Reflective Essay on Study of Asian Americans

The most important concept I would say I learned is that no one can distinguish someone else from a specific race as there is no characteristic, trait, not even a gene that can specify all members of one race from all members of another race. This is further proven as there may be more variation between members of the same racial group than two different racial groups.

Some factors that one might consider in order to find out if someone is Asian American is geography, government classification, appearance, culture, and self-identification. All these factors even put together may not help identify whether someone is Asian American. This is because race changes over time and is not easily measurable. Race heavily depends on the social and historical system which means that physical features matter because we give them meaning. This definitely matters to me as any individual should be recognized for who they are rather than just be generalized under a stereotype and not get proper recognition.

Some concepts I learned included people who went to the United States to look for opportunities and were not easily given citizenship due to the fact that they were not white. This may also have been an after effect of the Chinese exclusion acts of 1882 and 1884. This factor was really inconsistent as the people who were making those decisions did not have criteria to go by. This is supported by the fact that Indians were considered white persons in 1910, 1913, 1919, and 1920 but not in 1909 or 1917, or after 1923. This concept is still being practiced today with the immigration ban on Muslim countries, this really impacted me as I am a Muslim myself.

Another concept I learned was about the model minority stereotype and how it is true in some ways but is a generalization of Asian Americans and how that may cause problems for minority groups and just individuals in general. I used to believe this as well but the more I found out about this I realized this stereotype is just a generalization and does not depict the whole picture. The model minority is true in ways that include having higher average education and higher salary. However, this does not mean that every Asian American is getting a higher education and earning a higher salary. This statement is closely attached to the problem which is failing to recognize the variation within the Asian American population.

The article California’s lost and found Punjabi Mexican cuisine, (Week 1 Sonia Chopra) was interesting as it was the first time I had ever heard of a blend of Punjabi and Mexican cuisines. California’s miscegenation law was a driving force in the building of the Punjabi-Mexican community. These laws basically forced the Punjabi men and Mexican women to get married as the interpretation of this law was vague and that meant categorizing Punjabis and Mexicans as brown people. This caused two major cultures to coincide and have an impact on each other through food. Offering two types of cuisine to the locals through the restaurant it gave the Punjabi-Mexicans their own identity. Either of the cuisines never overlapped, the only crossover dish El Rancho offered was the roti quesadilla. This article really hit home for me as I am Punjabi myself and I had never thought about a Punjabi-Mexican mixture in any sort including either cuisine influencing each other.

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I really took an interest in the article Tiger Mom, Hold that growl, (Week 7 Martha Pickerill) as I could relate to it in some ways as parents usually have some expectations for their children. However, after reading this article I saw how Amy Chua had control over of her daughters as she wanted them to exceed all expectations. I learned how this method has a greater risk of putting their children through depression and other behavioral problems. The article further discusses another way of parenting and that Amy Chua’s way of parenting is not even that common. The article describes a supportive parenting method which basically means being involved and being supportive of a child in their school age. Furthermore, other studies like What is tiger parenting? How does it affect children? (Week 7 Su Yeoung Kim) also, suggest that Asian Americans endorse an incremental view of intelligence whereas European Americans endorse is as an entity view of intelligence. The scholars making these statements believe that Asian Americans believe in effort being the reason for success rather than innate ability.

This theory is further backed by the article What Asian Americans really care about when they care about education, (Week 7, Pawan Dhingra). The article states that Asian Americans are optimistic about the openness of education in the states because relative to Asian systems. Asian systems are defined by hierarchy and strict exams and that is why Asian Americans want their children to be well educated in STEM fields to overcome any blocked mobility which further includes any barriers related to ethnic minorities.

Another reading I found an interest in was The racial triangulation of Asian Americans, (Week 10 Claire Jean Kim). The author talks about taking a different approach when thinking about race and that is by going beyond black and white. This article peaked my interest as I had no idea that races were being analyzed on a scale. The first approach is called the different trajectories approach which analyses racialization as an open-ended variable process that has affected each group differently. This includes Asians being part of the exclusion. The second approach is the racial hierarchy approach. This method is the ordering of groups into a single scale of status and privilege with Whites on the top and Blacks on the bottom and all other groups in between. These two processes still have problems as the different trajectories approach is that it attributes to respective racialization processes that are in fact mutually constitutive of one another. Asian Americans have been racialized through interaction with Whites and Blacks. There is also a problem with the racial hierarchy approach as that puts up a notion on a single scale of status and privilege. In this approach, whites have appeared to order other racial groups along two criteria historically. Asian Americans have been belittled more often as outsiders or aliens. The article talks about how Asian Americans are portrayed as the other whites which show how the process of racialization is mutually constitutive of one another. This also unveils how there may be more than one dimension or scale at a time.

The author further discusses how Asian Americans have been racially triangulated in the set field of racial positions. The author reiterates her first point by acknowledging the fact that we have major opinion makers which consist of White officials and elites etc. which are being contested every day among other racial groups which causes divide and groups to become racialized in comparison. The author's second point stresses on the fact that Asian Americans are valorized by a dominant group relative to Blacks. This gives the White power to dominate both groups. The dominant group furthermore processes civic ostracism which constructs the Asian American group as aliens or foreigners in comparison to White which basically ostracizes them from the body politic and civic membership.

Another article that interested me was masculine norms, avoidant coping, Asian values, and depression among Asian American men (Week 13, William Ming Liu). This article talks about how Asian Americans may have higher mental health issues. The stereotype model minority obscures to take into account mental health among the Asian American population and it is alarming as surveys show Asian Americans have the highest amount of psychological stress. The article further talks about how men face and deal with these mental health issues arrive as they adhere to masculine norms. Attempting to fulfill these norms creates a dysfunction strain or psychological stress. Conforming to these norms was associated between self-reliance and depressive symptoms, while dominance was related to psychological distress. In order to deal with these depressive symptoms, the article talks about coping strategies such as alcohol and other drugs. However, this may also have an adverse effect as these coping methods may be in concert with conceptualizing of what it means to be a man. Asian values that steered the factors like cultural values may influence how people manifest categorical psychological issues such as depression. Kim and colleagues (2001) found that despite important within-group variations found among numerous Asian ethnic teams, there are some common values that are shared among Asians, including collective worldview, family recognition through accomplishment, control over emotions, filial righteousness, humility, and hierarchical relationships (Kim, Atkinson, & Yang, 1999). Asian American men who endorse Asian values may have lower levels of depressive symptomology compared to others who do not endorse Asian values. This article shed light on a topic that is not easily discussed even today in Asian American families as also seen in class. This article really helped me understand taking precautions and taking the right steps in order to deal with mental health.