Violence, Hmong American Visibility, and the Precariousness of Asian Race

PMLA ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 1752-1756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa Schein ◽  
Ya-Megn Thoj
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Virginia Tech ◽  
Korean American ◽  
American Student ◽  
Asian Race ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Model Minorities ◽  
Asian American Men ◽  
Hmong American

When the murders at Virginia Tech in spring of 2007 began to be processed, by mainstream media and Asian American commentators alike, in tenuously racial terms as the un/intelligible acts of a Korean American student, Seung-hui Cho, some observers of media racialization recalled the spectacularizations of Chai Soua Vang, the Hmong hunter who killed six white hunters in the woods of Wisconsin in 2004. Were these events likely to be discursively linked, and if so what effect would they produce? Would they destabilize tropes of Asian American men as studious, reserved, effeminate model minorities? Would we see the rise, or the return, of a racial menace in the form of gun-toting, ruthless, killer Asian males, and what would be the fallout? What difference would it make to discursive homogenization that one of the killers was Hmong, a member of a group that has articulated awkwardly if at all with prevailing images of Asian Americans?

scholarly journals “I Haven’t Done Anything to Be Polarizing”: Jeremy Lin’s Strategic Appropriation of Black Masculinity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Wong
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Black Masculinity ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Basketball Player ◽  
Model Minorities ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Asian American Men

This thesis investigates the appropriation of Black masculinity by Asian American basketball player Jeremy Lin. Subjecting media coverage to a combination of content analysis and critical discourse analysis uncovers the presence of four appropriative themes of Asianness: (a) the supraethnic viability of Asianness; (b) the necessary defeat of Blackness; (c) the disallowance of anti-Asian sentiment; and (d) the presence of a helpful Black cohort. These themes are themselves given meaning by five racially magnetized frames that position Asian Americans in opposition to Blackness across multiple dimensions: (a) Asian Americans as model minorities; (b) Asian American men as emasculated; (c) Asian Americans as invisible; (d) Asian Americans as forever foreign; and (e) Asian and Black Americans as enemies. The results of this study suggest that Asian American men benefit from the appropriation of Blackness, but that this benefit is contingent upon their ability to uphold heterosexist, white supremacist ideologies. Keywords: Jeremy Lin, basketball, race

scholarly journals “I Haven’t Done Anything to Be Polarizing”: Jeremy Lin’s Strategic Appropriation of Black Masculinity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Wong
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Black Masculinity ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Basketball Player ◽  
Model Minorities ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Asian American Men

This thesis investigates the appropriation of Black masculinity by Asian American basketball player Jeremy Lin. Subjecting media coverage to a combination of content analysis and critical discourse analysis uncovers the presence of four appropriative themes of Asianness: (a) the supraethnic viability of Asianness; (b) the necessary defeat of Blackness; (c) the disallowance of anti-Asian sentiment; and (d) the presence of a helpful Black cohort. These themes are themselves given meaning by five racially magnetized frames that position Asian Americans in opposition to Blackness across multiple dimensions: (a) Asian Americans as model minorities; (b) Asian American men as emasculated; (c) Asian Americans as invisible; (d) Asian Americans as forever foreign; and (e) Asian and Black Americans as enemies. The results of this study suggest that Asian American men benefit from the appropriation of Blackness, but that this benefit is contingent upon their ability to uphold heterosexist, white supremacist ideologies. Keywords: Jeremy Lin, basketball, race

scholarly journals From Forever Foreigners to Model Minority: Asian American Men in Sports

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yomee Lee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
New York ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Male College ◽  
Asian American Men ◽  
Male College Students

AbstractDespite their long history in the United States, relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to Asian Americans and their lived experience in sports. The purpose of this study was to give voices to Asian American men by focusing on their experiences in sports. In particular, this study examined the experiences of East Asian and Southeast Asian American male college students who were often perceived as “foreign” and “pejoratively feminine” racialized minority yet participated in sports that were associated with dominant masculinity in the U.S. The setting of the study was as a predominately White institution located in Upstate New York where Asian Americans make up about one percent of the total student population. Qualitative research method was employed for the study. Six Asian American male students were recruited through snowball and purposeful sampling methods. In-depth interviews were conducted to reveal the rich stories of these Asian American men. The research showed that the stories of Asian American male college students were much nuanced and complicated. Specifically, this study revealed that Asian American men were constantly otherized as “forever foreigners” who did not have a legitimate citizenship in the United States. Also, Asian Americans faced unique ideas about their manhood that either highlighted emasculated and feminized masculinity or hyper-masculinity. In dealing with these situations, Asian American men employed unique cultural strategies to challenge and resist racial stereotypes through sports.

