The 7 Worst Asian-American Stereotypes
6. Asian-Americans Don’t Know How to Speak English.
Historians know (or should know) that the British Empire included India, Burma, Ceylon, and Jordan. With England’s rule came the English language. Brunei, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore count English among their official languages.
South Asians often hear the question, “Do you speak Indian?” Sometimes I don’t bother to correct this common misconception, so I respond, “No.” But I’m often tempted to respond in kind and say, “Do you speak American?” In reality, there is no such thing as “speaking Indian,” just as there is no such language as “American” (although linguists apparently have characterized what I speak as American English and what my parents speak is ridiculed as Indish). There are actually many Indian languages. Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, and Konkani are just a few of the many. In India, English used to be my primary language. Indeed, it was taught in schools, but students were polyglots, studying multiple local languages and dialects in addition to English.
Vice President Joe Biden apparently seems to hear a lot of Indian accents in convenience stories, gas stations, and when he telephones a call center. Once invited to a fancy reception, I wore a plain black pantsuit, but was handed a dirty plate. A lot is assumed about me before a word comes out of my mouth. I was told by my parents to be as American as I could and learned only English as a language. When I was an intern on Capitol Hill, I had the experience of helping answer the D.C. office main telephone for a United States senator. One caller had no idea I was Asian-American, because otherwise he probably would not have made offensive xenophobic comments about Asian-American immigrants. I told my supervisor about it, and the office itself offered support, given that callers regularly cursed at those answering the phone. But it’s a valuable lesson: be careful what you stereotype about Asians.
8. Asian-Americans are yellow.
9. Asian-Americans experience abdominal pain when they see Obama bow.
10. Asian-Americans can all use chopsticks because they are born ambidextrous. It’s a genetic thing, just like their yellowness.
11. Asian-Americans are terrified of hotels, cold beverages and the number 71.
12. There are no Asian-Americans in North Dakota.
13. The garden hoe was invented by an Asian-American.
14. Asian-Americans cannot hear D-flat on the piano, bassoon or harmonica.
15. Asian-Americans always pay their credit card bills on time because they cannot understand compound interest and so they fear greatly exaggerated consequences.
16. Asian-Americans avoid pornography strictly for religious reasons.
17. Plastic has no effect on Asian-Americans.
18. Contrary to popular belief, no Asian-Americans have ever been “faster than a speeding bullet.”
19. Any Asian-Americans reading this list will skip #13 WITHOUT EVEN BEING TOLD TO! That’s freaky.
20. 100% of Asian-Americans are born that way.
Some of those, ok. Others, I have no idea (is 13 some old GI joke? 15 only works ironically: it shows *knowledge* of interest, not ignorance).
But 11 isn’t a stereotype at all. Owing to Taoist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine TCM], many, many Chinese women [http://edinfo.med.nyu.edu/mc/culture/Preganacy.html react to ice water like it's poison]. (Of course, for their part, they assume our preference for ice water is [http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2010/12/why-do-chinese-people-drink-hot-water/ a result of ignorance and bad parenting].)
on # 13, being affriad of cold water makes sense if you live in a part of the world where the way to treat water was to boil it (until modern times). Europe solved this by boiling the water also – and turning it into beer. There are a lot of water born bacteria and boiling kills most of them.
Also for #4, the issue in Bend it Like Beckham wasn’t that it was an Indian playing soccer, but a GIRL playing soccer and that was seen by the parents as not approriate. A similar clash with parents over culture is in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, showing it isn’t just Asian’s who often in American or England choose different culture than their parents.
Some of those, ok. Others, I have no idea (is 13 some old GI joke? 15 only works ironically: it shows *knowledge* of interest, not ignorance).
But 11 isn’t a stereotype at all. Owing to Taoist TCM, many, many Chinese women react to ice water like it’s poison. (Of course, for their part, they assume our preference for ice water is a result of ignorance and bad parenting.)
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i am clueless. i did not know americans with an ethnic origin from the country ‘india’ were asian. I thought they were ‘hindi-americans’.
some of my best friends and family are ‘asian-american’. in point of fact, they are uniformly horrible drivers and they also know the best restaurants; italian, chinese, all fooods. in addition, they are all, except my wife, constantly late. If not for me she would embarrass the whole family on that matter.
i could go on, but i want to sign off before my wife discovers this and divorces me.
Do not want to tread on the territory of asian myths. Much too delicate.
I lived out on 38th Avenue for many years, Mr. Sunset District. Can’t say I miss the fog. Good area to get to know Asians.
When I got out of the Marines I married a girl in LA. I feel at home here. Mexicans are like Irish with tans.
Deep down I will always be a Sunset Guy.
