This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.
1991157 Responseshttp://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians/What+are+all+of+you+thinking+about+Asians%3F2010-03-24+03%3A30%3A47Sam+Richards to What are all of you thinking about Asians?
Reading some of these comments is very interesting. Some people are confused as to what Sam means when he says brown people. When Sam talks about the brown group, I believe Asians are part of it. It’s true that not all Asians are brown, but in a sense “yellow”. To make things easier though, Sam has to say brown to keep things short and sweet. To save time, he can’t list all the colors of each race. But now thinking about, he would really need to only add one color.
It’s weird to hear of Asian people saying that they’re not Asian, but they consider themselves white. I’m Asian myself, and the thought of me being white never crossed my mind. I’ve always been Asian in my eyes. Although I’ve lived in the suburbs in an extremely white community, I never considered myself white. My friends were mostly white and I did notice I started “acting” white but never considered it my race, which is even weird to say since race is such a generally a clear cut thing.
To me, I can tell the difference between an Asian American and a Native Asian because of the obvious differences, such as the way they talk and dress. In one comment though, someone said they “dress Asian.” How can the name of a type of wardrobe be the name of a race? I don’t see it. I’ve also noticed how most Asians are always hanging out together, and for some reason it’s annoying to me. I guess it’s because I don’t and it bothers me since this causes a stereotype for Asians. Although I see a lot of black people hanging out together, it doesn’t bother me, but why does it with Asians? It boggles my mind. Another thing that bothers me is when Native or International Asian students talk loudly and it’s clear they’re not Asian American, or so it seems. I really don’t understand why it bothers me so much though. It might be because it adds to the stereotype as well, but it really shouldn’t. As I’m thinking about it, I guess it just makes me upset because I feel like these people would annoy others through the way they talk and I don’t want someone to look at me and think I’m annoying too. I’m realizing there needs to be some evaluation in my life because I shouldn’t be feeling this way lol.
I think that there is a very big difference between Asians and Asian
Americans. I think that I am educated, but at the same time the
majority of Americans would probably not know the difference. I think
that most Americans are uneducated and do not know a lot about other
cultures. I think that there are many stereotypes in our culture about
Asians and these stereotypes need to be broken. The stereotype that
all Asians are foreign is very prevalent. I think this is because
Asians look different than most Americans, people construe them all as
foreign. However, many Asians were born in the United States and are
just as American as the next person.
It is extremely racist when a person thinks that all Asians are
foreign. Racism is, however, very prevalent in the United States. I
think that racism will never completely be wiped out, but education
could help very much with the issue. Educating young people about
different cultures is very important. Asians are just as American as
white people, and if this is taught to young children it could lead to
less racism when they are older.
I think that most Americans underestimate the importance of
education. Many Americans would be a lot less racist if they were
simply more educated. People that grow up in small towns across
America do not know anything about other cultures because they live in
a homogenous neighborhood. Everyone around them is white, so they only
know things about white people. They cannot be blamed for being
ignorant, because they do not know any better. They are vulnerable to
propaganda as well.
If Americans were more educated, I strongly believe that there would
be a lot less racism. It seems as though racism is everywhere, and
although we have made a lot of progress recently, there is still a
long way to go. Without Americans being proactive, we will never be
able to move forward as a society. A society that is racist will
always fail.. A good example is Nazi Germany. This is a classic
example of racism. Hitler wanted to exterminate all of the Jews. He
tried to but of course he failed. The rest of the world was not
receptive to his ideas, and luckily some people had morals. If people
did not have morals, Hitler could easily have exterminated every Jew
in the world. The thought of one person being able to exterminate an
entire race of people is sickening. Without education, this could
easily happen again. People need to know that everyone is equal and
that no race is inferior to another race. Through education, racism
can be stopped and the world can progress. Education is of utmost
importance.
I agree with what you have stated. I have made assumptions about Asians without even thinking about it. I would think that a group of Asians would only be from Asia but my ignorance is very broad for the subject. I wouldn't even think about placing people in groups. Everyone makes a general accusations about certian groups of people and this one is no different.
The topic always sticks on black and white to because of the history between the two while white nor blacks have much of a history with the other race. Its good to see this question arise.
I personally don’t agree with looking at the minority as a separate group of its own. I believe there are many individual distinctions within the group itself, in addition to being placed in the minority category. Although scholarships and financial assistance. In the battle between Asians and Asian Americans, I think it’s pretty clear to many individuals what the difference is. At first glance it may be a little difficult to make that distinction, but usually observing your clothes, style, language, and who you hang out with is a good way to make that judgment.
I honestly have a hard time distinguishing Asian Americans and Asians. Not only that, I have hard time figuring out if a person is Chinese or Japanese. Personally, I feel there are a lot of people out there that can’t distinguish Asians. I think I’m not educated enough about the cultures and how distinguish them. Although I take full responsibility for my fault, I don’t think society helps the cause. I think most of the focus on race goes to try to distinguish African Americans, Blacks and Whites. Unfortunately, Asian people seem to get unfair treatment even when it comes to talking about race.
I am curious to see if Asians dislike being referred to in the brown category. Is that term offensive to them? I wouldn't really call their skin brown so that confuses me. Today I experienced racism and was really appalled by it. I was at work talking to someone about being in Vegas and he asked me if I saw a lot of Asians there. When I said no and that I didn't really notice, he went on to say that the presence of Asians was the difference between Atlantic City and Las Vegas. He said in Atlantic City Asian people crowd the table and that he didn't like "tiny Asians" touching him. I should have said something in defense of Asians, as I had no idea what he was talking about, but instead I just said, "Oh I never noticed anything like that." Looking back I wish I had acted differently.
I definitely wish that Sam would talk about people of Asian descent more often. It is such an interesting topic. My parents were born in an Asian country but I have spent my whole life here. I consider myself more American first and foremost though because it is the culture that I can relate to the best. Sometimes I feel more "white" or even latina than I do Asian. This is probably a result of the area I grew up in. My parents did a great job of making sure I could feel comfortable in any cultural or racial group setting and I know a lot about my heritage, too. I am proud of where my family comes from, and I can speak freely and knowingly about my parents' culture and my culture. Thus, I can also easily associate with the Brown group.
So…I don't know which group I belong to. In fact, I don't think I solely belong to one group. The way I see it, we need to re-classify our racial groups. For the sake of the racially mixed children and the American raised children of immigrants, it is important to create new categories. How about tan? I think Asians are Tan.
I go along with some of the people commenting on this blog who are questioning why asians don't get talked about enough in class. Interestingly, I feel they are prejudiced to a high degree and, especially in the college age, have a lot of trouble assimilating socially. Is this because they have a high average income if they are from overseas? Is it because they are generally stereotyped in a more or less positive way (i.e. ridiculously smart, quiet, etc.) I mean they really all get grouped as "Asians" regardless if they are Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or something else. But really just because they arent as financially-handicapped as other groups like latinos or native americans doesn't mean they dont have to deal with stuff everyday that white people do not. I am surprised Sam hasnt spent a day or two on Asians as he has with Native Americans or Middle Easterners for example.
I definitely would not be able to distinguish an Asian American versus a native born Asian. However, I do think that after talking to someone I can tell if they were originally from America or not. When I think of Asians I have to admit I have always kind of thought about the stereotypical smart, friendly, typical Asians and I've never really been around enough Asians to tell the different cultures apart, such as Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc. I'm not sure why Asians are always being left out in the race discussion but I think maybe its because most of the time Asians are pretty non controversial.
This is interesting to think about because it seems that Asians are always underrepresented in all realms. Also its not always Asians that are forgotten there are other races that aren’t thought about when talking. Also what about the fact that when people say that they are mixed they always think in black and white, they never think about all the other ways that a person would be mixed. I feel that since the major race issue is between blacks and whites that all other people seem to be forgotten. So for Asians and other races they don’t have the issues that blacks and whites have with each other and there is still so much hate that exists today.
I think being able to distinguish between different Asian ethnicities or cultures is the same of being able to distinguish any other culture simply takes a person who is actually interested in learning to identify certain differences in features or looks. Every ethnicity or culture has distinguishing features such as eyes or nose placement and size but I guess that could also be considered grouping. It is just as difficult to figure out what a white, black, or brown person identifies with. Sam was talking about young Koreans and Korean Americans and how they simply call themselves white. So in actuality, we are grouping everyone at all times, because the way we see a person on the outside is most likely not what they identify with.
This was one of the more interesting topics brought up in class because it was something that I never thought about but overall its very true. Whenever there is a minority in the group, I typically don't identify him or her as the Asian, the black, the Indian, etcetera. So to answer your question, I see you the same as I would any other black or brown people. To answer your question to a greater degree, I can discuss my relation with my friends. The majority of my friends now are white, but I am still friends with some black and brown people. Whenever I need to describe the Asian person to someone, I typically don't identify them by their name, but rather I identify them as "the Asian kid." Yet, when I'm describing one of my white friends, I don't identify him as "the white kid;" i just identify by his name. So I would definitely say that what Sam said is very accurate.
I don't, however, see this at all as a racist thing. Sometimes, it can come over as a race issue depending on the context in which it is used. If you say the Asian made a stupid comment today, or some woman cut me off on the highway, it seems like a race or gender issue. Yet, I see it more as a key identifier. In an area where white people are the majority, saying that the white person is bad at baseball does not mean much. People don't see this as a race issue because white is the majority. In addition, you cannot identify a white person by simply describing their skin color. It simply means nothing when you have a bunch of white people. Its like watching a basketball game and the announcer saying that the basketball player is really good. Which one? They are all basketball players. Its like white people. Everyone is white so you cannot differentiate between them. You must also describe their color hair, their height, or what they are wearing. Just like when an announcer identifies a basketball player, he can describe him with his jersey color or number.
In order to more fully answer your question I can also point out situations in which I am the minority. I am Mexican, yet it is almost impossible to tell by looking at me. However, my cousins are much more Mexican looking than I am. When I am with my cousins and their friends, I'm seen as the minority in their group. They would describe me as the white person. However, I would not describe one of my cousins or their friends as "the Mexican kid" because that phrase does not contain any key identifiers. Thus, I feel like it would be erroneous to describe this as a race issue, and it would be more insightful to describe skin color or race as a key identifying characteristic, especially when the person is in the minority.
I think this is so true. The class really does only focus solely black and white issues. I know that he also addresses brown people to include everyone else in the mix, but never the “subcategories” of brown people. Now that I fully understand the difference and struggle between African Americans and Africans, why can he not then move on to every other race’s identifications? It is not appropriate to focus on just one minority and leaving out another. That makes those being left out even more victimized and left out which does not help the situation and the feelings of those individuals.
