Evolution of Asian Stereotypes & Discrimination

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

The Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted under the premise that Chinese immigrants were taking jobs away from Americans. The Chinese immigrant in the image was drawn to be “The White Labor Destroyer” with many Americans in the crowd cheering for the new policy that was passed. The drawing portrays Chinese immigrants in such a misconstrued way where they are drawn to have very small eyes, a long braided ponytail, and a straw hat. In reality, Chinese immigrants do not look like that and they were needed for many jobs that Americans simply did not want or could not fulfill such as the demanding work of building the Transcontinental Railroad. 

Fu Manchu (1929)

Fu Manchu was a film produced in the late 1920's and continued into the 1930's. The main character, Fu Manchu was played by a Swedish-American actor, Warner Oland who used yellowface to create the persona of the Chinese character he was playing. Fu Manchu was known to be lead villain in this film with a long thin mustache.

In this film, yellowface was clearly used. Yellowface is a form of theatrical makeup used by European-Americans to portray an Asian person (This is very similar to the practice of blackface).

The film portrayed the physical representation of Chinese Americans inaccurately. This film was also shot when when the Yellow Peril was very prominent, so after the film was released, Chinese Americans went from being inferior to their White American counterparts to being portrayed as a threat in western society.

The Good Earth (1937)

This film was an adaptation of Pearl Buck's novel, The Good Earth. Pearl Buck had envisioned the cast of the film to be played by all Chinese or Chinese-American Actors. However, evidently this was not the case.

Anna May Wong was a top contender for playing the lead female role in this film. However, the lead male role was casted to be Paul Muni, a European American actor. As a result, Wong was denied the role because of the existing Hay's Code which had illicit her from playing the role of the wife of a white husband. The role was offered to European actress, Luise Rainer, while she was offered to play other role in the movie, as a villain (This again perpetuated Yellow Peril during this time).

Japanese Internment Camps -->Beginning of Model Minority

During World War II, Japanese Americans given situation between Japanese Americans and Americans. Americans were relocated to internment camps because there was a perpetuated stigma where Japanese Americans were not trust-worthy and were a threat to US's safety.

Many Japanese Americans were treated unfair at these camps. In order for them to escape the discrimination or attempt to do so, Japanese Americans would try to make themselves useful, and in this case many children of Japanese American immigrants chose to be drafted for the war in order to diminish the stigma of Japanese Americans.

Model Minority? Not Really...

Asian Americans are constantly being categorized as a monolithic group. As a result, Asians in general are stereotyped to be the "Model Minority."

However, that's not the case, Asians of Indian ethnicity are seen to have the lowest high school drop-out rates at 12.6% and the highest college degree attainment rate at 64.4%. These numbers are higher than statistics shown for White Americans, causing Asian Americans to be stereotyped as "Model Minority." Compared to their counterparts, Southeast Asians (Cambodian, Hmong, or Laotian) do not fare as well in higher education with the highest dropout rate of 52.7% and a college degree attainment rate of 9.2%.

It's unrealistic for the general population of the Asian American race to be stereotyped on the premises of one ethnicity as well as being stereotyped as a monolithic group because this doesn't allow for a fair assessment of each individual. This unfair stereotyping can often lead to a depletion of resources that can be used to aid those who need it.