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How Asian Americans Were Portrayed in Children’s Books

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Submitted By steven8288
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After the study, reviewers had found more stereotypes of Asian Americans than valid and neutral descriptions or explanations of different Asian American cultures. Because white American had dominated every aspect in this country, it was very easy for the majority people to condescend other minorities; however, it was very hard for the minorities to fight back stereotypes because of white domination and prejudices of Asian American ethnicities, especially in area such as Asian American children’s and adolescent literature in the past where there were more white writers comparing to Asian American writers. Reviewers had found that most of the books contained stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminations of Asian Americans because those authors of Asian American books had manipulated tones such as imprudent, conclusive, derisive, condescending, and derogated to identify Asian American cultures.
Reviewers found that some authors were using imprudent and conclusive tones to conclude what a group of Asian Americans and even one ethnicity of Asian Americans should be based on their own perceptions. For instance, Fire Dragon, a book by Barbara Benezra, was stated by the reviewers that it used misconceptions and outdated information to depict the social status of Chinese American women that readers might be confused with the conditions in the past with the present. (Interracial 9) Other stereotypes that occurred frequently in the stories were that Asian American ethnicities were pertained to certain jobs, physical traits, and characteristics. Examples could be found in Mr. Charley’s Chopsticks (a book written by Doris P. Evans) that depicted Chinese American with characteristics such as using chopsticks for various purposes, speaking in pidgin English, having slanted eyes, wearing old-fashioned flag dress, mandarin collar, and Chinese-style cloth shoes. (7)

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