Author: Sundas Ejaz

Artifact Archive Project

• What is Phi’s point about Asian Americans’ relationship to police and police violence? What is the goal of his piece?

Phi discusses how conservative Asian Americans are when it came to societal issues such as police brutality. He talks about how Asian Americans support the police and how they supported a petition for the NYPD, but then won’t show the same support when one of their own community members was murdered by the same police. It shows how conservative  Asian Americans are worried about their own lives, which is why they try to stay on the good side of the police, even if it means that they are supporting their oppressors. The police are the oppressors as law enforcement tends to go against Asian Americans quite often, especially white policemen. For that reason they would rather show support for them, and not when their own people are victims of police brutality. Overall it shows how no matter how hard we try to assimilate into American culture and take sides with the oppressors, the system will never be in our favor. We can only hope that they would protect us the same way they protect their white Americans. Phi also encourages that Asian Americans should acknowledge that it’s wrong to take sides with the oppressors, as regardless, the system is against us, so instead we should rather stick together as a community and fight oppression.

• What do you learn about “Chinese conservatism” from the article by Zen and what are the responses from other Chinese community members? How does this piece relate to Phi’s writing?

Chinese conservatives often take the side of the oppressors. This is because they are conditioned to believe that other minorities such as the Black community are “lazy criminals” and are responsible for “all the hate crimes towards Asians.” Unfortunately yes hate crimes do occur, but it is very wrong to put an entire racial community at blame due to the faults of a few. Since Chinese conservatives have a wrongful view on black people, they often tend to side with law enforcement when it comes to issues dealing with black people. They always support the police, and are in favor of times when the police is unjust to the black community. For example, anytime a material possession or property such as store is destroyed by a black person, they are quick to blame the entire community, or even when it wasn’t a black person, they somehow try to put the blame on them. And when law enforcement responds to these issues, there are times when black people lose their lives due to how anti black our law system is. And unfortunately many Chinese Americans don’t care about the lives of black peoples due to this hatred that they have towards them. Why is it that people care more about material possessions that can be replaced than the lives of a person? My opinion is that the anti blackness that is rooted in the Chinese community is a result of conditioning and propaganda that is spread to make the black community look like the enemies of the Chinese Americans, which only divides the communities more and more.

• What is the goal of the letter? Do you think this letter meets the goal? Why or why not?

The goal of this letter is to make the authors family understand that black people aren’t our enemies, and that it is wrong for us Asian Americans to be siding with the law enforcement aka our oppressors, because regardless, our support of them doesn’t guarantee our protection. Instead we should be more accepting towards the black community, understand that they too are minorities who also struggle in a society where the system wasn’t made to favor them, and to stop believing propaganda that is spread about them. At the end of the day, black people are humans too, and they too deserve the upmost support and respect that we give to others. Thus, I do think this letter achieved its goal because not only did the author call out his family for their anti black beliefs,  it it also addresses how Asian conservatism doesn’t guarantee our protection by the law, and at the end of the day, we all are minorities living in a system that is against us. We should be supporting each other rather than hating on each other due to blatant propaganda.

Frameworks: I chose “White Doctor” by Alison Roh Park. This talks about the narrators loved one who is at a hospital and has a white doctor. From my perspective of this poem, the narrators family had always relied on ancient remedies to cure illnesses, but in the western world, they often disregard such remedies and call them nonsense. For that reason the doctors would rather make you rely on their expensive western medicine than you use affordable ancient remedies. I picked this poem because it reminded me of my own family and how we too often use ancient remedies for various illnesses. But like the narrators lived one, there are times when we have to use western mediation, even if it’s expensive.

Stories: I choose “POV From the Frontlines” by Charezka Renordio. This story talks about how a sick nurse had wanted to go to the doctor because she was sick but couldn’t since the staff was running out of safety equipment due to non health professionals hoarding them. People often forget that health professionals aren’t immune to diseases, and since they are the ones working on the frontlines during this pandemic, they need health supplies and equipment more than anyone. I think it’s very unfair for people to hoard an insane amount of these equipments like masks for themselves, and let the elderly and health professionals be prone to sickness.

Resources: I chose the comic “Protect Yourself, Family & Friends From Getting Sick” by Malaka Ghairib. It shows drawings and explanations of different ways you can take safety precautions during the COVID pandemic. I thought this comic was cute and informative which is why I chose it. I also like how there is a translation in another language provided as well.

