my name is yuan Chen but I prefer to be
called Maggie and as you can see I’m
Asian yet I’m the prime example us as to
why the stereotyped Asians are gonna
math is not true I am pretty bad at math
I spend sixth grade abroad in small town
champaign-urbana there I went to a
public Middle School and since I passed
the English proficiency test I took the
same classes as my fellow American
friends for my math class I was put in
what they called AI math an intermediate
level math class
quite possibly just because I was Asian
in my 3rd quarter of 6th grade I
received my first B in you guessed it I
math as mentioned in the hit American
sitcom fresh-off-the-boat
Abby – is an Asian F so when my parents
heard about might be in math they yelled
at me and told me to practice more
although this anecdote of mine has more
to do with just Euro types for the
purpose of this TED talk it serves as an
example that the stereotype Asians are
good at math is in fact inaccurate Asian
stereotypes however don’t just refer to
being the perfect student having
impeccable grades they range with the
most classic one being all Asians look
the same as I mentioned before I
attended a public school in
champaign-urbana which if you’ve heard
of the city you would know that it is
quite literally in the middle of nowhere
thus I was the only full Taiwanese kid
in an entire middle school of around 800
students there was another girl however
who was half chinese and half American
and because of that I’ve gotten
questions like hey do you have a sister
in eighth grade or oh my god are you and
Lauren related countless of times well
here’s the thing contrary to your belief
just because Lauren and I are both
Taiwanese it does not mean that we look
alike and moreover it definitely doesn’t
suggest that we are related moving on
another stereotype that is this is all
Asians are interchangeable now what does
this mean
when I was a sixth grader in Champaign
Urbana my friend and I were approached
by classmate after lunch he proceeded to
ask me what I thought was a quite
insulting question do you eat dog meat
I shot him a confused and disgusted look
no I don’t do you that didn’t stop him
from pestering me I heard that all
Chinese people eat dog meat you’re from
China right I shook my head no I’m from
Taiwan and I certainly don’t eat dog
meat what he said next was what
flustered me the most China Taiwan
they’re all the same and they all eat
dog meat excuse me I could feel myself
boil with rage yet I stood there silent
my friend who originally stayed silent
throughout this whole conversation
rushed to my defense leave her alone she
said this is what I mean
not only are people faced with
ridiculous stereotypes such as Chinese
people eat dog meat but also China
Taiwan South Korea Japan and many other
East Asian countries are at times all
grouped together and in situations like
these we’re all interchangeable right I
attorneys and just like anyone at the
1.34 belly in Chinese population right
wrong Asia or my specific case East Asia
is made up of a myriad of cultures and
ethnicities all of them different and
unique from one another instead of
assuming these ethnicities as these
cultures as interchangeable what we need
to do is to respect and acknowledge them
as they are finally I like to bring up
one final example of Asian stereotypes
in place today this was vastly different
from everything I’ve mentioned before
which were my personal experiences show
of hands how many of you has ever seen
or heard the recent hit Netflix show
thirteen reasons why now what I’m
bringing up does not directly relate to
the show itself but rather one specific
act
in the cast and crew his name is Ross
Butler he’s six feet four asian-american
and a classic hunk due to copyright
issues I’m not able to put up a picture
of him in my slides so for those of you
who are unfamiliar with the show or this
actor you just have to use your
imagination in 13 reasons why Butler
plays Zack Dempsey a popular basketball
player with a nice insensitive but
mysterious side as I’ve described before
Butler is six feet four athletic and
good-looking had some might occur to you
naturally but he would be a good fit for
this character yet it wasn’t always easy
for Butler to land these roles being an
Asian American Butler’s path in
Hollywood was not exactly smooth sailing
he was stereotyped since roles written
for Asians usually required him to be
the geeky computer nerd or the martial
artist he was neither sick of casting
calls like these Butler decided to stop
auditioning for just the Asian rules by
doing so he had stepped out of the
ordinary and have begun to obtain roles
such as Reggie mantle the playful jock
on Riverdale which is another famous TV
show and Zack Dempsey on 13 reasons why
Ross Butler’s case is one that we need
to take a look at why because it shows
that Asian stereotypes aren’t just an
issue in small towns such as
champaign-urbana but it is just as
prevalent and somewhere as glamorous as
Hollywood furthermore another reason why
we need to bring our attention to Butler
is because of his attitude he persevered
in the face of these stereotypes and at
last successfully broke them on the
other hand consequences of these
stereotypes are not always positive
take me for instance in middle school I
was left feeling out of place not only
did I feel like I couldn’t keep up with
the high expectations teachers and peers
had for me but I also struggled with the
fact that I was unable to be like all of
my American friends I begged my parents
not to make me sushi with healthy black
rice for school lunch because I wanted
to eat pizza like everybody else I
wasn’t able to relate to my friends
conversations about Barney the Dinosaur
as I had never watched the show growing
up I could ensure anon my friends
excitement for Christmas
as my family taught only celebrated
Chinese New Year my differences felt
like scars which was something I needed
to erase in the end I felt myself
desperately trying to live up to the
Asian stereotype of the model student
well trying to be more American
culturally this continued until one day
my language arts teacher forced us all
to enter a district-wide
young authors writing contest at first
it seemed easy to me I loved writing as
it provided for me a way to decide every
single detail from witty characters to
mind-blowing plot twists I intended for
my story to make up for everything I
didn’t have in life consequently my
story revolved around a family of
wizards on Christmas Eve
then something felt wrong I had no idea
of how to describe the spirit of
Christmas or the thrill of opening
presents that was when a light bulb went
