Saturday, December 28, 2019

Stereotypes Toward Asian People - Really - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2087 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/02/20 Category History Essay Level High school Topics: Oral History Essay Did you like this example? Survival bias is â€Å"the logical error of concentrating on the people or things that made it past some selection process and overlooking those that did not, typically because of their lack of visibility.† Similar to the myth of model minority we have discussed during class, such mistake is usually caused by overgeneralization and lack of examination. After interviewing with my mother, a first generation immigrant, I am surprised about how people still hold many biased stereotypes towards Asian. When I ask my mother how she thinks people view and judge Asian American as a group, she replies: â€Å"Before I came to the United States, I didn’t know how Asians are viewed. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Stereotypes Toward Asian People Really?" essay for you Create order After months later during conversations with others, I finally realized that they hold some deep misconceptions towards our group. † The truth is, many stereotypes toward Asian Americans remain inaccurate, despite the rapid progress of internet and globalization, and they are another form of survival bias. In order to understand why so many misconceptions successfully spread out and survive, we have to dig the underlying reasons by examining the origins of them. Here, I will mainly focus on how Asian Americans, especially first generation migrants, are tagged with improper labels, in physical appearances, traditions and religious perspectives, and personalities. Physical Misconceptions Though it might be true that some Asians have smaller and narrower eyes because of different genes and DNAs, the statement is not right for all Asians, and definitely not a sign of ugliness. People’s different facial look is usually an adaptation resulted from different living environments. For instance, people living in high latitudes in the northern hemisphere tend to have tall and big noses to compensate for cold air. African people have dark skins because of their long-time exposure under the sunlight. Likewise, East Asians have slanted eyes to avoid wind and sun damage. Furthermore, people should not make fun of a person because of his or her physical appearance. Everyone has a different looking. Tall noses are not superior to short noses. Larger eyes are not better than small eyes. Simply assuming smaller eyes are ugly is one-sided, and my mother says, â€Å"if some of them do have smaller eyes comparatively, it is not their decision and thus commenting their eyes as ug ly is disappointing and malicious.† Besides having small eyes, Asian are weak and physically unthreatening in some people’s mind. Apparently, those judgements are overgeneralized and misleading in 2016 Summer Olympics medal table, there are 3 Asian countries in top 8 of the medal table. â€Å"Today, Asian athletes still hold and create world records, so how can they be weak?†, says my mother about such accusation. Two hundred years ago, Anti-Asian media left an indelible impact on Asians. Yellow-skinned people are dehumanized and portrayed with prejudice, and those incorrect descriptions of them has become their â€Å"labels† forever. Globalization has largely decreased hatred and bias toward different minority groups, while those long-live â€Å"labels† are still there without questioning. Traditions and religions Besides physical appearances, Asian people’s traditions and religious standpoints are often misinterpreted. For instance, Asians prefer to meet people from their own country and form small groups, excluding others from entering. In real life, many people do think typical Asians do not like to join parties and only social with their own small group of people. My mother expresses her perspective on this stereotype as such: â€Å"In China, people tend to form smaller groups with deeper friendship and relationship. It is different from the way people think here. As an Asian American myself, I like to meet different people, but sometimes we have different cultural backgrounds and ways of thinking. Saying that Asian people are excluding others is totally wrong and biased.† Unlike typical Americans, in East Asian cultures, the importance of having a handful of close friends is greatly emphasized, under the great influence of Confucianism. A famous poet in China once wrote â₠¬Å"the pond is over a thousand feet deep, but it is nothing compared to Wang Lun’s friendship with me.† In the other hand, human tend to stay with in a comfort zone. A close friend conveys the idea that he or she has to have similar properties and ways of thinking in Chinese mainstream ideology, and thus people may think Asian as not reaching out to others. Furthermore, another assumption is that the majority of people living in East Asian countries, such as Japan and China, do not have an official religious belief, because they are taught not to do so, reflecting lack of deeper level of thinking. When I introduces this point to my mother, she states that is purely a personal choice, and â€Å"people should be able to choose what they believe in.† Adding to her point, I believe it is critical and important to point out how Confucianism has influenced East Asian countries and their people. Though it is not a religion, traditional Asian people have their unique understanding of manners and etiquettes. Contrarily, most of Taiwanese have religious beliefs and many Chinese people act ually believe in Buddhism and Taoism. My mother is Buddhism follower. Personalities and behaviors Asian, especially Chinese, are also commonly described as shy and introvert. During the interview, my mother expressed her feeling about this stereotype. In fact, most of her asian friends are very welcoming. The origin of this rumor may come from people’s unfamiliarity with Confucianism, which greatly emphasizes the importance of modesty and humility. My mother’s understanding is that â€Å"being quiet is not a sign of inconfident or introvert, it also means respect and agreement.