ASIA AM 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: English Americans, Okcupid, Judaism In Mexico
8 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Before Asian America: HIstory to 1965 and US Immigration Policy
● Questions to consider:
○ How do the 3 early Asian American ethnic groups compare in demographics,
immigration, and labor?
○ How did legislation affect the makeup of early Asian American communities?
○ What was the arc of the anti-Asian Movement?
● There is a history of linking social construct to science (taxonomy), but we have to
remember that it is all a man-made; ideas of both taxonomy and classification and
ranking of race are created by man
● Carolus Linneaus (Karl Linne): in relation to the process of taxonomy…
○ Classified the racial groups, taking a step farther past homo sapiens
■ White: Cauccasoids
■ Black: Negroid race
■ Yellow (Mongoloid) of Asian Origin
■ Red-Amerind
● Arthur de Gobinau
○ Ranked the races (judging the race from biological aspects and physicality, which
lead to the furtherment of the social construct and race ranking)
○ Generalizations of a race as a whole based on the overall appearance
■ Whites: have larger frontal lobes: smarter, creative, good for thinking
■ Asians: brains were shaped differently, less aggressive “naturally” but
deviant
■ Indians: hopelessly disorganized, linked to nature, to the animals
■ Blacks: Dark skinned people, sexual, violent, childlike, good at big muscle
labor
● Samuel Morton, Crania America
(1839)
○ Studied images of the cranium shapes of different races, making conclusions
about intelligence and race ranking
■ Ex: The craniums of African Americans resembled those of monkeys,
therefore displayed lack of intelligence
● There exists the monolith: Pan-ethnic ideas of overgeneralization of a race: There are
HUNDREDS of different African, Asian, etc ethnicities (Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese,
Korean), but once they were in America, were generalized into a single term, single
identity (Asians)
● Ideas of classifying race in taxonomy lead to ideas that they should not intermarry and
interbeed (separating them), since different species, by definition, cannot reproduce and
create offspring
Document Summary
Before asian america: history to 1965 and us immigration policy. There is a history of linking social construct to science (taxonomy), but we have to remember that it is all a man-made; ideas of both taxonomy and classification and ranking of race are created by man. Carolus linneaus (karl linne): in relation to the process of taxonomy . Classified the racial groups, taking a step farther past homo sapiens. Ranked the races (judging the race from biological aspects and physicality, which lead to the furtherment of the social construct and race ranking) Generalizations of a race as a whole based on the overall appearance. Whites : have larger frontal lobes: smarter, creative, good for thinking. Asians : brains were shaped differently, less aggressive naturally but. Indians : hopelessly disorganized, linked to nature, to the animals. Blacks : dark skinned people, sexual, violent, childlike, good at big muscle deviant labor.