"Asian" is a HUGE group. Bigger than black people I believe. But yes, the stigma holds true for Asians too. For example, in my fraternity there is one Asian guy and one black guy. If I were to tell someone, "Talk to Josh about that", and they would ask, "Whose Josh", I can see myself saying, "He's the short Asian guy." If you are in the minority people will use that to describe you. I have had the same thing happen to me.
As for the Asian American/Asian difference, it reminds me of the time when Sam said how he and his wife could pick out Americans from a distance just from the way they walked and acted. I usually would like to think that I don't have to hear their accent to know that they are American. When I'm walking around and an Asian guy passes by me I usually tell myself whether I think he is American or if he's an immigrant. I don't really think about it but I subconsciously notice. Usually I am right. I can't really describe it, but I think I can tell before they open their mouth and say something.
I thought that this topic in class was intriguing because it seems to stand true. Even though I feel like I see everyone as individuals, no matter the color, I know that there are many people who group Asians as a whole. I personally cannot tell the difference between Asian Americans and Asians at first glance. If I do not hold a conversation with them, chances are I don’t know. I am naturally curious about people’s ethnicities so I would be one to ask about where they are from and when their family moved here. However, other people do a lot of assuming. I am not saying that I know much more than others do, but I am not afraid or embarrassed to ask questions. When it comes to Asians, I really am not even able to identify Chinese from Vietnamese from Japanese and so on. Being that we are ignorant to the many differences, we are more likely to group them as one rather than see them for their individuality without getting to know them first.
I feel like Americans do not differentiate between Asians and Asian Americans. Rather than looking at the two groups as two completely different types of people, Asians and Asian Americans are grouped together as “Asians”. I understand that Asian and Asian Americans are completely different culturally, but I’m also guilty of grouping them together as one large group of “Asians”. Is it my fault that I can’t tell the difference between Asian and Asian Americans? I went to a high school with probably 10 people of Asian heritage out of a whopping 1200 kids. My high school is probably one of the least diverse high schools in all of New Jersey. I just have not had a lot of interaction with Asians and Asians Americans. Since I haven’t had a lot of interaction with Asian and Asian Americans, how should I be able to differentiate between the two?
I know that there are plenty of Asian countries, but when people talk about Asians there are really only two types of Asians. For whatever reason the general American public believes that the only two types of Asians are the Japanese and the Chinese. Can the majority of Americans even differentiate between Japanese and Chinese? I really don’t think most people, white or brown, even have the slightest clue of the physical facial differences between Chinese people and Japanese people. At the same time, is there a lot of facials qualities that differ between Asian Americans and Asians?
If two different types of Asian or Asian Americans were placed next to each other and I had to make a guess where they were from or what their heritage was, I would have an extremely difficult time guessing. I would be extremely unconfident once I made my decision because I literally would have no idea. I would not base my decision off physical features because I don’t know the differences between the different types of Asians. I think my safest bet would be trying to differentiate between Asian Americans and an Asian rather than make a distinction between two specific types of Asian heritages. I would base my distinction on styles of clothing. Whoever was sporting a more Americanized style of clothing would be guess for an Asian American. It is kind of pathetic style of clothing would be the way I would attempt to distinct between the two, but I really do not know how else I would go about it.
In addition, I think that people group Asian Americans and Asians together because the majority of Asians Americans speak Korean, Japanese, or some other language. Not only do they speak it fluently, they speak it as the main language in their household. I believe that this is one of the main reasons why people tend to group Asians and Asians Americans as the universal group of Asians.
Having gone to an incredible diverse school with asians from many cultures, I don't automatically look at an asian person and categorize them into one big group. However, I realize that when looking at a person and seeing that certain characteristics make them look similar to someone else, and so they should all be grouped tog3ether makes sense. I just think it would make more sense to look past that. I read a comment above about asians versus asian americans and while reading that all i thought about was, why does it really matter? And also, I find it interesting that asians never really get brought into the race discussion, obviously something is there and personally I feel like negative feelings towards asians are growing. I feel as though talking about those issues would make sense so we can avoid building up more and more stereotypes and prejudices and create another entire race dilemna like that between black and whites.
The term ‘Asian’ tends to include Asians and Asian-Americans unlike Black people are divided into African-American and Africans. Among Asians, they distinguish themselves by using the term of ‘F.O.B’ and ‘Twinkie.’ As you pointed out, there are more percentages of White people who live somewhat poor and we just assume all whites are rich and middle class at least. I think same thing applies to Asians too as long as Asians are distinguished from Native Americans. Furthermore, East Asians (China, Japan, Korea), Southeast Asians (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand…), and South Asians (India, Pakistan) are under the category of same “Asian.” The comparison of median income among races needs to be little bit more specified by these different regions of Asia since those from India are upper class in Caste system and it is mostly reasonable to see these people are richer.
When it comes to Asian’s I think it is to broad of a question to be asking, there are too many different kinds of Asian’s. Asians from India or Pakistan would be classified as south Asians most of the time though when it comes to classifying ourselves in surveys or etc. we put Asian. And I see myself personally being a Asian and though I am from the south I am kind of brown so when Sam talks about the brown team I consider myself with that team because I am probably far from white and don’t think any white person would ever see me as a white. But when it comes to districting Asian and Asian Americans it is hard because like I already mentioned being Asian is a very broad race, and it includes many countries and all the countries tend to have many differences in their culture. So when it comes to being a Asian I don’t like to distinct myself at all as a Asian American or an Asian if someone was to ask me I would just say I am Asian and nothing further, and not try to classify myself more than that because it just makes it complicated. So to me being an Asian an Asian American and I guess a simple Asian, is all the same to me I see both of them equally and don’t differ between the two, because we should differ that we should attempt to differ the whole Asian race which is so broad.
I think Americans struggle in differentiating Asians from Asian Americans. Most people look at the tiny eyes and asian faces and automatically assume that they are asians. Sam usually has two categories of races; black and brown people and whites. As an indian, I am not very happy to be categorized in a broad generalization stereotype. Asian Americans are very similar to African Americans because they are minorities, but for some reason Asian Americans are not looked at as Americans. We seem to think that Asian Americans are immigrants even if their ancestors were originally born in the United States.
I can't say that I have any Asian friends. I have a ton of Latino and black friends, but no Asians. At least for me I think that Asians would be a great topic for the class though, because I know nothing about them. When I think of Asians (thought I know this is a stereotype) I think of a little woman who barely speaks English who works at the laundromat or the local Chinese restaurant. I know nothing about their culture or what they feel or if they are discriminated against. I don't really have an opinion on Asians because I never thought about it. I do know that they seem to take a lot of white American jobs. It's a good point though.
What do I think of Asians? What an interesting question. When I think of Asians I think of really really smart people who live in hives and do math problems all day. But at night, they come out. They flock to computer labs all around campus. These places are like holy meccas to them. Asian people like to stick together, strength in swarms baby. They also make really good food and use funny words like ching chong. When I think of Asians, I think of someone doing homework in the commons as I drunkenly stumble into my dorm from a night of broing with my bros. Asian people are hipsters, and bros hate hipsters. Asian dudes like to straighten their hair and wear tight pants and stuff. I have one asian bro, and he's pretty cool, but he's from suburban pittsburgh and is pretty much assimilated. Asians also aspire to farm gold for video gamers in world of warcraft and also want to be really good at nintendo. Oh yeah, one time I remember I saw this Asian guy watching anime porn in the computer lab. Dude, it's supposed to be a place of holy worship…you should not be bringing in animated fornication into such a sacred place.
This post was not serious in any way. I like to think of it as satire.
I think you made a real good point about the fact that we do not talk about Asians very often in class. I think it is very interesting because now that I think about it, it seems that in class we spend probably 70% of the time talking about white, blacks and Native Americans. What about the Asians?! (and everyone else?!)
To answer your question, I think the majority of people put Asian’s on the back burner when it comes to talking about race. I cannot really say I am 100% sure why this is besides the fact that they are not apart of the traditional “American” races (being that white and black are). Nevertheless, I believe that Asian’s are an integral part to America’s culture, especially in urban areas.
Personally, I would say that I do not see Asian’s any differently than anyone else. I grew up in a pretty diverse community and I would say I have never seen much negative regard towards their race. To be honest, I’m not sure I would be able to tell the difference between an Asian and an Asian American unless I had a conversation with them. I am sure I might be able to make some judgments based on the clothing they were wearing but to be honest besides that it is pretty difficult. I would say my experience is probably a pretty common one in terms of how most American’s feel. While this is unfortunate, I am sure the same can be said for most races. When you see someone of Hispanic descent are they automatically Mexican, Spanish, Puerto Rican? It’s too tough to tell based on just looks and unless we are keen to judge one another based on looks than you must be an expert.
As a society, we are still very new to race relations. Our generation is one of the first to experience the diversity that has come from reform. I believe as time goes on and diversity continues to grow in America than these subtle differences will be more commonly realized. It is hard to believe that in about 50 years our country has come so far in terms accepting each other for our differences. Of course, we still have a long way to go and there are tons of improvements to be made but to sit back and see the change is just amazing.
But, back to your question. I believe Asian’s are continuing to become immersed into the culture here in the United States. As they continue to become more and more recognized, I also believe they will become more commonly welcomed. American’s are accepting people, it just takes time for everyone to come around.
I’ll be honest, I have never really thought about the whole Asian vs. Asian American thing until this class. It is not because I thought everybody was classified into one group, but it was just something that I never ever had in my head. I guess if I had to look at someone, or talk to them, I would not be able to tell right away. (unless the person spoke English with an accent) but I would really not be able to tell. I am not sure though it he is asking about that, or if where we put Asian and Asian Americans in the whole black/brown category. When Sam mentions that, I always think that Sam put Asian and Asian Americans in the brown category. Is that wrong?
I grew up in a fairly progressive family so for me people are all different people , but i still find that stereo types seep into my perception just by osmosis so what I think of Asians as a whole is that they tend to be very driven and focused in whatever they do. again stereo types have made it into my perception so I don't say this to offend but to inform I find that many of the east Asian peoples are difficult to distinguish between in facial characteristics from a distance or at a quick glance. when I was a kid I thought they all knew martial arts later i found that most of the Asian world is as diverse as can be.
I’ve had similar thoughts about how Sam doesn’t often bring up Asians in his lectures, and have wondered about the exclusion. Perhaps he does just consider them as part of the brown people? But regardless, I don’t think we talk about Asians enough, because I think they have suffer from some of the most specific stereotypes, compared to those of other races. They have squinty eyes, they can’t drive, they’re short, they’re smart at math, they eat Chinese food all the time, etc. Asians are portrayed as being more different than white, black and brown people, and tend to be very excluded from these groups. Maybe it’s because of the language barrier? I don’t know, but I think that we should be more aware of the reasons that Asians are largely excluded in our society.
