In regards to Asian American immigration, many of us can agree that the Chinese exclusion act of 1882 played a huge role in Asian immigration. When we hear “Asian Immigration” many people automatically assume that these are high class wealthy Asians who do not struggle here in the United States of America. This act led to the idea of foreigner racialization which was specifically targeted towards Asian Americans. This target was nowhere near positive, it created racialization towards specific groups and it was a way to keep out different Asian National groups. Along with Asian Americans, foreigner racialization also targeted Middle Eastern, American Arabs, and Hispanic people. Labeling Asian Americans as foreigners lead to them being grouped as people who carry diseases, polluting our country, and undesirable. Asian immigration was and still is a huge issue for many Asian Americans, even the ones who aren’t immigrants. For example, based on appearance, someone may be easily criticized because of the color of their skin and just for looking Asian. One of the main issues that Asian Americans suffer from is the common stereotypes that are said about them. For example, a common stereotype that Asian Americans suffer from is kung fu fighters in movies, geeks, prostitutes, and dragon ladies. These may be expressed in many Hollywood movies, but they have also come to play a part in the real world. For example, one of my Asian friends (in college) was once asked “so since you’re really smart, can you help me out with this homework”. If were honest, I was not surprised at all because sadly we live in a society where it is highly accepted and not told to be any different. By this, I mean that when someone laughs and jokes about an Asian person based on a stereotype or theory.
The picture here on the left is a clear example of a stereotype towards Asians. This magazine ad here is advertising a new computer from the 1980’s and using Asian kids to send out the message that it used by “intelligent” people. In many ways it is negative because once again some of these kids may be American born and do not live under the “tiger mom” household.
According to Census, 18.2 million immigrants came from Asia. Asian Americans are also the largest group of people who emigrate to the United States. This number continues to increase every time there is a new census. During the process of emigrating to the United States many people lose their family and they do not have any resources to reach out to them or contact them because they are illegally here. Many Asians simply want reunification with their family and loved ones, most will not probably see them anymore, unless they become a resident of the United States. Another issue that caused many Chinese and Asians to lose their family or create a new family was due to the Alien Land Laws. This was legal racial formation, agriculturally preventing Chinese and Asians to create their own production and distribution. In many ways ths affected them and their family because with no crop to sell, there was no income for that family, or the person who was trying to help their family.
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AuthorLinda Reynoso Archives
December 2016
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