† Meanwhile, besides the impact of different cultures, language barrier is also a potential cause for this stereotype. When my mother talked about her experience as a first generation immigrant to the United States, she mentioned how difficult it was for her at the beginning. Like most first generation immigrants, my mother is not able to communicate with others in English fluently. Therefore, it is difficult for her to make friends and have conversations with indigenous people. â€Å" I am very willing to make friends with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities†, she explains with subtle depression on her face, â€Å"but the language barrier is there.† Supposedly, if a person who is not a native speaker of Chinese moves to China for a living, he or she will definitely feel uncomfortable at first, therefore not as talkative as others. Combining those two points together, it is not hard for us find what may cause this rumor to spread out. Another famous stereotype is specifically aiming at Asian parent, whom they call â€Å"tiger parent†. Follow the definition from Wikipedia, the stereotyped figure often portrays a Chinese mother who relentlessly drives her child to study hard, using authoritarian parenting methods for her children to achieve academic excellence. Undeniably, people do emphasize the importance of academic excellence in China and many other countries in East Asia, but this misconception is still an overgeneralization. When I was in elementary school, I did poorly in test one time, and one thing I remembered the most is how my parents responded. Instead of blaming me for not studying well enough, they said they wanted me to be happy and think beyond scores and grades. It is true that some Asian parents are, in some way, stricter comparatively, but this â€Å"tiger parenting† concept is d emonized and inaccurate to reflect the real situation here. Besides all the stereotypes mentioned above, which includes physical appearances, traditions and religious perspectives and personalities, there are a myriad of positive and accurate stereotypes correspondingly. Most stereotypes are not meant to hurt or make fun of a certain group, but more or less a product of lack of deeper understanding of one’s cultural background and historical reasons. Consequently, it is easy for some mistaken ideas to emerge and spread out. In fact, I enjoy reading stereotypes and portraits about Asians, knowing that they are not there to hurt us. After a careful examine upon the underlying reasons behind some of these deeply rooted misconceptions, hopefully, people are able to generate a more unbiased and just portrait of Asians. Appendix: Transcription for the Interview Q: Who do you think are the â€Å"indigenous people†? Do you think you are one of them? A: People who are born in this place and have parents that are living in this place long before other immigrants.They are assimilated to become Americans and they represent the majority of the United States. I am definitely not one of them. Although I am physically here, my thinking process and ideologies are still Chinese. A: Many of these misconceptions sprouted from people’s lack of knowledge of others’ culture and traditions. Q: So around 6 years ago, you and my father decided to migrate to the United States. What are the underlying reasons? A: The most important reason is because you are going to St.Stephens (my high school in Austin), so we want to make sure that we can provide you with more opportunity. Also, your father is doing environmental engineering business, and many of the large petroleum companies are located at the United States. Without the necessity to travel too much, he can make business and bargain with them. Additionally, the CPI (consumer price index) is too high in Shanghai (China) and air quality is almost unbearable. That’s basically why we made the choice. Q: When you migrate to the United States, what are some difficulties that you have encountered? Something unexpected? A: Language barrier is definitely one. I have no relatives here, only a few friends, so it is like starting a new life. Also the food here is very different, and it is almost impossible to â€Å"remake† the same taste. Before I came to the United States, I didn’t know how Asians are viewed. After months later during conversations with others, I realized that they hold some deep misconceptions towards our group. That was very unexpected for me. Q: What do you think is some biggest misconceptions that people still hold towards Asian Americans today? A: There are many of them. For example, Asians, especially Chinese, are characterized as shy and introvert, while the truth is not like that. Also, they think that Asians prefer to meet people with their own nationality and form small groups. Asians have small and slanted eyes, and they look ugly, and etc. Q: What do you think of the assumption that Asians have small and narrow eyes? A: Not all of them are like that, and even if some of them do have smaller eyes comparatively, it is not their decision and thus commenting their eyes as ugly is disappointing and malicious. Q: Long time ago, people view Asians as weak and physically unthreatening, do you think that is still true today? A: This opinion is racist and clearly not true. Today, Asian athletes still hold and create world records, so how can they be weak? Q: You mentioned that people always think that Asians are lack of confidence and introvert, what do you think about that? A: In fact, most of my friends and asian people I’ve met are not introvert but very welcoming. The reason why people believe in this idea is because they are not familiar with