in every 285 Asian-American women and 201 Asian-American men is a business executive, according to the Ascend Foundation, an Asian-American advocacy group.
According to data from the Federal Office of Personnel Management, Asian Americans make up 5.8 percent of the workforce and 3.5 percent of executives in the federal government.
The research report "Anti-Asian Racial Discrimination is Rising and Realizing the Essence of American Racist Society" released by the China Society for Human Rights in April this year pointed out the fetters of the "model minority" label on Asians:
First, the "model minority" has shaped the stereotype of Asian Americans with high economic income and high education level. This label makes them usually not included in the category of racial discrimination in the United States, and the difficulties they face in the economy and society are also ignored. .
For example, the poverty rate of 13.5% of Asian-Americans is much higher than the average level in the United States, the reemployment cycle of Asians after unemployment is almost the longest among all races, and Asians are in the leadership of politics, business, academia, and law. Significantly underrepresented.
Second, Asian Americans shaped by the mainstream media in the United States have the character of being "independent, intelligent, diligent, obedient, and never expressing political opinions", and their cultural values are considered to be in line with American Protestant ethics.
This seemingly commendable discourse system has even won the approval of a considerable number of Asians, making them willing to behave in a low-key manner according to the expected image and quality.
Third, the concept of "model minority" elevates Asians to the altar, and at the same time implies a metaphorical criticism of African Americans, which was aimed at combating the then-strong black civil rights movement in the United States.
This highly racially polarizing strategy has created sharp contradictions among people of color, and Asians have since become the target of accusations or attacks by many minority groups.
Facts have also proved this.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the number of attacks against Asian Americans has risen sharply.
Many Asians have been attacked for no reason on the streets and in public places, from being spat on, to verbal harassment, to various physical assaults, the list goes on.
According to a report released on November 18, 2021 by the organization Stop Hating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, from March 19, 2020 to September 30, 2021, the organization received a total of 10,370 incidents of racist attacks against Asian Americans Reported that most incidents occurred in public spaces such as streets and workplaces.
According to data released by the New York City Police Department on December 8, 2021, hate crimes against Asian Americans in the city in 2021 jumped 361% compared to 2020.
There are media reports that the actual number of hate crimes against Asian Americans in New York is far higher than the number announced above, because many victims do not report to the police department.
Data map: New Yorkers learn personal safety defense courses.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
On May 20, 2021, in order to combat hate crimes against Asian Americans, Biden signed the Anti-New Crown Hate Crimes Act.
However, the law has limitations such as its effectiveness in combating racist hate crimes.
The US "Atlantic Monthly" reported that the law does not make mandatory measures to stipulate that prosecutors, because of their discretion, often do not charge relevant hate crimes for different reasons when dealing with potential hate crimes. suspects.
To eradicate the chronic disease of anti-Asian racism, the United States not only needs to reflect, but also needs to act.
(Manuscript source: China Overseas Chinese Network WeChat public account; ID: qiaowangzhongguo; Source: China News Network, China Overseas Chinese Network, etc.; Author: Li Mingyang)