We have put together a collection of past Stripes articles that are related to the Asian Pacific American communities in honor of APAHM and for your enjoyment. As always, please engage with past pieces in the comments section or in your daily conversations.
Escaping the Confines of the “Quiet Asian Girl” – Emily Tu
While I have these shy tendencies, I’m not the “quiet Asian girl.” We all know her. She’s introverted. Bookish. Probably posts pictures of food on Instagram. May play a musical instrument. Most importantly, the “quiet Asian girl” doesn’t exist as a real person, and the stereotype is reductive and harmful.
But Where Are You Really From? – Evan Kratzer
To most people, being asked, “Where are you from?” seems innocuous enough. Someone is just trying to get to know you a little bit better. Asian Americans, however, have almost universally had a different experience with this question. At first we’ll answer with “California,” “New York,” or a variety of other places. But then comes the dreaded follow-up question: “But where are you really from?” It becomes immediately clear that there’s a certain answer that is expected, and a failure to comply will just result in more questions.
Essays on Roller Coasters – David Chen
As an older brother, one is an odd type of determinist. You can predict with near scientific precision certain experiences that your sibling will have simply because the causal chain of events has already played itself out in your own life. Most of the time, older brother means half-heartedly try to impart brotherly wisdom, only to take reluctant comfort in the fact that you ended up fine so this little dude must be alright too.
Lost History: Exclusion, Internment, and Citizenship Denied – Evan Kratzer
But I cannot solely fault my teacher for not discussing Japanese internment. Most educators have been slow to incorporate Asian American history into curricula at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education. One only needs to look at textbooks to see this trend. If you examine most high school textbooks, Asian American history will generally be restricted to brief discussions of Japanese interment and Chinese Exclusion – which lasted from 1882 to 1943. At the college level, Asian American history isn’t addressed formally at many colleges, Princeton included.
Why I Like Yellow Fever – Lena Sun
When a guy tells me that he thinks Asian features are beautiful, that’s fine. I’m flattered. I’m not offended by people finding my almond-shaped eyes or black hair or olive-toned complexion attractive, but that isn’t yellow fever. Yellow fever is more than just a physical preference. Those with yellow fever are attracted to qualities that they assume all Asian women inherently have, such as that of being “docile and submissive and respectful to a man”, as one man on OKCupid enlightens us. This projection of generalized ideals onto individuals makes yellow fever a dangerously subtle form of discrimination.
Marrying Out Is In – For Asian Women, At Least – Alice Frederick
As the product of an interracial marriage, I was particularly intrigued by the numbers on Asian American women, who marry out of their race at a higher rate than both Asian American men and women of other racial demographics. That there is a disparity at all indicates to me that there is in inequality in social pressures to marry out or marry in. Have shifts in American culture given Asian American women a freedom to marry out that other demographics lack? Is there something about being Asian American that they are trying to escape?
Insularity and Identity: The 2013 AASA Survey – Evan Kratzer
In cases where Asians and non-Asians differed in their responses, Asian Americans consistently seemed to believe that they are a more cohesive group than non-Asians think. This difference is especially apparent with regard to Asian Americans’ cultural and political cohesion.
By why does such a gap emerge? I’d like to propose that this gap is related to the social structure at Princeton that troubles Dinovelli – that much of the Asian American community is insular from the rest of campus. In this way, many Asian Americans on campus exist within what I’ll term “the Asian bubble”.