Confucianism in china, where humility is greatly emphasized. Being quiet is not a sign of inconfident or introvert, it also means respect and agreement. Biased judgement like that is definitely true. Q: Great. Another rumor is that Asian people try to form small groups and exclude others from entering. Any comments? A: In China, people tend to form smaller groups with deeper friendship and relationship. It is different from the way people think here. Saying that Asian people are excluding others is totally wrong and biased. I am very willing to make friends with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities but the language barrier is there, and besides sometimes we have different cultural backgrounds and ways of thinking. Q: In East Asia, most people do not hold a religious belief, while almost in everywhere else in the world people usually have some belief. Do you think that is a problem? People sometimes relate this to lack of deeper thinking, what is your opinion? A: I have read many articles criticizing how China is one of the only few countries that does not emphasizes the importance of religion. To me, however, it is a personal choice. People should be able to choose what they believe in. I believe in Buddhism, for instance.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Advocacy For Afric Education - 1443 Words

Advocacy for Africa â€Å"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.† Education is important because a more educated society will be more successful. It is urgent that education is compulsory and free in Africa, including after primary school because the youth needs to have the basic skills and be educated enough to live successful and productive lives. The children represent the future of the country, and if they are educated, the country is set to become more prosperous in the future.†¦show more content†¦Of those children, 9 million children have never been to school in Nigeria. In comparison to other countries, Nigeria has the most out of school children in the world. The youth are not learning in Nigeria because of crammed cl asses, lack of supplies, and incompetent educators. In Nigeria, there is an average student to teacher ratio of 49:1. Because of the scarce amount of teachers, the students cannot be focused on individually and are less likely to learn in class. In Nigerian schools, about 80 percent of children to not have textbooks for all subjects. How can students expect to learn if they do not have the sufficient supplies to do so? The teachers in Nigeria aren’t exactly helping with this issue. In fact, 40 percent of primary school teachers in Nigeria are not qualified for the job. The students will have an even tougher time learning if the teachers cannot instruct their class effectively. This problem is most distinct in northwest and northeast Nigeria. When all of these factors are amassed, it is very challenging for a child in Nigeria to grow up and live a happy, prosperous life. Wangari Maathai made a large impact on Africa. She was an environmental advocate, as well as a political activist. She was born in Kenya, and studied in colleges in the United States as well as Kenya. Wangari Maathai was on the National Council of Women of Kenya, and she introduced the idea of planting trees as a community that eventually led to the

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Walt Disney Company free essay sample

Walt Disney Company is famed for its creativity, strong global brand, and uncanny ability to take service and experience businesses to higher levels. In the early 1990s, then-CEO Michael Eisner looked to the fast-food industry as a way to draw additional attention to the Disney presence outside of its theme parks its retail chain was highly successful and growing rapidly. A fast-food restaurant made sense from Eisner’s perspective since Disney’s theme parks had already mastered rapid, high-volume food preparation, and, despite somewhat undistinguished food and high prices (or perhaps because of), all its in-park restaurants were extremely profitable. From this inspiration, Mickey’s Kitchen was launched. The first two locations were opened in California and in a suburb of Chicago, adjacent to existing Disney stores. Menu items included healthy, child-oriented fare like Jumbo Dumbo burgers and even a meatless Mickey Burger. Eisner thought that locating each restaurant next to existing Disney stores was sure to increase foot traffic through both venues. Less than two years later Disney closed down the California and Chicago stores and shuttered further expansion plans. Eisner cited overwhelming competition from McDonalds and general oversaturation in the fast-food industry as the primary reasons for closing down the failing Mickey’s Kitchen. [a] Based on your own knowledge of Disney and the information provided in the scenario, does Disney appear to create value in its businesses primarily through a cost-leadership or through a differentiation strategy? Cost leadership strategy means selling the goods at the cheapest price in the market. The logic of the cost leadership strategy approach is driven by volume and market share where more sales than any other competitors lead to greater profitability. Essential to this generic competitive strategy is efficiency and the ability to keep costs to a minimum. Organizations that achieve the greatest possible defining their market position as one of being a lower-priced substitute to another product or service. Differentiation Strategy involves selecting one or more criteria used by buyers in a market and then positioning the business uniquely to meet those criteria. This strategy is usually associated with charging a premium price for the product often to reflect the higher production costs and extra value-added features provided for the consumer. Differentiation is about charging a premium price that more than covers the additional production costs, and