Someone once told me,Ā āYouāre lucky, youāre Asian. Your stereotypes are all positive, like all Asians are smart, or all Asians are good at math.ā
Do you know the problem with Asian stereotypes?Ā
The problem is that when I get an A on a test, people say,Ā āOh, sheās Asian, of course she got an Aā.Ā
The problem is that when our badminton team won state, people said,Ā āOh, theyāre Asian, of course theyāre good at badmintonā.Ā
The problem is that when my sister got into MIT, I heard people saying,Ā āWell, sheās Asian, so of course she got into MITā.Ā
When my friend wins a piano competition, people said he won becauseĀ āall Asians are good at piano.ā
I got an A on that test because I did my homework every day and studied for hours.
Our badminton team won state because we train 9 hours a week, all year round.
My sister got into MIT because she spent hours agonizing over her essays, because she stayed up ridiculously late doing homework and studying for tests.
Yes, I agree, a lot of the Asians I know are very smart, and many Asians excel in music and extracurriculars. Do you know why? Itās because of their parents, who yell at them when their grades drop, when they donāt practice enough. Itās the hours spent crying, the times you consider cheating because you donāt have time to study. Itās your bleeding fingers and aching shoulders, but you havenāt practiced enough.Ā
Because when we donāt succeed, all we hear is countless people telling us,Ā āYouāre Asian, arenāt Asians supposed to be smart?āĀ āArenāt Asians supposed to be good at piano?āĀ āArenāt Asians supposed to succeed at everything without trying?ā
Do not invalidate our hard work by saying our achievements are a result of our ethnicity.
titsay
tangentwithtanner
2087
kianamaiart
prguitarman
