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A.J. Gannaban English 1103 Extended Inquiry Project November 15, 2013 The Influence of American Media on Stereotypes against Asian Americans In America we live our lives surrounded by media; media that takes our minds captive by slowly influencing our perceptions about reality, how to think, how to feel, and how to act. The American media drowns the public with its preconceived biases through its many facets of manipulation be it from books and articles for the old and well-educated to Soap Operas, movies and children shows for the general public and the unlearned. The media leaves no expense in who it targets, for it targets every person who lives and breathes within this nations boarders. Be it man, woman, child, black, white, or Asian, the American media does not discriminate against who it targets. Instead it causes its targets to discriminate amongst each other by the stereotypes, the prejudices, and the perceptions that it instills in peoples minds. American media has been used to create stereotypes about certain people based primarily on race. One race in particular is the Asian American population branded as an identical mass of grade conscious, honor bound, squinty eyed people who inhabit our countries hospitals, nail salons, and oriental restaurants. The Origin of Asian American Stereotypes From their arrival into this great country Asians have been bombarded by racism and branded with stereotypes that still last to this day. According to a website devoted to Asian history called Asian Nation Asian Americans have suffered anti-Asian racism and that: for more than 200 years, Asian Americans have been denied equal rights, subjected to harassment

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and hostility, had their rights revoked and imprisoned for no justifiable reason, physically attacked, and murdered. History goes to show that the hatred imbued through racism is perpetuated throughout time by the use of American media. One example of a type of media that helped extenuate the racism between races is the governments own statutes. It was written into law and proclaimed throughout all of the U.S.A that in 1882 through the Chinese exclusion act, which according to the Asian nation website this law is the: only time in American history, an entire ethnic group was singled out and forbidden to step foot on American soil. These laws exposed how the government and the political prestige use media to create stereotypes about certain races. This law set the framework for the rest of the prejudices to follow Asian Americans throughout history.

This picture shows some of the first Asians in America were migrant workers from china who worked various jobs in California such as merchants, gardeners, laundry workers, and farmers. In the 1860s most of the Asians in America were railroad workers constructing the

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Transcontinental Railroad project. These Asians were continually assaulted by American media through the unequal treatment in being unable to become citizens, the inability to testify in court, and the inability to own land. The laws of the land, the most respected publicized medium of media in 1800s the, Law book skewed the view of Asians to portray them as second class citizens who had close to no rights, no voice, and no privileges. These immigrant Chinese workers were underrepresented, underpaid, overworked, and overall abused by society. Which at the time would be considered a necessary evil in the eyes of the American government to complete the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The American government was able to create a cheap exploitable workforce by hiring these immigrants, branding them as inferior through the publication of laws restricting them of obtaining equal rights, and controlling the size of their population by having the President at the time, Chester A. Arthur, to sign the Chinese Exclusion Act: prohibiting immigrants from China into the United States. American Media and Slavery

These immigrants were treated almost like slaves having no voice and no power to stand up for themselves they were beaten, attacked, and even murdered without any consequences to the murderer.

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Imagine a life branded by society, tethered to a destiny mandated by those of political prestige, forced to live and die within the confines of what society considers not humane, or right, or even just, but by what is normal. Hundreds of years ago on this very soil there was no need to imagine such a life. In the 1800s our government brought about the rise of slavery by kidnapping and smuggling people from Africa. In this process our nation stole away lives, destroyed cultures, and as a result manufactured a history of hate by creating racism through the use of public media. A popular sociology text book Essential of Sociology a down- to Earth Approach states that slavery did not arise because of racism, in fact racism was born out of slavery (Henslin 185). The book continues to explain that the U.S. slave owners developed an ideology to change the perspective of how people felt and viewed slavery. The new adopted ideology that America created for these slaves branded them as inferior, not fully human and built the presumption that Whites were the superior race overall. These prejudices have lasted through the test of time, for these beliefs still exist today. These events only help to prove that the American media has the ability to create influential stereotypes that influence how the general public view certain races, such as another race that was subject to servitude in the United States, the Asian population. World War II Propaganda

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As time passed more stereotypes and prejudices against Asians were made. An example is the picture above This is the Enemy which depicted Japanese people as the enemy encompassing the fear associated with their race. During World war II the government issued out propaganda that created the term Jap and added it to the everyday vernacular of anti- Asian citizens. There was a large amount of support for this war and in conjunction a large amount of hate geared towards anyone who looked like the enemy. Unfortunately, that included the Japanese Americans who already lived in the United States regardless, if they ever set foot in Japan or not. The face of the enemy was plastered on propaganda and hanging on every wall in the U.S. during this period in time. This caused great turmoil for anyone who even looked remotely Japanese like Koreans or the Chinese population. The bombings that took place at Pearl Harbor created a hatred for the enemy that our nation projected onto the innocent Asian citizens of our country. This picture is an example of propaganda from World War II, from Life Magazine taken December 22, 1941, which tries to explain the features that defines a Chinese man and the physical features that defines a Japanese man. In an article by the University of Missouri, these two pictures contrast and analyze the two races in a more shallow way as if that the reader is looking at the breakdown of two different species of animal rather than two different human beings and that: the descriptions beneath the photos add to these portrayals: The Chinese man is described as a public servant, while the Japanese man is listed as a Japanese warrior. These pictures further tend to generalize