Hmmm. Interesting.
I recall a personal memory. In Autumn of 1985 I was a trainee seaman at Electronic Technician “A” School at Great Lakes Naval Training Center outside of Chicago. Some of my buds and I were at the snack bar one Saturday afternoon and we fell into conversation with this strange-looking foreign old guy (he was 30, we were 20) and he let slip that he had originally been a Gurkha (British or Indian army, I forget). Of course, we youngsters then pelted him with questions.
The gist of it was… he stated that he himself was a city boy with no supernatural powers and that basically, legends were sustained by generations of ordinary people, striving to live up to their outsize reputations (I’m waxing lyrical here, his English wasn’t so good).
No magic involved. Just a lot of hard work.
I flunked “A” school, by the way, and went into the fleet as a deck-ape. Only half-Asian, I’m afraid.
Okay, the “Indian Chief” thing is a joke, right? You are aware that that’s about the other kind of Indian, feathers not dots?
Besides which, the “Indian Chief” type of North American “Indians,” are really the OTHER kind of ‘Asians’ (what we’d call ‘Orientals’) anyway: they are simply all displaced Chinese or Mongols, who came across that land-bridge from Siberia!
One of my fondest memories is of listening to a Chinese father explain to his Chinese son that the Japanese aren’t actually smart: they just have an idiot-savant like capacity for memorization that coupled with a high threshold for drudgery makes them uniquely adept at copying the good ideas of others.
Funny, I’ve heard Caucasians say the same thing about Jews.
If you’ve watched Big Bang Theory, you’d know that Raj’s sister is a lawyer with a multinational company. She fits right in there because she’s a self-absorbed narcissistic psychopath. As for the socially awkward point: I guess you ignore that two of the main characters of Big Bang Theory are socially awkward whites and one is a socially awkward sex-crazy Jew who for most of the series was a total momma’s boy? If you really want to address insulting stereotypes, look at the treatment of women. Pretty much every woman in the series is a slut.
Hold on a second. There are three major female characters on The Big Bang Theory: a monogamous woman married to Howard; a monogamous single woman that is smitten with Sheldon; and yes, the slut, who is the most beautiful and charming of the three.
Look at all the secondary female characters. That vast majority of them have been sluts. Those who weren’t eventually got “loosened up” by Penny (the pretty slut you mention) by getting them drunk, etc.
As for Penny, yes that is how liberals portray the ideal woman: stupid but able to manipulate men easily with charm and looks while also being able to deny she’s a class A gold digger.
Whatever, the best looking one was the Indian guy’s corporate hottie sister, who for some reason was willing to drop trou for the main dude.
And ALL of them, except Sheldon are about 5 and a half feet tall. So stop making fun of short people. (nyahh)(sarcasm)
In the Big Bang Theorry, Raj suffers from a condition that won’t allow to him talk to ANY women unless he’s drunk. Howard is more of a clueless doofus. There are several episodes where the gang sort of ditches Raj to meet women, do cool things, etc.
You can say the almost the same thing with Fez and Kelso from the 70′s show. The minority is the socially awkward misfit.
And yet, Raj is pretty successful at random hookups, even before he was able to use alcohol (or the idea of alcohol) as a crutch to get over his selective mutism. Wasn’t he the first of the group to be shown to have a sexual encounter, with one of the girls from Penny’s Halloween party (who was impressed that he was “such a good listener”)?
So given that Raj is great at hookups (true) and Howard has also had sex with several women pre-Bernadette, and Leonard has occasionally too, that makes them sluts too, right?
Or is that title used by certain people ONLY for girls who have more than one sex partner, regardless of the fact that “slut” was originally coined to denote loose behaviour by BOTH sexes?
Howard (pre-Bernadette), certainly. Raj (IMO) tends more towards “drunken whore” than slut, his Halloween hookup notwithstanding. Leonard certainly can be at times, though I think he tends to be looking more for relationships than one-night stands.
Goodness gracious me!
http://youtu.be/rM9__IGZ9Ow
As an Asian, there’s always a bit of truth in any stereotype. It’s whether we let the stereotypes be the rule than the exception.
1. Of course Asians can’t drive. It’s their glasses. We are all nearsighted.
2. Asians can’t speak English, but it is mainly reserved for new immigrants who stay here for decades and still can’t speak English.
3. Asians are doctors. One time, I was mistaken for a doctor by another person who thought I was a doctor that he knew. I told him I’m not HIS doctor. However, I am a degreed Engineer with an MBA.
4. I can’t play sports and I can’t dance either, which is how I describe martial arts.
5. Yes, I’m socially ackward because I study much when I was young. I’m not good looking because I’m an Asian male. If you’re an Asian woman, you get an extra 3 points. White men love to date Asian women and thus, reduce our dating pool. Asian males are not natural alphas so women do not find less dominant males attractive.
