Are Asians the New Invisible Man?
In the category of Things We Already Know, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that most Americans believe "racism is widespread against blacks in the United States." As is to be expected, the degree that people hold this belief is dependent on their own race -- black, white or Hispanic. The survey in and of itself is worth taking a look at but, like I said, doesn't exactly stun with unexpectedness.
Except for one thing...
What was interesting to me was that a survey about how "most Americans" feel about racism and minorities didn't include responses from Asian-Americans.
They're not minorities? They don't have views on racism?
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders make up only about 5 percent of the population, so by default maybe they lie outside the strict definition of "most Americans." But the poll was culling a variety of racial attitudes, and it managed to include views of racism against whites. You'd think if the survey had room to include views on the pervasive systemic oppression whites suffer through (now go back and read that sentence sarcastically), they'd take the time to chat up an Asian or two.
But why didn't they? And why don't we hear more about and from Asians when it comes to race in America? Are Asians the new Invisible Man -- there but not there? In some ways, yeah. Blacks and whites are always carping about the metrics of racism. And any conversation about immigration reform is immediately flipped into a referendum on Hispanics.
But Asians rarely seem to weigh in on, or have their rallying cause, with regard to race in America.
I haven't had the time to do a full scientific study, but the couple of Asian-Americans I talked with -- I know how that sounds, but, hey, that's a couple more than USA Today/Gallup bothered to talk with -- said that mostly they don't care to talk about race. Instead, they tend to have a "go along to get along" attitude.
This propensity to be cool is often misconstrued as the "Asian as the model minority" stereotype. And it is, in fact, just that -- a stereotype. That's not to imply that Asians are somehow bad folks, but that -- just as is every other minority -- they are regular folks. But we can't know that if every time opinions are sought out, they are passed over.
Clearly, not all Asians are comfortable just "being cool" about issues. And Asian-centric political action may be a more recognizable movement in coming elections.
Their opinions getting left out of one of any number of surveys on race may seem like a small thing. Maybe it is. But I think if we're really going to have an Obamaian dialogue on race in America, then we've got to have the widest dialogue possible and not just hear from the traditional "big three."
Now, that would be a poll that might fall outside of the Things We Already Know category.
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It will be interesting to see how our Asian American family responds to an economic downturn or Depression -- or, a DRAFT for the Military -- which is, no doubt, on the horizon. Exploiting benefits w/out paying full measure for them -- beyond economic/e
We are entering a new age that will, as the Depression and WWII did, place more demands on ALL Americans. The ability to survive and thrive under circumstances that diminish the value of solely economic/e
The rubber is about to meet the road and there will be no flying below the radar or passing the ball to someone else.
If you visit Dearbon MI, you will see an Arabic community, who can also receive the same claim that there are no poor within, they work hard, own businesses, they are not organized like AA and HA.
Many people visit the "China towns" in the large metro areas, but dismiss any of the ills facing the folks in the community. THe only time wrong doing is reported, it's normally asociated with selling information to China, otherwise, everyone looks not directly at them. How many second generation want to be music recording artist, or big screen actors, or a clown? Would they be taken seriously or consider not staying in their box of working in a lab, or computer company. How many second generation members are on the police rolls and patrolling other communities streets in Chicago, Philly, NYC, Atl. ? How many construction workers, working on other neighborhoods have you seen? How many repair, cable installers, garbage collectors in other neighborhoods?
Could it be that in the identity lable communities "arabic and Asian" the word recession, layoffs, unemployment does not seem to have a major impact? Could it be that their communities are geared more towards family/small businesses, and not greed, the key to their successes?
Touching on this subject, I've found it curious that we often see Asian women as newscasters on cable and network TV, but never men. It seems to me that there is some kind of mixed sexism and racism involved in casting for anchor positions. Asian women are considered exotic and attractive to a white audience and thus a presentable face for the evening news where Asian males are not. Could it be that there is a deeply rooted bias in American culture, perhaps a hangover from WWII, in which Asian males are perceived as untrustworthy and somehow threatening?
Some view Asian-Americans as a "model minority" because they work hard, keep their heads down, and don't cause a ruckus. However, if this is the case, shouldn't there be more Asian-Americans in the ranks of top executives at Fortune 500 corporations? Asian-American representation at the top undergraduate schools and graduate business schools is exceeds the percentage of Asian-Americans in the U.S. population as a whole; thus, one would think that over time, there should be more Asian-Americans in the C-suite. Perhaps the dearth of such individuals in those positions has to do with American society's view of Asian-Americans; that we are perpetually foreign, even if we were born and raised here and speak excellent English. We may not even be considered for promotions, no matter how "assimilated" we are. It could be that when faced with such rejection from society-at-large, Asian-Americans retreat into their own separate communities and become "invisible". Mobilization and political action to combat the slights and injustices is too difficult because the Asian-American community as a whole is too disparate. It's quite sad - silence and invisibility acts as a tacit enabler of the abuse.
