Representation and the Need for Asian American Graphic Novels in Today’s Classrooms

Asian American graphic narratives typically produce meaning through arrangements of images, words, and sequences, though some forgo words completely and others offer an imagined “before” and “after” within the confines of a single panel. Created by or featuring Asian Americans or Asians in a US or Canadian context, they have appeared in a broad spectrum of formats, including the familiar mainstream genre comics, such as superhero serials from DC or Marvel Comics; comic strips; self-published minicomics; and critically acclaimed, award-winning graphic novels. Some of these works have explicitly explored Asian American issues, such as anti-Asian racism, representations of history, questions of identity, and transnationalism; others may feature Asian or Asian American characters or settings without necessarily addressing established or familiar Asian American issues. Indeed, many works made by Asian American creators have little or no obvious or explicit Asian American content at all, and some non-Asian American creators have produced works with Asian American representations, including racist stereotypes and caricatures. The earliest representations of Asians in comics form in the United States were racist representations in the popular press, generally in single-panel caricatures that participated in anti-immigration discourses. However, some Asian immigrants in the early to mid-20th century also used graphic narratives to show and critique the treatment of Asians in the United States. In the realm of mainstream genre comics, Asian Americans have participated in the industry in a variety of different ways. As employees for hire, they created many well-known series and characters, generally not drawing, writing, or editing content that is recognizably Asian American. Since the 2010s, though, Asian American creators have reimagined Asian or Asian American versions of legacy characters like Superman and the Hulk and created new heroes like Ms. Marvel. In the wake of an explosion of general and scholarly interest in graphic novels in the 1990s, many independent Asian American cartoonists have become significant presences in the contemporary graphic narrative world.

Division on South Asian Americans (of the Asian American Psychological Association) Statement on TIME Magazine's article "My Own Private India"

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e501452012-001 ◽

2010 ◽

Keyword(s):

South Asian ◽

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

American Psychological Association ◽

American Psychological ◽

South Asian Americans

Psychosocial Issues Among Asian Americans: Results from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS)

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e501562012-014 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

David Takeuchi ◽

Oanh Meyer ◽

Nolan Zane ◽

Stanley Sue ◽

Manveen Dhindsa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Psychosocial Issues ◽

American Study

Choosing to be the Hero, the Joker, the Villain: An Interview with Arthur Dong

Film Quarterly ◽

10.1525/fq.2020.73.3.41 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (3) ◽

pp. 41-46

Author(s):

Oliver Wang

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

San Francisco ◽

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Short Film ◽

Recent Experience ◽

West Hollywood

Oliver Wang interviews documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong. Originally from San Francisco, Dong began his career as a student filmmaker in the 1970s before releasing the Oscar-nominated short film, Sewing Woman in 1982. Since then, his films have focused on the role of Chinese and Asian Americans in entertainment industries as well as on anti-LGBQ discrimination. In the interview, Wang and Dong discuss Dong's beginnings as a high school filmmaker, his decision to turn the story of his seamstress mother into Sewing Woman, his struggle to bring together the Asian American and queer film communities and his recent experience in staging a “Hollywood Chinese” exhibit inside a renovated bar in West Hollywood.

The Racialization of the African-American and Asian-American Citizen: A Comparative Legal Analysis

Legal Studies Undergraduate Journal ◽

10.15353/lsuj.v3i0.433 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 30-41

Author(s):

Mallory Yung

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Model Minority ◽

Legal Discourse ◽

Court Cases ◽

Legal Analysis ◽

Critical Race ◽

Social Hierarchies ◽

American Citizen

The perception of racial tensions in North American settler countries has historically been focused on the Black/White relationship, as has much of the theoretical legal discourse surrounding the concept of “race”. Accordingly, the scope of much critical race scholarship has been restricted such that it rarely acknowledges the racial tensions that persist between different racially-excluded minorities. This paper hopes to expand and integrate the examination of Black and Asian-American racialization that critical race scholars have previously revealed. It will do this by historicizing the respective contours of Black and Asian-American racialization processes through legislation and landmark court cases in a neo-colonial context. The defining features of racialization which have culminated in the ultimate divergence of each group’s racialization will be compared and contrasted. This divergence sees the differential labeling of Asian-Americans as the ‘model minority’ while Blacks continue to be subjugated by modern modalities of exclusionary systems of control. The consequences of this divergence in relation to preserving existing racial and social hierarchies will be discussed in the final sections of this paper.