6. Asians are not Democrats except when they are. I am a registered Republican and I know many who are Republican, but many Asians are Democrats as well. It has something to do with education policy. Republicans need better messaging to appeal to Asians.
7. Asians work hard academically. It is what they know. That’s why I’m eventually earned a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s degree. Without such motivation, I would have naturally became a C or D student. American’s do not value hard work as much. Even with bad schools, Asians try to improve.
Stereotypes hurt, but life moves on. It was most hard in high school and college. After school, it gets better. Some even find a date and marry like myself.
You are so wrong. Asian men are freakin hot. My personal preference is Japanese (I’m white, but I married a Japanese man), but, god help me, I love them all.
It’s ridiculous to think of people whose ancestry is on the Indian subcontinent as being part of a monolithic “Asian” bloc with people whose ancestry is from Thailand or the Philippines or China or Japan. They’re all quite different cultures.
Want to get in trouble really fast? Start conflating Japan and China in the presence of Chinese people.
As an actual Asian, I totally agree. I believe the Brits tend to lump them together, but I don’t see Indians as “Asians.” To me (Korean) an Asian is Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Philippino, Mongolian, Kazakh, Viet/Cambodian/Laotian or Indonesian.
Indians are Indian Americans. Sometimes Brits even lump Middle Easterners like Pakistanis in with the other “Asians.” I think Chinese/Japanese/Korean Asians see that as incorrectly usurping the term, and — no offense — would rather not be judged in the same category. After all, they work hard to burnish the “Asian” brand as the model minority.
The way I heard the joke was, “How do you know a Korean has broken into your house?” “Because your computer is fixed, your math homework’s done, and the rice cooker’s full.” And I have to admit, that rice cooker is just about always on.
Ms. Noronha, you insist on lumping South Asians in with East Asians, which confuses two completely different and ancient cultures which share nothing but the earth’s largest continent, separated by the earth’s largest mountain range. Surely you realize that the stereotypes of one group have nothing to do with the other. You’re not helping by implying that Japanese and Pakistanis are the same.
Most people make a distinction between Indian-Americans and Asian-Americans.
The most common stereotypes for Asian-Americans (i.e. – bad driving) do not apply to Indian-Americans.
Most people make a distinction between Indian-Americans and Asian-Americans.
The most common stereotypes for Asian-Americans (i.e. – bad driving) do not apply to Indian-Americans. Ditto for Pakistani-Americans, who all work at 7-11′s or drive taxis, neither of which apply to Asian-Americans.
Frankly, what concerns me more than stereotypes of Asian Americans is the latest version of “yellow peril” in the form of China bashing. Yes, the PRC is a competitor and a dictatorship which represents a strategic threat on a number of fronts. But the kind of gratuitous China bashing that people of both parties engage in is creepily reminiscent of the Japan bashing of the middle of the 20th century. If the Chinese are going to challenge the US, it’s not going to be with cyberattacks on the electric grid, it’s going to be by making better electrical gear for our grid.
You could not be more wrong. You understand nothing of the Chinese culture and psyche.
The question is not WILL they go to war with us, it’s only WHEN. And, of course, who will win.
The reason? Ego. Nothing more complicated than that.
2. This is because Democrats much more effective in portraying itself as welcoming minorities and immigrants under the shelter of their Big Tent, and the media obliges in publicizing this myth.
Not true.
This is because Democrats are much more effective in portraying Republicans as bigots, and the media obliges in publicizing this myth.
I was going to make this point too. The Republican Convention went out of its way to showcase the women and other minorities that were up and coming. The MSM went out of its way to go to commercial breaks or commentary during those speeches. So, of course, the media didn’t take the author’s picture. That wasn’t what they wanted to portray the Republicans as.
My girlfriend is from China. She is a good person, but she has her own prejudices against people from rural areas. She basically assumes that that they are less intelligent. I suspect that Asian Americans drifting into the Democrat party has more to do with geography and urban attitudes than anything about race. My hypothesis is that the political views of Asian Americans are not much different than those of Urban Whites. They both live in an urban cocoon where college educated high income people pay other people to do manual labor and have very little interaction with people outside of their class. In contrast, people in the country end up doing a fair amount of manual labor 1) because they have less money and 2) because fixing stuff yourself is faster than waiting on someone to drive out to your house. Rural people are more likely to repair a leaky faucet or change oil on their car while urban people pay others to do those tasks. Rural people see economic diversity in school and in church. Contrasting Victor Davis Hanson and David Brooks, which one has more exposure to real diversity?