That's a good question. I don't know why they don't talk about Asian American. I would say because they don't naturally have a history with America until later in our history. We don't really have enough history and knowledge about them as a culture as we do with African American and etc.
First and foremost, I would like to say that I found yesterday's class to be amongst one of the most interesting lectures we have had so far this semester. I was born and raised in America and my parents came here from the Philippines. I have spent almost all of my life living in North Jersey where I have been familiar and acquainted with plenty of Asian Americans, like myself. The town I live in is extremely diverse, but especially populated with Asian families, most in which are Filipino. In fact, considering that we were heavily populated with so many of these families, I couldn't help but befriend the majority of Asian Americans that went to school with me. It isn't like I hand-picked my friends and was "only friends with Asian people", but that is just how it turned out to be. Occasionally, I would come across some students, who, with their families, came to America from their "native" Asian countries such as the Philippines, Korea, Japan, China, Lao, India, etc. Now whether or not moving from another country to America is the exact distinction or definition of an Asian is something I am not exactly sure of. I guess it would be safe to assume that their first and native language was not likely to be English since they were born in an Asian country and not in America. In fact, I grew up with a bunch of friends who were born and raised in the Philippines. They spent the majority of their childhood in the Philippines and by the time they reached middle school or high school, they moved to America and got their citizenship here. So is the difference between an Asian American and an Asian simply based on just a matter of living in this country and getting your citizenship? I am an Asian American and is it a shame that I can't even identify the differences for myself? Nonetheless, I feel like there are just a whole bunch of stereotypes for Asians, even though two races are identical. What people need to realize is that Asia is such a humongous continent that you can't just generalize Asia as a whole. How many times do I have to tell people that I am not Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese? There are other countries in Asia too… And sometimes, it's so hard to identify a certain individual's race that I get so sick of guessing. It's a lot safer to just ask what nationality the person is instead of automatically assuming that every Asian or Asian American is from those three "main Asian countries". I can say that I have a general idea of what Filipinos may look like, but there are instances when I can't even tell.
I don’t get why Sam say that Asians are “brown” people, Sam tries to categorize people based on their color skin, and I see that most Asians are white, they might have straight hair, and different eyes then the rest of us, but there skin look white to me, do you think that if they are powerful, they would be called white, it is all about how powerful people are, that’s why the united states don’t care much about killing thousands of people so they can look powerful to the rest of the world. But to me Asians look white if we are going by color and Asians based on their ethnicity.
I really wish Sam would talk more about Asian people. I know he says, “brown” a lot, but whenever I hear “brown,” I think of Indian people, not Asian people. I’m a white male that is a senior at Penn State. I’ve been here for four years, and I can honestly say that I have only interacted with Asians (not Asian Americans) maybe three times. I just don’t understand them at all. Based on my four years at Penn State I have come to view them as a singular group of people, and every single person in that group acts exactly the same way. They only care about grades. They only speak their language, unless they are speaking with an American student or professor. They all drive nice cars. They all dress in their own different style. They never travel alone. They never tailgate. They use the library as their very own sleeping chamber. They never ever go out, and most importantly, they only care about grades.
I realize I may be generalizing, but I have never met an Asian at Penn State that has strayed from those observations. Let me give you an example. At the beginning of the semester my finance professor split up the class into groups. We had to work in groups and submit a project at the end of the semester. After class I logged onto my gmail account, and saw that I had an email from an Asian person regarding our group project. He had already planned out when we’d be meeting, how we’d be splitting up the work, and he emphasized that there would be “no free rides.” Who does that? I just thought it was a bit over the top.
So after reading what I just wrote, I do realize that it comes off as a bit racist, but then again there isn’t anything I wrote that was false. I just don’t understand why a large group of people, Asians, would come to the number one party school in America, and not take advantage of it. I realize there are whites, blacks, and browns that came to PSU, and don’t party, but it seems that there aren’t ANY Asians that ever go out. Also, I really don’t understand their style. Some of them have the craziest hair! I know there are different cultures all around the world, but it just blows my mind when I see someone with a buzz around their head and then foot long spikes on top. Ok, so maybe writing this blog has made me realize that I am an ignorant white American, but what I’m getting at is that I simply don’t understand this group of people. Maybe Sam could have a class devoted to Asians explaining to the class everything about who they are.
This post was actually very refreshing to me because I feel that we have focused too much on black, brown, and white, and even though Asians do fall under the brown category, I feel that we haven’t spent enough time on them. To me, I am white, I can usually tell between an Asian American and say someone from Laos or China. Growing up I had a couple Asian American friends and I feel that they act differently from people from the Asian continent. There is a clear difference in demeanor between the two although there are still some shared traits. For example, one of my good friends Andy, that is his American name, is very different from your stereotypical Asian American. We became friends through the common love of skateboarding which already puts both of us outside of the norm. He is a short dude with an amazing ability to jump thanks to his playing of volleyball. He isn’t all that good at ping pong. He drives just like any other American. Another one of my good Asian American friends name is Mike, again that is his American name. He is one of the fastest people I have seen in my entire life not to mention extremely athletic. He is one of the goofiest human beings on the face of this planet with an unfathomable and unconditionally love for his cat George. Andy and Mike, Shi and Babazu, have always been the face of Asian American to me. However I feel that that would be a lot of subtle differences if they came to the United States simply for school and were born and raised in another country. Perhaps it is just my perspective and I am completely in the wrong, but in my experiences people who come from an Asian culture are often times very shy and somewhat timid. They seem reserved and extremely observant. There are always exceptions to the rule. One of my friends Frank, again his American name, is the single most outgoing and unreserved person I have met in my entire life. He will be returning to Korea to serve his mandatory time in the military after he graduates. Maybe there isn’t so much a difference in people but an extremely large difference in culture. From an early age Americans are taught to speak their mind which often times makes the obnoxious and arrogant. Contrasting to that a lot of “old school” cultures do the exact opposite. Asian Americans and Asian born people share a multitude of similarities and differences that we need to celebrate.
This is a really good point brought up. I guess when talking about Asians, I would have to consider them part of the black and brown group. Although they aren't "brown", they aren't "white". And I know that is not polite of me to say but that is how I see it. As for distinguishing Asian from Asian- Americans, I have to say I would be terrible at that. First of all, I do not have that many asian friends to begin with so that is probably the first problem. Second, I am not very good at geography and do not know many things about Asia's layout and just cultural aspects in general so it would be very hard for me to tell if someone were from Korea compared to Japan. I do think of Asian people as individuals though. They are different from me in many ways and I think they are indiviudal. I would not categorize Asian's as black or brown in society as a whole, but in sam's class, I guess I would have to. And that is what helps individualization as being lost.
First off I think Asian Americans and Asians are completely different. It’s like saying people from France, or Ireland or Spain are like people from America. They are two completely different countries and two completely different cultures. Yes physically they may look similar but talking to an Asian American verse a person from Asia you can tell in two seconds what their background is. Actually one of my friends is Asian American with the last name Martinez. He was adopted by parents who are Irish and Spanish decent. You could tell in two seconds of talking to him he is just as American as greasy fast food. I will agree by first sight you may not be able to tell if a person is from Asia or Asian American but by the way they dress you may actually be able to. But even if you couldn’t tell my first sight you can tell by talking to them for two minutes. I know it is difficult to learn English and especially with the difference in dialect but my father and I actually had this discussion this weekend. Our neighbors from Asia translate from English to another language while Asian Americans can just listen and process a conversation of fast talkers quicker. So it sometimes is difficult to understand people who are still learning English. That first off is a dead giveaway. I actually have two Asian female TA’s this semester too. One is obviously an Asian American. When I go into her office hours she talks to me about going out on the weekend, gives me the answers to the homework, and answers my questions directly. She is a much laid back and perky person. Although this is her personality I think someone who is comfortable with her elements, being from this country, finds it easier to express themselves in this way. My other TA is from Asia. She sometimes address’s me by my last name by accident and takes a little longer to understand what I am asking. Both are extremely nice and very helpful, and both are successful engineering students, you can just tell by talking to them for 5 minutes though, that they have completely different backgrounds and although a lot of it has to do with their individual personality and no t the majority of their minority group, it still has an influence of growing up in the same country as moving to a completely new one. I am not completely great a reading people from the second I meet them but I do feel it is pretty easy to distinguish the difference between Asian Americans and Asians. I mean I would guess this guy talking is an Asian American and not Asian, but once again I could be wrong.
I agree with this Asian student. Sam, as well as many white Americans, vaguely mentions anything about Asians and American Asians. I am unsure as to why people seem to not include Asians when talking about races. Is it because we just make very broad groups, such as Whites, Blacks, and Browns? Or is it because we just do not feel the need to speak as much about them? I do not know what the reason is, but I do think we should start including them in our conversations. The Asian population in America is increasing at a very rapid rate, therefore maybe we should start talking about them. As for the part of this students question about being able to determine the difference between Asians and American Asians, I really do not know if I could do it. I don’t know enough about Asians to be able to determine the differences, which is kind of sad. I can totally understand why Asians feel like they are left out, because as a white person I think they are. But I also think this should and can change if people start reaching out to Asians and getting to understand and know them better.
I feel that there is a noticeable difference between Asians and Asian Americans, but I do not believe that it is addressed or considered in the way that we look at other races and others biracial makeup. I also do not believe that Asians received enough attention as a race within this course. I think that you don’t need to be mashed into the “brown people” group if you don’t feel as though you fit in another spot, and I feel that this is a result of Asians not being brought up in class. I think that the distinction between these groups is considered evenly, but it needs to be.
Differentiating Asians between Asian Americans and foreign Asians from countries such as Japan, China, and Islanders is definitely something I have trouble with and have had trouble with my entire life. To this day I am afraid to start talking to an Asian I don’t know for one reason and one reason only. What if they don't speak English very well and I look like an ass trying to spell things out for them. This “fear” probably stems from a few incidents. The most recent would be Asian teachers and Asian TAs. I don't know why but just about every TA in a math or science related course I have had has been a foreign Asian. It becomes extremely difficult to communicate with them because, although they speak English, there are a lot of simple concepts that are lost between the cultural barrier and I always feel like I miss out on something with them where as if it were a natural born American, or even an Asian American, I would communicate fine with them.
