Beyond Black and White: Racializing Asian Americans in a Society Obsessed with O.J.

The Lee article made me think a lot about my own heritage. As a half-Caucasian, quarter-Chinese, quarter-Pacific Islander (Guamanian, or Chamorro), I am sometimes recognized as having an "ethnic" look about me. On one job interview for an inventory position at a warehouse, the (Japanese) man who hired me said, after I aced a math prerequisite exam, "Of course you passed it! I made the decision to hire you the moment I saw you. I could spot your f---ing slanted eyes from a mile away!" The comment made me uncomfortable at the time, but I did get the job and thought not at all about it afterward. Because I am half European mix n' match (Swedish, English, and others, I guess), not everyone can tell. But when I give an indication that I am proficient at math - formerly a math major, currently a math minor - people laugh and attribute it to my race. What disturbs me is that I have certainly come to accept and even catered to this perception that my race and interests are linked, in this instance. More disturbingly, this article indicates that while black and white racial tensions have always been part of social discourse, there is little or none regarding the status of Asians or Asian Americans. As a "model minority," we expect them to be the same - to work hard, to be good at math or science, and to be, at best non-descript, and at worst, bumbling with a heavy accent. That Asians and Asian Americans are the recipients of racial stereotyping is not surprising in a country that is rife with conflict, whether it's racial, gendered, or otherwise. What is problematic is that this stereotyping is not studied or critiqued; it has been normalized. Until this article, I had never considered the serious implications of the stereotyping of Asians and Asian Americans within society. At least, with African Americans (given the white-black dichotomy we bandy about), the conflict is public and has a place for discussion. Asian and Asian American stereotyping is generally invisible and even acceptable. It begs the question, how many more groups are targeted and treated as such, with little or no recognition of the offense? And what will it take for American society to perceive these shortcomings of its purported equality? The O.J. Simpson trial was over ten years ago, and little to no attention was paid to the racializing of Asians and Asian Americans. This leaves little encouragement that recognition and representation will effectively call out the conflict, and until then, the problem will go unnoticed by many, lamented by few, and changed not at all.