Читать книгу Asian America - Pawan Dhingra - Страница 30

“You speak English so well! How long have you lived in the United States? Where do you really come from?” Many Asian Americans have encountered these remarks, even those born and raised in the United States. This is an example of a racial micro-aggression, how Asian Americans experience race as presumed non-Americans in their everyday lives. This chapter explains this experience, along with ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, which future chapters then elaborate upon. The chapter first overviews key sociological approaches to understanding these social dimensions. It then defines key terms and reviews the dominant Asian-American stereotypes. It borrows heavily from racial formation theory in order to understand Asian Americans’ racial experiences. More than reviewing stereotypes, the chapter explains how they operate within the constructs of the nation, patriarchy, capitalism, and imperialism. Attention also is paid to how assimilation theory, which anticipates little if any racism against upwardly mobile minorities, makes sense of Asian-American race relations. Substantive issues that demonstrate these hierarchies include immigration laws, hate crimes, and racial profiling.