I really think most of these stereotypes are confined to the Asian-American (if that’s actually a “thing”) community itself.
But let’s get some terminology straight, first:
Indians and Pakistanis are not Asians, in the American lexicon. The Indian subcontinent counts as a separate region because the people don’t “look Asian.” Only those geographically-deprived weirdos in London consider Indians and Pakistanis to be “Asian.”
(BTW, there’s some irony in that last sentence. Yes, of course I realize that India is a “sub” continent of the Asian continent. I’m trying to depict American attitudes as best I can, not win Final Jeopardy.)
There’s a reason Indians and Pakistanis are not Asian: They cannot conceivably be mistaken for Chinese/Japanese. These, you see, are what are classically thought of as “Asians” in the United States. The Vietnamese and the Koreans got grandfathered in on the basis of their racial resemblance to the aforementioned “Asians.” Yes, I’ve heard that a Korean might get kind of pissed-off at being mistaken for a Japanese…or is it the other way around? But Anglo-Americans don’t give a crap about the respective racial hatreds of the Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans, because half that crap dates from bad behavior that pre-dates our country’s existence, and the main thing to remember is that ya’ll all look alike.
(Yes. That was more irony again. Or something. Does being self-consciously politically incorrect count as “irony?” Not sure.)
So, Chinese and Japanese and Korean folk are “Asian.” Folk with any kind of Tibetan or Mongolian ancestry can make the cut, provided the men wear a Fu Manchu beard and the women dress in a fashion a Westerner might mistake for geisha garb. But Indians and Pakistanis could not possibly be mistaken for “Asians” of that type; hence, they DO NOT GET THE MONIKER.
Okay, now that we have that straight….
Here are the stereotypes about Asians that Anglos in the U.S. have:
1. They kick our ass at academics and violin lessons, and their kids are likely to be the scientist-on-call for our kids, but they aren’t as much fun to watch football with.
2. Item 1 bleeds over into the doctor thing.
3. …?
That’s pretty much the list.
Here are the sterotypes about Indian/Pakistani people that Anglos in the U.S. have:
1. They kick our ass at math and starting up small businesses and working long hours in said businesses, and their kids are likely to be our kids’ bosses since our kids are copying our lack of entrepreneurial gumption and their kids are copying their entrepreneurial overdrive…but they aren’t as much fun to watch a football game with.
2. Those that aren’t actually in the U.S. yet have atrociously hard-to-understand accents and are nevertheless employed to provide piss-poor, dirt-cheap technical support by large American companies, and while we sometimes get irritated on the phone at the poor techie who isn’t actually to blame, in our heart-of-hearts we know it’s the fault of the Anglos running the large American companies who outsourced the tech support to people who can’t communicate with customers effectively.
3. Oh, yeah, a lot of them in big cities are taxi drivers. But that’s a theoretical knowledge for Anglos, rather than a direct experience. You see (a.) any Anglo worth a damn owns his own car from age 16 onward, and (b.) any Anglo worth a damn only rarely and begrudgingly experiences the interior of a large city, because cities are too full of people, and Anglos don’t like people in groups of more than a handful at a time. If 12 apostles was enough of a social crowd for Jesus, it’s enough of a friend-set for the average Anglo.
4. …?
That’s it for the stereotypes.
All this stuff about driving skills? That’s not “Asians.” That’s not even Indians/Pakistanis. That’s taxi drivers. It doesn’t matter if they’re Pakistani or Brooklyn-Italian or Jamaican, mon. They all drive like suicidal maniacs. Goes with the turf, has nothing to do with racial characteristics.
And as for whether Asians (or Indians/Pakistanis) are Democrats?
I would think that would be a wash. The small-business owners would, one expects, lean conservative. Their kids wouldn’t, but that’s because kids the world over are entitled ingrates who don’t appreciate their country or their parents’ hard work. Beyond that, Anglos have no particular party-identification stereotypes.
There you go: An AUTHENTIC look into the Anglo-American psyche regarding Asians. And Indians/Pakistanis, also.
Bravo! Especially the “Indian/Pakistani’s aren’t Asian,” thing!
Gotta agree with R.C.
I found myself surprised at several of these “stereotypes”.
Speaking as an immigrant who originally identified with the Democrats in my 20s, this is my simplistic, generalized take on why many immigrants identify with Democrats, at least in my small sphere of friends and relatives:
It boils down to semantics.
Let me try to explain.
A lot of us (especially from Asia and Eastern Europe) come from corrupt and practically-totalitarian regimes. We have no concept of the real history of the political parties when we first get here. We are also busy working, studying, and just adjusting to this new country. Some are still learning the language. There is very little time or interest in politics, at least in the beginning.