Being at Penn State there are tons of foreign exchange students from Asian countries. They all tend to stick together and don't communicate very well or at all with us white people. This makes me feel like an outsider to them almost, although in reality they are the outsiders and that’s why they stick together out here. I am always surprised when I encounter an Asian person who speaks fluent English. It catches me offguard and makes me want to converse with them so I feel like I used up my “talk to an Asian person quota”.
Coming from where I am, the only Asians I really encountered growing up were the people who owned the Chinese restaurant in my town and the one Asian boy I grew up with. None of us really regarded him as “Asian” because he was one of the whitest people I know (personality wise) although he was Korean. Other Asians in the US are seen as outsiders and I really feel like people expect them to speak broken English and be somehow related to a Chinese restaurant, as terrible as that is. Asians have a long way to come in the US until they are seen as being equal to whites, although they are definitely ahead of other minorities in that category for sure. As more and more generations of Asian families grow u[ and become Asian Americans, they will be much more accepted and looked at as equals. Statistically they are better than us whites in the United States both economically and educationally speaking, yet for some reason they are looked down upon by us white folks who are technically below them in every facet of life.
I am glad that this question was posted. This is an interesting question to think about because I definitely agree that Asians are not included in a lot of our talks about race relations. Mostly white, black, and brown people are mentioned, and this should change because Asians should be included into the discussion more. When we do the texting polls and open-ended questions, I think it would be interesting and important to include Asians in this. There are many Asians in our class, and I think that they should be included and have their opinions displayed more often. Hopefully we can change this in the future.
As mentioned in the video response for this blog, I do believe that many minorities are put in the same category in terms of behavior as well as physical features. However, I think that “Asian” is a very interesting category. I feel like when people from the west think of “Asian” people, they think of the following physical features; small slits for eyes, no eyelids, yellow skin, small bones and body frame, flat nose, jet black hair, straight hair, no bodily or facial hair, and short. However, after saying so it is also interesting then to point out that east Indians are likely to be one of the hairiest racial groups, they have darker skin, thick hair which is often curly, strong features including full lips and relatively sharp/big noses, big eyes, long eyelashes and they are just as Asian as chinese people. Then there are those that all between the two categories, Russians some of who look more like caucasians, and Filipinos who look a lot like chinese people but are generally bigger with bigger eyes. On another note, when people think of “Asians” in terms of personality, I feel like they think of people who work in nail salons, who are unable to drive, who feel that academia is their ultimate goal in life, and only hang out with people who are similar to them. But again, there are plenty of caucasians and blacks who are bad drivers, who care greatly about their academics, and who like hanging out with other people of the same race. Also on a similar note as mentioned before, I have yet to see a Russian or east Indian person who works in a nail salon.
As a person who is an East Indian, it does not anger me that I am not considered “Asian” by other people, but in a way it makes me feel like I do not belong. I am Asian and I want to be classified as so. If you want to make stereotypes about Chinese people, say Chinese, do not use the word Asian. If you want to make stereotypes about Asian people are include East Indians, Filipinos, Russians and all other Asians that use the word Asian. I just have a problem with not fitting in anywhere. I just want to put out there the difference between yellow Asians and brown Asians because I am faced with the confusion every day.
As far as what grouping Asians fit in to, I have never really thought about it. Personally I have never grouped people as white, black, or brown. However, I am not obvious and I realize that not every one is the same. Until enrolling in this class I never really grouped people together. I have always looked more on an individual level not a larger picture. There are several reasons for this I imagine. First I was raised in a primarily white town. Compared to the neighboring towns however my down was fairly diverse. My school had its share of black kids and a fair amount of Spanish kids. Looking back my school had very few Asian people. Probably less than a hand full in fact. Also I was brought up to not judge people for being different. As a child one of my good friends had Down syndrome, and I never even really saw her as being different until I was older.
If I had to choose I would group Asians in a different group than white people and black people. But I also find it strange to group them in a group called brown people which would also consist of Indian and Spanish individuals. I guess I just have a really difficult time grouping people in to broad categories.
As far as the relation ship between Asians and other groups I am not exactly sure. I have Asian- American friends but I have never really thought about it being any different than having a black friends or a Puerto Rican friend. I also as a walk on campus notice that some groups of asian people defiantly have there cliques. But I don’t really see it as an difference among there cultures. I think at penn state it is a really easy thing to do. I have seen cliques of all races, asian, black, white, Spanish, Indian… you name it I am sure there is a clique at Penn State.
I think he brings up a very good point. It seems like the conversation is always about black people and white people. I am not Asian but in class I do notice that the Asians are somewhat overlooked when it comes to race relations. This is quite peculiar because part of the problem we have had throughout history is our failure to properly acknowledge different races and different colors. We have begun to really make changes in regards to that way white people and black people interact but it still seems like many other races and ethnicitys are being ignored. The group that seems to be ignored most is the Asians and Asian-Americans. It is a wonder to me why this is but in class when Sam talks about race relations its always about black people and white people then we just put the label "brown" people on everyone else who we either don't want to talk about or simply do not care enough to talk about. This I think can and will become a major problem because I do not think it was just the black people in the United States who have been mistreated. I think the Hispanics and Asians have been mistreated and taken advantage of for years. This might be an over simplification of the truth but I feel like just because the Asian people are as vocal and up front about their problems and what they are unhappy with that we white people just decide that they are not important enough to talk about or address in the race conversation. Asians are just as important to the well-being of America as whites, blacks, and brown people. It is time they were shown some respect and given some time and attention with regards to the race relations conversation. I am by no means trying to say that white-black relations aren't important I am just saying that Asians have done more than they need to to deserve time in the conversation. Yes, obviously there has been more documented history, hatred, and mistreatment in the United States between blacks and whites but that does not mean that they are the only two races that deserve attention in America. For decades the white man has stomped all over Asian-Americans and we have taken advantage of there virtues for far to long and have never really given Asians proper credit and respect for the things they have done for the United States and for humanity as a whole. Maybe its because there has been no civil rights movement for Asians and maybe its because we don't think they deserve the time or attention. Frankly, I think its time Asians started to speak up and express their views, whether they be good or bad. I just feel like of all that we have learned this semester little to none of it has been directed to Asians and treatment towards that minority in America. Asians are to valuable to the well-being of our society to just be overlooked and under appreciated. It is time to show our brothers and sisters from the other side of the pacific a little more respect.
This person brings up a really interesting point- how often do we really think about Asians when we think about minority groups? I honestly admit that the phrase "minority group" brings blacks and hispanics to mind. I also think I stereotype more against Asians than the other groups, mostly because I know very little about their culture or history and automatically rely on my stereotypes. The history between blacks and whites has been taught to us since we were born so we are more knowledgeable about those two races as a whole. I think I could distinguish between Africans and African Americans better than I could between Asians and American Asians as well, for the same reason of a lack of knowledge.
I think that you have a really good point, we do not typically talk about Oriental people in class, and I would like to make the distinction between Asian and Oriental because "brown people," Indians, are technically Asians. I do not know if we have even really talked about the plight that Oriental people went through in the west, with the railroads and the gold mines, which to me does not make much sense because we talk a lot about black slavery in the South, in comparison to other slavery in America, and we talk about how horribly we as Americans treated Native Americans. It does not seem fair to only single out one or two peoples plight, and not every ones, after all it is a race relations class. I know that sometimes I think that we should talk about antisemitism, since I am Jewish, I would like to hear how people feel about it. Yes, I know that it is not seen as often as racism towards other minorities, but it is there, and I have been subject to it. I think that Sam needs to talk more about everyone not just black, brown and white people. Doing that creates a tunnel view of the race wars we face in society, and is not accurate. Also I would like to say that I would not consider Judaism a race, but people all over the world are prosecuted for their religion. I know my grandparents are a prime example of this. They survived the Holocaust, which was a huge genocide, maybe not as big as the one that happened on our own soil with the Native Americans, but it did happen and there are still people who do not believe it is real. How outrageous is that? I know that my mom used to shush me in public when I would talk about being Jewish as a child because she grew up in fear that her parents instilled in her; let's face it when they were growing up being Jewish could have you killed, and the majority of their families were killed in the Holocaust. I just think we need to talk about everything.
As for what you were saying about being able to tell Asian Americans from immigrants, it is hard for me to tell unless I hear them speak and cannot hear an accent. I have also noticed some cultural differences. I work at the Bennett Center, the daycare on campus, a lot of the professors children go there and some of them are the children of foreign professors. I have noticed especially with Chinese children, they always come in with lots of layers on even when it is 85 degrees out, and then the parents are unhappy if when they come to pick their child up all their layers are not on, even if the child is obviously hot and sweating. I do not really understand it. But I mean that would be a cultural difference I notice that separates Asian Americans from immigrants.
You bring up a valid point. Sam has this issue with clumping races together into two categories whites and all other races. he often refers to this as whites and colors. Asians are never really looked at as a separate race, although they obviously are and deserve to be treated as one. The reason i think wwe skip over the asian race in a race relations class is because asians in my opinion are not really discriminated against throughout history. they were never forced into slavery, they were never "really" considered immigrants compared to mexican people. Asians are, without sounding ignorant, not very interesting in the sense that they are treated well. Sam told us that they are the highest paid, make the most money and get the respect they deserve. If we think about the asians stereotypes, asians are good at math, asians are intelligent, that is not even bad. of course some people may take offense to this generally it is not that bad. To focus on the topic of can we tell the different between asian americans, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and pacific islanders, i say NO WAY. I can not tell the difference between any of them, not in the least. I do not mean to be ignorant but i just cant tell. I have friend that can tell the difference between each nationality, where at in the country the person comes from everything. So this tells me that it is not them, they do not all look alike it is me, i just am not educated enough to tell the difference.. I am interested in Sam talking a little bit more about asians, because the only thing that is worse then being discriminated against, is being so unimportant that people dont even give you the time of day, people do not even consider them a different race. I mean how bad does that sound. I feel obligated to talk a little bit about the other stereotypes racing asians. They are considered bad at driving, they have small penises and they are freaks in bed (the women). The driving thing there os no way to say they are really bad at driving with a straight face, it depends on the person obviously, the small penis size was actually statistically proven, but that could have something to do with the other statistical fact, that they are shorter then the rest of the world. All in all i think we should bring up the topic of asians a little more in class. I want to know what they feel about my comments. Do they think we are ignorant for not being about to tell the difference between them, or are they understanding? Can they tell the difference between us? and what do they feel about other races?
Reading some of these comments is very interesting. Some people are confused as to what Sam means when he says brown people. When Sam talks about the brown group, I believe Asians are part of it. It’s true that not all Asians are brown, but in a sense “yellow”. To make things easier though, Sam has to say brown to keep things short and sweet. To save time, he can’t list all the colors of each race. But now thinking about, he would really need to only add one color.
