How does one act Asian?
Stereotypes are most annoying thing in any society no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, social status, whatever. Unfortunately, if you are in a racial minority, stereotypes like to bite you in the ass more often than not. In my case, I have to deal with stereotypes directed towards Asians and Asian-Americans.
The most common ones are:
You don’t act very Asian.
May I ask, how does one act Asian? Am I supposed to have ridiculously long hair done up in braids and loops like in the movies? I don’t know any sort of martial arts and I can’t speak Vietnamese very well. I also suck at math and science. And I speak English just fine too.
You speak English good.
Well, I can’t really say the same for you, since that sentence is grammatically incorrect. I think you mean “well” instead of “good.” And yes, I should speak English well, since I was born in this country!
Where are you from? I mean, where are you really from?
I’m from New York. No, the state, not the city. I lived there my whole life. If you want to know where my family emigrated from, then it’s Vietnam. What is so foreign about Asians that were born in America?
How do you say [insert hello, good-bye, I love you, whatever the hell floats their boat] in your language?
First off, why does it matter? Why do you care? If this is your method of trying to pick up someone, then I think you’re better off in English. Why? Because it’s a better if the other person actually understood what you’re saying, as oppose to confusing them when you first meet them. Besides, considering the fact that many Asian languages are tonal, then you could completely screw up and say something else instead.
Wait! Lemme guess… You’re Chinese!
No, I’m not. Do not try to argue with me. I know what my ethnicity is! China is not the only country in Asia. Yes, it makes up a very large part of it, and 1 of 5 people in the world is of Chinese descent. However, that does not mean every single Asian person is Chinese.
See! There are other countries too!
There are several more of these such as the Asians can’t drive or all Asians look the same. But I don’t feel like going on about this all in one post. I could go on a whole spiel on racial slurs directed towards Asians as well, but that will be saved for a later date.
Filed under: rants | 4 Comments
Tags: Asian-American, model minority, racial minority, stereotypes, stupid people
Ohhhh I have to agree 1000 percent on this one. I have had numerous people tell me that I’m not black because I don’t fall into the category of the stereotypical ghetto sounding, drug sellin, pants off their ass havin, ignorant “black” person. I also happen to be one of maybe 12 black people who don’t live in a city or are from the city, and I want to run people over with a lawnmower when they ask if I am from Brooklyn.
The worst part is when they guessed wrong. I’m 100% Vietnamese, but people keep thinking I’m Hispanic. ?_? Even Hispanic people can’t tell lol
haha someone once asked me why I don’t have “floss” eyes if I’m asian. I started laughing and they ran away.
I think the problem is AA haven’t found their identity yet. There’s just so many different types of Asians and they come very various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Unlike Hispanics, we don’t share a common language. So I think that’s where MOST of the problems lie.