So when we are given the choice between Democrats and Republicans, guess what? “Democrats” we would tend to identify with democracy because, well, they are practically the same word. As for Republicans, well, China, for one, is The People’s Republic of China, and they’re about as anti-democratic as they can get. (Other totalitarian nations call themselves republics as well, like the Soviet Socialist Republics.)
Of course popular culture doesn’t help here. Movies and television are awash with the stereotypes of the caring, gentle and tolerant liberal as opposed to the racist, chauvinist, greedy rich Republican. And so, busy as we are with working or studying and not having copious amounts of time to devote to figuring out the histories of these political parties, we identify with Democrats until something wakes us up.
In my case, that didn’t happen until 2005 because of the Danish cartoons controversy. I was surprised that i couldn’t find them on the NYTimes, which got me to realize what I now identify as the MSM’s liberal bias. It was all rightward from there.
Seems the author prefers to write about the British and not the US. Brits, when they talk about “asians” lump the Far East, India, and the Middle East together. The US keeps those geographic areas separate when discussing stereotypes. If Ms. Noronha wishes to mock Americans for believing certain stereotypes she should try to more accurate in her own stereotyping.
As for her #7 stereotype….She’s more than welcome to come up to any University that has a large asian student contingent and almost non-existent public transportation (Think nearly all of Upstate NY). The stereotype has more than a kernel of truth. If Ms. Noronha believes otherwise she can spend a fall semester riding around on a scooter and experience the stereotype first hand. Better have good health insurance.
Just a terrible article.
Having an author from the in-group (sort of: Indians simply aren’t “Asian” in American English, census category be damned) somewhat excuses filling an article complaining about stereotypes with racist jokes, but it’s still not kosher or decent journalism. For articles like this, keep to statistics or just be quiet and save it for your stand-up routine.
As for the tone, being the model minority may be a myth and a pain for the kids to live up to, but it’s both a natural result of how Asians got into the country (many student and work visas for demanding professions) and better than the alternative. Hardworking is *not* a “bad” stereotype.
Next time, try to live up to the stereotype and do the hard work of writing a decent article on how to improve Republican outreach to the Asian and Desi communities instead of phoning it in like this.
Well, if we use the broad definition of Asia (those who live on the Asian continent) then with India and China alone, that’s over 2 billion. Add in all the rest and it’s probably 2.75 billion people. How did such a socially awkward ethnic “group” reproduce so much?
@rbj,
The Chinese? Family obligations.
The Indians? They’re freaky like that. (No, really…)
The Koreans? God commanded them to.
The Japanese? No one seems to remember…
Japanese are porn addicts and the spittle has to land somewhere.
StereoType #21: Asian-Americans are clueless about American sports. Or at least the author is…. Yao Ming is NOT an American. He is a gifted, talented, retired from the NBA citizen of the People’s Republic of China, born and bred.
I gotta say, I’m surprised the author didn’t call out “Tiger Mom’s” explicitly. There’s a handy stereotype for ya. And ricers (see the compact tuner cars from the Fast & Furious movie franchise) and anime.
Also missed, any mention of the powerful scent of curry lingering in the lobby of many of Americas older motels….
No Charlie Chan???????
Not every Asian is a bad driver. Only half of Asians are bad drivers. The female half, as chance would have it.
Ha-ha! So true! Oh – you’re so sexist- tsk-tsk.
I live in South Carolina. I don’t see a lot of “asian” people here. However, the average local is about as bad a driver as I’ve seen anywhere. Rolling stops, failure to yield, running stoplights, ridiculous “customs” when it comes to turn-signal use (why turn it on after you’re already in the turn; How, exactly does that help?) and driving (as per local custom) 5 mph under the posted speed limit. Another custom is that people won’t pass the old codger doing 45 in a 55 because “it would be rude”.
Although, admittedly, Italy and Spain is the worst for driving. Germany was tops, but not perfect. I have no idea about the Far East. Great Britain is about like the US with certain exceptions. “Roundabout” behavior is varied and few states have them here (thank god).
American drivers, I have found over the years stop trying and adopt a “whatever” attitude towards piloting a 3500lb bullet down the road. Not as bad as some places yet, but getting there.
How about Maya do a column on 7 Worst White American Stereotypes?
I’m a usual old white guy with Asian wife and kids. Not half-Asian, pure Asian. Don’t ask, don’t tell. Son looks like hybrid, daughter not. Confuses people. They are Korean but frequently mistaken for Chinese, especially by Latinos and Blacks who don’t know the difference, but also by Whites and even by fellow Asians. There’s just a lot more Chinese in the SF Bay area than Koreans, so I guess it’s usually a safe bet to assume Chinese. Both kids smart and also good at sports. Daughter very hard-working, son not so much. Son small but charming and very good looking, has lots of girls want to love him long time. Both wife and I high-achieving scientists. Told kids that 95% or better on exams is goal, 90-95% is adequate, and below 90% is unacceptable. They hate it when I do my “High Expectations Asian Father” impression–”We are Asians, not B-sians!”
