Wayne Chen
Northwest Asia Weekly
As an Asian American, I’ve been warned that all stereotypes are bad.
But even when I was a kid, I had questions.
I would ask, “Okay, are they all bad? I mean, think Asians are a model minority, we work hard, we’re good at math—that’s bad too?”
I think I was in sixth grade when I started to question the idea that all stereotypes are unfair, inaccurate and unconstructive. At the time, it happened that I got straight A’s, was good at math, and never had trouble. I remember thinking how bad the model minority label would be if I were an example of how true it was (at least to me).
That all changed in 7th grade when I was introduced to algebra. To me, it’s the dreaded “A” word. Suddenly, I wasn’t the best at math anymore. In fact, it’s a real struggle.
I now have first-hand experience that not all Asians are good at math. Once this myth was busted, I started researching some other Asian stereotypes that didn’t fit.
Are we all bad drivers? Really? My dad has been an excellent driver for as long as I can remember. You can feel it when you sit in the back seat of the car. He keeps a safe distance from other drivers, and if another driver makes a mistake, he makes sharp turns like a child playing.
Then there are some stereotypes, kinda, kinda match. In fact, my father did open a Chinese restaurant and also a laundromat. That’s when I started to see how easy it is for stereotypes to lump entire groups of people into one category.
Yes, he opened a Chinese restaurant, but he did it in part to help some relatives who moved from Asia to America make a living
Yes, he opened a laundromat, but it was the largest in town and it was so successful that he has since added two more locations.
He also bought a hotel in the 1970s, which is still in operation today. He did all of this while serving as chair of the electrical engineering department at San Diego State University.
It seems that the stereotype doesn’t seem to mention any of these, which I think is part of the stereotype problem.
Now that I’m an adult, owning my own business, and writing, I have a more nuanced view of stereotypes. While I agree that using stereotypes to divide people into narrow categories or groups is never a good thing, I’ve also found that sometimes, using stereotypes gets me out of trouble.
A few years ago, when I was on a business trip in China, I was at a border crossing from one Chinese province to another. As I approached the Chinese border check, I took out my US passport and visa and spoke to the border officers in Chinese. He went through all the files and started typing something on his computer. After a few minutes, I decided to ask the agent if I had any questions, still talking in Chinese.
He asked what my Chinese name was and I told him. I find this an odd question because I am a US citizen, born and raised in the US, and my Chinese name is not listed on my passport.
After I told him my Chinese name, he started typing on the computer and I was a little nervous. It’s been almost 10 minutes now and I politely ask the agent what the problem is.
He said I had the same name as another Chinese wanted by the police.
At this time, I immediately changed back to English and told him in English that I was not born in China. He asked me a few more tough questions, and by the end of the question, I had said “total surf dude” to him, saying, “Dude, this totally blows me away. I’m like, from California, dude!”
He let me go.
Another time, during high school, the local school bully decided to single me out for abuse. As I drank from the fountain, he shoved my head into the fountain and turned me around, ready to fight.
Even though I’ve never taken a kung fu class in my life, my mind is fast, but I do the most Hollywood kung fu pose I can think of, and I say, “Knee or nose?”
He said, “What?” I said, “I’ll either break your knee or break your nose. I’ll let you choose.”
He let me go.
It’s a complicated world, right? You do what you have to do, I think.
Wayne can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
