In the modern world, although there are initiatives and policies aimed at reducing incivility and discrimination of different groups of people based on gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and other features, such practices still persist. Many media platforms accentuate such an issue due to detrimental effects on the psychological and physical well-being of individuals, along with the injustice they have to experience. In their article, The US values Asian work more than Asian lives, S. Mitra Kalita emphasizes how students and employees are stigmatized as hardworking individuals and how it results in higher expectations of individuals.
Different stereotypes have an impact on Asians at work, both in terms of day-to-day treatment and career opportunities. According to Kalita (2023), one in three Asian and Asian American professionals report having encountered racial discrimination. The journalist proceeds by accentuating that Asians report experiencing incivility and stigmatization at greater rates than other races (Kalita, 2023). In this situation, the perceptions and expectations of employers and the public are the results of growing misunderstandings about Asian Americans in the US (Kalita, 2023). This majorly stems from the history of Asians and other immigrants coming to the U.S. throughout a significant portion of the 20th century (Kalita, 2023). However, with the times changing, a greater collapse awaits if events do not change and the perception of Asians as diligent workers and students persists. Among those who contribute to such an issue are the employers and columnists who frequently commit the sin of sweepingly generalizing Asians (Kalita, 2023). As a result, action is required to change the way how immigrants and people of different ethnicities are perceived.
When it comes to my positionality, I agree with the extent of the problem and the subsequent effects of such attitudes provided by the author Kalita. I believe that many people might not realize how they can influence the perceptions of immigrant groups or groups of different ethnicities and nationalities by seeing them as monolithic. I am a part of the community discussed in the article. Being an international Asian student, I have not experienced any discrimination yet in terms of student work, and I currently do not know anyone directly impacted by such a situation. However, I believe and fear that as I look for a job, I will encounter issues of stigmatization or incivility.
As for the intersecting identities that make the mentioned group vulnerable, it involves Asian students or Asian employees. In general, those most affected by this issue are young individuals who are stigmatized as hardworking people and are seen as a monolith, which involves perceiving all Asian nationalities as one identity. As a result, there is a need for more recognition of the many layers of identity. As seen from the article Kalita, many employers and columnists do not differentiate between nationalities in Asia. In this case, more recognition is required in this area, which can be resolved by a promotion of the change by either government, firms, or journals. In order to be vigilant, there is a necessity to draw attention to those who keep discriminating against people based on their ethnicity and provide media coverage on such individuals or institutions.
Hence, S. Mitra Kalita notes in their article how students and workers are branded as hard workers and how this leads to increased expectations of individuals. Regarding my positionality, I concur with the author Kalita’s assessment of the problem’s scope and the consequences of such views. I belong to the vulnerable group that the article discusses. Young people who are stigmatized as hard workers and are viewed as a monolith, which entails considering all Asian ethnicities to have a single identity, are typically those who are most impacted by this problem. More attention is needed in this situation, which may be achieved by promoting the change through either governments or media platforms.
Reference
Kalita, S. M. (2023). The US values Asian work more than Asian lives. Charter.