Excellent comment !
I have also noticed that whites tend to move out of areas with increasing immigrants from foreign countries or people of color. Suddenly, a vibrant community can become a God-forsaken town in a couple of years.
There is no " melting pot ". It is just someone's imagination. The fact of the matter is, you can call it an improvement if there is no overt exploitation and discrimination. The proverbial " glass ceiling " for promotion of minorities in major corporations will remain unless and until they achieve political recognition and power.
Further, as an AA woman, it occurred to me last night while watching the Olympic in Beijing -- that flying below the radar, allowing other "minorities" to carry the burden of forcing America to live up to her creed -- has risks. Ditto, the false assertions I hear/read that somehow our Asian Americans are "superior" to other minorities.
Here's my point. The ascendancy of China will focus Americans on Asia -- and put the spotlight on Asian-Americans who are unused to this kind of glare and scrutiny, while flying under the radar. AAs cannot but help, as the largest "minority" but OWN our place w/in the context of the American tapestry. Further, our history is longer on this continent -- and, our contributions (as w/Native Americans) uniquely exploited as an unpaid investment in the Nation's successful future -- one our Asian family has come to enjoy.
America will be put under further economic pressure in the 21st Century -- and will resent China's ascendancy after the Olympics when China no longer has incentives to concern herself w/what the West thinks. Europe is not replenishing its AGING demographics, further fracturing and placing downward pressure on American interests and abilities to defend and carry Western interests.
AA's experience is blowback when America focuses on ethnicity as an excuse for economic/political crises. We have survived this generational challenge because we fight back and demand our rights -- and rights for ALL Americans -- gays, women, immigrants, etc.. Our willingness to do so has been an investment on behalf of the American experiment. The so-called "Women's Movement" touted by PUMAS was made possible by the AA Civil Rights Movement, though Hillary Clinton would DIE to affirm this. While women were/are the max beneficiaries of those who have DIED for human rights.
Our Asian family should prepare for focus/scrutiny -- unfairly associated w/the hegemony of the China ascendancy. They should also hope fellow "minorities" -- such as AAs and Latinos -- are there FOR them on the push-back front lines -- in ways they were not, for us. Nobody likes to be at the bottom of the totem pole and resented. Barack's ascendancy moves AAs up a notch. Our parents, grandparents fought for this moment. Yes...foug
Food for thought.
Another issue the article doesn't go into is affirmative action. Asians do so much better academically (even better than whites in many areas) that they are hurt by affirmative action when it comes to colleges. In those schools with good math and science programs that do go purely on merit, like Cal Tech, Asians can be over 50% of the student population.
Let me let you ignoramuses in on something: Asians talk -all the time- about racial issues, political issues and every other issue that non-Asians talk about. Want to know where they talk about it? On blogs, often in their native languages (Chinese blogs, etc.) and for every person that posts something there are FIVE-HUNDRED more who are reading the comments (like my wife). The reason you don't hear about it? Because Asians in America by and large are not organized for political purposes on the same scale as African-Americans or Latinos.
Many Asians who have immigrated to America in the last two generations came legally (because there just isn't an easy way to get here, ya know, from across the Pacific Ocean). So, they came here with a higher education level than say Chinese who immigrate to Singapore (because its far easier to get there). It's the same thing with Africans (not African-Americans) who come here: via education. It's the same reason why Europeans think of north Africans in a similar way as many Americans think of Latinos--same dynamic.
I just want you to know that I am seriously impressed.
Asian poverty levels are disproportionately high in the United States, but not as high as African-Americans and Latinos. Asian average wealth is also higher than whites. One would think this paradox would be interesting to those concerned about race, but I've found that race studies seem to be done for the benefit of their audience, which is predominantly white.
Are we trying to create a new special interest group for the liberals. For the most part, studies seem to show that Asians tend to do well in school, have traditional close knit families and have a good work ethic. Therefore they are able to get good jobs and have little to complain about. However it seems the U.S. is managing to corrupt some of the newer immigrant children with street gangs and such. Hopefully the older generation will be able to keep that to a minimum. We really don't need more of that. Could there be a connection between many of the newer Asian immigrants welfare status and the emerging gang problems?
Considering how immigrants and minority groups have been treated, historically, in this country, Asians may well want to remain invisible.
An African American who can trace his ancestry back 200 years (due to slavery, of course) on this continent has very little in common with a Somalian who has come over voluntarily as part of the recent influx. The situation with Asian Americans is rather like that. Some, especially Chinese, have been here for more than 100 years. Others came from Viet Nam in the 70s, others from Korea and Japan in the early part of the 20th century. They have little in common with each other. Furthermore, they are minorities here, but often have a much stronger connection to their home countries, and Asians are by far the majority as far as the world population goes. Most African Americans have far less to identify with, in terms of heritage, because so much was violently ripped away from them. Slavery was a huge crime against humanity. It simply doesn't compare to the Asian experience in the Americas in any way, shape or form.