It’s weird to hear of Asian people saying that they’re not Asian, but they consider themselves white. I’m Asian myself, and the thought of me being white never crossed my mind. I’ve always been Asian in my eyes. Although I’ve lived in the suburbs in an extremely white community, I never considered myself white. My friends were mostly white and I did notice I started “acting” white but never considered it my race, which is even weird to say since race is such a generally a clear cut thing.
To me, I can tell the difference between an Asian American and a Native Asian because of the obvious differences, such as the way they talk and dress. In one comment though, someone said they “dress Asian.” How can the name of a type of wardrobe be the name of a race? I don’t see it. I’ve also noticed how most Asians are always hanging out together, and for some reason it’s annoying to me. I guess it’s because I don’t and it bothers me since this causes a stereotype for Asians. Although I see a lot of black people hanging out together, it doesn’t bother me, but why does it with Asians? It boggles my mind. Another thing that bothers me is when Native or International Asian students talk loudly and it’s clear they’re not Asian American, or so it seems. I really don’t understand why it bothers me so much though. It might be because it adds to the stereotype as well, but it really shouldn’t. As I’m thinking about it, I guess it just makes me upset because I feel like these people would annoy others through the way they talk and I don’t want someone to look at me and think I’m annoying too. I’m realizing there needs to be some evaluation in my life because I shouldn’t be feeling this way lol.
[Reply]
I think that there is a very big difference between Asians and Asian
Americans. I think that I am educated, but at the same time the
majority of Americans would probably not know the difference. I think
that most Americans are uneducated and do not know a lot about other
cultures. I think that there are many stereotypes in our culture about
Asians and these stereotypes need to be broken. The stereotype that
all Asians are foreign is very prevalent. I think this is because
Asians look different than most Americans, people construe them all as
foreign. However, many Asians were born in the United States and are
just as American as the next person.
It is extremely racist when a person thinks that all Asians are
foreign. Racism is, however, very prevalent in the United States. I
think that racism will never completely be wiped out, but education
could help very much with the issue. Educating young people about
different cultures is very important. Asians are just as American as
white people, and if this is taught to young children it could lead to
less racism when they are older.
I think that most Americans underestimate the importance of
education. Many Americans would be a lot less racist if they were
simply more educated. People that grow up in small towns across
America do not know anything about other cultures because they live in
a homogenous neighborhood. Everyone around them is white, so they only
know things about white people. They cannot be blamed for being
ignorant, because they do not know any better. They are vulnerable to
propaganda as well.
If Americans were more educated, I strongly believe that there would
be a lot less racism. It seems as though racism is everywhere, and
although we have made a lot of progress recently, there is still a
long way to go. Without Americans being proactive, we will never be
able to move forward as a society. A society that is racist will
always fail.. A good example is Nazi Germany. This is a classic
example of racism. Hitler wanted to exterminate all of the Jews. He
tried to but of course he failed. The rest of the world was not
receptive to his ideas, and luckily some people had morals. If people
did not have morals, Hitler could easily have exterminated every Jew
in the world. The thought of one person being able to exterminate an
entire race of people is sickening. Without education, this could
easily happen again. People need to know that everyone is equal and
that no race is inferior to another race. Through education, racism
can be stopped and the world can progress. Education is of utmost
importance.
[Reply]
I agree with what you have stated. I have made assumptions about Asians without even thinking about it. I would think that a group of Asians would only be from Asia but my ignorance is very broad for the subject. I wouldn't even think about placing people in groups. Everyone makes a general accusations about certian groups of people and this one is no different.
The topic always sticks on black and white to because of the history between the two while white nor blacks have much of a history with the other race. Its good to see this question arise.
[Reply]
I personally don’t agree with looking at the minority as a separate group of its own. I believe there are many individual distinctions within the group itself, in addition to being placed in the minority category. Although scholarships and financial assistance. In the battle between Asians and Asian Americans, I think it’s pretty clear to many individuals what the difference is. At first glance it may be a little difficult to make that distinction, but usually observing your clothes, style, language, and who you hang out with is a good way to make that judgment.
[Reply]
I honestly have a hard time distinguishing Asian Americans and Asians. Not only that, I have hard time figuring out if a person is Chinese or Japanese. Personally, I feel there are a lot of people out there that can’t distinguish Asians. I think I’m not educated enough about the cultures and how distinguish them. Although I take full responsibility for my fault, I don’t think society helps the cause. I think most of the focus on race goes to try to distinguish African Americans, Blacks and Whites. Unfortunately, Asian people seem to get unfair treatment even when it comes to talking about race.
[Reply]
I am curious to see if Asians dislike being referred to in the brown category. Is that term offensive to them? I wouldn't really call their skin brown so that confuses me. Today I experienced racism and was really appalled by it. I was at work talking to someone about being in Vegas and he asked me if I saw a lot of Asians there. When I said no and that I didn't really notice, he went on to say that the presence of Asians was the difference between Atlantic City and Las Vegas. He said in Atlantic City Asian people crowd the table and that he didn't like "tiny Asians" touching him. I should have said something in defense of Asians, as I had no idea what he was talking about, but instead I just said, "Oh I never noticed anything like that." Looking back I wish I had acted differently.
[Reply]
I definitely wish that Sam would talk about people of Asian descent more often. It is such an interesting topic. My parents were born in an Asian country but I have spent my whole life here. I consider myself more American first and foremost though because it is the culture that I can relate to the best. Sometimes I feel more "white" or even latina than I do Asian. This is probably a result of the area I grew up in. My parents did a great job of making sure I could feel comfortable in any cultural or racial group setting and I know a lot about my heritage, too. I am proud of where my family comes from, and I can speak freely and knowingly about my parents' culture and my culture. Thus, I can also easily associate with the Brown group.
So…I don't know which group I belong to. In fact, I don't think I solely belong to one group. The way I see it, we need to re-classify our racial groups. For the sake of the racially mixed children and the American raised children of immigrants, it is important to create new categories. How about tan? I think Asians are Tan.
[Reply]
I go along with some of the people commenting on this blog who are questioning why asians don't get talked about enough in class. Interestingly, I feel they are prejudiced to a high degree and, especially in the college age, have a lot of trouble assimilating socially. Is this because they have a high average income if they are from overseas? Is it because they are generally stereotyped in a more or less positive way (i.e. ridiculously smart, quiet, etc.) I mean they really all get grouped as "Asians" regardless if they are Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or something else. But really just because they arent as financially-handicapped as other groups like latinos or native americans doesn't mean they dont have to deal with stuff everyday that white people do not. I am surprised Sam hasnt spent a day or two on Asians as he has with Native Americans or Middle Easterners for example.
[Reply]
I definitely would not be able to distinguish an Asian American versus a native born Asian. However, I do think that after talking to someone I can tell if they were originally from America or not. When I think of Asians I have to admit I have always kind of thought about the stereotypical smart, friendly, typical Asians and I've never really been around enough Asians to tell the different cultures apart, such as Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc. I'm not sure why Asians are always being left out in the race discussion but I think maybe its because most of the time Asians are pretty non controversial.
[Reply]
This is interesting to think about because it seems that Asians are always underrepresented in all realms. Also its not always Asians that are forgotten there are other races that aren’t thought about when talking. Also what about the fact that when people say that they are mixed they always think in black and white, they never think about all the other ways that a person would be mixed. I feel that since the major race issue is between blacks and whites that all other people seem to be forgotten. So for Asians and other races they don’t have the issues that blacks and whites have with each other and there is still so much hate that exists today.
[Reply]
I think being able to distinguish between different Asian ethnicities or cultures is the same of being able to distinguish any other culture simply takes a person who is actually interested in learning to identify certain differences in features or looks. Every ethnicity or culture has distinguishing features such as eyes or nose placement and size but I guess that could also be considered grouping. It is just as difficult to figure out what a white, black, or brown person identifies with. Sam was talking about young Koreans and Korean Americans and how they simply call themselves white. So in actuality, we are grouping everyone at all times, because the way we see a person on the outside is most likely not what they identify with.
[Reply]
This was one of the more interesting topics brought up in class because it was something that I never thought about but overall its very true. Whenever there is a minority in the group, I typically don't identify him or her as the Asian, the black, the Indian, etcetera. So to answer your question, I see you the same as I would any other black or brown people. To answer your question to a greater degree, I can discuss my relation with my friends. The majority of my friends now are white, but I am still friends with some black and brown people. Whenever I need to describe the Asian person to someone, I typically don't identify them by their name, but rather I identify them as "the Asian kid." Yet, when I'm describing one of my white friends, I don't identify him as "the white kid;" i just identify by his name. So I would definitely say that what Sam said is very accurate.
I don't, however, see this at all as a racist thing. Sometimes, it can come over as a race issue depending on the context in which it is used. If you say the Asian made a stupid comment today, or some woman cut me off on the highway, it seems like a race or gender issue. Yet, I see it more as a key identifier. In an area where white people are the majority, saying that the white person is bad at baseball does not mean much. People don't see this as a race issue because white is the majority. In addition, you cannot identify a white person by simply describing their skin color. It simply means nothing when you have a bunch of white people. Its like watching a basketball game and the announcer saying that the basketball player is really good. Which one? They are all basketball players. Its like white people. Everyone is white so you cannot differentiate between them. You must also describe their color hair, their height, or what they are wearing. Just like when an announcer identifies a basketball player, he can describe him with his jersey color or number.
In order to more fully answer your question I can also point out situations in which I am the minority. I am Mexican, yet it is almost impossible to tell by looking at me. However, my cousins are much more Mexican looking than I am. When I am with my cousins and their friends, I'm seen as the minority in their group. They would describe me as the white person. However, I would not describe one of my cousins or their friends as "the Mexican kid" because that phrase does not contain any key identifiers. Thus, I feel like it would be erroneous to describe this as a race issue, and it would be more insightful to describe skin color or race as a key identifying characteristic, especially when the person is in the minority.
[Reply]
I think this is so true. The class really does only focus solely black and white issues. I know that he also addresses brown people to include everyone else in the mix, but never the “subcategories” of brown people. Now that I fully understand the difference and struggle between African Americans and Africans, why can he not then move on to every other race’s identifications? It is not appropriate to focus on just one minority and leaving out another. That makes those being left out even more victimized and left out which does not help the situation and the feelings of those individuals.
