[avant-garde]

I know that even up to the early 90s, Asians were probably taken as a joke in American society. But nowadays, you see Asians dominating the best colleges, businesses, tech firms, medical schools, etc while we only comprise 4.5% of America.

A lot of white people are beginning to express genuine concerns about the work ethic of Asians (in my personal observation through forums). Obviously, they portray this in a negative light by saying "why is it that all you Asians ever care about is math and nothing else?" But this shows that people in general are starting to see the trend that in the realm of hard-work, education, and salary, Asians are dominating the other minorities by far, and can be considered on par with white people.

What are your thoughts, is being perceived as a "threat" in this manner good or bad? Should we be concerned?
I'd say it's good, or at least better than being perceived an insignificant 4.5%


Asian Americans, although minority in numbers, are more powerful than ever in the economic/social realm.

[The Pink Panda]

Asians have always been an socially upwardly mobile group of people, they might start off living in a ghetto but they don't normally stay there for long. One of the reasons that Asians may be being viewed as a threat now more than before is the rise of China.

Back in the 90's, the only Asian country that got any real attention in the international scene was Japan and they were completely subordinate to the USA after the second world war. Now all of a sudden you have this massive country with a Communist government rising to the fore with double figure economic growth, nuclear weapons and a quarter of the world's population. That's a real problem for the USA, who might have to step down from its place as No1 country in the world at some stage during the 21st century and have China take its place.
I remember seeing a clip of Nixon saying all of America's problems in Asia are due to China; the Korean war, the Vietnam war.

With the increased media exposure and the shift in world powers, it's not surprising that Asians are being noticed much more, and being viewed as serious competition or even a threat. Is it a good thing? I personally don't think so, for example, the new admissions scheme at UC ends up discriminating against Asian Americans... perhaps if they continued being insignificant this wouldn't have happened. Feeling threatened, the government and media will think up ways to turn public opinion against Asians; you always hear about Chinese products being recalled for failing safety standards but you rarely hear it about other country's products even when they occur.

My 2cents

[Sophisticate]

I know that even up to the early 90s, Asians were probably taken as a joke in American society. But nowadays, you see Asians dominating the best colleges, businesses, tech firms, medical schools, etc while we only comprise 4.5% of America.

A lot of white people are beginning to express genuine concerns about the work ethic of Asians (in my personal observation through forums). Obviously, they portray this in a negative light by saying "why is it that all you Asians ever care about is math and nothing else?" But this shows that people in general are starting to see the trend that in the realm of hard-work, education, and salary, Asians are dominating the other minorities by far, and can be considered on par with white people.

What are your thoughts, is being perceived as a "threat" in this manner good or bad? Should we be concerned?
I'd say it's good, or at least better than being perceived an insignificant 4.5%


Asian Americans, although minority in numbers, are more powerful than ever in the economic/social realm.

That's a funny thing to say. I think that we were always equal.

Asians have always been an socially upwardly mobile group of people, they might start off living in a ghetto but they don't normally stay there for long. One of the reasons that Asians may be being viewed as a threat now more than before is the rise of China.

Back in the 90's, the only Asian country that get any real attention in the international scene was Japan and they were completely subordinate to the USA after the second world war. Now all of a sudden you have this massive country with a Communist government rising to the fore with double figure economic growth, nuclear weapons and a quarter of the world's population. That's a real problem for the USA, who might have to step down from its place as No1 country in the world at some stage during the 21st century and have China take its place.
I remember seeing a clip of Nixon saying all of America's problems in Asia are due to China; the Korean war, the Vietnam war.

With the increased media exposure and the shift in world powers, it's not surprising that Asians are being noticed much more, and being viewed as serious competition or even a threat. Is it a good thing? I personally don't think so, for example, the new admissions scheme at UC ends discriminating against Asian Americans... perhaps if they continued being insignificant this wouldn't have happened. Feeling threatened, the government and media will think up ways to turn public opinion against Asians; you always hear about Chinese products being recalled for failing safety standards but you rarely hear it about other country's products even when they occur.

My 2cents

&yes, I agree with you. Like my dad says, the chicken that sticks out his head will get chopped.

[avant-garde]

That's a funny thing to say. I think that we were always equal.

Clearly this shows a lack of ability to pick up on context.

[terrorist]

well that's good that we are doing really important things.. and becoming very ambitious.
all those Asian doctors and lawyers, etc etc. will eventually make America a better place

if we are a threat, dare they attack us and bring us down.
that's when you won't be seeing anymore lawyers and doctors.

funny thing is.. my friend got rejected from a certain college because there were too many Asians.