I’ve worked in China on extended projects. Some of my friends there admitted they can’t always tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
So I don’t feel bad about it any more. There are some clues (like the name Kim), but none of them are foolproof.
I usually just ask, and enjoy them all.
You left out Chris Cheng, winner of History Channel’s Top Shot, season four. An incredible self-taught natural.
I have never heard of any of these stereotypes, except the last one, which is hardly derogatory.
There are no Asians, or Asian-Anmericans. Nobody speaks Asian (except possibly President Obama, to go with his unique command of Austrian.)
Mrs D. is Japanese by birth and education and American by choice. She isn’t an Asian-American, or a Democrat.
Wow, Maya sure has drawn up a whiny, liberal-sounding list of “racist” stereotypes! Since most of the points listed are actually often true (except #4), how is it “racist” to mention them? You do understand that jokes are often said just to have a bit of fun, not to hatefully and maliciously attack people for evil purposes, right? Since you don’t seem to understand that and ridiculously throw around the word “racist” like Chris Matthews, you must be a closet liberal! What are you doing writing for PJMedia? Get a clue, Maya.
Oh, and just so you don’t label me as a “racist”, my wife is Japanese (notice I didn’t say “Oriental”, because Western liberals have decided that it’s racist – even though Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, etc. love to be called that and proudly refer to their ethnicity as “Oriental”).
I think the Asians can’t drive stereotype comes from recent immigrants. My wife drives fine in Asia, but driving in the US was harder for her as we drive faster (less congestion) and often use courtesy (waving people to let them in) whereas in Asia these things do not happen.
She is a much better parker than me though, again, you have to be an amazing parker in Asia – not enough places to park.
If you are an Asian-American born here, none of these apply.
Yeah, this attempt at an article was doomed from the get-go as the author (as someone mentioned above) does not distinguish between peoples from various parts of the biggest continent in the world. Are you talking about Saudis, Indians (tech support types, not the casino variant), Thai, Mongolians, what?
I don’t know what is so bad about the term I use to describe people from eastern Asia – I call them Oriental, meaning “Eastern”. I did not make this term up, so there is no copywrite or trademark for you all to get worked up about. Is it so wrong of me to use this term? Am I being “politically incorrect”? Lord knows, we can’t have that.
Anyhoo, as Pancho put it, in a most humorous fashion (# 23, that was kick-ass humor there, amigo!), the driving thing is very real. You Orientals may call this a stereotype, we call it actuarial science. We also call maize corn, BTW.
Keep in mind, people, that the stereotypes about the blind, deaf and dumb are in many ways much more offensive than those about Orientals. I present what some regard as a joke, as an example of how hurtful this can be:
Why couldn’t Helen Keller drive a car?
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Because she was a woman.
Thank you, thank you, I’ll be lurking all week. Try the leftover stir-fly turkey.
If you do not have epicanthic folds, you are not Asian. Those from the Indian subcontinent I generally refer to as indonesian.
The ancient Greeks and Romans often referred to residents of Syria, modern-day Turkey, Persians and the like as being ‘Asians’.
They also had some common stereotypes w/ being “Asian”.
To the ancients “Asia” was usually short for Asia minor. China and Japan was like a different planet. That’s why.
Can a “stereotype” be a stereotype if virtually no one has heard of it. I have never heard of several of these (e.g., can’t drive, can’t speak english). Others aren’t really Asian stereotypes. I think it’s correct that second generation imigrants from families with a strong work ethic tend to go into medicine or the sciences more often than a subject like law. A friend’s grandfather came from greece in the 1940s and opened a restaurant. His son went to medical school and became one of the top eye surgeons in my state. We have had a big wave of Asian immigration since the 1960s and having more doctors and engineers follows a fairly natural pattern. I recall reading a Martin Peretz article in the 1990s where he remarked about how the MIT graduating class used to be disproportionally Jewish had become disproportionally made of of people of Asian ancestry. At one time, I had heard that the Japanese can’t play golf, but I had never heard that applied to all Asians or Americans of any background at all. I have heard sterotypes about Asians being intellegent or hard workers, but I think a lot of that is based on the general success of those of Indian or Chinese ancestry, which seems born out by test scores. Personally, I think even discussing streotypes in the context of people of Asian ancestry is wrongheaded. In America, we have had a wide variety of serious issues concerning blacks, and many stereotypes that worked to limit their opportunities. Once the model of discussing racial and ethnic issues that originated with the black/white discussion is applied to other ethnicities it becomes much more tenuous. Check out the discussion of last year’s TCM showcase of Arab images in film at the TCM message board for illustrations of how silly things can get.
