The position of Asians in American society is similar to the Jewish community due to the high levels of their integration into public life and their achievements in education and work. Though the vital detail is that most people acknowledge the existence of antisemitism, the negative attitude to Asians in the United States is not usually mentioned. They are regarded as the model minority due to their well-being and ability to avoid negative attention (Lee, 2021). At the same time, they did not suffer from mass persecution and genocide, including Holocaust, which makes their perception different from the Jews. Asians do not attract public attention to historical and current social injustice cases. It is possible to hypothesize that anti-Asian sentiment is not typically acknowledged and do not lead to public canceling compared to antisemitism due to the distinct historical background and lack of attention to this topic nowadays.
The history of racism is an integral part of the American social discourse. When this topic is discussed, most individuals usually mention discrimination against African Americans in the United States and the Holocaust, the culmination of the anti-semitic feelings in Europe. These minorities seem to suffer the most, but this perspective is superficial because Asians had to overcome significant challenges when they arrived in the United States in the previous centuries (Lee, 2021). The vital detail is that anti-Asian feelings exist even nowadays in American society due to the negative perception of the Chinese as communists and people responsible for spreading COVID-19 (Lee, 2021). These irrational accusations are not always articulated in public, but they exist in society and contribute to the negative stereotypical attitude to all Asians.
The examples from American history illustrate that the dominant majority always discriminated against Asians, and this situation was regarded as usual. The history of discrimination against Asians in the United States started in the 19th century when Chinese workers arrived in America during the Gold Rush (Kurashige, 2021). Negative sentiments towards them were initially motivated by the rivalry between working and poor white Americans, who had to compete to find a job (Kurashige, 2021). During World War II, Asians in the United States were accused of collaborating with the Nazis because the Americans did not try to distinguish Japanese from Chinese and Koreans (Kurashige, 2021). The image of the model minority attributed to Asian Americans is an example of the current discrimination against this racial group (Visalvanich, 2017). For example, Asians are perceived as good professionals but rarely receive managerial or leader’s positions due to the opinion that they are emotionally cold (Visalvanich, 2017). It makes them different from the rest of the population, which is the basis for further discrimination.
Even though most people discuss injustice towards African Americans or Jews as the most vulnerable racial groups, there is significant underrepresented controversy in the attitudes to Asians. It is possible to make parallels between Asians and Jews, who are perceived as economically successful but different from the rest of the population due to their emotional coldness. The serious problem is that the history of the Holocaust showed the unacceptability of expressing antisemitic feelings, and people were canceled for expressing hatred towards Jews. Asians do not speak up about the unacceptability of stereotyping, discriminating, and expressing hatred towards their race and do not appeal to historical cases of injustice. As a result, most people do not think that their controversial opinions are wrong and they should be punished for them. It is possible to assume that the situation might improve if the Asian minority emphasized the importance of a neutral attitude to their race and were publicly accused of violating this principle.
References
Kurashige, L. (2021). Race, revisionism, ethnic boundaries, and Japanese American internment. Journal of American Ethnic History40 (3): 5–42. Web.
Lee, J. (2021). Asian Americans, affirmative action and the rise in anti-Asian hate. Daedalus, 150(2), 180–198. Web.
Visalvanich, N. (2017). Asian candidates in America: The surprising effects of positive racial stereotyping. Political Research Quarterly, 70(1), 68–81. Web.