I suppose I should start by saying that if you don't have immigrant parents, you're probably not going to get this. This is of course the reason why it should be stated.
About 15 years ago Gene Yang created a graphic novel called American Born Chinese. I'll cut and paste a few things said about the work:
"A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.
American Born Chinese is the winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, a 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring, a 2007 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, and a New York Times bestseller."
"Innovative and unsettling, Gene Luen Yang’s 2006 graphic novel explores Asian American identity through three very distinct narratives. One is a coming-of-age story about a new student who is the only Chinese American in his school. Another focuses on the iconic Chinese mythical figure Monkey King. And the third centers on Chin-Kee, a character meant to embody the most damaging Chinese stereotypes. Chin-Kee’s presence in American Born Chinese is intentionally offensive—and therefore controversial—but Yang’s intent with the harmful dialogue that surrounds the character is to force young readers to dissect the implications of racism and the complexities that come with growing up Asian American."
Sadly, some fans of the work missed that last point entirely and wanted to have Chin-Kee dolls made that they could buy because the character was "cute"- perpetuating the stereotype. Gene Yang has stated that his one regret is not making the Chin-Kee less accessible.
Fortunately, in making the series, they rewrote the character to be an asian former actor named Jamie Yao who was cast in a TV sitcom as Freddie Wong, an accident prone character whose shtick was to say the line: "What could go Wong?" right before he was subjected to some sort of Three Stooges type slapstick injury. His being typecast in that kind of role prompted him to leave Hollywood and teach theater to college students.
What made this even better is that the actor playing the role Ke Huy Quan had a similar experience in real life, having been a child actor in The Goonies as well as in one of the Indiana Jones movies. He ended up becoming a stunt coordinator and production assistant for almost two decades before being encouraged to attempt a return to acting after the success of the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" (I had a black friend tell me how he understands Asians better after seeing that movie. I figuratively just bit my lip and tried to smile.)
The character Freddie Wong being subjected to all those accidents in the show became a meme, resulting in a reunion panel of the actors in the sitcom. The emcee first tries makes the character wear a wig emulating the bowl haircut of the character in the sitcom. Eventually he asks:
'What was it like playing such an unforgettable role for so many years?'
Jamie first commented that there weren't many people who looked like him in roles on TV, so he was grateful for the opportunity. He went on to say that he was only offered roles as nerds or neighbors. Or as a ninja.
The emcee then asked what kind of roles Jamie had been hoping for, to which Jamie responded that he wanted to play the hero as "it's every kid's dream, right?". The emcee suggested that Jamie was hoping for a call when Batman was being cast. to which Jamie responded:
"You know, I teach classical theatre to college kids. And we talk about character a lot. When I say I wanted to play a hero, I mean, I just wanted to be someone who goes on a journey, shows some courage, helps others.
A hero can be a person with superpowers, or they can just be... be someone who fights for something that matters.
My parents were heroes. But as I said, people like that weren't on TV back then."
There's complete silence for a moment in the studio while there are pans of the other actors on stage, as well as of the audience. The emcee then offers the thought that hopefully, this is changing, to which Jamie replies:
"I hope so. And I hope that there's a kid out there watching this who feels he doesn't have to be a punchline, who believes that *he* can be the hero."
For those who know me well, I trust that you'll understand how deeply this resonates with me and I won't go into that any further here other than to acknowledge that I've written my own "American Born Chinese" with my concept of Secret Asian Men, which addresses the racial stereotyping I've encountered in my personal experience.
The thing is that I now realize that I need to make a choice. It relates to a blog I once posted about bowl haircuts, which is one of the stereotypes that's a common motif among kids with asian immigrant parents. While I hated the bowl haircuts I got, my most vivid memory had to do with not feeling heard when my dad accidently clipped my ear and then attempted to invalidate the pain, first by denying that he'd clipped my ear, and then proclaiming that it wasn't that serious when he couldn't refute the blood trickling from my ear. The point was that the memory of feeling invalidated became the larger injury and what often results of that kind of experience is that the need to be heard/validated dominates any attempt to communicate, and the common result is that truth is wielded like a weapon, which prompts anyone listening to respond defensively and to expect that the other person seeks revenge or compensation.
And the message is going to have to go in two directions: to those who don't understand how hurtful it can be to be constantly exposed to racism, malicious or otherwise - and also to those experiencing the racism. For now, the message is going to be:
1) We want to be heroes;
2) We become heroes by fighting for things that matter;
What *matters* is going to vary for each individual, but hopefully it's always going to include helping others along the way.