[Reply]
"Asian" is a HUGE group. Bigger than black people I believe. But yes, the stigma holds true for Asians too. For example, in my fraternity there is one Asian guy and one black guy. If I were to tell someone, "Talk to Josh about that", and they would ask, "Whose Josh", I can see myself saying, "He's the short Asian guy." If you are in the minority people will use that to describe you. I have had the same thing happen to me.
As for the Asian American/Asian difference, it reminds me of the time when Sam said how he and his wife could pick out Americans from a distance just from the way they walked and acted. I usually would like to think that I don't have to hear their accent to know that they are American. When I'm walking around and an Asian guy passes by me I usually tell myself whether I think he is American or if he's an immigrant. I don't really think about it but I subconsciously notice. Usually I am right. I can't really describe it, but I think I can tell before they open their mouth and say something.
[Reply]
I thought that this topic in class was intriguing because it seems to stand true. Even though I feel like I see everyone as individuals, no matter the color, I know that there are many people who group Asians as a whole. I personally cannot tell the difference between Asian Americans and Asians at first glance. If I do not hold a conversation with them, chances are I don’t know. I am naturally curious about people’s ethnicities so I would be one to ask about where they are from and when their family moved here. However, other people do a lot of assuming. I am not saying that I know much more than others do, but I am not afraid or embarrassed to ask questions. When it comes to Asians, I really am not even able to identify Chinese from Vietnamese from Japanese and so on. Being that we are ignorant to the many differences, we are more likely to group them as one rather than see them for their individuality without getting to know them first.
[Reply]
I feel like Americans do not differentiate between Asians and Asian Americans. Rather than looking at the two groups as two completely different types of people, Asians and Asian Americans are grouped together as “Asians”. I understand that Asian and Asian Americans are completely different culturally, but I’m also guilty of grouping them together as one large group of “Asians”. Is it my fault that I can’t tell the difference between Asian and Asian Americans? I went to a high school with probably 10 people of Asian heritage out of a whopping 1200 kids. My high school is probably one of the least diverse high schools in all of New Jersey. I just have not had a lot of interaction with Asians and Asians Americans. Since I haven’t had a lot of interaction with Asian and Asian Americans, how should I be able to differentiate between the two?
I know that there are plenty of Asian countries, but when people talk about Asians there are really only two types of Asians. For whatever reason the general American public believes that the only two types of Asians are the Japanese and the Chinese. Can the majority of Americans even differentiate between Japanese and Chinese? I really don’t think most people, white or brown, even have the slightest clue of the physical facial differences between Chinese people and Japanese people. At the same time, is there a lot of facials qualities that differ between Asian Americans and Asians?
If two different types of Asian or Asian Americans were placed next to each other and I had to make a guess where they were from or what their heritage was, I would have an extremely difficult time guessing. I would be extremely unconfident once I made my decision because I literally would have no idea. I would not base my decision off physical features because I don’t know the differences between the different types of Asians. I think my safest bet would be trying to differentiate between Asian Americans and an Asian rather than make a distinction between two specific types of Asian heritages. I would base my distinction on styles of clothing. Whoever was sporting a more Americanized style of clothing would be guess for an Asian American. It is kind of pathetic style of clothing would be the way I would attempt to distinct between the two, but I really do not know how else I would go about it.
In addition, I think that people group Asian Americans and Asians together because the majority of Asians Americans speak Korean, Japanese, or some other language. Not only do they speak it fluently, they speak it as the main language in their household. I believe that this is one of the main reasons why people tend to group Asians and Asians Americans as the universal group of Asians.
[Reply]
Having gone to an incredible diverse school with asians from many cultures, I don't automatically look at an asian person and categorize them into one big group. However, I realize that when looking at a person and seeing that certain characteristics make them look similar to someone else, and so they should all be grouped tog3ether makes sense. I just think it would make more sense to look past that. I read a comment above about asians versus asian americans and while reading that all i thought about was, why does it really matter? And also, I find it interesting that asians never really get brought into the race discussion, obviously something is there and personally I feel like negative feelings towards asians are growing. I feel as though talking about those issues would make sense so we can avoid building up more and more stereotypes and prejudices and create another entire race dilemna like that between black and whites.
[Reply]
The term ‘Asian’ tends to include Asians and Asian-Americans unlike Black people are divided into African-American and Africans. Among Asians, they distinguish themselves by using the term of ‘F.O.B’ and ‘Twinkie.’ As you pointed out, there are more percentages of White people who live somewhat poor and we just assume all whites are rich and middle class at least. I think same thing applies to Asians too as long as Asians are distinguished from Native Americans. Furthermore, East Asians (China, Japan, Korea), Southeast Asians (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand…), and South Asians (India, Pakistan) are under the category of same “Asian.” The comparison of median income among races needs to be little bit more specified by these different regions of Asia since those from India are upper class in Caste system and it is mostly reasonable to see these people are richer.
[Reply]
When it comes to Asian’s I think it is to broad of a question to be asking, there are too many different kinds of Asian’s. Asians from India or Pakistan would be classified as south Asians most of the time though when it comes to classifying ourselves in surveys or etc. we put Asian. And I see myself personally being a Asian and though I am from the south I am kind of brown so when Sam talks about the brown team I consider myself with that team because I am probably far from white and don’t think any white person would ever see me as a white. But when it comes to districting Asian and Asian Americans it is hard because like I already mentioned being Asian is a very broad race, and it includes many countries and all the countries tend to have many differences in their culture. So when it comes to being a Asian I don’t like to distinct myself at all as a Asian American or an Asian if someone was to ask me I would just say I am Asian and nothing further, and not try to classify myself more than that because it just makes it complicated. So to me being an Asian an Asian American and I guess a simple Asian, is all the same to me I see both of them equally and don’t differ between the two, because we should differ that we should attempt to differ the whole Asian race which is so broad.
[Reply]
I think Americans struggle in differentiating Asians from Asian Americans. Most people look at the tiny eyes and asian faces and automatically assume that they are asians. Sam usually has two categories of races; black and brown people and whites. As an indian, I am not very happy to be categorized in a broad generalization stereotype. Asian Americans are very similar to African Americans because they are minorities, but for some reason Asian Americans are not looked at as Americans. We seem to think that Asian Americans are immigrants even if their ancestors were originally born in the United States.
[Reply]
I can't say that I have any Asian friends. I have a ton of Latino and black friends, but no Asians. At least for me I think that Asians would be a great topic for the class though, because I know nothing about them. When I think of Asians (thought I know this is a stereotype) I think of a little woman who barely speaks English who works at the laundromat or the local Chinese restaurant. I know nothing about their culture or what they feel or if they are discriminated against. I don't really have an opinion on Asians because I never thought about it. I do know that they seem to take a lot of white American jobs. It's a good point though.
[Reply]
What do I think of Asians? What an interesting question. When I think of Asians I think of really really smart people who live in hives and do math problems all day. But at night, they come out. They flock to computer labs all around campus. These places are like holy meccas to them. Asian people like to stick together, strength in swarms baby. They also make really good food and use funny words like ching chong. When I think of Asians, I think of someone doing homework in the commons as I drunkenly stumble into my dorm from a night of broing with my bros. Asian people are hipsters, and bros hate hipsters. Asian dudes like to straighten their hair and wear tight pants and stuff. I have one asian bro, and he's pretty cool, but he's from suburban pittsburgh and is pretty much assimilated. Asians also aspire to farm gold for video gamers in world of warcraft and also want to be really good at nintendo. Oh yeah, one time I remember I saw this Asian guy watching anime porn in the computer lab. Dude, it's supposed to be a place of holy worship…you should not be bringing in animated fornication into such a sacred place.
This post was not serious in any way. I like to think of it as satire.
[Reply]
I think you made a real good point about the fact that we do not talk about Asians very often in class. I think it is very interesting because now that I think about it, it seems that in class we spend probably 70% of the time talking about white, blacks and Native Americans. What about the Asians?! (and everyone else?!)
To answer your question, I think the majority of people put Asian’s on the back burner when it comes to talking about race. I cannot really say I am 100% sure why this is besides the fact that they are not apart of the traditional “American” races (being that white and black are). Nevertheless, I believe that Asian’s are an integral part to America’s culture, especially in urban areas.
Personally, I would say that I do not see Asian’s any differently than anyone else. I grew up in a pretty diverse community and I would say I have never seen much negative regard towards their race. To be honest, I’m not sure I would be able to tell the difference between an Asian and an Asian American unless I had a conversation with them. I am sure I might be able to make some judgments based on the clothing they were wearing but to be honest besides that it is pretty difficult. I would say my experience is probably a pretty common one in terms of how most American’s feel. While this is unfortunate, I am sure the same can be said for most races. When you see someone of Hispanic descent are they automatically Mexican, Spanish, Puerto Rican? It’s too tough to tell based on just looks and unless we are keen to judge one another based on looks than you must be an expert.
As a society, we are still very new to race relations. Our generation is one of the first to experience the diversity that has come from reform. I believe as time goes on and diversity continues to grow in America than these subtle differences will be more commonly realized. It is hard to believe that in about 50 years our country has come so far in terms accepting each other for our differences. Of course, we still have a long way to go and there are tons of improvements to be made but to sit back and see the change is just amazing.
But, back to your question. I believe Asian’s are continuing to become immersed into the culture here in the United States. As they continue to become more and more recognized, I also believe they will become more commonly welcomed. American’s are accepting people, it just takes time for everyone to come around.
[Reply]
I’ll be honest, I have never really thought about the whole Asian vs. Asian American thing until this class. It is not because I thought everybody was classified into one group, but it was just something that I never ever had in my head. I guess if I had to look at someone, or talk to them, I would not be able to tell right away. (unless the person spoke English with an accent) but I would really not be able to tell. I am not sure though it he is asking about that, or if where we put Asian and Asian Americans in the whole black/brown category. When Sam mentions that, I always think that Sam put Asian and Asian Americans in the brown category. Is that wrong?
[Reply]
I grew up in a fairly progressive family so for me people are all different people , but i still find that stereo types seep into my perception just by osmosis so what I think of Asians as a whole is that they tend to be very driven and focused in whatever they do. again stereo types have made it into my perception so I don't say this to offend but to inform I find that many of the east Asian peoples are difficult to distinguish between in facial characteristics from a distance or at a quick glance. when I was a kid I thought they all knew martial arts later i found that most of the Asian world is as diverse as can be.
[Reply]
I’ve had similar thoughts about how Sam doesn’t often bring up Asians in his lectures, and have wondered about the exclusion. Perhaps he does just consider them as part of the brown people? But regardless, I don’t think we talk about Asians enough, because I think they have suffer from some of the most specific stereotypes, compared to those of other races. They have squinty eyes, they can’t drive, they’re short, they’re smart at math, they eat Chinese food all the time, etc. Asians are portrayed as being more different than white, black and brown people, and tend to be very excluded from these groups. Maybe it’s because of the language barrier? I don’t know, but I think that we should be more aware of the reasons that Asians are largely excluded in our society.
