Racism Against Asian-Americans

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I roll my eyes and politely state that race does not automatically equate a certain level of intelligence. As a response, I often receive a scoff and a passive aggressive “whatever.” On another account, I remember a peer who had stated that “racism against Asians does not exist” and my jaw dropped agape. Racism against the Asian-American community existed throughout the later half of American history and is indirectly normalized in modern society through appropriation of Asian culture, stereotypes, and media portrayal. …show more content…

This discrimination initially began with the Naturalization Act of 1790, allowing free white-men of “good character” naturalization while excluding Native Americans, indentured servants, free Blacks, and Asians. In addition to extreme acts, the Chinese Exclusion Act, signed in 1882, had prohibited the Chinese from entering our country. Another example of the racism Asian-Americans faced occurred during World War II due to the war’s propaganda and the slurs that came about as a result of the war. The historical background of Asian-Americans and racism not only left scarring tendencies, but managed to transcend into modern society within a lower degree. Our progressive society is accompanied by two concepts that the population has the tendency to confuse: cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation. In layman's terms, cultural appropriation continues to disenfranchise a group; in contrast, appreciation which shows respect for the culture. An example of appropriating culture would be when an individual would get a tattoo of Asian script because “it looked cool” for an “aesthetic” when they have no clue as to its

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