Quiz 2 - Asia
What do Dhingra and Rodriquez say the "flipside" or opposite of discrimination?
being part of a group creates comfort. Color blindness. Priviledge is the flipside of discrimination. Priviledge refers to the benefits of being in the dominant group, namely white, male, heterosexual and middle class and above. (Pg. 26 bottom)
In the beginning of Chapter 2, Dhingra describes some key aspects of race. What is true about race that makes it special?
politically created concept. Racial formation
What is "racial profiling?"
racial profiling refers to the use of an individual's assumed race or ethnicity in creating suspicion about the person otehrwise not targeted by an official investigation .
What message was sent to the Asian American community in campaign finance scandal of John Huang?
Huang was caught In 1999 Huang charged with accepting money for the Democratic Party from a corporation in Thailand that he had once worked for and from a Korean company. Under U.S. campaign finance law, no money can come from a foreign country. Huang paid a $10,000 fine and served 500 hours of community service. The Democratic National Committee returned all the funds it had received raised by Huang. No influence from China or any foreign government was ever found. See Taeku Lee "Backdoor and Backlash" and L. Wang "Race, Class, Citizenship and Extraterritorality" in Asian American Politics by Nakanishi and Lai (2003)
W.I. Thomas, a famous early 20th century sociologist came up with a famous idea that is now called the THOMAS THEOREM, what was the idea?
In the 1920s, a famous sociologist wrote, "If men define things as real, they are real in their consequences." It is one of the simplest but yet most profound social psychological ideas. It has far-reaching implications because it says, in essence, it doesn't matter if something is "true" or not . . . So long we define as such . . . and then live as if it were . . . then it "becomes true" for us. Sometimes it is called the "Definition of the Situation." How do we define what race is or means? How do we define how many different human races exist? Where do boundaries between different racial categories lie? How do we classify a specific person's race? How do we distinguish race from ethnicity?
What is "laissez-faire" racism and its consequences?
It is the ideology accepts institutionalized discrimiantion as the natural order of social relations. - it involves persistent negative stereotyping of African Americans, a tendency to blame blakcs themselves for the black/white gap in socioeconomic standing, and resistance to meaningful policy efforts to ameliorate US racists social conditions and institutions. racism makes peopel ignore the problems, such as overcrowded neighborhoods in Chinatowns, garment workers in sweatships, anti-asian quotat in higher education admisisions and other forms of institutionailized discrimiatnion discussed in book Page 30
What is the core of the idea ETHNICITY?
Its core meaning is a shared culture or sense of community.
What happened the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee?
Lee was fired from his job at Los Alamos National Laboratory on March 8, 1999. On the same day, Lee's name was leaked to the media, with the New York Times publishing a sensationalist story about his case. At this time, there was concern about new PRC (People Republic of China's) nuclear developments. FBI investigators quickly determined that the design data the PRC had obtained could not have come from the Los Alamos Lab. What was revealed Lee's case has been compared to the famous Dreyfus Affair in France in the early 1900s in which anti-Jewish hysteria caused mistreatment of a person. It shows the harm done to an individual who belongs to a racial minority when the government and the media focus on that person's race and portray the individual as a menace to society. Although Dr. Lee had been a U.S. citizen for 30 years and had an excellent record with no criminal or illegal activity, and although was originally from Taiwan, - a political enemy of the PRC, he was under suspicion and jailed largely because of his Asian racial background. What was revealed The FBI admitted that they practice routine racial profiling. FBI agents had threatened Dr Lee with execution if he didn't cooperate and acted as though Dr. Lee was a convicted spy, although he was never formally charged with espionage. Dr. Lee was denied phone calls and put in solitary confinement for almost a year (278 days). He was considered a "security threat," access to his family and legal defense was greatly restricted. What does this case show? All the evidence suggests that Dr. Lee was treated differently than other people because he was a foreign born Asian American. Dr. Lee was seen as "foreign" and not "one of us." A U.S. citizen who lived in the U.S. for 30 years, he was not seen as being a "real" American and his loyalty was suspect based solely on his racial-ethnic background. It later came out that two dozen other employees of the same lab did the same thing as Dr, Lee but none of them faced any legal charges or suspicion. What was different? All of the others were of white, European ancestry. Thus, it is not a person's actions but his/her racial background that mattered. 2 cases connected The issue in these 2 cases is less about the legalities than the public hysteria they quickly ignited. In both, the mass media used racial stereotypes and sent out an explosion of anti-Asian images and messages. These messages got caught up in political partisanship and were manipulated for political reasons. In the media & public mind Chinese = enemy & communist although both of these men were long-time U.S. residents & U.S. citizens. Both came from the country of Taiwan NOT from CHINA. Taiwan is a U.S. ally and capitalist democracy. It has been strongly opposed to the other (communist) China since its creation in 1949.