about giving customers clear reasons to prefer the product over other, less differentiated products. As Walt Disney Company is famed for its creativity and strong global brand, Disney appear to create value in its business primarily through a differentiation strategy. [b] What resources and value-chain activities did Disney try to leverage through the opening of Mickey’s Kitchen? Walt Disney Company has financial support on Mickey’s Kitchen opening. Moreover, Disney’s theme parks had already mastered rapid, high volume food preparation and undistinguished food. The primary and support activities in the company and its theme park is an advantage to the opening of Mickey’s Kitchen. The primary activity are inbound and outbound logistics, operations, marketing and sales, and service. The support activities which is a secondary activity are procurement (e. g; sourcing and negotiating with materials supplier), human resources management, technology development and infrastructure. These resources and value chain activities provided Mickey’s Kitchen with strong based to enter the fast-food industry. [c] Why do you think that Mickey’s Kitchen failed? Mickey’s Kitchen failed due to its CEO Michael Eisner business decision. A fast-food restaurant made sense from Eisner’s perspective since Disney’s theme parks had already mastered rapid, high-volume food preparation, and, despite somewhat undistinguished food and high prices (or perhaps because of), all its in-park restaurants were extremely profitable. Eisner thought that locating each restaurant next to existing Disney stores was sure to increase foot traffic through both venues. His sense, perspective and thought were not supported with any facts and research based. Referring to the HBR articles discussed in previous class titled â€Å"Stop Making Decisions That Waste Time and Money†, many managers rely on gut instinct to make important decisions, which often leads to poor results. On the contrary, when managers insist on incorporating logic and evidence, they make better choices and their companies benefit. The articles recommended three ways to introduce evidence-based management at the company: 1. Demand evidence. Whenever anyone makes a compelling claim, ask for supporting data. Dont take someones word for it. 2. Examine logic. Look closely at the evidence and be sure the logic holds up. Be on the lookout for faulty cause-and-effect reasoning. 3. Encourage experimentation. If you dont have evidence, create some. Invite managers to conduct small experiments to test the viability of proposed strategies and use the resulting data to guide decisions. Eisner should create evidence by developing information system to understand customer’s preferences. Menu items included healthy, child-oriented fare like Jumbo Dumbo burgers and even a meatless Mickey Burger probably not the customer’s preferences.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Tupac Shakur Essays - Shakur Family, Tupac Shakur, Gangsta Rappers

Tupac Shakur NV Height: 5'10 Weight: 168 Mother: Afeni Shakur Father: William Garland Step Father: Jeral Wayne Williams a/k/a Mutula Shakur Half Sister: Sekyiwa Shakur Half Brother: Maurice Harding (Mopreme of Thug Life) Godfather: Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt Music Groups: One Nation Emcees, Two From The Crew, Strictly Dope, Digital Underground, Thug Life, Outlaw Immortalz/Outlawz Aliases: MC New York, 2Pac, Makaveli (the don) Marital Status: Divorced (Keisha Morris) & Engaged (Kidida Jones) Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, NY in 1971. While still a small child, his mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru after an Inca Indian revolutionary, "Tupac Amaru", meaning "Shining Serpant". "Shakur" means "Thankful To God" in Arabic. By the age of twelve, Tupac had discovered his loves for acting, writing love songs and poetry. As a young teen, his family moved to Baltimore , MD, where he attended The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts studying acting and ballet. At this school, Tupac left a lasting impression on his teachers and was showing tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac was unable to continue his training. He moved to Oakland, California with the rest of his family. That's when Tupac began to, as he called it, "Hang with the wrong crowd." Not held back by his lack of formal education, Tupac joined the Rap group Digital Underground as a dancer. Not long before the group achieved award winning success, Tupac released his own album "2Pacalypse Now", which was also a success. The hit single "Brenda's Got A Baby" launched Tupac's career like a rocket. His stunning talent also got him a role in the motion picture, "Juice". Tupac eventually released a second album "Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z.," which was an even bigger success and introduced Tupac's music onto the pop charts. The highlight of Tupac's acting career came when he appeared in "Poetic Justice" besides Janet Jackson. The role made Tupac a household name and showed the world that music may not be Tupac's #1 attribute. In the midst of a role in the movie "Above the Rim" and a Platinum album "Me against the world," Tupac's rising career was snagged. He was brought up on sexual assault charges by a woman he met at a nightclub. Hours before Tupac would be found guilty, Tupac was robbed at gun point by men whose intent and purpose is still uncertain. Tupac was eventually released at over $1 Million in bail. After his release, Tupac answered his critics by releasing his best album, "All Eyes On Me." "All Eyes On Me" has currently sold over 6 million copies, which is revolutionary for a double cd, especially in Hip Hop music. Tupac also had co-starring roles in three other films, "Gridlock'd", "Bullet", and "Gang Related." While on his way to do charity work, Tupac Shakur was shot by unknown gunmen and died on September 13, 1996.