Trinh Research and Analysis Essay

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Research Paper Outline

1. P –  Being the only Asian American girl in my freshman class in high school, this classmate probably assumed that I wasn’t going to fight back because of the stereotype that Asians are docile. He threw a book at me, I threw it back, and he threw it again, then finally I asked that he stop. I did not want to continue the fight fearing how the fight might have escalated to.

2. N – Asian Americans have been attacked during the pandemic, usually those who cannot fight back.

 

1. H – History of Asian Americans being discriminated against

   1. Indeed, before the 1940s and 1950s, whites had deemed ethnic Japanese and Chinese unassimilable aliens unfit for membership in the nation. Americans had subjected so-­ called Orientals to the regime of Asiatic Exclusion, marking them as definitively not-­white, and systematically shutting them out of civic participation through such measures as bars to naturalization, occupational discrimination, and residential segregation. (Wu, Ellen D.)

2. L – Asian Americans would try their hardest to assimilate to have more opportunities.

   1. Checked their autonomy to choose their own futures by pressuring them to behave as praiseworthy citizens. Some gladly complied, others inadvertently went along, and not a few refused to succumb to these demands. All found their lives conscripted into the manufacture of a certain narrative of national racial progress premised on the distinction between “good” and “bad” minorities. (Wu, Ellen D)

   2. Asian Americans acted like the “model minority” to escape discrimination.

3. P –  Asian Americans cannot escape discrimination even though they’ve shown that they can assimilate, because they are still seen as minorities because of their race.

4. L – International imperatives of the 1940s and 1950s anchored the nation’s recasting of Asian Americans into assimilating Others— persons ­ acknowledged as capable of acting like white Americans while remaining racially distinct from them. (Wu, Ellen D.)

 

1. L – Levels of racism against Asian Americans are connected to structural changes.

   1.  Racial ideas do not appear out of anywhere and float around unmoored to social realities. They are consciously concocted and disseminated— ­f I not always accepted without challenge— and ­ are tied to structural developments. (Wu, Ellen D.)

   2. Because of the fear of change during the pandemic, many pointed the blame on Asian Americans, which induced discrimination, racism, and etc.

2. P – Being the “model minority” can hurt Asian Americans.

 

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Research Paper Draft #1

1. P – I have trouble communicating with my parents as I’ve spoken English almost my entire life. Instead of speaking in Cantonese, I speak Chinglish to my parents.

N – Immigrants come to the U.S.A to achieve the American Dream and it influences how they raise their children.

 

In the past, Asian Americans were discriminated against for not assimilating.

Indeed, before the 1940s and 1950s, whites had deemed ethnic Japanese and Chinese unassimilable aliens unfit for membership in the nation. Americans had subjected so-­ called Orientals to the regime of Asiatic Exclusion, marking them as definitively not-­white, and systematically shutting them out of civic participation through such measures as bars to naturalization, occupational discrimination, and residential segregation. (Wu, Ellen D.)

 

Asian Americans would try their hardest to assimilate to have more opportunities.

 

Checked their autonomy to choose their own futures by pressuring them to behave as praiseworthy citizens. Some gladly complied, others inadvertently went along, and not a few refused to succumb to these demands. All found their lives conscripted into the manufacture of a certain narrative of national racial progress premised on the distinction between “good” and “bad” minorities. (Wu, Ellen D)

 

Asian American acted like the “model minority” to escape discrimination.

 

“However, ethnic minority children are also enculturated by their wider

communities, the dominant cultural group, and the nature of the interaction between their ethnic group and the dominant culture. Thus, parents are instrumental in setting the tone for their children’s behavior, attitudes, and successful functioning in both cultural worlds.” (Farver Xu)

 

Asian Americans are taught to excel in schoolwork, work and etc.

Asian Americans have to choose to assimilate or reject the American culture.