The race and ethnicity power point mentions various types of exclusion and separation, the most extreme is genocide. What does it suggest is the opposite of extreme exclusion?
Multiculturalism (Pluralism)
The "Yellow Peril" idea in U.S. culture includes a stereotype about people from Asia. The stereotype has many parts. Which of the following is NOT part of the stereotype of the "Yellow Peril?"
None of the media reports quoted or interviewed anyone of Asian descent for their side of the story; Media reports treated all Asian American subgroups as one with the implicit message - "they are all alike, an Asian is an Asian" Media stories and editorials were most harsh in geographic areas of the U.S. where very few Asian American people lived; Where local people had almost no contact with real Asian people - the media seems to accentuate anti-Asian feelings. Media stories insinuated a "Yellow Peril" theme (i.e., good, upstanding white America is being overrun by many strange, sneaky and corrupt people from Asia).
Many White Americans hold an inaccurate estimate of the size of the Asian American population in the United States. What are the views of people who over-estimate the size of Asian American population by a large amount?
One study found that most Americans over-estimated the size of the Asian American population. They believed it was 10-17% -- at a time when it was 5%. Those Whites who overestimated the size of the Asian-American population were also most strongly opposed to all immigration, strongly opposed to Affirmative Action, and most supportive of English-only laws. Alba, Rumbaut & Marotz. 2005. "A Distorted Nation: Perceptions of Racial/Ethnic Group Size and Attitudes Towards Immigrants and Other Minorities." Social Forces 84:901-919.
What common cultural message was sent by the actions surrounding the cases of John Huang and Wen Ho Lee?
The Facts: What actually happened A U.S. citizen of Chinese ancestry, John Huang, was appointed as Assistant Secretary for Commerce by President Bill Clinton in July 1994. In December 1995 Huang left his government post to work for the Democratic National Committee to raise funds for the 1996 Clinton re-election campaign. In October 1996 - one month before the presidential election- Republican candidate Robert Dole alleged that Chinese money was illegally being used to help Clinton. It soon became a major campaign theme in the 1996 Presidential campaign. Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress repeated and emphasized the charges in many news reports that this was evidence that China controlled President Bill Clinton. The Actual Events In October 1996, two weeks after Dole 1st made the charges, the Democratic National Committee fired Huang out of fear that he would hurt the election outcome. November 1996 - January 1997, the U.S. Commerce Department and 25 FBI agents investigated Huang. February 1997 U.S. Justice Department and a U.S. Senate Committee began its separate investigation. Republicans in Congress took leadership of Senate investigations and expanded the investigation in March 1997 with public hearings in July 1997. Huang was caught In 1999 Huang charged with accepting money for the Democratic Party from a corporation in Thailand that he had once worked for and from a Korean company. Under U.S. campaign finance law, no money can come from a foreign country. Huang paid a $10,000 fine and served 500 hours of community service. The Democratic National Committee returned all the funds it had received raised by Huang. No influence from China or any foreign government was ever found. See Taeku Lee "Backdoor and Backlash" and L. Wang "Race, Class, Citizenship and Extraterritorality" in Asian American Politics by Nakanishi and Lai (2003) What Happened? What Huang did was illegal, he was caught, and penalized, but it was very minor and foreign money went to campaigns in the past. Huang sold Clinton's influence to wealthy people with ties to foreign companies, but this is hardly new in Washington politics. What Huang did a small scale many others had done, but at other times it was not done by someone who as Asian American - so it was not such a big deal or attract such attention. What Happened? The media had ignored many similar such stories when Asian Americans were not involved. One year earlier (in 1995), the Chiquita banana company donated $677,000 to the Republican Party, it offered Senator Dole use of the company jet. Dole introduced legislation imposing trade sanctions on Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, but exempted Honduras (where Chiquita bananas are grown). Two years before first President Bush had "Team 100," a group of 249 corporate contributors who had each donated more than $100,000 in soft money. Several had foreign ties and received favorable treatment during his term in office. What Happened? While the media ignored similar and "more extreme" stories of illegal foreign influence, it made John Huang a household name largely because Huang was of Asian heritage. "Had donors been wealthy Europeans and Huang's name was Euro-American, such as "Huntington," it is unlikely that the scandal would have made the front pages of all major national newspapers every day" (from commentary by Rita Lin) Who was John Huang? huang_102996apfile Huang was born in China 1948 but his family fled from the communists to Taiwan. He came to the United States in 1969. In 1972, after earning his MBA, he moved to the Washington DC area and became a naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1976. Huang