When “people of color” are talked about in history and media, the predominant picture that’s imagined is a black person being kicked out of a restaurant or a Mexican person being detained for being here illegally.
But, many neglect to consider the strife of one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, with over 20 million people recorded in 2015.
Asian-Americans are one of the most underrepresented minority groups in America, despite being an integral part of this country’s history and progress. It’s evident in government and especially media. If you’ve watched the Oscars, the picture gets clearer (this year’s Oscars was an improvement with Kelly Marie Tran and Kazuhiro Tsuji).
There is a very small number of strong figures that little Asian-American kids can look up to. Just look at the short list seen on Scholastic’s web page. It is especially troubling because Scholastic is one of the biggest publishers of children’s books in America. But, Asians-Americans have sweated on the fields, bled on the railroads, progressed in medicine and health and have done so much more.
However, the aspects that America’s education system chooses to teach run along the lines of stereotypical feebleness. The Chinese exclusion during the Gold Rush, the Japanese internment camps and the aid of the Americans to the Filipinos in WWII, the Vietnam War, the Korean War. Negative associations seem to be subconsciously embedded in the American psyche and people should be aware.
Abolish the “yellow” stereotypes that have plagued the perception of Asian-Americans in this country. Asians are not all weak-willed, scrawny, good at math, play computer games religiously, or any other thing many have been conditioned to assume. Asians are like all the other minority groups in America, strong-willed and resolute and should be proud of where they came from.
America will not fully reach its potential until every one of its unique backgrounds is acknowledged and represented. The supposed “patriots” in this country have a one track mind on what it means to be American. In fact, many of the things they consider to be unAmerican, like taking a knee during the National Anthem and choosing to not support a war, are very much the latter.
Real Americans, to me, are the ones who have come from a different place and have made a better life for themselves and their family. The immigrant spirit is half of the whole that makes America what it is. A professor once described to me the ideal America, not as a melting pot which would imply an eventual sameness, but a salad with each different ingredient being known and being in harmony.
Paulo Dela Cruz is an intern at Sonoma West Publishers and an aspiring journalist.
