My Experience of Stereotyping Against Asian Students

When I was a new entrant to Queenstown Primary School, I was put into a special language programme called the “Learning Centre” for children who struggled communicating in English. To a person who was born in New Zealand and whose English was their first language I felt clueless as to why I had to attend these special English classes. As confused as I was, I still attended the learning centre to read books that I already knew how to read and spell words that were below my capabilities. It wasn’t until later in life when I reflected upon this experience and realised that I had been thrown into this programme because of one thing that made me different from everyone else. I was Asian. I was a shy Asian girl and the teachers all assumed that I couldn’t speak English because of this.

Our school throws around the word “diversity” proudly and frequently, exclaiming the greatness of the fact that our students come from over 21 different nationalities. But this sort of casual racism towards Asians are common and go unnoticed because they’re often made by otherwise well-meaning people. As a child, I didn’t understand race. I assumed that everyone was the same. But most New Zealand born Asian children will experience that earth-shattering moment in our childhood where we realise that not all of us are white. First of all, you begin to realise that your parents are a little different to your friend’s parents. That they carry a different accent to your friend’s parents and put food in your lunch that smells a little differently. You notice that your name is strange and that when someone’s speaking slowly to you, it’s not because they’re trying to be articulate, but because they think you don’t understand English. You also realize your height, your eyes, your nose, your skin, they don’t quite fit into the same characteristics as your friend’s facial features. In year 2 (and still an ongoing experience), my teacher called me Amy. I corrected them and told her “it’s pronounced Army, ” in which she replied, “that’s not how you would normally pronounced it in English. ” I felt like I was being accused for having a name that didn’t sound Kiwi and I asked my parents if I could change my name. One that wouldn’t be followed by an awkward pause on the roll.

In year 4, I wished I was blond and blue eyed like my other friends. I looked down whenever degrading Asians jokes were made by people too ignorant to realise that by them pulling their eyes back to mock mine, really hurt my feelings. In year 7, I brought homemade Japanese bread to school for lunch, but after one to many judgmental looks and “ew you eat that, ” I convinced my mum to pack me vegemite and cheese sandwiches. “You’re so Asian, ” became a regular expression used to justify my Asian-ness. An expression that I wasn’t sure if I liked and wasn’t sure if I understood. What does this phrase even mean? Can someone please explain to me what criteria one might use for determining my level of “Asian-ness”. I had heard this stereotype one to many times until it got to a point where becoming ‘too Asian’ scared me. It left me despising my own race, I tried my hardest to avoid speaking Japanese in front of my non-Japanese peers. I would tell my parents to keep quiet in public in an attempt to stray away from appearing foreign because I was scared their accents would embarrass me.

In year 9, I had a Chinese teacher who spoke broken English. Students in my math class made fun of her accent and mockingly repeated what she said which was completely unnecessary. She knew twice as many languages as those who were making the racist remarks so excuse her if she couldn’t speak her newer language perfectly. Most non-native English speakers will have an accent that they cannot get rid of- and that’s completely fine. What’s not fine is you looking down on someone just because they can’t speak fluently in a language that you’ve spoken your whole life. Them having an accent does not make them a stupid, uneducated, loser. They’re hard working people who have accomplished so much by moving to a different continent, experiencing culture shock, learning a foreign language and still being able to make a living in this new unfamiliar world. Unsuccessful? A loser? Look at yourself -being condescending to a teacher whose gone through so much in her life, only to be shut down by people like you who are unwilling to see that she’s trying. These people are what I call absolutely pathetic. It upsets me seeing people patronizing those who can’t speak fluent English. It mortifies me when I see my mum being treated this way. It made me realise that it’s not my mum or my math teacher but those instigators who should feel ashamed. You are the unsuccessful individual for not being able to emphasise for my mother, your teacher, your international friends, your colleagues who are being mocked daily because “they don’t sound like the rest of us”. You are a loser for judging a person's hardship as nothing because they have an accent you find difficult to understand. And you are pathetic, because you are the ignorant, heartless, malevolent person you are.