worked for several American banks, making the most of his language skills and familiarity with Asian markets. He developed ties with many important businesses across Asia for 20 years. Diverting public attention? The political campaign problem is real but by focusing on unfounded allegations about unscrupulous agents from "communist China" and racializing the issue - centering attention on Asians, the media and both political parties diverted public attention away from the real issue of dirty money in politics. They changed the issue to "Asians are taking control of the U.S. Presidency." We might overlook such anti-Asian American racial stereotypes if this was a single, isolated incident. But, it was just one of several repeated actions that continue to this day. Case #2 Wen Ho Lee wenholee2b In 1999 Dr. Lee a scientist who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was charged with 59 counts of downloading restricted material about nuclear weapons -- the so called "crown jewels" of the US nuclear weapons program -- to an unsecured computer at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Had he been found guilty, he could have faced life in prison. Wen Ho Lee In 1999-2000 Dr. Lee was the center of major national media news stories about the Chinese government stealing U.S. nuclear secrets. However, the U.S. government's case against Lee fell apart and there was no evidence. Lee admitted to sloppy record-keeping and was released. He even got an apology from presiding US District Judge James A. Parker. Who is Lee? What is his background? Born in Nantou, Taiwan, Lee got his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cheng Kung University. Lee received a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 1969. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in the 1970s. He worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 25 years (1974 to 1999) and was considered an excellent scientist and employee. Racial Profiling at Work Lee was fired from his job at Los Alamos National Laboratory on March 8, 1999. On the same day, Lee's name was leaked to the media, with the New York Times publishing a sensationalist story about his case. At this time, there was concern about new PRC (People Republic of China's) nuclear developments. FBI investigators quickly determined that the design data the PRC had obtained could not have come from the Los Alamos Lab. What was revealed Lee's case has been compared to the famous Dreyfus Affair in France in the early 1900s in which anti-Jewish hysteria caused mistreatment of a person. It shows the harm done to an individual who belongs to a racial minority when the government and the media focus on that person's race and portray the individual as a menace to society. Although Dr. Lee had been a U.S. citizen for 30 years and had an excellent record with no criminal or illegal activity, and although was originally from Taiwan, - a political enemy of the PRC, he was under suspicion and jailed largely because of his Asian racial background. What was revealed The FBI admitted that they practice routine racial profiling. FBI agents had threatened Dr Lee with execution if he didn't cooperate and acted as though Dr. Lee was a convicted spy, although he was never formally charged with espionage. Dr. Lee was denied phone calls and put in solitary confinement for almost a year (278 days). He was considered a "security threat," access to his family and legal defense was greatly restricted. What does this case show? All the evidence suggests that Dr. Lee was treated differently than other people because he was a foreign born Asian American. Dr. Lee was seen as "foreign" and not "one of us." A U.S. citizen who lived in the U.S. for 30 years, he was not seen as being a "real" American and his loyalty was suspect based solely on his racial-ethnic background. It later came out that two dozen other employees of the same lab did the same thing as Dr, Lee but none of them faced any legal charges or suspicion. What was different? All of the others were of white, European ancestry. Thus, it is not a person's actions but his/her racial background that mattered. 2 cases connected The issue in these 2 cases is less about the legalities than the public hysteria they quickly ignited. In both, the mass media used racial stereotypes and sent out an explosion of anti-Asian images and messages. These messages got caught up in political partisanship and were manipulated for political reasons. In the media & public mind Chinese = enemy & communist although both of these men were long-time U.S. residents & U.S. citizens. Both came from the country of Taiwan NOT from CHINA. Taiwan is a U.S. ally and capitalist democracy. It has been strongly opposed to the other (communist) China since its creation in 1949.
The power point presentation on race and ethnicity has four terms, all that begin with the letter A, to describe majority-minority group contact. They are ranked from closest to group separation to breaking down separation. Which term means the least separation?
Accommodation - get along in public, no overt conflict Acculturation - share culture/language, at least in public places Assimilation - work together, residence in same neighborhoods, kids to same schools Amalgamation - intermarriage and blend together
The term melting pot has been widely used in the United States for a long time. Which of the following groups has always been included in the "pot" and could "melt" to be part of American society?
