A Look at Asian American Studies - Emery McKee - Ryan Caragher - Emma Rohrer - Gabe Velazquez

Yellow Peril Supports black lives matter

R. Lee explains how Asian Americans became the model minority in the second half of the 21st century because “Asian Americans were ‘not black’” Earlier they had been considered a “Yellow Peril” and Chinese laborers had been hated and discriminated against, but after the second World War, as Asians immigrated to America, they were greeted with tolerance as America tried to show that it was not racially prejudiced. It was important that America be seen as a tolerant society during the ColdWar, and they did this by accepting a non-white minority: the Asians. They idealized this minority because “they were both politically silent and ethnically assimilable.” While Blacks became restless trying to gain civil rights, the Asian immigrants did not take political risks because they wanted to protect their fragile immigration status. They learned what happened to the Japanese in the internment camps, and they were not going to risk causing any disturbance. Cady Lang, author of a TIME magazine article, examines Asian Americans’ view of the Black Lives Matter movement. Asians Americans have a long history of alliance with the Black community since they both experienced so much racial prejudice and societal backlash during the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the 60’s Asian American students were strong and active supporters for the Black social justice movements. They remembered how Japanese Americans were treated during WWII, and they were sympathetic to activists trying to gain equality for another oppressed racial group. However, during that same time,the myth of Asians as a model minority was gaining acceptance in the U.S. As a response to Black protest movements in the 60’s the example of the peaceful Asian American communities was used to discredit Black activists. The Asians had found success in hard labor, why couldn't Blacks? “To say that this minority is the ‘good minority’ means you’re essentially saying there’s a bad minority, which keeps people divided,” said writer and activist Helen Zia. It seems like both articles stressed that minorities are judged according to how able they are to assimilate to the majority. Asian Americans became more accepted in this country because they were able to adapt to norms and social behaviors of the majority race in America. This reinforces the idea that assimilation into white society should be the primary goal of other ethnic groups, a concept that is no longer accepted by major sociologists.