In the “Forgotten Asian Refugees fed into the U.S. Prison System” by Kimberley Yam, she discusses how Cambodians had fled to the US in order to escape the communist regime in their home country. She talks about how  a refugee named Phal Sok and his family migrated to the US to escape the regime. However, they had faced many issues such as they received very little support, were poverty stricken, Soks mother left when he was 2, and his father passed away which resulted in him turning to gang and criminal activity due to depression. Refugees are then settled in poof areas and then are forced to assimilate into society themselves which is extremely difficult. They grew up poor, and were bullied constantly, which eventually led to many southeast Asians turning to gang activity. Because the law is stricter on refugees, many of them, like Sok, risk being deported back to Cambodia, even though he has never been there. Due to an increased amount of ICE activity under the Trump administration, many Cambodians fear they may be deported. Conditions under ICE detainment aren’t great either, and people are being forced to return to their country despite the US initially letting them in as refugees. Deportation had resulted in many issues such as, families being torn apart, increased PTSD/trauma/depression among deportees, and some even turn to alcohol/drug abuse, and even worse, suicide. There is no benefit that comes out of deporting refugees, and it’s also hypocritical, because as stated before, they are being forced to return to Cambodia by the same country who has accepted them in as refugees. In my opinion, it’s very unfair how refugees are treated here. How does the same country that accepts them in doesn’t care about them at all? It just shows that the US has never really cared about poc, and the treatment they face here. Activists like Sok are working to help the incarcerated youth and with other SE Asians so they don’t go down the same path. It’s great that at least SE youth have some type of support from their own community when the US couldn’t prove it for them.

The model minority myth was created to stereotype Asian Americans as the only successful minority group, while portraying other minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics as the exact opposite. Based on the readings and videos, you can see how society reinforces this myth. Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Yale mostly consists of White students and Asian Americans, and it’s not even just because they are smart students, it’s also because these colleges take in more Asian Americans due to the stereotype that they are smarter than other minorities. Hence why according to them. it’s better to accept Asians rather than other minorities. You can easily look up student demographics at these Ivy League schools, and see that there’s a clear racial disparity among the different racial groups at these schools.

While Asian Americans are seen as law abiding, successful, rich and etc, other minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics are seen as the exact opposite. They are often seen as thugs in society, and anytime any member of the community becomes successful in any way, often people find it suspicious to how someone of that group could become successful. They are also more likely to be convicted of crimes because of that terrible stereotype place on them. That mentality is very toxic and racist, as no minority should be seen as superior but rather equal. As minorities we should stick up for one another and not reinforce these stereotypes.

As a Pakistani American, this model minority myth also applies to South Asians as we are commonly stereotyped as “nerds who are good in math, and etc.” Yes many of us are very smart and successful and that is good, but for those who do struggle in schools, they are pressured to fit into these stereotypes, and when they can’t they are shamed by the Desi community. This stereotype has to end, as success shouldn’t be based off of what society expects of you as being part of a certain racial group.

In conclusion, we need to drop this toxic stereotype, because not only does it make one group seem superior to other, but also brings down and shames the other minority groups.

• From the readings and film, what do we learn about the criteria for citizenship? Who was allowed to be a citizen or belong to the U.S. and what was required?

From the readings and film we have learned about the criteria for citizenship that it never favors POC, and POC often have to prove themselves to be considered citizens in the US.  Asian immigrants would have to prove their loyalty to the US, whereas European immigrants were easily able to gain citizenship. In ‘Ozawa and Thind’, Owaza had to assimilate himself fully into the American culture while detaching himself from his Japanese culture in order to prove his loyalty to America and gain citizenship.

• What do you think defines “citizenship” today– by this, I mean not just the legal definition but also the social definition. Who is considered to be a part of the U.S.? What does it mean to belong here? What should be the definition, in your opinion?

In my opinion I think anyone who lives here, works, pay taxes, abides by the laws should be considered a citizen, and race or ethnicity shouldn’t matter. Many people here do all of the above and aren’t able to gain citizenship, which I don’t think is fair at all.

1. Some of the arguments that are made to exclude Chinese migrants from the U.S. or from participation in American life are that they were seen as inferior to the white American and seen as second class citizens. There were disgusting stereotypes made about them as well such as them being “uncivilized, unclean…lustful and sensual…every female is a prostitute of the basest order.” They were not only seen as dirty but also were heavily sexualized. Chinese women were forced into prostitution which created the stereotype that they are “lustful and sensual.” Chinese migrant children were also discriminated against in schools — that was if they were able to get into those schools.

2. Chinese communities obviously did not like this mistreatment as they were very hardworking people. They had attempted to change the segregation laws placed upon them through petitions and protests, but even so that didn’t work.

3. These histories have to do with current events as Chinese discrimination still exists to this day. With the COVID-19 plague , the Chinese have been put to blame for this, and many innocent Asians have been harassed and many hate crimes have been committed against them for something they didn’t do.