Before multiculturalism was the melting pot The melting pot metaphor is another term for assimilation and amalgamation. It referred to European immigrants to the U.S. who would blend together culturally and by intermarriage. They would cease to be distinct groups, but would blend into a single, new culture. Because the early emphasis was on Europeans, it indirectly meant that many groups blended into a white race. Melting Pot The idea appeared as early as the 1700s, emphasizing people lost connections to the "old country" or their original homeland once in America. Throughout the 1800s major American writers repeated the theme. "The Melting Pot " is also the title of a 1905 play by Israel Zangwill. Based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and set in New York City, it highlighted the mixing of immigrants with different religious and class backgrounds. Later it emphasized the intermarriage of different European-origin Americans. Melting Pot j0237662 Thus, melting pot idea has been around for over 200 years. It has been increasingly criticized People were supposed to "melt" and lose their distinct culture, religion and language and heritage. They were to forget "where they came from." Some immigrants had to give up more than others; early groups defined the culture and others had to conform to it. Not all groups contributed equally to what was "in the pot." Melting Pot j0237662 Implicit throughout the use of the term. Some groups were not supposed to melt. They were excluded from getting into the metaphorical "pot." People "to melt" in the pot included only voluntary immigrants to the U.S., and only certain of the voluntary immigrants at that. The following groups were excluded from the "melting pot": American Indians African Americans Asian Americans Latino/a Americans
The Chinese American basketball star Jeremy Lin, an Asian American from Harvard, unexpected rose to the major leagues in 2012. How did some in the media sports world react? What was Lin's response?
DECEMBER 2011 Protest in New York All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony makes his return from injury to join budding star Jeremy Lin (17) in the Knicks lineup against the Nets on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Another Asian American Story at the end of 2011 and early 2012 was the rise of Jeremy Lin. He joined the NY Knicks on December 28, 2011. Lucky Break Lin was an unknown picked up by the NY Knicks but not used. After the Knicks squandered a 4th quarter lead in a February 3, 2012 loss to the Celtics, the coach decided to give Lin a chance to play, in "desperation." According to experts. "He got lucky because we were playing so bad." Lin unexpectedly led a turnaround of an 8-15 team that had lost 11 of its last 13 games.[On February 4, against the New Jersey Nets Lin had 25 points, 5 rebounds, and seven assists—all career-highs—in a 99-92 Knicks victory. In a subsequent game against the Utah Jazz, Lin made his first career start playing without stars Anthony, who left the game due to injury. Lin had 28 points and eight assists in the Knicks' 99-88 win. In a 107-93 win over the Washington Wizards, Lin played against John Wall and had 23 points and 10 assists. On February 10, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had 7 assists, leading the Knicks in their 92-85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He outscored the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who had 34 points. Unknown to overnight superstar February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had 8 assists in a narrow 100-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[ On February 14, with less than a second remaining, Lin scored a game-winning three-pointer against the Toronto Raptors.[The basket so amazed the Lakers. Lin became the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and have 7 assists in each of his first five starts.[Lin scored more in his first 5 starts than any player since the American Basketball Association merged with the and the NBA in 1976-77. Some media outlets—including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and CBSSports.com—stated that he deserved to play in the All-Star Game. At the end of the 2011-12 season, Lin signed with the Houston Rockets for $25 million over 4 years. Knicks' Jeremy Lin holds mirror up to America, p 1. Quoted from February 20, 2012, LA Times newspaper article: It's been barely 2 weeks since the beginning of a tale that rocked the sports world with great basketball and bad puns, but so much already has changed. When America now looks at Lin, it should see more than an Asian American kid from Harvard who overcame ignorance at every level to become a star guard for the New York Knicks. America should see itself in the murky reflection of a society that has long considered it reasonable to publicly categorize Asian Americans in ways that would never be acceptable for other, more vocal minorities. America should see the writer from Foxsports.com who began the barrage of ignorance last week by tweeting a tired joke about the assumed size of Lin's manhood. The guy apologized, but his company did not. Knicks' Jeremy Lin holds mirror up to America, p. 2 Can you imagine a major American media company tolerating this sort of blatant racism if it were directed toward any of Lin's African American teammates? America should see the game video from the Knicks' MSG network in which cameras focused on a homemade sign that showed Lin's face above a fortune cookie with the words, "The Knicks Good Fortune.'' Can you imagine, five months from now, that same television director willingly airing a shot of a sign that made fun of the heritage of a Latino member of the New York Mets? If America has the stomach, it should even watch the tape of the WNYW morning show in New York where one of the anchors, upon hearing a reporter list Lin's physical attributes, asked, "What about his eyes?" The newsman made the slur, he sort of winked with glee, the entire news desk laughed. Knicks' Jeremy Lin holds mirror up to America, p. 3 There was finally push-back at ESPN, which fired one employee and suspended another for separately describing the Knicks' first loss with Lin as a starter as a "Chink in the armor." The guy who was fired amazingly felt confident enough to put it in a mobile website headline. The guy who was suspended said it on the air during a conversation. In marginalizing the Jeremy Lin story, that newsman illustrated its real importance. This newfound basketball force forced Americans to realize how comfortable they are compartmentalizing Asian Americans with a list of stereotypes that are misguided, mean-spirited and just plain wrong. Such as that one that says, you know, Asian Americans can't play sports. Knicks' Jeremy Lin holds mirror up to America, p 4. This is one reason sports matters. It publicly shows the shared understanding of the human condition . America needs to watch the "Saturday Night Live'' skit in which three sports reporters laughingly discuss Lin while using Asian American slurs, yet when a fourth newsman tries to discuss other Knicks by using African American slurs, they become offended.