[avant-garde]

(nvm please delete this reply)

[Tuffcore]

Not sure about America but being born and raised in Canada, we were taught as soon as we went to grade school that people of all races are the same. We were taught not to discriminate and not to stereotype others. As a result, a generational investment in race education has now given people of all races in Canada the greatest opportunity ever to achieve goals and dreams that may have once been reserved only for Whites.

Is this a threat to White Canadians? Hardly. There are labor shortages everywhere especially when it comes to high end jobs such as those in the medical field. Even for jobs like engineering, finances, sciences, etc, the country is handing out work visas like its going out of style. We seem to be simply, a community of people utilizing all of our human resources to move our nation forward as one.

[Sophisticate]

Clearly this shows a lack of ability to pick up on context.

Clearly, someone has no idea what it means to fight the stereotypes.

Sorry, but I happen to think all people are equal. The fact that white people are paid more & have high education compared to... blacks, or Asians... is due to racism & the fact that it's obvious when a minority picks up the same salary (or closes in) as the "white" person implies a discrimination that is acceptable. & The fact that it is changed due to the effort of the minority and not the effort of the majority to make everything fair is wrong.

edited for clarity.

[Laxntiga]

4.5% is a lot! How many millions of Asians is that?

What irks me the most is... you call what people "German" or "Italian" or "French" etc. But all of us yellow folk get classified as either "Asian". You don't hear white people calling other white people European.....

Either we are all Chinese or from Asia, how fcking general is that?

[nostalgiafades]

Everybody's on the same level. It just depends on a person's dedication and desires to move up in the world.

Yeah, there is always discrimination...

But as the old parable says, the !@#$ sinks to the bottom while the good stuff floats to the top.

Just takes time for the true colors to get there.

As for being a "threat," I highly doubt that's the case.

[Aeroshark2000]

I disagree with your problem statement. asians were not taken as a joke in society, even 20 years ago. There are always people of all races who are sucessful, and there are always people who are not. Society values those who can suceed. I strongly find offense at the statement that "asians are dominating the other minories by far", as I know many representatives of minorities who have been very sucessful.

i feel that the statement "why is it that all you Asians ever care about is math and nothing else?" only ever comes up in school, or isolated communities (and apparently this forum), and not in the workplace.

How can a group even be on par with another group? If you are sucessful, you are sucessful. If you are not, then you are not. It has nothing to do with race, and if some people feel threatened by that, then they need to realize that need to up their own productivity or fall behind.

[GoodAsianDriver]

Perhaps a threat for other undergraduates applying for college admission. Perhaps a threat in US immigration.

Outside of that, I would argue that Asian Americans are seen as the opposite as a threat. Asian Americans tend to be seen as submissive and passive. There have, however, been poorly produced news stories which pose Asian Americans as perpetual outsiders whose loyalties lie with their homeland. I've seen stories which cast students and academics as spies for the PRC. Look at the case example of wen ho lee.

Asian Americans can be seen as perpetual foreigners - people who do not belong in america, or who do things in a strange and unfitting way. But the threat of the Asian American isn't a *fear* that some may have of African Americans, for example.

I would actually advocate Asian Americans to *become* a threat. Too frequently are asian americans cast in the backpocket of political parties and entities. Asian Americans ought to mobilize to become a more active and politically conscious group to be seen as a threat to be met with political capital.

**
My alias on these forums - "GoodAsianDriver" was selected to make people more politically conscious. So frequently do we presume that Asians are bad drivers. When people realize that the phrase *Good* Asian Driver sounds unnatural, they realize that they're racist. "Good Asian Driver" is a way of becoming aware.


ps - though we do keep closing out on America's best dance krew. Maybe we're a threat to other dancers?

[Pogichinoy]

Either we are all Chinese or from Asia, how fcking general is that?

To be honest, I have trouble telling apart Asians alike.

Hongers, Chinese, and Taiwanese look the same. Hell I even have trouble guessing between Japan and Korea, or Thai, Indo, Malay and Cambodian.

---

Sometimes when someone loses out to another, they'll find a reason why that is so, and they hate to admit that they lost due to a skill so they choose a quality that isn't in of the other person's control, and usually its race.

[nostalgiafades]

To be honest, I have trouble telling apart Asians alike.

Hongers, Chinese, and Taiwanese look the same. Hell I even have trouble guessing between Japan and Korea, or Thai, Indo, Malay and Cambodian.

---

Sometimes when someone loses out to another, they'll find a reason why that is so, and they hate to admit that they lost due to a skill so they choose a quality that is of the other person's control, and usually its race.

Agreed. I think the root of the problem lies not within the success of one person over another, but the limitations in their own level of consciousness towards everyone else.

If they started to see beyond just the skin and appearance, they'd start to see the beauty of everything in life and in the world.