4. As we review the material it’s interesting to learn a lot about the experiences of different groups of Asians in America, as we are not really taught about Asian American history in schools, and when we are, it usually only focuses on one geographical location in Asia. I like how we discuss all groups and learn about their experiences and struggles, because I like how I can relate and talk about a lot of the topics we discuss.

I also think this class is going good so far. I enjoyed the topics we’ve discussed and read/watched videos about. Overall I think this class is really interesting. I like our class discussions as well, and I like how it is structured, plus the breakout rooms are helpful sometimes. I don’t think anything has to be changed. I like how everything is structured already. And I don’t have any song recommendations either.

When Theda Perdue states that “we don’t realize that race is an idea that evolves over time, that it has a history, that it is constructed by society to further certain political and economic goals,” she means that race doesn’t necessarily have to do with how you look, but is rather used in political s to allow certain races to gain power while making others inferior. A persons status in society and the level of respect they would receive was determined from their skin color. As the documentary later states how the lower class consisted of black people, while the higher class consisted of white/pale people. Of course those with the paler skin would have greater opportunities in society, and would always have more power and control of politics, as the system was made to benefit them.

Indigenous populations and enslaved populations were racialized  in different ways. Indigenous populations were seen as white peoples with tanned skin due to the sun. They were seen as white, but because of their culture, Europeans viewed them as “savages” that needed to be civilized. For that reason they were to be wiped out so that the Europeans can settle in and not have to worry about these “savages.” Those who weren’t wiped out were forced to be assimilated into the European way of life, and follow Christianity. Enslaved populations were seen as inferior, and white Americans use science to justify that as well. Pro slavery advocates would claim that Thomas Jefferson’s phrase “all men” did not include black peoples, so therefore they weren’t seen as equal to the white man. These groups being racialized in such a way were just excuses for the white man to claim superiority over other races. They used religion as science to say they were superior than other races.

White Americans started using science to justify their racism towards poc and to claim racial superiority. They compared skull sizes, skull capacity, and brain capacity, to justify their belief on how the white American is the most superior man.

Filipino people were racialized as well. They were seen as inferior, similar to how Native Americans and African Americans were seen as inferior to the white American. Upon the US claiming the Philippines as US territory, they believed that it was their duty to civilize these different nations and they believed doing so was “the white mans burden” but it had to be done.

The video “A Conversation with Asian Americans on Race” discusses the experiences Asian Americans faced growing up in America, and the stereotypes and racism they faced. Some people stated how when people refer to Americans, they usually see Americans as only white. Asian Americans are also often told to hide their Asian identity and only told to associate with their American side. Many people have also had experiences during their childhood in which people would use derogatory and racist words, and make disgusting remarks about the color of their skin. And many of the times, the Asian Americans were ridiculed by other white Americans. The video also discusses the model minority myth, and how Asians are stereotyped as being smart, over achieving and privileged in American society.

Dhingra and Rodriguez define race, ethnicity, gender etc as social constructs, that are used to establish inferiority or superiority based on ones appearance, their origin/ancestry, and their gender.

The yellow peril is a racist term used to stereotype East Asians and create the fear that they will invade western lands and force them to adapt the East Asian way of life. East Asians are essentially seen as a danger to the western world.

The term model minority also stereotypes East Asians as being smart, wealthy, hard working, overachieving members of society. They are seen as the ideal minority group and that other minority groups should see them as an ideal example of what minorities should be like. This myth is also stereotypical and gives the false narrative that every Asian must meet these criteria’s or else they are seen as failures in society.

Some of the common explanations for why people migrate to the unites states is “for a better life.” America to foreign nations has always been seen as a land of opportunities, and for those who are poor and poverty stricken in their countries, this is seen as a land of riches for them. Those who migrate here look for a better quality in life, and are often met with the opposite in the beginning. My parents had migrated here, originally because they had won a lottery ticket to migrate here from their country, but had decided to stay because they thought initially America could possibly improve their quality of life from what it was like back in Pakistan. They quickly realized that wasn’t true, and they had struggled greatly at first in this country, I’d say even more than in their country. However this is also seen in media such as movies as America has always been portrayed as the land of the great with amazing opportunities and etc. For many reasons, people often want to migrate here to gain those “amazing” opportunities that are talked of.

These explanations compare to the theory that Yang puts forth which is the push and pull theory. There is an initial reason to why people wish to migrate here. These reasons include economic issues back in their own countries, political issues, natural disasters, environmental issues, religious freedom, poverty etc. People then migrate to the US, in a hope to escape these issues, and hope for an improved quality of life.

Another “cluster of factors” I would add to Yang’s theory is that many people also leave their countries due to same sex relationships being illegal or taboo. Many foreign nations, such as in predominantly Muslim nations, same sex relationships are illegal and those who participate in it can be severely punished. For that reason as well, people tend to leave their countries to escape this type of discrimination and persecution.