One of the reasons that Asians are so successful as a group is that the government discriminated against them heavily in allowing them to come to America. When only the brightest and best are allowed in they're going to skew income, education, IQ, etc.
that's funny stuff. you should go on the road.
Boat people and refugees are the best and brightest? I think the government let in a mix of Asians. Some were no doubt extremely intelligent and some probaly were not. Just like the rest of America the majority probaly fell somewhere in between.
I often think of Asians as being the silent minority. They don't raise a ruckus like African Americans and Hispanics, maybe because they have nothing to complain about. I can only go by my contact with them in academia -- btw, asians are also categorized as East Indians too. The ones I come in contact with are independent and highly educated, meaning they excel at education. However, I do feel there is a "silent" backlash against them by the majority races because they do seem to have more. In the work place, if you're a white male and your job is given to an Asian, you better believe there's some type of ill feeling and backlash. Maybe not as strong as if the job had been given to an African American, but it's there. There is also an envy among Americans toward Asians because they seem to do so well.
I think you meant that East Indians are catagorizeds as Asian, not the other way around.
With all due respect, white liberals don't have a clue what they're talking about when it comes to Asian Americans or race. Nothing amuses me more when white people play racism police, never having undergone physical threats and assaults based on race. Nothing hurts more than seeing white liberals dismiss any problems that Asian Americans face. Hate crimes against Asians have risen dramatically. When I lived in Arizona, it was pretty common for people to leave "gifts" at my door. We are not robots. We have feelings, desires, and flaws just like everyone else. When Rosie O'Donnell, a supposed white liberal ally, goes off mocking how Asians speak, it does hurt. The reason why we are silent and turn the other cheek is because we are very few. If you were only five percent of the population, I doubt you would be very vocal either. Furthermore, most Americans don't realize that there are vast differences and conflicts between Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, etc., even if you can't tell us apart. This makes it very difficult for us to organize.
I want to commmend you, Mr Ridley for bringing up this discussion. We feel as if nothing we can do will ever make us American in the eyes of "true Americans". We feel as if we are perpetual foreigners. If you want to understand the problems and issues that Asian Americans face, there is no one more eloquent or humorous than Beau Sia. You can check him out on Youtube.
I don't think that Asians really want to be involved in race talk because they are too busy working hard and owning businesses, which is what most people of color or "minorities" should be doing.
Hispanic-Americans have plenty to complain about. They're our serfs, and there's anti-immigration stuff going on now. African-American plight is enormous well known. Jews have Israel to worry about.. And despite their ignorance, even racist white groups have imaginary concerns that perhaps seem real to them. But Asians? Where is the "Asian Plight" in our American history?
Sure, Japanese internment camps were a dark stain on our history, but when compared to the other horrors of WWII (think The Holocaust, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, Bataan Death March, etc.), the internment camps were minor league stuff. It was short-lived and nobody died. I'm not trying to trivialize it, but rather make a point. Has that moment in history had an impact on Japanese-Americans in a sense that it affects their lives today? I don't think it does.
Then there's Chinese who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad. Handling nitro-glycerin for $28 a month is no picnic. But to compare this to something like slavery or Jim Crow would be ludicrous. It wasn't systematic political oppression. It was simply corporate greed, the kind that has existed since the Pyramids were built. To take political action over this event nowadays would be a bit much, don't you think?
There are bad stereotypes and some underrepresentation on prime-time television. To me, that's the extent of it, and that ain't so bad in my humble opinion.
So it's your "humble opinion" that Hispanic-Americans are your "serfs." I don't know if I should educate, hold you in contempt, or feel sorry for your nativist argumentative idiocy?
Serfdom is a socio-economic condition of unfree peasants under feudalism. Serfdom was the enforced labor of serfs on the fields of landowners, in return for protection and the right to work on their leased fields.
Yes, the perception is that there a lot of Hispanic-American field workers (strictly speaking, these workers are actually Mexican and Central American nationals, and even some Filipinos, Japanese, and Chinese) These field workers are wage laborers, some earn upwards or $18 per hour on more expensive crops like asparagus and artichokes. Many of these jobs are actually union membership.
You may have checked the year, it's 2008 in America, not the feudal 17th century Western Europe.
As for your other non-sequitors and strawmen "arguments
Asians. You mean people from Iran and Afghanistan? India and Pakistan and Sri Lanka?
Indeed, they're the most ignored, even among Asians. I was getting my driver's license and checked "Asian" for my ethnicity, but the driver's license lady said i couldn't put that because according to her, India's not a part of Asia! It's crazy.
Iranians are not considered Asians, at least by the categories kept by the US Census Bureau. They are in the Middle East and, therefore, considered white. The other nationalities you have named ARE considered Asian, for the purposes of reporting.
The article produced the desired results, it has people talking.
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