In year 11, a friend questioned me about my “asian-ness”. She wanted to know why I wouldn’t speak Japanese in front of her. As a Kiwi Asian who grew up feeling ashamed of my own culture because of the experiences I faced as a child, her friendly discrimination caught me off guard. It made me feel as though it would be unreasonable to tell her what I thought, because in truth the thoughts that looped my head were something I wouldn’t of had the courage to say in person. I thought. . . pardon? You don’t understand Japanese so why should I start speaking Japanese to you? People mocked my culture, now you want me to embrace my culture? What do you want me to do? Why do I feel as though I have to please you? Stop judging me for who I am and who I’m not and please just let me be. To whoever’s asked this question to anyone with an Asian descent, I ask you all to stop policing kiwi Asians on how Asian they are. With this bs of judging anyone for not being entirely fluent in their language or entirely engaged with their culture. Many of us spent the majority of our lives living in western society forced to assimilate to be accepted and more often than not, ashamed of our own heritage. Everyone’s journey to connecting with their roots is different and no one should have the audacity to point fingers and tell others how they should live their lives. And with as much kindness as I can gather, I ask for you to please mind your own business and shut up. In year 12, my teacher asked if I was going to Otago University and I replied, “no I want to become an architect. ” To that my teacher seemed really confused and replied, “Oh, I thought you wanted to become a doctor. ” Does being Asian automatically incline me into pursuing a career in medicine? Because if you are assuming that all Asians LOVE science and would just LOVE to become a doctor one day, then you have some serious stereotypic-perception on Asian students that really needs to be reviewed.

Now I’m a year 13, no longer ashamed of my own heritage. But I am tired of people’s assumption that I’m smart only because I’m Asian. That my accomplishments mean less because of my ethnicity. I’ve worked just as hard as other students at Wakatipu High School and nobody should have the right to claim that my academic achievements deserve less acknowledgment because my race is supposed to be “smarter”. The prejudice against Asians is perhaps one of the lesser evils experienced in this world. It’s not police violence, nor is it gang violence. We don’t get stopped because of the way we look unless it’s when we’re buying alcohol because we look to young. My ethnicity experiences many desirable stereotypes like the model minority stereotype, “whose members are perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average”. As much of a privilege it is to be labeled with these flattering positive stereotypes, they also strip Asians of their individuality and degrade their intelligence into something less meaningful. One of the most self-inflicting stereotypes of an Asian is that they are all expected to excel academically.

Many people perceive Asians as smart individuals, and yes being called smart wouldn’t offend anyone in their right mind. But of all the discriminations I’ve experienced from year 1 right through to year 13, this stereotype has provoked my individuality to feel the most at risk. First of all, I’d like to debunk this idea of “every Asian is smart” because, like any other stereotypes, it obviously doesn’t imply to everyone who lies in the Asian spectrum. It’s true that 82. 3% of all Asian students passed NCEA level 3 in 2017, which is the highest graduation rate of all major ethnic groups across secondary schools in New Zealand. But because of these Asian stereotypes that are existent in Kiwi culture, sometimes people forget that not all Asians are the same. And due to the way that many people -from all ethnic backgrounds, including Asian- regard this “Asian-is-smart” stereotype as something honorable, it’s usually disguised as a compliment. But, I personally don’t feel any gratification from when my academic abilities are being justified purely because I’m ethnically Japanese. In fact, I’ll take it as an insult because it makes me feel as though you are judging my intelligence based off of me having Asian genes. I cannot help but feel that the societies stereotype that “Asians are smart” translates into, “Asians are smart because they are Asian. ” Therefore, no matter how much effort an Asian student puts into their studies, when he or she passes with excellence, your reactions will be along the lines of “Asians are so smart, ” or most commonly, “she’s so Asian. ” It’s hardly difficult to see that an Asian student’s achievements and intelligence is being attributed to one thing and one thing only -their race. But shouldn’t we feel blessed that our race isn’t being called stupid? I mean, people think we’re smart for god’s sake. Could it possibly get any worse than that? Well despite how trite this may sound, it actually can. Many Asian students are, without needing to prove to others, already expected to excel academically because that’s how society has labels us. But this leaves me questioning my own identity. Because if all my accomplishments and achievements are being credited to my race, what am I left with as an individual? Will all the grades that I get and the awards I receive always be defined by my ethnicity? What if I’m unable to reach these expectations that the public school system has imposed on me… Am I not authentically Asian?

I, along with other Asian students within New Zealand have felt as though we have been boxed into this stereotype. And although it’s easy to brush off your assumption that I’m smart as per society suggests I’m “supposed” to be, I feel disheartened to know that you only regard me as smart because of my ethnicity. Something like intelligence is an important part of a person’s identity and by you attributing it to a race becomes more than just a stereotype. It becomes an insult.