Tag Archives: stereotypes

By Gaylord Garcia For decades, data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been insufficient and lackluster.  The AAPI community has been left out of deep and rigorous researches that focus on race and ethnicity, according to ColorLines. As a result, there isn’t much broad statistical data available on the AAPI population and when a research is released to the …

By Heidi Zheng As one of America’s longest running American reality television shows, America’s Next Top Model just commenced its 21st cycle. More remarkably, this is the second season featuring both male and female contestants. Diversity, rejoice! …Not so quick. Given the producer and presenter Tyra Banks is black herself, diversity has never been an issue on ANTM. That being …

By Jenny Chen Asian Americans are often cast as the “good student.” In the 2002 documentary Spellbound about the Howard Scripps spelling bee, one of the teachers is shown as saying “I love have Indian students, every time I see an Indian student I get excited.” At first glance, this perception of Asian students seems warranted: 83% of Asian Americans …

By Surjeet Ahluwalia, Executive Director On April 8, The Washington Post published two pieces that serve to reinforce stereotypes of Asian Americans: “Demographics shift at Thomas Jefferson High as Asians make up 66 percent of new class,” and “Why Asian American kids excel. It’s not ‘Tiger Moms.’” These headlines reinforce that Asian Americans excel academically – and while this may …

By Aurora de Peralta Washington, DC – Indian American contributions to American culture are at the forefront in “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation,” an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. The 5,000-square-foot exhibit opened on Feb 27 at the National Museum of Natural History and will run until Feb 2015. It will be the first …

By Jenny Chen Washington, DC – Forget Asian says professors and marketing expert Bobby Kumaki of the Ronin Group. Forget Asian and think Asian American. Asians in America are very different from Asians in Asia. In his presentation Understanding the Asian Market Segment during the Multicultural Health National Conference Kumaki noted that the best way to reach Asian Americans is …

By Jenny Chen “Jay”* a first generation Indian American and single mom could not believe what she was hearing as she stood in her supervisor’s office. She was explaining to him how the changes in her schedule was impacting her ability to be there for her daughter. Her supervisor looked at her and said, “I am amazed that a person …