Stereotyping: Midwestern Asian American Experience

Several respondents were interviewed about their experiences as Asian Americans growing up in the Midwest. They specifically talk about the stereotypes and prejudices they face, and also comment on the specific scenario when people ask them where they are from. This scenario normally entails a person asking another (generally non-Caucasian) where they are from with the intent of finding out their ethnic origins rather than the location they are from. The project focuses on the responses of Midwestern Asian Americans and how they deal with this scenario as well as other stereotypes that they have faced.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Folklore
• Asian Americans
• Midwest
• Stereotypes

[crotsbgone]

Aaronson Chew looks like kevjumba. Just thought I'd throw it out there

[Ignatius413]

Lol, I remember growing up in central kansas, I was the only colored kid in my town so the kids always told me - when we were playing cowboys and indians - that I couldn't be the cowboy cause I was 'asian.' LOL.

[shmuli9]

@dragonboy718 There's NOTHING wrong with being asked "where are you from?" BUT if that's some kind of code for "what ethnic group do you belong to" ("ethnic group" isn't a particularly difficult phrase or concept) then there IS something wrong with it...

[opisthobranch]

@dragonboy718 Because if you're white you're viewed as American, whereas if you are Asian-American, you are not viewed as American but foreign.

[StrangerNReality]

What can a person do? Since they are challenging your values without reasonable provocation, challenge them back, devalue them, or laugh it over.

Looking them straight in the eyes with a smirk and saying, "Get the fuck away from me." with calm authority works out for me. Well not all the time, lol!

The point is to not care about what others think.

To do that, a person needs to have a solid sense of identity. A cognitive understanding of who they are.

It ain't easy, but sink or swim.

[dragonboy718]

uhm...exactly why does it bother you if I ask where you are from? I think you should be honored, I would be

[BadReligion1994]

I'm not of Asian American heritage, but I can understand some of how the people commenting felt about some questions that make them feel uncomfortable.

I've been asked "what are you?" so many times, any people tend to assume, and ask if I'm Indian (I'm Spanish-American), it gets annoying after a while.

I'm originally from Latin-America, and it really bothers me when people here frequently refer to Latin-Americans as "Mexicans", like everyone there is the same to them.

[xingfenzhen]

I usually fire that question right back at them. Sometime it's fun with those quarter German, half Irish, quarter Italian things. But sometime they just have no clue about their heritage.