Last Friday, everyone shared a bit about themselves and their familiarity with Asian American literature including authors and books as well as any background knowledge they might have had on Asian American studies before we dove into a discussion on American/western perspectives surrounding Asian Americans.
Some of the topics discussed were stereotypes about Asian Americans, the portrayal of Asian Americans or Asians in western media, and personal experiences in facing stereotypes. This led to a discussion about the “model minority” myth, its origin, and how we may have personally felt the impact of this stereotype in our own lives. Another topic that came up was the homogenizing stereotypes that Asian Americans encounter such as the common assumption that anyone who appears to be Asian is Chinese (i.e., why are Asians presumed to be pan-ethnic). We speculated over how this particular stereotype came to be with some of us linking it to the prominence of Chinese immigrants in US history or to the fact that Chinese-origin Asians are the biggest Asian origin group in the country. For example, if you look examine the California Gold Rush, many Chinese immigrants followed suit for gold; however, because Americans were wary about the resources being taken away, they established both legal and cultural means (like stereotypes) to discriminate against Chinese immigrants. Accordingly, then, if you follow the canon and chronology of US history, many popular Asian groups such as Chinese, as mentioned before, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese coincide with major US historical events of exclusion/violence. With laws passed such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Japanese incarcerations, the Forgotten War, and then the “Vietnam” War, many stereotypes of Asians (i.e., the ‘model minority’) that are formed today are dependent on US perceptions and continue to be cultural and ideologically sustained.
Towards the end of the meeting, the conversation moved in a slightly different direction with a discussion about the association of the United States with European values/viewpoints and how they are generally grouped within the same sphere (i.e., why was the US euro-centric when geographically it is distant from Europe). We proposed different explanations as to why this is, one of them relating to the historic colonial ties between the two regions. Specifically, although the US wanted to separate its ties from Europe, as seen by the American Revolution, its motivations derived from the same settler-colonial logics as Europe. Wanting to be born out of exceptionalism and individualism, which meant freedom and democracy for the Americas, the key to being different from Europe was further expansion to the West. And so, some important ideologies/cultural artifacts that manifested were the American frontier and Manifest Destiny. Although they were the things that America defined so that they were different from Europe, they paradoxically were also the impetuses for colonial and imperial expansion. Because of these impetuses, these settler-colonial ideologies resulted in the exploitation of Indigenous communities and militaristic and capitalistic expansion.
This Friday, we will be discussing Orientalism and Racial Formations! Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!
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