Distressed Asian American Neighborhoods

10.36650/nexus1.1_67-84_milleretal ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 67-84

Author(s):

Douglas Miller ◽

Douglas Houston

Keyword(s):

Community Development ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Selection Criteria ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Ethnic Enclave ◽

Racially Diverse ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Socioeconomic Data

There is a serious lack of demographic and socioeconomic data about Asian Americans living in distressed areas. The approach suggested to address this problem is community development with professional and academics to provide updated information on many issues such as poverty, educational attainment pertinent to these disadvantaged AA communities. The article discusses the selection criteria employed to choose the fourteen distressed communities that is analyzed. Details describing demographic characteristics, such as most AA communities are racially diverse, are supplemented with statistics to provide concrete data. Unemployment and poverty go hand-in-hand and in distressed AA communities these problems are occurring in higher frequency than other communities. The typical depiction of an AA community as a rich ethnic-enclave is debunked. The dominant problems in these communities are also representative of the problems most immigrants face today. The motivation for this analysis is to compel policy-makers to develop further research into these communities to understand their problems in order to make policies effectively addressing their needs.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Excel in Business but Not without Risks

10.36650/nexus14.2_77-90_imada ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 77-90

Author(s):

Bill Imada

Keyword(s):

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Immigration Policy ◽

Pacific Islanders ◽

Significant Growth ◽

Current Trends ◽

History Of ◽

Mainstream Society ◽

American Society ◽

The U.S

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.

Employment Discrimination and Asian Americans

10.36650/nexus3.2_1-15_ishimaru ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Stuart Ishimaru

Keyword(s):

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Employment Discrimination ◽

Equal Employment Opportunity ◽

Fundamental Rights ◽

Employment Opportunity ◽

Equal Employment ◽

History Of ◽

Outreach And Education

Despite the long history of Asian Americans of fighting for fundamental rights, Asian Americans appear to be less active in complaining about employment discrimination. For example, in 2003, Asian Americans filed proportionally fewer employment discrimination charges with the EEOC than other minority employees. This article examines the factors that create an atmosphere in which Asian Americans do not file as many charges of employment discrimination with the EEOC as one would expect. Also, it explores possible ways to motivate Asian American communities and individuals to engage in and recognize the community’s investment in the equal employment opportunity process. Specifically, it proposes additional outreach and education to Asian Americans to be informed of their rights as well as areas for further research and additional

“Over-zealous Parents, Over-programmed Families”: Asian Americans, Academic Achievement, and White Supremacy

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity ◽

10.1177/23326492211018483 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 233264922110184

Author(s):

Pawan Dhingra

Keyword(s):

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

White Supremacy ◽

Minority Group ◽

People Of Color ◽

White Educators ◽

Asian American Students ◽

American Students ◽

High Achieving ◽

K 12

Discussions of white supremacy focus on patterns of whites’ stature over people of color across institutions. When a minority group achieves more than whites, it is not studied through the lens of white supremacy. For example, arguments of white supremacy in K-12 schools focus on the disfranchisement of African Americans and Latinxs. Discussions of high-achieving Asian American students have not been framed as such and, in fact, can be used to argue against the existence of white privilege. This article explains why this conception is false. White supremacy can be active even when people of color achieve more than whites. Drawing from interviews and observations of mostly white educators in Boston suburbs that have a significant presence of Asian American students, I demonstrate that even when Asian Americans outcompete whites in schools, white supremacy is active through two means. First, Asian Americans are applauded in ways that fit a model minority stereotype and frame other groups as not working hard enough. Second and more significantly, Asian Americans encounter anti-Asian stereotypes and are told to assimilate into the model of white educators. This treatment is institutionalized within the school system through educators’ practices and attitudes. These findings somewhat support but mostly contrast the notion of “honorary whiteness,” for they show that high-achieving minorities are not just tools of white supremacy toward other people of color but also targets of it themselves. Understanding how high-achieving minorities experience institutionalized racism demonstrates the far reach of white supremacy.

How Other Minorities Gained Access: The War on Poverty and Asian American and Latino Community Organizing

Political Research Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1065912920983456 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 106591292098345

Author(s):

Jae Yeon Kim

Keyword(s):

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Community Organizing ◽

War On Poverty ◽

Advocacy Organizations ◽

Minority Community ◽

Original Dataset ◽

Community Organizers ◽

1960S And 1970S ◽

The 1960S

In the early twentieth century, Asian Americans and Latinos organized along national origin lines and focused on assimilation; By the 1960s and 1970s, community organizers from both groups began to form panethnic community service organizations (CSOs) that emphasized solidarity. I argue that focusing on the rise of panethnic CSOs reveals an underappreciated mechanism that has mobilized Asian Americans and Latinos—the welfare state. The War on Poverty programs incentivized non-black minority community organizers to form panethnic CSOs to gain access to state resources and serve the economically disadvantaged in their communities. Drawing on extensive archival research, I identify this mechanism and test it with my original dataset of 818 Asian American and Latino advocacy organizations and CSOs. Leveraging the Reagan budget cut, I show that dismantling the War on Poverty programs reduced the founding rate of panethnic CSOs. I further estimated that a 1 percent increase in federal funding was associated with the increase of the two panethnic CSOs during the War on Poverty. The findings demonstrate how access to state resources forces activists among non-primary beneficiary groups to build new political identities that fit the dominant image of the policy beneficiaries.