“You’re Chinese, aren’t you supposed to be smarter than me?”
“Why are you always so quiet? Speak up!”
“Pft, your idea of a bad grade is probably a 97.”
Every phrase feels like a punch in the back of my throat.
Yes, I may be Asian. Yes, I may be Chinese. But, just because of my ethnicity…
Should people assume that I’m bright?
Should people assume that I’m quiet?
Should people assume that I have straight A’s?
I get this all the time, so, this is a common mindset, right? This is the way everyone thinks, therefore it must be true, right? This is normal.
Without realizing it, I began succumbing to these stereotypes and acting in accordance with them.
Stereotypes are part of our everyday lives. We hear them everywhere, whether we want to or not. Now that I am older, I am aware that stereotypes and biases are often unconscious. It is only human nature to group things and associate experiences with them. For example, if you are allergic to peanuts, you would naturally group all the foods that contain peanuts and avoid them overall. By relying on instinct or a one-time experience, you do not need to ever try things like peanut butter just to confirm that you are allergic to peanuts.
This, unfortunately, is the same mindset we carry to categorize other people. One experience with a person can contaminate your entire opinion of the group you associate them with. These experiences can be bad or good, resulting in “positive” and negative stereotypes.
We can see many examples of this grouping in the real world. One specific upsetting and the sensitive topic will be the terrorist attacks of 9/11. After people got word that these attacks were performed by the pan-Islamic militant organization, al-Qaeda, people started to associate these attacks with the entirety of South Asians. These were innocent Muslims, Arabs, and those who had a darker complexion, that was discriminated against and falsely accused.
Stereotypes hurt, whether used unconsciously or in a threatening manner. Even seemingly small “positive” stereotypes such as “Asians are good at math” can come off to someone as critical and demeaning. Similar to my situation, it can make a person feel stressed and worried for they feel like they may not be good enough.
For instance, if a young boy was criticized for not “being tough”, do you think that someone could possibly gain something or feel remotely good from that comment?
These remarks create psychological pressure and an overall terrible environment for those growing up in recent generations.
So, how can we ever fix this stereotypical environment?
The truth is, we can never completely overcome stereotypes. But, to take a step towards this direction, we must make an effort to acknowledge that we all harbor these stereotypes.
By gaining more knowledge and awareness about the diversity of our many cultures and backgrounds, we will reduce the use of stereotypes and we will all be better prepared to educate others about their own stereotypes. Instead of focusing on all the mistakes of each person, we should start paying more attention to how remarkable each person is. Whether it is their personality, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, country, and culture.
We are all unique, and we all have to make an effort to respect each other, regardless of our differences.
Li, Miranda. “Pushing Past the Asian-American Stereotype.” The Talon, 18 Nov. 2015, lahstalon.org/pushing-past-the-asian-american-stereotype/.