[Reply]
That's a good question. I don't know why they don't talk about Asian American. I would say because they don't naturally have a history with America until later in our history. We don't really have enough history and knowledge about them as a culture as we do with African American and etc.
[Reply]
First and foremost, I would like to say that I found yesterday's class to be amongst one of the most interesting lectures we have had so far this semester. I was born and raised in America and my parents came here from the Philippines. I have spent almost all of my life living in North Jersey where I have been familiar and acquainted with plenty of Asian Americans, like myself. The town I live in is extremely diverse, but especially populated with Asian families, most in which are Filipino. In fact, considering that we were heavily populated with so many of these families, I couldn't help but befriend the majority of Asian Americans that went to school with me. It isn't like I hand-picked my friends and was "only friends with Asian people", but that is just how it turned out to be. Occasionally, I would come across some students, who, with their families, came to America from their "native" Asian countries such as the Philippines, Korea, Japan, China, Lao, India, etc. Now whether or not moving from another country to America is the exact distinction or definition of an Asian is something I am not exactly sure of. I guess it would be safe to assume that their first and native language was not likely to be English since they were born in an Asian country and not in America. In fact, I grew up with a bunch of friends who were born and raised in the Philippines. They spent the majority of their childhood in the Philippines and by the time they reached middle school or high school, they moved to America and got their citizenship here. So is the difference between an Asian American and an Asian simply based on just a matter of living in this country and getting your citizenship? I am an Asian American and is it a shame that I can't even identify the differences for myself? Nonetheless, I feel like there are just a whole bunch of stereotypes for Asians, even though two races are identical. What people need to realize is that Asia is such a humongous continent that you can't just generalize Asia as a whole. How many times do I have to tell people that I am not Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese? There are other countries in Asia too… And sometimes, it's so hard to identify a certain individual's race that I get so sick of guessing. It's a lot safer to just ask what nationality the person is instead of automatically assuming that every Asian or Asian American is from those three "main Asian countries". I can say that I have a general idea of what Filipinos may look like, but there are instances when I can't even tell.
[Reply]
I don’t get why Sam say that Asians are “brown” people, Sam tries to categorize people based on their color skin, and I see that most Asians are white, they might have straight hair, and different eyes then the rest of us, but there skin look white to me, do you think that if they are powerful, they would be called white, it is all about how powerful people are, that’s why the united states don’t care much about killing thousands of people so they can look powerful to the rest of the world. But to me Asians look white if we are going by color and Asians based on their ethnicity.
[Reply]
I really wish Sam would talk more about Asian people. I know he says, “brown” a lot, but whenever I hear “brown,” I think of Indian people, not Asian people. I’m a white male that is a senior at Penn State. I’ve been here for four years, and I can honestly say that I have only interacted with Asians (not Asian Americans) maybe three times. I just don’t understand them at all. Based on my four years at Penn State I have come to view them as a singular group of people, and every single person in that group acts exactly the same way. They only care about grades. They only speak their language, unless they are speaking with an American student or professor. They all drive nice cars. They all dress in their own different style. They never travel alone. They never tailgate. They use the library as their very own sleeping chamber. They never ever go out, and most importantly, they only care about grades.
I realize I may be generalizing, but I have never met an Asian at Penn State that has strayed from those observations. Let me give you an example. At the beginning of the semester my finance professor split up the class into groups. We had to work in groups and submit a project at the end of the semester. After class I logged onto my gmail account, and saw that I had an email from an Asian person regarding our group project. He had already planned out when we’d be meeting, how we’d be splitting up the work, and he emphasized that there would be “no free rides.” Who does that? I just thought it was a bit over the top.
So after reading what I just wrote, I do realize that it comes off as a bit racist, but then again there isn’t anything I wrote that was false. I just don’t understand why a large group of people, Asians, would come to the number one party school in America, and not take advantage of it. I realize there are whites, blacks, and browns that came to PSU, and don’t party, but it seems that there aren’t ANY Asians that ever go out. Also, I really don’t understand their style. Some of them have the craziest hair! I know there are different cultures all around the world, but it just blows my mind when I see someone with a buzz around their head and then foot long spikes on top. Ok, so maybe writing this blog has made me realize that I am an ignorant white American, but what I’m getting at is that I simply don’t understand this group of people. Maybe Sam could have a class devoted to Asians explaining to the class everything about who they are.
[Reply]
This post was actually very refreshing to me because I feel that we have focused too much on black, brown, and white, and even though Asians do fall under the brown category, I feel that we haven’t spent enough time on them. To me, I am white, I can usually tell between an Asian American and say someone from Laos or China. Growing up I had a couple Asian American friends and I feel that they act differently from people from the Asian continent. There is a clear difference in demeanor between the two although there are still some shared traits. For example, one of my good friends Andy, that is his American name, is very different from your stereotypical Asian American. We became friends through the common love of skateboarding which already puts both of us outside of the norm. He is a short dude with an amazing ability to jump thanks to his playing of volleyball. He isn’t all that good at ping pong. He drives just like any other American. Another one of my good Asian American friends name is Mike, again that is his American name. He is one of the fastest people I have seen in my entire life not to mention extremely athletic. He is one of the goofiest human beings on the face of this planet with an unfathomable and unconditionally love for his cat George. Andy and Mike, Shi and Babazu, have always been the face of Asian American to me. However I feel that that would be a lot of subtle differences if they came to the United States simply for school and were born and raised in another country. Perhaps it is just my perspective and I am completely in the wrong, but in my experiences people who come from an Asian culture are often times very shy and somewhat timid. They seem reserved and extremely observant. There are always exceptions to the rule. One of my friends Frank, again his American name, is the single most outgoing and unreserved person I have met in my entire life. He will be returning to Korea to serve his mandatory time in the military after he graduates. Maybe there isn’t so much a difference in people but an extremely large difference in culture. From an early age Americans are taught to speak their mind which often times makes the obnoxious and arrogant. Contrasting to that a lot of “old school” cultures do the exact opposite. Asian Americans and Asian born people share a multitude of similarities and differences that we need to celebrate.
[Reply]
This is a really good point brought up. I guess when talking about Asians, I would have to consider them part of the black and brown group. Although they aren't "brown", they aren't "white". And I know that is not polite of me to say but that is how I see it. As for distinguishing Asian from Asian- Americans, I have to say I would be terrible at that. First of all, I do not have that many asian friends to begin with so that is probably the first problem. Second, I am not very good at geography and do not know many things about Asia's layout and just cultural aspects in general so it would be very hard for me to tell if someone were from Korea compared to Japan. I do think of Asian people as individuals though. They are different from me in many ways and I think they are indiviudal. I would not categorize Asian's as black or brown in society as a whole, but in sam's class, I guess I would have to. And that is what helps individualization as being lost.
[Reply]
First off I think Asian Americans and Asians are completely different. It’s like saying people from France, or Ireland or Spain are like people from America. They are two completely different countries and two completely different cultures. Yes physically they may look similar but talking to an Asian American verse a person from Asia you can tell in two seconds what their background is. Actually one of my friends is Asian American with the last name Martinez. He was adopted by parents who are Irish and Spanish decent. You could tell in two seconds of talking to him he is just as American as greasy fast food. I will agree by first sight you may not be able to tell if a person is from Asia or Asian American but by the way they dress you may actually be able to. But even if you couldn’t tell my first sight you can tell by talking to them for two minutes. I know it is difficult to learn English and especially with the difference in dialect but my father and I actually had this discussion this weekend. Our neighbors from Asia translate from English to another language while Asian Americans can just listen and process a conversation of fast talkers quicker. So it sometimes is difficult to understand people who are still learning English. That first off is a dead giveaway. I actually have two Asian female TA’s this semester too. One is obviously an Asian American. When I go into her office hours she talks to me about going out on the weekend, gives me the answers to the homework, and answers my questions directly. She is a much laid back and perky person. Although this is her personality I think someone who is comfortable with her elements, being from this country, finds it easier to express themselves in this way. My other TA is from Asia. She sometimes address’s me by my last name by accident and takes a little longer to understand what I am asking. Both are extremely nice and very helpful, and both are successful engineering students, you can just tell by talking to them for 5 minutes though, that they have completely different backgrounds and although a lot of it has to do with their individual personality and no t the majority of their minority group, it still has an influence of growing up in the same country as moving to a completely new one. I am not completely great a reading people from the second I meet them but I do feel it is pretty easy to distinguish the difference between Asian Americans and Asians. I mean I would guess this guy talking is an Asian American and not Asian, but once again I could be wrong.
[Reply]
I agree with this Asian student. Sam, as well as many white Americans, vaguely mentions anything about Asians and American Asians. I am unsure as to why people seem to not include Asians when talking about races. Is it because we just make very broad groups, such as Whites, Blacks, and Browns? Or is it because we just do not feel the need to speak as much about them? I do not know what the reason is, but I do think we should start including them in our conversations. The Asian population in America is increasing at a very rapid rate, therefore maybe we should start talking about them. As for the part of this students question about being able to determine the difference between Asians and American Asians, I really do not know if I could do it. I don’t know enough about Asians to be able to determine the differences, which is kind of sad. I can totally understand why Asians feel like they are left out, because as a white person I think they are. But I also think this should and can change if people start reaching out to Asians and getting to understand and know them better.
[Reply]
I feel that there is a noticeable difference between Asians and Asian Americans, but I do not believe that it is addressed or considered in the way that we look at other races and others biracial makeup. I also do not believe that Asians received enough attention as a race within this course. I think that you don’t need to be mashed into the “brown people” group if you don’t feel as though you fit in another spot, and I feel that this is a result of Asians not being brought up in class. I think that the distinction between these groups is considered evenly, but it needs to be.
[Reply]
Differentiating Asians between Asian Americans and foreign Asians from countries such as Japan, China, and Islanders is definitely something I have trouble with and have had trouble with my entire life. To this day I am afraid to start talking to an Asian I don’t know for one reason and one reason only. What if they don't speak English very well and I look like an ass trying to spell things out for them. This “fear” probably stems from a few incidents. The most recent would be Asian teachers and Asian TAs. I don't know why but just about every TA in a math or science related course I have had has been a foreign Asian. It becomes extremely difficult to communicate with them because, although they speak English, there are a lot of simple concepts that are lost between the cultural barrier and I always feel like I miss out on something with them where as if it were a natural born American, or even an Asian American, I would communicate fine with them.