scholarly journals Chinatown Black Tigers: Black Masculinity and Chinese Heroism in Frank Chin's Gunga Din Highway

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Crystal S. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Black Masculinity ◽  
Ishmael Reed ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Frank Chin ◽  
Asian American Men ◽  
Traditional Masculinity

Images of ominous villains and asexual heroes in literature and mainstream American culture tend to relegate Asian American men to limited expressions of masculinity. These emasculating images deny Asian American men elements of traditional masculinity, including agency and strength. Many recognize the efforts of Frank Chin, a Chinese American novelist, to confront, expose, and revise such images by relying on a tradition of Chinese heroism. In Gunga Din Highway (1994), however, Chin creates an Asian American masculinity based on elements of both the Chinese heroic tradition and a distinct brand of African American masculinity manifested in the work of Ishmael Reed, an African American novelist and essayist known for his outspoken style. Rather than transforming traditional masculinity to include Asian American manhood, Chin's images of men represent an appropriation of elements from two ethnic sources that Chin uses to underscore those of Asian Americans. While deconstructing the reductive images advocated by the dominant culture, Chin critiques the very black masculinity he adopts. Ultimately he fails to envision modes of masculinity not based on dominance, yet Chin's approach also can be read as the ultimate expression of Asian American individualism.

Model Minorities and Overcoming the Dominance of Whiteness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas D. Hartlep
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Curriculum Studies ◽  
Model Minority Stereotype ◽  
Model Minorities

Stereotyping Asian Americans as successful or model minorities is not positive. Instead, it is a form of racist love that reinforces White supremacy. How can a positive stereotype reinforce White supremacy? Because the process of revering Asian Americans as model minorities leads to other groups of people, such as people of color and Indigenous people, being reviled. But if the model minority characterization of Asian Americans is inaccurate, what should curriculum studies scholars do? Disproving a “stereotype” is impossible. Curriculum studies scholars and theorists should not attempt to disconfirm something that is untrue, or something that is racist, but instead should narrate the reality of being Asian American. The model minority stereotype of Asian Americans has been studied and contested over 50 years within the context of the United States. Over these 50 plus years, the model minority stereotype has taken on a transcendent meaning. Overcoming the dominance of Whiteness requires Asian Americans to transcend “positive” stereotypes via critical storytelling. This will require curriculum studies as a field to continue to interrogate: What are the realities of living in racist Amerika for Asian Americans?

A Review of the Historical, Criminological, and Theoretical Understandings of the Cambodian American Population: A Call for More Comprehensive Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 2624-2649
Author(s):  
Dany Chheang ◽  
Eric J. Connolly
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Southeast Asians ◽  
Cambodian Americans ◽  
Model Minorities ◽  
Socioeconomic Success ◽  
Theoretical Standpoint

The collective view of Asian Americans as model minorities is evident with the extensive amount of statistical data showing support for the academic and socioeconomic success of Asian Americans in the United States. This perception, however, often presents an inaccurate portrayal of Asian Americans, in general, as it overlooks many of the difficulties and hardships experienced by Asian American ethnic groups such as Southeast Asians. Within this group, Cambodian Americans are at the highest risk for experiencing socioeconomic hardships, behavioral health problems, substance use disorders, and contact with the criminal justice system, with deportation also being a prevailing issue. Unfortunately, research in this area is scant and contemporary research on Cambodian Americans has several limitations. To begin to address this issue, the present article merges information from existing research on this population from a sociohistorical, criminological, and theoretical standpoint to call for more comprehensive research on Cambodian Americans.