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the physical attributes of each race and try to manipulate the public using American media. The Chinese mans picture portrays him as friendly and servile due to the emphasis of his smile. The contrasting picture is that of the Japanese man which emphasizes his frown and serious demeanor portraying him as the emotionless enemy warrior. During this time not only were the streets flooded with magazines like these, but the airwaves were polluted with prejudiced radio waves from radio announcers, including Edward R. Murrow used the media to portray all Japanese Americans as potential spies. Edward would have broadcasts that would misled the public to believe that all Japanese Americans planted their tomato crops in patterns that pointed to U.S. airbases, which further spurred the hatred towards everyone who even looked remotely Japanese. This was not even the worst manipulation of American Media during World War II. The worst manipulation of American media came into effect through the use of denial. According to Zia Helen article Asian-Americans: From Asian invaders' to emergent Americans: When Japanese American Soldiers liberated the Nazi death camp Dachau, the photojournalist and newsreel reported purposely kept those Asian- Americans out of the picture. These soldiers remained MIH missing in history. These people were denied the honor that came with their service. They risked their life like any other American to fight for the country that they loved, to kill in order to protect. They bleed for our country, yet did not receive the recognition they deserved because of the mere color of their skin, the orientation of their face, and the way they were perceived. Being Asian myself and learning how these men fought for a country that would not even recognize them sickens me. I love my country. It just shocks me that they did not understand that even though their skin is yellow or brown, their blood is as red as any other white American,

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how much of it has to be spilled for our country to notice we all bleed for what we believe in, They believed in America; why didnt America do the same for them? This instance in history just goes to show that American media is one of Americas greatest weapons of manipulation; it is the subtle whisper that leads the nation into a perpetual uproar over meaningless characteristics such as race. Thus causing people such as Asian Americans throughout this nations history to have lived their life blinded by societys shallow perceptions of how they should talk, how they should dress, and how they should act. Asian American Stereotypes Today Smart Honorable Respectful to Elders Close extended Family Hardworking Thrifty Today the stereotypes of Asian Americans have shifted dramatically from depicting Asians as the enemy during World War II to being the Model Minority because of the many common place stereotypes that Asians in this country are thought to exhibit. According to Terresa Moks Getting the Message: Media Images and Stereotypes and Their Effect on Asian Americans: Asians are viewed as the Model Minority because they exhibit Characteristic most closely related to that of the dominant group of society, the Caucasians. This stereotype is buttressed by American movies and T.V. shows such as Grays Anatomy with Asians being doctors, and movies like Rush hour which stars Jackie Chan the do good Asian crime fighter.

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There are many vehicles of media that America uses to convey its messages and if you can either hear or see you are most likely exposed to the stereotypes and prejudices it creates be it either positive or negative.

Conclusion The American media has been vigorously used throughout this nations history to shape and manipulate peoples perceptions about Asian Americans based on what the government needed at the time; cheap labor during 1800s, enemys during World II, and the Model minority today. From my research I have concluded that the government will use the media for its own devices and what it thinks society needs and that it can either paint people in a positive or negative light, but regardless of what picture it paints it is always effective. The media in America is truly a powerful tool that can be used to either create peace or perpetuate hatred and chaos.

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Work Cited Capture Your Flag, Myth Busting Model Minority Asian American Stereotypes Kyung Yoon, Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 12 April. 2010. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. Chinese Workers. N.d. Photograph. Web. "Ethnic Competition Leads to Violence." Anti-Asian Racism & Violence : Asian-Nation. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Henslin, James M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. 185. Print. Mok, Teresa. A. "Getting the Message: Media Images and Stereotypes and Their Effect on Asian Americans." Cultural Diversity and Mental Health 3rd ser. 4 (1998): 185-202. J. .Murrey Atkins Library Homepage. UNC Charlotte. Web. Wong, Y. Joel, Asian American male college students' perceptions of people's stereotypes about Asian American men. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, Vol 13(1), Jan, 2012. pp. 7588. PsycARTICLES. Web. 3 Oct 2013 "WWII Propaganda: The Influence of Racism Artifacts Journal - University of Missouri." Artifacts Journal RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Zia, Helen, Asian-Americans: From Asian invaders' to emergent Americans. Quill; May 2000, Vol. 88 Issue 4, p32, 2p. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 3 Oct. 2013

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