I’m sorry but you are misinformed.
In the Illinois state constitution it says the official language (of Illinois) is the *American* language, not English.
Take that King George and the rest of you gun-confiscating Limey B*sterds!
As with all stereotypes, the real issue is taking some characteristic that you might have possibly observed or been told about in one or more persons and applying it wholesale to a particular demographic. It’s always inaccurate and easily disputed.
The problem is that the mindset that does this is not likely to listen to facts to the contrary. Thus, articles of this sort serve only the purpose to inform those who are already predisposed to accept their point. (Sad, but true.)
One key to conservative thought is the recognition that each individual is, in fact, an individual. Group stereotypes (including the ones assumed to be complimentary) don’t make sense.
“Brunei, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore count English among their official languages.”
Actually, that is not completely correct. The only official language in Malaysia and Brunei is the Malay language. In both countries, however, English is widely used in business and education, other professional purposes, and occasionally for government or official uses. Having said that, English is definitely a (or the) second language in both countries.
Sorry, the driving stereotype is true (sort of).
The vast majority of first generation immigrant drivers from almost any country OTHER than European nations are terrible drivers, and few ever get to be decent drivers.
Second generation? Almost no difference.
Third? No difference.
It ain’t genetics, it’s culture.
And there’s a LOT more to driving well than merely avoiding fatal accidents! People who drive too slowly may well avoid being involved in fatal accidents, but that doesn’t make them good drivers. In fact, they may be CAUSING accidents without being involved.
What do you mean by culture? What has driving fast or slow got to do with culture?
Everything.
Drive overseas and find out, or here in many heavily Hispanic areas. For example, along the Rio Grande it’s common to see bumper stickers that say, “Arrive alive! Drive 45!”, on cars that are being driven @ 45 on highways that have posted speed limits of 75. ALWAYS on cars driven by Hispanics. Similar things can be seen in southern California, too. It’s a cultural thing.
Are you trying to say it’s genetic?
I find it disconcerting that the most visible Asian-American politicians – Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley – are converts to Christianity and use diminutive names. Hopefully, that will change with Tulsi Gabbard’s election to Congress.
Sounds like you’re a classic bigot.
A full fellow human being is a human you can joke with. This is not possible with Asians. It is also not possible with Blacks or Hispanics. Only with other White strangers can a White share a joke. Why? Because the unspoken understanding underlying the sharing of a joke with a stranger is, we’re all in this together. There never has and never will be such an unspoken understanding that can be made to jump the racial gap. And all the martial PC indoctrination won’t change that biological fact. Which is why America was an unbelievably better place when it was 90% White. And it will never be that place again. Thank you, best and brightest traitors!
I joke with Asians, south Asians, Africans (I mean the real kind, people from Africa), blacks, American Indians (I prefer the term, “First Immigrants”), and who knows what else. Oh,yea, South Pacific Islanders, too.
Did I miss any?
Eskimos. I don’t know any Eskimos.
Anyway, I work with people from all over the world, and we joke around a lot.
Americans with an Asian background are natural Republicans. They tend to be intelligent, hard working and family oriented. “Asia” covers a vast area of course, from Turkey and Israel all the way through India to China and Japan, but I cannot think of any generic, or genetic, exception to the general rule. The Republicans should stop competing for the welfare-for-votes crowd and vie instead for the rewards-for-work people instead.
The greatest generation to early baby boom cohort may need to be well and dead before that, especially as it applies to far eastern asians. Too much “nip” and “gook” stories. And because of that we are only beginning the Democratic century of dominance (due to the GWOT and outsourcing) for what I call the brown Asians.
I went in to pay for some petrol at a 7/11 and as soon as I opened my big English gob the two Indian cashiers asked me if I followed cricket and my thoughts on the Ashes.
Instead of chatting away and having an amicable conversation, I should have told them not to be so stereotypical .
Asians in California want their children to go to college at Stanford or Berkeley (or UCLA). Stanford or Berkeley is not a plan!
What? No mention of how demeaning Charlie Chan is? (Brilliant detective, wonderful father to large family, kind, polite, and always solves the crime.)
Are you SURE you’re American? Because I thought only the Brits were dumb enough to lump all non-whites under the term ‘Asian!’ We’d call Indians (& Pakis, althoug pakistan is a fake country full of criminal moslems) ‘Dravidians’ and the Chinese ‘Orientals.’ Perhaps the moslem liar Edward Said has confused you with his ‘orientalism’ nonsense, which slanders all non Easterners as racists?!
