Feature Articles
Investigating the Role of Media
where US opposition included Asian countries and still persist
today in some fashion in fictional media and news. There
were consequences that stemmed from these images. In 1871,
over 500 white men attacked, looted, and murdered Chinese
residents in the Los Angeles Chinatown. Japanese citizens
were forcibly relocated into internment camps during World
War II. Media cultivated resentment and hatred, which led to
the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 and the murder of Balbir
Singh Sodhi in 2001. It is socialization through media which
resulted in the death of Private Danny Chen in 2011.
Daniel Mayeda, an entertainment and media attorney and
co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, links
the influence of bias in the media to hate crimes, underscoring
the socialized influence that shapes perception and behavior.
“Things that happen in the news have an influence on hate
crimes, such as if there is a lot of coverage on terrorists looking
a certain way, having a certain religion,” says Mayeda. “When
you take that and mix it with fictional portrayals, it can be
cumulative and affect hate crimes that way.”
In current media, we still see few APAs portrayed opposite
of the stereotypes noted above. Though representation of
APAs has become somewhat more positive, APAs are still
presented as foreign, model minorities, submissive, or enemies
of the United States. A recent example is in the film Olympus
Has Fallen, which showed Asians as only villains. After the
film, Twitter exploded with racist tweets. “I’ve never wanted
to smack a gook more in my life. #merica #olympushasfallen”
says one user. “Just saw Olympus has fallen. I wanna go buy a
gun and kill every f*****g Asian,” says another.
Even when APAs are presented positively, social media is
still ablaze with anti-APA sentiment. When Nina Davuluri was
crowned Miss America, Twitter users tweeted comments like
“More like Miss Terrorist #MissAmerica” and “The liberal Miss
America judges won’t say this – but Miss Kansas lost because
she actually represented American values. #missamerica.”
Anti-APA sentiment and ignorance is not new, but the
speed and frequency at which it is broadcasted and reaffirmed
has become instantaneous through social media. With
thousands of likes and retweets at a time, comments that
would usually be condemned are now being supported in
real time. Social media is quickly making it acceptable to
openly display hate and ignorance. It is why YouTube videos
like Alexandra Wallace’s rant against Asian students exist.
But does it have the ability to shape identity the way that
traditional media has crafted different APA stereotypes?
Phil Yu, the creator of the Angry Asian Man blog, observes,
“Social media has been a way for people to express ignorance.
But it’s also an interesting way to combat ignorance. There is
limited access to mainstream media, but social media allows
anyone to create an anti-narrative. Soc