scholarly journals Race and prostate imaging: implications for targeted biopsy and image-based prostate cancer interventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. e000010
Author(s):  
Michael D Gross ◽  
Bashir Al Hussein Al Awamlh ◽  
Jonathan E Shoag ◽  
Elizabeth Mauer ◽  
Samprit Banerjee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Specific Antigen ◽  
Gleason Grade ◽  
Targeted Biopsy ◽  
Grade Group ◽  
Prostate Mri ◽  
Prostate Imaging ◽  
Asian American Men

PurposeFor men with an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA), there is a strong evidence for prostate MRI to assess the risk of clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPC) and guide targeted-biopsy interventions. Prostate MRI is assessed using the Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS), which is scored from 1 to 5. Equivocal or suspicious findings (PI-RADS 3–5) are recommended for subsequent targeted biopsy, for which the risk of infection and sepsis is increasing. However, PI-RADS was developed primarily in men of European descent. We sought to elucidate PI-RADS and MRI-targeted biopsy outcomes in Asian men, a rapidly growing population in the USA, Europe, Australia and internationally.Materials and methodsA prospective cohort of 544 men with elevated PSA without a diagnosis of prostate cancer who underwent MRI-targeted biopsy at our institution from January 2012 to December 2018 was analyzed. We categorized the cohort by self-designated race then used a validated algorithm which uses surname lists to identify a total of 78 (14%) Asian-Americans. The primary outcome was the likelihood of diagnosing CSPC (Gleason grade group >1) in Asian-Americans versus non-Asian-Americans. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association of demographic and other characteristics with CSPC.ResultsOverall, MRI-targeted biopsy identified CSPC in 17% of Asian-American men versus 39% of non-Asian-American men (p<0.001). Notably for PI-RADS 3, only 6% of Asian-Americans versus 15% of others were diagnosed with CSPC. In adjusted analyses, Asian-American men were less likely to be diagnosed on MRI-targeted biopsy with CSPC (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.65, p=0.002) and indolent prostate cancer (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.91, p=0.030) than other races. Regardless of race those who were biopsy naïve were more likely (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.45 to 3.49, p<0.001) to be diagnosed with CSPC.ConclusionWe found that PI-RADS underperforms in Asian-American men. For instance, only 2 of 35 (6%) Asian-American men with PI-RADS 3 were diagnosed with CSPC on MRI targeted biopsy. This has significant implications for overuse of diagnostic and image-guided interventional approaches in Asian-Americans, given the increasing risk of infectious complications from biopsy. Additional validation studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Gay Asian Americans Are Seen as More American Than Asian Americans Who Are Presumed Straight

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Semrow ◽  
Linda X. Zou ◽  
Shuyang Liu ◽  
Sapna Cheryan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Culture Studies ◽  
Asian American Men ◽  
Orientation Information ◽  
The Relationship

Four studies investigate whether gay Asian Americans are stereotyped as more American than Asian Americans who are presumed straight. Gay Asian American men (Study 1) and women (Study 2) were rated as more American than their counterparts whose sexual orientation was unspecified. However, sexual orientation did not influence judgments of Whites’ American identity. The relationship between Asian Americans’ sexual orientation and perceptions of their American identity was mediated by a belief that American culture is relatively more accepting of gay people than Asian culture (Studies 3 and 4). Manipulating how accepting of gay people a target’s country of origin is relative to the United States altered ratings of American identity for gay but not straight targets (Study 4). Using an intersectional approach, these studies demonstrate that sexual orientation information comes together with race to influence who is likely to be perceived as American.

Taiko Scenarios

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela K. Ahlgren
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Korean American ◽  
Asian America ◽  
Ethnographic Interviews ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Meaningful Connections

The Minneapolis-based taiko group Mu Daiko challenges notions of Minnesota as uniformly white and ideas about Asian America as a coastal phenomenon. The chapter uses ethnographic interviews, participant observation, and performance analysis to argue that taiko outreach (low-tech engagements, often with an educational aim) creates familiar scenarios that reveal pervasive racial attitudes toward Asian Americans. Building on Diana Taylor’s “scenarios of discovery,” the chapter demonstrates the ways taiko outreach sometimes reinforces the idea that Asians are perpetual foreigners, while at other times they create opportunities for meaningful connections between performers and audiences. A focus on the group’s Korean American adoptee members prompts a challenges easy definitions of Asian America and the Midwest and highlights Minnesota as a key site for Asian American cultural production.

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