Stereotypes Of Asian Americans

Asian Americans have traditionally been better accepted in the United States than other minorities (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Like other cultural groups, including African Americans and Latinos, Asian Americans are not compromised of a single nationality or cultural. Rather the terms Asian Americans refers to those who are from the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Even though they are grouped together, the people that are labeled Asian Americans come from a large number of different countries, nationalities and cultures. Some may share similar physical features that cause people to see them as one large generic category, but in reality, Asian Americans can be vastly different from each other

Economic, and social struggles they have endured. Another reason that Asian Americans have been more accepted in this country than other ethnic minorities is the way that they are viewed and seen as a group by White Americans. African American suffered from the image of being slaves for over four centuries. Even after the end of slavery, most White Americans saw African Americans in a negative light. Asian Americans, for the most part, were not forced to immigrate to the United States. They came here to seek out opportunity for themselves and their families (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Even though they may have been seen as a lower class, they were seen as people. This translated into more respect by the majority, which in turned allowed Asian Americans the chance to succeed. Asian Americans suffer from discrimination and stereotyping just as any other minority does, but the stereotypes associated with Asian Americans tend to be a more positive stereotype. One common perception about Asian Americans is one that

McNamara and Burns (2009) stated that almost half of all Asian Americans have a college degree. This serves to enhance the image of the group and make the majority more accepting of them. What is missed in this statistic, is more than half do not have a college degree. The successes of Asian Americans does make most citizens more open and willing to accept them, but at the same time it ignores the struggles that some Asian Americans face (McNamara & Burns, 2009). His can led a majority of people to feel that Asian Americans do not face any struggles to be accepted and succeed in the United