 

“Acculturation. Berry (1993) proposed that there are four ways ethnic minorities can associate with their host culture. They can assimilate (identify solely with the dominant culture and sever ties with their own culture), marginalize (reject both their own and the host culture), separate (identify solely with their group and reject the host culture), and integrate (become bicultural by maintaining aspects of their own group and selectively acquiring some of the host culture).”(Farver, Xu)

 Levels of racism against Asian Americans are connected to structural changes.

 

 Racial ideas do not appear out of nowhere and float around unmoored to social realities. They are consciously concocted and disseminated— ­f i not always accepted without challenge— and ­ are tied to structural developments. (Wu, Ellen D)

 

Because of the fear of change during the pandemic, many pointed the blame on Asian Americans, which induced discrimination, racism, and etc.

 

Asian Americans are taught to achieve academic success and work by their immigrant parents and in doing so they slowly lose their cultural identity.

 

“However, the adolescents who accompany them or are later born in the United States face the challenge of establishing a discrete self-identity and an ethnic identity that is compatible with the values and beliefs of both their natal culture and the American mainstream”(Farver Xu)

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Research Paper Draft #2

A student from the University of California has noticed that they’ve been thinking more in English and can only comprehend the very basics in their first language. (Hinton, Leanne) Children of immigrant parents in America tend to lose their mother tongue when assimilating. The language barrier makes it hard for children to create closer bonds with their immigrant parents. Therefore slowly removing themselves from their cultural background. It’s either they assimilate and lose their touch with their heritage or be discriminated against for not conforming with the American language.

Back then Asian Americans were discriminated against for not assimilating. Without assimilating to the American culture, it made it difficult for immigrants to survive in America. According to Ellen D. Wu, “Indeed, before the 1940s and 1950s, whites had deemed ethnic Japanese and Chinese unassimilable aliens unfit for membership in the nation. Americans had subjected so-­ called Orientals to the regime of Asiatic Exclusion, marking them as definitively not-­white, and systematically shutting them out of civic participation through such measures as bars to naturalization, occupational discrimination, and residential segregation.” (Wu, Ellen D.)

Children of immigrants are pressured into trying their hardest to assimilate to have more opportunities. First by adopting English at a young age to be able to study other academics. According to Faver, Xu, “However, ethnic minority children are also enculturated by their wider communities, the dominant cultural group, and the nature of the interaction between their ethnic group and the dominant culture. Thus, parents are instrumental in setting the tone for their children’s behavior, attitudes, and successful functioning in both cultural worlds.” (Farver Xu) Immigrant parents play a big role in a child’s education.  Since the parents want the kid to excel in school and work, the kid has no choice but to adopt the host culture and neglect their own. Simply, with more pressure to excel in academics, the child will have less time to practice their first language.

Racism can also prompt Asian Americans to assimilate. By assimilating, they separate from their heritage just to feel safe. According to Alvarez and Jaung, “In the only investigation to date of Asian Americans’ reactions to a specific instance of racism, Chih (1994) found that students who witnessed a racially motivated incident of battery reported feelings of helplessness, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and a loss of face.”(Alvarez, Juang) From the fear of being targeted, Asian Americans would conform with the Americans to escape discrimination.

In assimilating, Asian Americans have to choose one culture over the other. Although some immigrant parents put their children in Chinese school over the weekend, some kids don’t have the luxury of doing so. According to Farver and Xu, “Acculturation. Berry (1993) proposed that there are four ways ethnic minorities can associate with their host culture. They can assimilate (identify solely with the dominant culture and sever ties with their own culture), marginalize (reject both their own and the host culture), separate (identify solely with their group and reject the host culture), and integrate (become bicultural by maintaining aspects of their own group and selectively acquiring some of the host culture).”(Farver, Xu) Kids who do not have the luxury of going to school to practice their first language suffer loss.

Because of the fear of change during the pandemic, many pointed the blame on Asian Americans, which induced discrimination, racism, and etc.

Asian Americans are taught to achieve academic success and work by their immigrant parents and in doing so they slowly lose their cultural identity.

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