Written by Cathryn T. Rigby
Racism when you’re Asian isn’t one big story you can tell everyone about, it’s easily concealed and rarely a negative comment. It’s the positive stereotype or positive assumptions that are fixed, apply to most and are typically over simplified versions of a person or thing. The positive comment undermines the negative connection. The most common stereotype that I’ve experienced is that Asians are good at math. The positive comment being good at math undermines the fact that to get an A in math I worked twice if not three times harder than most students.
So, when it comes to taking a math class in college I went for something easy so that I never had to hear the phrase. As an Asian American you are thought to do better than the rest, it’s expected. Why can’t I just get a B in my precalculus class? Because I am expected to be better. Society puts Chinese Americans on this minority pedestal that reads “model minority and best grade in the math class”. But no pressure. Now imagine this:
Early on a Tuesday. It’s a cold February morning, and I was already having a bad day. Then I realized that we were supposed to get our test results. My professor walks in and says “I have tests to hand out.” At that moment I was feeling confident; today is the day I will avoid the Asian comment. Then I peeled up the corner and saw a 75. I quickly put it back. Typically not a big deal. Usually when I do bad on something it’s because I forgot a step or put a 6 into the calculator instead of a 5, but for me this grade makes me feel like I am not good enough to be in a math class, like I have failed everyone around me.
Now one of your “friends” sees that same grade and mentions how they thought Asians were good at math and say, “How did I do better than you if your Asian?” Back then I just laughed and said “Yeah, but even I’m allowed a bad day right?”
I see a few things wrong with this but do you? Most people don’t see anything wrong with saying that you should be good at something because of the color of your skin. To a lot of people this just seems like a compliment, but to me, its an insult. The positive under mines the negative and the relationship that math and I have is the product of this stereotype. It’s the constant battle of do I work my butt off and be a stereotype or do I suck and get judged for not being the stereotype. That’s the damage of the positive stereotype.
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