What does it mean to say Asian Americans are "racialized outsiders"?
They will be forever foreign ...
The powerpoint presents a 4 part typology of prejudice and discrimination developed by the sociologist Robert Merton 50 years ago. What is the person who holds racially prejudicial views but is quiet and fails to act on them?
Timid Bigot
The book by Dhingra and Rodriquez discusses racial categories, sexuality and gender all in Chapter 2. What do they say about the connection among these ideas?
Treated unequally. they do not operate separately from one another but instead intersect. We have to consider hwo they inform one another.
What was the message that sent by the events surrounding the killing of Vincent Chin and the legal response?
Vincent Chin You will hear about the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982. It mobilized the Asian American community. The explicitly brutal racist act was brushed off by the legal system. It happened nearly 20 years after the Civil Rights movement and laws It shocked Asian Americans and their allies who thought they were safe and protected as fully assimilated American citizens. Who Killed Vincent Chin? The murder of Vincent Chin focused on the two white men (who grew up in southeast Wisconsin before they moved to Detroit to work in the auto industry), -- they are not the real "who." Vincent Chin was murdered solely because of his Asian appearance. The "real murderer" is anti-Asian racist thinking over many years. The racist thinking was also illustrated in the extremely light sentence given to the men who committed the murders by the judicial system. The real murderer The message in the brutal murder, the public's passive response and the judge's extremely light decision was clear -- In America an Asian life is not worth as much as that of other, especially White, people. People of Asian heritage don't really belong here. It is a way of thinking - that goes back over 100 years. That is what really killed Vincent Chin.
Who killed Vincent Chin?
Vincent Chin You will hear about the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982. It mobilized the Asian American community. The explicitly brutal racist act was brushed off by the legal system. It happened nearly 20 years after the Civil Rights movement and laws It shocked Asian Americans and their allies who thought they were safe and protected as fully assimilated American citizens. Who Killed Vincent Chin? The murder of Vincent Chin focused on the two white men (who grew up in southeast Wisconsin before they moved to Detroit to work in the auto industry), -- they are not the real "who." Vincent Chin was murdered solely because of his Asian appearance. The "real murderer" is anti-Asian racist thinking over many years. The racist thinking was also illustrated in the extremely light sentence given to the men who committed the murders by the judicial system. The real murderer The message in the brutal murder, the public's passive response and the judge's extremely light decision was clear -- In America an Asian life is not worth as much as that of other, especially White, people. People of Asian heritage don't really belong here. It is a way of thinking - that goes back over 100 years. That is what really killed Vincent Chin. 1940s
What do most scientists say regarding racial differences today?
What the scientific community now believes. Today, almost all scientists recognize that race is not "real." At least it is not biologically real. The physical appearance differences that exist among human beings are trivial. We are 98%+ alike and differ only in very minor, superficial ways. There are no basically different human types that correspond to what ordinary people, even government documents, call races. There is variation due to human populations in different parts of the globe interbreeding for centuries and inheriting some physical traits, but these DO NOT correspond to Basic Types of people.
What was learned in the study about White-majority perceptions of Asian Americans in a recent study of U.S. college students?
Who is American? In a recent study researchers found, U.S. college students considered Asian Americans to be less "American" than Whites and Blacks. "Asian Americans were not merely viewed as foreigners, they were also excluded from the concept of "American" (p 453) Devos and Banaji. 2005. "American = White?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88:447-66.