I think that general ignorance that people cling to is unfortunately supported / encouraged. Just take a look at the late-night comedy shows with any minority skit.

[HERMIT]

Wow. And all this time the only asian that I perceived as a "threat" was Kim Jong-Il.
I mean, I fear him more than a hard-working, industrious asian just trying to scratch out a living and making a contribution to society.

[avant-garde]

^ i vote hermit the funniest

[SilkInfused]

Asians Americans on par with white people? We're not quite there yet. However, I think Asians (in Asia) may be have the upper hand in terms of continual technological advancement against Americans. This is taking power from the hands of America, we're talking about, which can be quite disastrous.

"A lot of white people are beginning to express genuine concerns about the work ethic of Asians..."

Well, I think it's just Americans in general who abhor a little labor every now and then. Why else stereotype Asians as workaholics? Minorities, mind you, of any race are the workhorses of any powerful entity, so of course they are perceived in a negative light. Some may be right, there are extreme workaholics out there, but I think to most Asians(or people who know the value of hardwork) working hard for the money isn't anything shocking to them. It's just business. Work hard to get ahead. Newer generations of white Americans are brought up with a self-entitlement mindset, so any inkling of a little hardwork is like the deathblow to their spokewheel of their future.

Of course, I, being an Asian female, like the thought of being perceived as a competitive threat on a personal level. Who wouldn't? Asians have come so far, it's cool to think we're thought of people of a certain value, especially in America. Perhaps there will be more opportunities. How about the dating scene("yellow fever"), even? Although, this applies more for the female asian than the male asian, but fascinating to me as social psychology nonetheless! Or how about the anime and videogame influence to the highly imaginative youth culture, who grow up to be inspired and open minded about what goes on in the Pacific rim? Surely, small things like that, puts Asians to a certain advantage more than any other race/culture in the world. What would this mean for us globally? Maybe balance of power.

[iDoof]

I think it's a mistake to frame American race relations in terms of who is or isn't a threat.

So many of our historical and current race problems have to do with intolerance and people perceiving other races as "threats" to their well-being when they really aren't:

"Black people being free are a threat to White people."
"Gay people are a threat to Christians"
"The entire Middle East is a threat to the world".

Appointing Asians as the new "threat" only continues this trend and builds barriers when we should be breaking them down.

So if your minute observations on some forums is truly an indicator of our country at large, then we need to work towards showing people that a hard-working, educated and salaried Asian person is the OPPOSITE of a threat: a supportive, friendly and contributing member of society. And that comes from BELIEVING that we Asians are exactly that.

[missxmoody]

Hmm.. 4.3% Asian American population in the United States, while Asian Americans make up 8.8% of college students. Random stat for everyone. It doesn't include Asian international students, which I would assume would drive that number up a lot.

I'm tired and need to head to bed, but I will throw this out there.

We will, as Asian/Asian Americans, NEVER be a threat to American/White society until there is an Asian American movement. Yes, we might be getting more media coverage, but that's Asia .. not Asian Americans. Like many others have already said the perceived notions of our model minority high achievements have been the case for the past few generations already, yet little progress has been made in the fight to have a great Asian American presence in the United States.

Just by looking at the news.. why are stories/current events with Black and Latino Americans so much more dominant? Two reasons.. Asian Americans are just so apathetic to politics that it's disgusting. It might be different in the west coast, but try anywhere else to get Asian Americans to do anything political and you're talking to no one. Second reason, that was given to me by a professor to think about .. it's because Asian Americans, amongst all minority groups, has been accepted more into American society then the others. This is up to argument, because this might just be because we're invisible. But, we've assimilated into our American communities without screaming and hollering. This is to be said though without taking into the account the huge influx of new Asian immigrants.

I guess bottom line, no white people are not threatened by us.. just because we continue to get educated and make up higher percentages of professionals. We are not a threat until we have a political voice.

[HERMIT]

I guess bottom line, no white people are not threatened by us.. just because we continue to get educated and make up higher percentages of professionals. We are not a threat until we have a political voice.

I guess it depends on what you qualify as being a political voice and how one goes about attaining one.
I don't know if this is a good example, but I've test-fired a few bottle rockets off of my condo balcony the past couple of months. My aim has been bad, but while I've harmlessly landed some on just the community parking lot, I've slowly but surely demonstrated the ability to hit some dangerously close to the fences of some neighboring backyards. My antics have stirred a bit of concern with some of my fellow condo residents and I know that I've gotten the attention of at least a few condo association board members if not the president itself.
In my own way, I guess I've attained some sort of "political voice" as it relates to my stupid homeowner's association. I mean, I'm one asian that won't stand for yet another fees increase, that's for damn sure.