Stereotypes In America

Being Chinese comes with a large degree of different expectations. Both positive and negative, the expectations are often built into assumptions made about myself based off of my ethnicity. I have felt strong implications of stereotyping by others because of my ethnicity, and it has impacted me significantly. Throughout my time in America, the experiences that I have had has created its own sense of focus. That is, I have found that specific aspects of my culture have had negative ramifications on the environment around me, making it more difficult to interact in. It has created a circumstance where I am reclusive in my own environment because of these experiences, and it has made it difficult for me to want to interact with others because

While the comments made to me cannot be controlled in any way, I have found that the comments from staff were always respectful. This had helped to assuage any of my concerns about academia, and ultimately how my relationship with my professors would be. However, this had changed abruptly in one singular instance. Ordinarily, the group of friends that I am with is all Chinese. The reason for this is simple; we are all comfortable with each other. While we have friends from different nationalities, having Chinese groups always helps because we have similar bonds and interests with each other, making it easier to bond. This type of bond extends towards our academic careers, where we will take the time to try to get similar classes. We can help each other in these classes, and it is ultimately more fun for us. In this instance, a group of us

That is, I reacted because I knew that I was not being treated fairly. I was having assumptions made about my character, and who I was, without any real regard given as to who I was. In what Johnson discusses, there are different aspects in regards to how power is perceived. Specifically, because I was Chinese, I was put in an uncompromising position. Johnson notes that there is a legacy “that we all inherited, and while we’re here it belongs to us” (Johnson 15). I felt that this was significant because it relates towards the conversation that is based on how we as a group see ourselves in relation to others. I felt that my position in this regard was significant and difficult. I was not really given an opportunity to make my own opinions; instead this group made broad generalizations about myself and applied it. I feel that I may have handled it differently if I was in a position that I believe would have given me better opportunities to discuss it with them. However, I was so uncomfortable with what was said to me that I could not react at all. The conversation and comments that they made all caught me by surprise, making it difficult to act in a way that I thought was