Asian American and Pacific Islander Sport

Author(s):  
Robert T. Hayashi

As a group, Asian Americans in particular have been portrayed by American society as incapable or uninterested in American sporting practices and traditions. When individuals have realized public acclaim for athletic prowess, their achievements have been characterized in media and elsewhere as an exception to the Asian American experience, even when their success also represents its common collective narratives. NBA (National Basketball Association) basketball player Jeremy Lin’s meteoric rise in 2012 was often defined through the trope of the model minority. Conversely, Pacific Islanders, in particular males, have been represented as possessing innate athletic prowess but with limited intellect. These tropes of Asian American and Pacific Islander identity in American society have long obscured their relation to sports and recreation, and there has been little scholarship in either sports studies or Asian American studies on the unique sporting cultures of these groups and their relations to American sporting practices and institutions. Asian American and Pacific Islander relations to American sport are best understood as a unique history defined by their relation to American colonialism, racism, global capitalism, and the transnational nature of modern sport.

Affilia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 088610992110014
Author(s):  
Sameena Azhar ◽  
Antonia R. G. Alvarez ◽  
Anne S. J. Farina ◽  
Susan Klumpner

We applied critical race theory’s concept of intersectionality to analyze the experiences of discrimination among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (APIs) in the United States, across race, gender, and sexuality. We collected tweets from October 2016 through December 2017 using the hashtag #thisis2016 on the social media platform, Twitter. Data were scoped down to 3,156 tweets and were coded by four members of our research team—all of whom identify as Asian American female social workers. Only intersectional themes related to the convergence of race, gender, and sexuality among APIs are reported in this article. These six themes include the following: (1) API women are perceived to be exotic and are overtly sexualized, (2) API women are expected to be passive, (3) API men are perceived to be weak and asexual, (4) Both API men and women are the objects of racialized violence and sexual harassment, (5) Queer APIs have unique experiences of sexualized harassment and violence, and (6) APIs are the subjects of neocolonialist attitudes. Taken together, these themes portray an intersectional understanding of the Asian American experience that counteracts stereotypes of Asians as the “model minority,” who do not experience racialized, sexualized, and gendered microaggressions.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Park ◽  
Mitchell Chang

This article examines the development of legislation to create a federal designation for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) serving institutions. Specifically, the article draws from interviews with nineteen policy makers, congressional staffers, and community advocates in order to address their motivations for establishing this designation and the related challenges that they encountered. Besides the complexities of ushering legislation through Congress, one of the major challenges highlighted includes the lack of political infrastructure for advocating Asian American issues related to education. Recommendations for the future sustainability of federal support for AAPI serving institutions are also discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Bill Imada

In recent years, data has shown that there has been significant growth in Asian American Pacific Islander-owned (AAPI) enterprises. Driven by demographic changes, related in large part to the history of immigration policy, the AAPI population has been growing, and this has been accompanied by AAPI innovators and entrepreneurs leaving greater marks on American society and the U.S. economy. This growth, however, is not without risks and threats. The legacy of being “othered” by mainstream society means that AAPI success in business and in the corporate landscape can be met with resentment and criticism. This article explores the history of AAPI entrepreneurship and current trends. It also examines the challenges that the community may continue to face and offers recommendations on how to ensure continued growth and expanded opportunities for AAPIs in business.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhav Jain ◽  
Kenrick Ng ◽  
Patricia Mae G. Santos ◽  
Kekoa Taparra ◽  
Vinayak Muralidhar ◽  
...  

PURPOSE We identified (1) differences in localized prostate cancer (PCa) risk group at presentation and (2) disparities in access to initial treatment for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) men with PCa after controlling for sociodemographic factors. METHODS We assessed all patients in the National Cancer Database with localized PCa with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease who identified as Thai, White, Asian Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Laotian, Pakistani, Kampuchean, and Hmong. Multivariable logistic regression defined adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% CI of (1) presenting at progressively higher risk group and (2) receiving treatment or active surveillance with intermediate- or high-risk disease, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors. RESULTS Among 980,889 men (median age 66 years), all AANHPI subgroups with the exception of Thai (AOR = 0.84 [95% CI, 0.58 to 1.21], P > .05), Asian Indian (AOR = 1.12 [95% CI, 1.00 to 1.25], P > .05), and Pakistani (AOR = 1.34 [95% CI, 0.98 to 1.83], P > .05) men had greater odds of presenting at a progressively higher PCa risk group compared with White patients (Chinese AOR = 1.18 [95% CI, 1.11 to 1.25], P < .001; Japanese AOR = 1.36 [95% CI, 1.26 to 1.47], P < .001; Filipino AOR = 1.37 [95% CI, 1.29 to 1.46], P < .001; Korean AOR = 1.32 [95% CI, 1.18 to 1.48], P < .001; Vietnamese AOR = 1.20 [95% CI, 1.07 to 1.35], P = .002; Laotian AOR = 1.60 [95% CI, 1.08 to 2.36], P = .018; Hmong AOR = 4.07 [95% CI, 1.54 to 10.81], P = .005; Kampuchean AOR = 1.55 [95% CI, 1.03 to 2.34], P = .036; Asian Indian or Pakistani AOR = 1.15 [95% CI, 1.07 to 1.24], P < .001; Native Hawaiians AOR = 1.58 [95% CI, 1.38 to 1.80], P < .001; and Pacific Islanders AOR = 1.58 [95% CI, 1.37 to 1.82], P < .001). Additionally, Japanese Americans (AOR = 1.46 [95% CI, 1.09 to 1.97], P = .013) were more likely to receive treatment compared with White patients. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that there are differences in PCa risk group at presentation by race or ethnicity among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander subgroups and that there exist disparities in treatment patterns. Although AANHPI are often studied as a homogenous group, heterogeneity upon subgroup disaggregation underscores the importance of further study to assess and address barriers to PCa care.


Author(s):  
Teresa A. Mok ◽  
David W. Chih

While the model minority stereotype depicts Asian Americans as having somehow “made it” in American society, rarely does the discourse involve Asian American athletes. The purpose of this chapter is to delineate how race and the model minority myth were an integral part of the media coverage and affected perceptions of the phenomenon known colloquially as “Linsanity,” which charted the unprecedented rise of Jeremy Lin. In 2012, Jeremy Lin became one of the most famous players in the NBA. By exploring the popular press coverage of this event, fueled by the Internet and social media, the intersection of the model minority myth and athletics are investigated. Through a combination of media critique and analysis, narrative, psychological literature, and coverage of other Asian and Asian American athletes, the authors illustrate how racism was a prominent factor and a significant part of the everyday discourse that permeated the coverage of Jeremy Lin.


2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderick N. Labrador ◽  
Erin Kahunawaika'ala Wright

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Megan Coder

Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia is a comprehensive four-volume reference work that consists of 315 in-depth entries discussing many aspects of Asian American culture. Editor Mary Yu Danico, a past-president of the Association for Asian American Studies and currently a professor at California State Polytechnic University, states in the introduction, “We recognize that it is impossible to discuss every facet of Asian American society, but we have put forth our best efforts to examine the historical, social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of our society through the lens of multiple disciplines and voices” (xxv).


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