An Introduction to Intercultural Communication. Fred E. Jandt
residents. That change resulted in large numbers of Asians immigrating to the United States between 1981 and 1989. The label Asian-American includes more than 30 ethnicities, with family origins extending from East Asia and Southeast Asia to the Indian subcontinent as well as the Philippines and Indonesia. The continued use of the term Asian-American contributes to a stereotype of some 17 million people of Asian ancestry as a single community (5.6% of the population).
Some 51% of Asian-Americans have a bachelor’s degree, compared to 30% of the general population. Census data show that Asian-Americans have the highest median annual income of $73,060 (compared to $53,600 for all U.S. households). During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Asian-Americans became associated with the stereotype of the “model minority,” who achieved success through hard work, perseverance, silent stoicism, strong family ties, and strong support for education. Asian-Americans of all groups are most often portrayed in the press as industrious and intelligent; enterprising and polite, with strong values; and successful in schools and business and in science and engineering. This stereotype seemed to continue the belief that any group can achieve the American Dream if its members “just work hard enough.”
A recent study demonstrated that the model minority stereotype is very much accepted (Zhang, 2010). Cultivation theory links media content with the acquisition of stereotypes (Perse, 2001). Using cultivation theory as a theoretical framework, Zhang (2010) showed that in the United States, Asians are perceived as most likely to achieve academic success, are most likely to be perceived as nerds, are perceived as most likely to be left out, and are one of two groups people are least likely to initiate friendship with.
Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) pulled a line of T-shirts after complaints. The T-shirts showed Asian cartoon characters. Printed on the shirts were ads for hypothetical businesses: “Rick Shaw’s Hoagies and Grinders. Order by the foot. Good meat. Quick feet” and “Wong Brothers Laundry Service—Two Wongs Can Make It White.” A senior manager at A&F said, “These graphic T-shirts were designed with the sole purpose of adding humor and levity to our fashion line.”
Asian American Resource Workshop
But, Asian-American high school students of all backgrounds complain that teachers often counsel Asian-Americans to go into math and sciences. Some teachers respond that this is done so that immigrants will not have to contend with language problems. Asian-Americans argue that some teachers continue to do this even to those who are fluent in English and that the reason why teachers do this is that Asians are perceived as not being free thinking or extroverted.
California public universities are not allowed to use racial criteria in admissions. Berkeley’s enrollments in 2017 were 40.5% Asian-American. Some allege that Ivy League universities limit the number of Asian-Americans they admit. A controversial study of admissions data from 10 unnamed selective colleges concluded that Asian-Americans need 140 more SAT points than Whites for admission and Blacks need 310 fewer points for admission (Espenshade & Radford, 2009). In 2014, Students for Fair Admissions filed suit against Harvard on behalf of Asian-Americans who had been rejected over its affirmative action admission policy alleging Harvard discriminates by requiring higher standards for Asian-American students and rating them poorly on personal characteristics. A federal judge ruled against the plaintiff in 2019, writing, “The use of race benefits certain racial and ethnic groups that would otherwise be underrepresented at Harvard and is therefore neither an illegitimate use of race or reflective of racial prejudice” (Gluckman, 2019, p. A18; see also Anderson, 2019). The case will be appealed.
Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld (2014) assume that some specific social habits communicated across group members and transmitted through generations may predispose those groups to success or failure. We might label these social habits as cultural traditions or traits. Chua and Rubenfeld contend in a controversial book that Asians, Cubans, Jews, Indians, Nigerians, Mormons, Iranians, and Lebanese are superior in succeeding in the United States because they share three cultural traits: a superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control.
Calcutta-born journalism professor Suketu Mehta (2014) charges that such claims of superiority for “model minorities” is simply a new form of racism. The implication is that other cultures are inferior and unable to succeed. Mehta also contends that such claims now based on culture follow a century of discredited claims of superiority based on race, class, IQ, and religion.
Prejudice
Whereas stereotypes can be positive or negative, prejudice refers to the irrational dislike, suspicion, or hatred of a particular group, race, religion, or sexual orientation (Rothenberg, 1992). Persons within the group are viewed not in terms of their individual merit but according to the superficial characteristics that make them part of the group. Psychologists have identified the highly prejudiced individual as having an Authoritarian personality (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950). Such persons tend to overgeneralize and think in bipolar terms; they are highly conventional, moralistic, and uncritical of higher authority. Highly prejudiced people are unlikely to change their attitudes even when presented with new and conflicting information.
Focus on Technology 2.1 Can Technology Be Prejudiced?
Google Photos (in 2015) algorithmically identified Black people as gorillas. Snapchat (in 2016) provided a selfie-altering filter that showed users as an offensive Asian caricature. Software that coded gorillas as black in color may have resulted in machine algorithms that applied that label to people with black skin. One study demonstrated that if one did a Google search for a name more likely to be of African-American descent (e.g., DeShawn, Darnell, or Jermaine), ads for companies that locate criminal records were more likely to be displayed than for names more commonly assigned to Whites (e.g., Geoffrey, Jill, or Emma; Sweeney, 2013). Amazon facial detection technology labeled darker-skinned women as men 31% of the time. Law professor Frank Pasquale (2015) contends that machine algorithms are learning our stereotypes.
Racism
Racism is not simply prejudice. Racism is the belief and practice of racial privilege or social advantages based on race. The term came into common usage in the 1930s to describe Nazi persecution of the Jews. Nazi belief was that humanity comprises biologically distinct subspecies and that some are inherently superior and others inherently inferior (Fredrickson, 2002). Examine racism in the following examples of India, the Roma, Koreans in Japan, and White privilege in the United States.
Case Study: India
One example today is found in the northeastern portion of India. Some people from there say they are the target of racism for having “Asian” facial features. Most northeastern Indians at some time have experienced culturally insensitive questions, such as “Is it true you eat snakes?” Many are on the receiving end of name-calling and racial slurs, such as chinki and chow mein. So widespread is this racism that in 2012 the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs determined that the use of the term chinki to refer to people in the northeast would be considered a criminal offense with a penalty of up to 5 years in jail. Activists in the region charge that the law is rarely enforced as police are as likely as anyone to participate in the harassment.
A candlelight vigil against racism and the beating and killing of a 19-year-old student in India’s North Eastern Region.
Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
Case Study: The Roma
The Roma