7. Chinese can’t drive. This is a FACT, and insurance companies will (but only privately) back it up.
Indians, (Bharatis) however, are obviously a different breed, and they CAN drive.
6. The accent of all “Indian” languages DOES emphasize the same syllables, and so they DO all sound like the same language (group) to English-speakers. This is also (again) different from Chinese.
5. You made that one up, and deliberately conflated opposing categories. The myth that Orientals (Chinese and Japanese) are better at math (and so also, science and engineering, and medicine) was debunked by Malcolm Gladwell: it’s because ONE of the Chinese languages uses much shorter words for numbers, which enables them to memorize and utilize math faster than everyone else, and that’s it.
4. As usual, you only conflate Dravidians with Chinese orientals.
3. ‘Asian’ cultures (and here I’ll conflate both groups, too) are authoritarian; withouot strict social rules and traditions, Yes you are quickly lost at sea!
2. See #3, above! Democrats are all for group might-made-rights, not individual ones. Since most of the ‘Asia’ you are acquainted with was forced to Submit to the islamic extortion racket and victimology-selling crime syndicate long ago, it’s what your people are used to, sad to say.
1. Re: Perfectionism – This is not a stereotype nor a myth; please investigate causes of suicide in China and Japan for yourself.
“Truth sometimes like stab of cruel knife.” (Charlie Chan at the Race Track)
“All generalities are false, including this one”
Asians do in fact tend to be, in my experience, particularly awkward, abysmal and at times downright hazardous when it comes to the operation of the motor vehicle.
Have one Chinese associate who is self-aware of this and prefers I drive; I had occasion to experience his driving once and agree with him unequivocally. It was mildly frightening and generally turbulent.
What a bunch of Asian stereotyping goofballs!
DNA reports have Early Asians (called Indians by a lost Italian named Columbus) listed as Asian since the DNA is the same.
I know an American of Asian decent. He is not at all as described by your Stereotyping “Asian-Americans”. A very Patriotic American who served his country well.
Everyone on first impression calls him an Injun or Native American (he claims; anyone born here is a Native American) what “Tribe” not “Nation” are you? Tired of it he tells them a Fuggaowee or Thaiowatamee or just tells them to “Stecha-Locka”.
Bad drivers?? Anybody want to compare driving records? I know this Asian decent American has over five million miles without accident. Includes 10-80s driving a police car, only cop in the dept that did not have a wreck on the winding narrow roads of his bailiwick and also driving a semi livestock trailer with horses or cattle on from his Texas ranch to all points delivering or buying for himself.
He set High School Records in track although he never tried to outrun a speeding bullet, as Zorro said earlier. Although, He can and will disarm you easily.
As far as not finding a desirable woman since all the American men get them? His wife is drop dead gorgeous, a top hand and partner and 18 years younger than he.
How about the “Afraid of Hotel Rooms and a numbers”?? Are you Drunk Zorro? Want to follow him around for a day in his high risk occupation. He does not ride bulls rodeoing anymore but still rides rough string, sitting well on a saddle bronc till they quit bucking and line out for a days work. Maybe ride to pasture with rope tied hard n fast to saddle horn while roping a bull needing doctoring.
Or just try his hobby of jousting Southern Italian style with him. This guy is almost 70.
What is your best reference for your opinion? “The King and I”?? That factitious BS film and play that is watched over and over with “So goes England, so goes the World.”
The Asian’s developed an Alphabet and the Fork for noodles while my European ancestors were still eating their neighbors. Not like the Movie version with the Brits introducing the fork.
Thinking the Asians are a bunch of wimps and judging all by your experience with a few is only going to get your butt kicked.
My visiting friend, we call Genghis, wrote this after reading the comments.
Stereotype 1 is why stereotype 5 is true. Lawyers are smart enough to be engineers or doctors, but are too lazy to do the work involved getting the degree. No self-respecting Asian would stoop so low to be a lawyer.
I admit it.
Years ago I called a help line for Dell.
I got a nice woman with a strong Indian accent.
She told me her name was Nancy Roberts.
I questioned this, and she said it was her “Business name”.
I told her I’d prefer to speak to an Indian; someone with a name like “Nancy Roberts” probably could not solve my technical problem.
Ah, funny. Just tonight I called tech support at a large Internet service provider. The very young and white-sounding woman who tried to help me had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. (I’m white.) She didn’t know a browser from a web site from a search engine. After about 10 frustrating minutes I said “let me talk to the Indian guy.” She was glad to be rid of me, gave me the Indian guy and my problem was fixed in about 30 seconds.