Week2 “Assimilation”
- The author, Lisa Sun-Hee Park, express her idea by the word of “Assimilation.” The meaning of assimilation is that perfectly takes in and understands information or ideas, or absorbs in those. She argues that Asian Americans model in American culture. One of point is that it occurs the discrimination in America because the Asian American behave not like White American. In additional, assimilation is not simple and natural processing.
- “Assimilation actually reinforces established racial inequalities and imposes on even subsequent generations of Asian Americans born in the U.S. a precarious defensive dilemma in which they must constantly prove their worth as “real” Americans.”(p 17) If someone born in American, he is an American. He does not need to prove anything and his color is not important but Asian American need to prove that real American. “Asian Americans are models of assimilation, enjoying high educational achievement, good (white) neighborhoods,”(p 16) and “Asian American represent a dramatically bifurcated immigration system that separates ‘high skilled’ from the ‘low,’ and success or lack thereof in the U.S.”(p 16). It is American equal opportunity but it cause to them felt inequality.
- Key concept is the model minority myth for Asian American. Asian American effort on their education and incoming working and it made positive and succeed result, so many Americans were feeling of uncomfortable. It causes making stereotype on Asian American and became one of the discrimination in America because it is not what they thought the assimilation.
- In video “Slaying the Dragon” (1988), Asian woman has some stereotype that first they were bad image and after they become mystery, submissive. In addition, they get negative charming image because of movie character of Suzy Wong. It means that in American culture, especially Caucasians want to look and understand what they want to expect their ideas. It means that Caucasians did not look them same as American.
This entry was posted in
Week 2 readings. Bookmark the
permalink.
3 responses to “Week2 “Assimilation””