Being at Penn State there are tons of foreign exchange students from Asian countries. They all tend to stick together and don't communicate very well or at all with us white people. This makes me feel like an outsider to them almost, although in reality they are the outsiders and that’s why they stick together out here. I am always surprised when I encounter an Asian person who speaks fluent English. It catches me offguard and makes me want to converse with them so I feel like I used up my “talk to an Asian person quota”.
Coming from where I am, the only Asians I really encountered growing up were the people who owned the Chinese restaurant in my town and the one Asian boy I grew up with. None of us really regarded him as “Asian” because he was one of the whitest people I know (personality wise) although he was Korean. Other Asians in the US are seen as outsiders and I really feel like people expect them to speak broken English and be somehow related to a Chinese restaurant, as terrible as that is. Asians have a long way to come in the US until they are seen as being equal to whites, although they are definitely ahead of other minorities in that category for sure. As more and more generations of Asian families grow u[ and become Asian Americans, they will be much more accepted and looked at as equals. Statistically they are better than us whites in the United States both economically and educationally speaking, yet for some reason they are looked down upon by us white folks who are technically below them in every facet of life.
[Reply]
I am glad that this question was posted. This is an interesting question to think about because I definitely agree that Asians are not included in a lot of our talks about race relations. Mostly white, black, and brown people are mentioned, and this should change because Asians should be included into the discussion more. When we do the texting polls and open-ended questions, I think it would be interesting and important to include Asians in this. There are many Asians in our class, and I think that they should be included and have their opinions displayed more often. Hopefully we can change this in the future.
[Reply]
As mentioned in the video response for this blog, I do believe that many minorities are put in the same category in terms of behavior as well as physical features. However, I think that “Asian” is a very interesting category. I feel like when people from the west think of “Asian” people, they think of the following physical features; small slits for eyes, no eyelids, yellow skin, small bones and body frame, flat nose, jet black hair, straight hair, no bodily or facial hair, and short. However, after saying so it is also interesting then to point out that east Indians are likely to be one of the hairiest racial groups, they have darker skin, thick hair which is often curly, strong features including full lips and relatively sharp/big noses, big eyes, long eyelashes and they are just as Asian as chinese people. Then there are those that all between the two categories, Russians some of who look more like caucasians, and Filipinos who look a lot like chinese people but are generally bigger with bigger eyes. On another note, when people think of “Asians” in terms of personality, I feel like they think of people who work in nail salons, who are unable to drive, who feel that academia is their ultimate goal in life, and only hang out with people who are similar to them. But again, there are plenty of caucasians and blacks who are bad drivers, who care greatly about their academics, and who like hanging out with other people of the same race. Also on a similar note as mentioned before, I have yet to see a Russian or east Indian person who works in a nail salon.
As a person who is an East Indian, it does not anger me that I am not considered “Asian” by other people, but in a way it makes me feel like I do not belong. I am Asian and I want to be classified as so. If you want to make stereotypes about Chinese people, say Chinese, do not use the word Asian. If you want to make stereotypes about Asian people are include East Indians, Filipinos, Russians and all other Asians that use the word Asian. I just have a problem with not fitting in anywhere. I just want to put out there the difference between yellow Asians and brown Asians because I am faced with the confusion every day.
[Reply]
As far as what grouping Asians fit in to, I have never really thought about it. Personally I have never grouped people as white, black, or brown. However, I am not obvious and I realize that not every one is the same. Until enrolling in this class I never really grouped people together. I have always looked more on an individual level not a larger picture. There are several reasons for this I imagine. First I was raised in a primarily white town. Compared to the neighboring towns however my down was fairly diverse. My school had its share of black kids and a fair amount of Spanish kids. Looking back my school had very few Asian people. Probably less than a hand full in fact. Also I was brought up to not judge people for being different. As a child one of my good friends had Down syndrome, and I never even really saw her as being different until I was older.
If I had to choose I would group Asians in a different group than white people and black people. But I also find it strange to group them in a group called brown people which would also consist of Indian and Spanish individuals. I guess I just have a really difficult time grouping people in to broad categories.
[Reply]
As far as the relation ship between Asians and other groups I am not exactly sure. I have Asian- American friends but I have never really thought about it being any different than having a black friends or a Puerto Rican friend. I also as a walk on campus notice that some groups of asian people defiantly have there cliques. But I don’t really see it as an difference among there cultures. I think at penn state it is a really easy thing to do. I have seen cliques of all races, asian, black, white, Spanish, Indian… you name it I am sure there is a clique at Penn State.
[Reply]
I think he brings up a very good point. It seems like the conversation is always about black people and white people. I am not Asian but in class I do notice that the Asians are somewhat overlooked when it comes to race relations. This is quite peculiar because part of the problem we have had throughout history is our failure to properly acknowledge different races and different colors. We have begun to really make changes in regards to that way white people and black people interact but it still seems like many other races and ethnicitys are being ignored. The group that seems to be ignored most is the Asians and Asian-Americans. It is a wonder to me why this is but in class when Sam talks about race relations its always about black people and white people then we just put the label "brown" people on everyone else who we either don't want to talk about or simply do not care enough to talk about. This I think can and will become a major problem because I do not think it was just the black people in the United States who have been mistreated. I think the Hispanics and Asians have been mistreated and taken advantage of for years. This might be an over simplification of the truth but I feel like just because the Asian people are as vocal and up front about their problems and what they are unhappy with that we white people just decide that they are not important enough to talk about or address in the race conversation. Asians are just as important to the well-being of America as whites, blacks, and brown people. It is time they were shown some respect and given some time and attention with regards to the race relations conversation. I am by no means trying to say that white-black relations aren't important I am just saying that Asians have done more than they need to to deserve time in the conversation. Yes, obviously there has been more documented history, hatred, and mistreatment in the United States between blacks and whites but that does not mean that they are the only two races that deserve attention in America. For decades the white man has stomped all over Asian-Americans and we have taken advantage of there virtues for far to long and have never really given Asians proper credit and respect for the things they have done for the United States and for humanity as a whole. Maybe its because there has been no civil rights movement for Asians and maybe its because we don't think they deserve the time or attention. Frankly, I think its time Asians started to speak up and express their views, whether they be good or bad. I just feel like of all that we have learned this semester little to none of it has been directed to Asians and treatment towards that minority in America. Asians are to valuable to the well-being of our society to just be overlooked and under appreciated. It is time to show our brothers and sisters from the other side of the pacific a little more respect.
[Reply]
This person brings up a really interesting point- how often do we really think about Asians when we think about minority groups? I honestly admit that the phrase "minority group" brings blacks and hispanics to mind. I also think I stereotype more against Asians than the other groups, mostly because I know very little about their culture or history and automatically rely on my stereotypes. The history between blacks and whites has been taught to us since we were born so we are more knowledgeable about those two races as a whole. I think I could distinguish between Africans and African Americans better than I could between Asians and American Asians as well, for the same reason of a lack of knowledge.
[Reply]
I think that you have a really good point, we do not typically talk about Oriental people in class, and I would like to make the distinction between Asian and Oriental because "brown people," Indians, are technically Asians. I do not know if we have even really talked about the plight that Oriental people went through in the west, with the railroads and the gold mines, which to me does not make much sense because we talk a lot about black slavery in the South, in comparison to other slavery in America, and we talk about how horribly we as Americans treated Native Americans. It does not seem fair to only single out one or two peoples plight, and not every ones, after all it is a race relations class. I know that sometimes I think that we should talk about antisemitism, since I am Jewish, I would like to hear how people feel about it. Yes, I know that it is not seen as often as racism towards other minorities, but it is there, and I have been subject to it. I think that Sam needs to talk more about everyone not just black, brown and white people. Doing that creates a tunnel view of the race wars we face in society, and is not accurate. Also I would like to say that I would not consider Judaism a race, but people all over the world are prosecuted for their religion. I know my grandparents are a prime example of this. They survived the Holocaust, which was a huge genocide, maybe not as big as the one that happened on our own soil with the Native Americans, but it did happen and there are still people who do not believe it is real. How outrageous is that? I know that my mom used to shush me in public when I would talk about being Jewish as a child because she grew up in fear that her parents instilled in her; let's face it when they were growing up being Jewish could have you killed, and the majority of their families were killed in the Holocaust. I just think we need to talk about everything.
As for what you were saying about being able to tell Asian Americans from immigrants, it is hard for me to tell unless I hear them speak and cannot hear an accent. I have also noticed some cultural differences. I work at the Bennett Center, the daycare on campus, a lot of the professors children go there and some of them are the children of foreign professors. I have noticed especially with Chinese children, they always come in with lots of layers on even when it is 85 degrees out, and then the parents are unhappy if when they come to pick their child up all their layers are not on, even if the child is obviously hot and sweating. I do not really understand it. But I mean that would be a cultural difference I notice that separates Asian Americans from immigrants.
[Reply]
You bring up a valid point. Sam has this issue with clumping races together into two categories whites and all other races. he often refers to this as whites and colors. Asians are never really looked at as a separate race, although they obviously are and deserve to be treated as one. The reason i think wwe skip over the asian race in a race relations class is because asians in my opinion are not really discriminated against throughout history. they were never forced into slavery, they were never "really" considered immigrants compared to mexican people. Asians are, without sounding ignorant, not very interesting in the sense that they are treated well. Sam told us that they are the highest paid, make the most money and get the respect they deserve. If we think about the asians stereotypes, asians are good at math, asians are intelligent, that is not even bad. of course some people may take offense to this generally it is not that bad. To focus on the topic of can we tell the different between asian americans, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and pacific islanders, i say NO WAY. I can not tell the difference between any of them, not in the least. I do not mean to be ignorant but i just cant tell. I have friend that can tell the difference between each nationality, where at in the country the person comes from everything. So this tells me that it is not them, they do not all look alike it is me, i just am not educated enough to tell the difference.. I am interested in Sam talking a little bit more about asians, because the only thing that is worse then being discriminated against, is being so unimportant that people dont even give you the time of day, people do not even consider them a different race. I mean how bad does that sound. I feel obligated to talk a little bit about the other stereotypes racing asians. They are considered bad at driving, they have small penises and they are freaks in bed (the women). The driving thing there os no way to say they are really bad at driving with a straight face, it depends on the person obviously, the small penis size was actually statistically proven, but that could have something to do with the other statistical fact, that they are shorter then the rest of the world. All in all i think we should bring up the topic of asians a little more in class. I want to know what they feel about my comments. Do they think we are ignorant for not being about to tell the difference between them, or are they understanding? Can they tell the difference between us? and what do they feel about other races?
[Reply]