"Come on, do math!"

We can all admit to at least some extent that Family Guy is a hilarious and enjoyable show. Who doesn't love Peter Griffin and his immature ways? I remember watching this episode that was aired during the summer and I couldn't help, but notice how stereotypical and racist this one segment was. It showed Peter telling his daughter, Meg, that he "will do better at this job than I did on the SATs". After, the show flashbacks to Peter taking an Asian boy out instead of using a calculator and saying, "Come on, do math!".  I admit, I did laugh, but as I look back, I couldn't help but notice how racist it was. Do people really think that the only thing Asians do is math and anything school related? 

All jokes aside, there are actually some Asians out there that take these types of jokes offensive. Although it is the stereotype that Asians are smart in school, they can also excel at other things! Sure, it is funny the first time to say something to your Asian friend like, "What?! How'd you fail the test..you're Asian?!?", but if you say this phrase more often to your friend, they may take this phrase more personally every time you say it and feel degraded. 

A Racist Rager

As I was researching for this week's blog post, I came across a shocking article. It seemed that a fraternity at Duke University threw a "Asian-Themed" party. This "racist rager" required party goers to wear conical hats, geisha outfits, and any Asian related clothing. The invitations to this party also included Asian stereotype misspellings such as, "Herro" for Hello and "Chank you" for Thank you. This sparked a huge uproar on the campus. Asian student groups organized a rally against this offensive party. As a result, school officials have suspended all activities for this fraternity. 

Although I recognize that college students just want to have fun and make their parties more interesting, students need to take their actions into consideration because it can truly offend someone that could even be their fellow peers and students. Is it really necessary to throw an Asian themed party that's basically making fun of a valued culture? Why can't they just throw a themed beach party that won't be offending anyone? People need to realize that a culture is of a huge importance to people and doing these kinds of actions can make cultures feel like they are a joke to society. 

Make Me...Asian?

We may be familiar with the smartphone apps of  "Fat Booth" or "Face Swap". These apps give us the ability to make ourselves look physically funny; however, I encountered an article written this month that there was an app created for smartphone users to make themselves look Asian. This app was called "Make Me Asian".

This "Make Me Asian" app caused huge uproar with many Asian Americans and criticized this app to be "ridiculously racist", as quoted in the article. I recognize the fact that the main goal these "Make Me Asian" creators wanted to achieve was purely for amusement, but I do agree this could be possibly crossing the line towards racism. The article also stated that this app included features, such as "conical hat or a Fu Manchu mustache". Really? Are conical hats and Fu Manchu mustaches truly what make up the entire Asian culture?  Due to the harsh criticism received , Google removed the "Make Me Asian" app to prevent more future complaints from emerging. The problem is that people continue to judge other cultures only based on stereotypes. This issue needs to be fixed because this kind of receptivity of the Asian culture can cause a valued culture to feel degraded. 

Check it out!

Google removes 'Make Me Asian' app amidst racism concerns

Introduction to Racism: Asian Americans

Straight A's, strict parents, A- is equivalent to an F, chopsticks, math brainiacs...

First thought that comes to mind when people usually hear these words? Asians. 

In society today, many people associate the word, racism, with blacks; however, racism happens to every ethnicity in the world. I am not here to talk about the general concept of racism, but I will focus on the racism with Asian Americans. Asians are accepted as minorities in the United States, but as time advances, we see the Asian population greatly increasing. As an Asian myself (Filipino to be exact), I could definitely relate to the topic of Racism: Asian Americans. Many members of my family have slightly experienced firsthand the racism against Asian Americans. I chose this topic because as I said, I can greatly relate and I am interested in gaining a deeper perspective into the whole concept of racism against Asian Americans. 

Enjoy! Magsaya ka! 享受! Bergembiralah dengan! สนุก!