off in my head and I came to a sudden
realization I began to write furiously
and as the pages grew that contained
more of what I cherished in life rather
than what I desired Christmas Eve turned
into Chinese New Year and I became a
more optimistic person and I realized
what I felt before about not belonging
was a mental obstacle in the title of my
talk I mentioned a term used in film
breaking the fourth wall for those of
you who are having trouble understanding
the fourth wall is defined as a
theatrical term for in the imaginary
wall that exists between actors on stage
or actors looking at a camera lens and
the audience thus breaking the fourth
wall meant that actors break boundaries
and speak directly to the audience
instead of into a camera lens in my
situation it represented a shift in the
way I thought of myself I began to
appreciate who I was and even qualities
of my own that seeped into the
characters and my stories my differences
were still scarce but now I looked at
them as a part of myself as something
that made me special by just changing my
mindset I returned into a more
optimistic person and someone who knew
that I what I was worth
to sum up Asian stereotypes are still
very much real even though we are
constantly named the model minority
meaning that we agents achieve higher
success than that of the population
average we still face racism and and
discrimination it is something that we
cannot ignore people like me or sixth
grade me still struggle with the
negative implications of not fulfilling
the image of an Asian model student they
suffer from feeling similar enough not
to get rejected from the American
Society but too different to feel the
comfortable with their place in it Asian
actors in Hollywood still undergo
stereotypical casting calls and receive
unfair treatment the question is what
can we do to solve this a solid
practical answer to this would be
education education is the root to all
kinds of change and change is exactly
what’s needed to abolish these harmful
stereotypes however I promise myself not
to end this talk on a cliche note which
is why I’m not going to say be the
change you wish to see in the world
instead I want to say talk pass your
knowledge on to others share your
experiences for people who want to hear
them and if you’d like even for those
who don’t let what you say move others
if you find yourself stereotyped or
caught in a situation similar to one
I’ve been in speak up and stand up for
yourself let others know that their
actions kind of detrimental effects let
there be one less sixth grade me in the
world meanwhile in the face of hardship
be like Ross Butler persist and never
give up
you were you were possibly just one tiny
step away from your goal but most
importantly if you ever feel like you
don’t belong be proud of who you are
embrace your unique qualities and be
yourself because differences are what
make up this world and by appreciating
yours you can make a difference thank
you
[Applause]
called Maggie and as you can see I’m
Asian yet I’m the prime example us as to
why the stereotyped Asians are gonna
math is not true I am pretty bad at math
I spend sixth grade abroad in small town
champaign-urbana there I went to a
public Middle School and since I passed
the English proficiency test I took the
same classes as my fellow American
friends for my math class I was put in
what they called AI math an intermediate
level math class
quite possibly just because I was Asian
in my 3rd quarter of 6th grade I
received my first B in you guessed it I
math as mentioned in the hit American
sitcom fresh-off-the-boat
Abby – is an Asian F so when my parents
heard about might be in math they yelled
at me and told me to practice more
although this anecdote of mine has more
to do with just Euro types for the
purpose of this TED talk it serves as an
example that the stereotype Asians are
good at math is in fact inaccurate Asian
stereotypes however don’t just refer to
being the perfect student having
impeccable grades they range with the
most classic one being all Asians look
the same as I mentioned before I
attended a public school in
champaign-urbana which if you’ve heard
of the city you would know that it is
quite literally in the middle of nowhere
thus I was the only full Taiwanese kid
in an entire middle school of around 800
students there was another girl however
who was half chinese and half American
and because of that I’ve gotten
questions like hey do you have a sister
in eighth grade or oh my god are you and
Lauren related countless of times well
here’s the thing contrary to your belief
just because Lauren and I are both
Taiwanese it does not mean that we look
alike and moreover it definitely doesn’t
suggest that we are related moving on
another stereotype that is this is all
Asians are interchangeable now what does
this mean
when I was a sixth grader in Champaign
Urbana my friend and I were approached
by classmate after lunch he proceeded to
ask me what I thought was a quite
insulting question do you eat dog meat
I shot him a confused and disgusted look
no I don’t do you that didn’t stop him
from pestering me I heard that all
Chinese people eat dog meat you’re from
China right I shook my head no I’m from
Taiwan and I certainly don’t eat dog
meat what he said next was what
flustered me the most China Taiwan
they’re all the same and they all eat
dog meat excuse me I could feel myself
boil with rage yet I stood there silent
my friend who originally stayed silent
throughout this whole conversation
rushed to my defense leave her alone she
said this is what I mean
not only are people faced with
ridiculous stereotypes such as Chinese
people eat dog meat but also China
Taiwan South Korea Japan and many other
East Asian countries are at times all
grouped together and in situations like
these we’re all interchangeable right I
attorneys and just like anyone at the
1.34 belly in Chinese population right
wrong Asia or my specific case East Asia
is made up of a myriad of cultures and
ethnicities all of them different and
unique from one another instead of
assuming these ethnicities as these
cultures as interchangeable what we need
to do is to respect and acknowledge them
as they are finally I like to bring up
one final example of Asian stereotypes
in place today this was vastly different
from everything I’ve mentioned before
which were my personal experiences show
of hands how many of you has ever seen
or heard the recent hit Netflix show
thirteen reasons why now what I’m
bringing up does not directly relate to
the show itself but rather one specific
act
in the cast and crew his name is Ross
Butler he’s six feet four asian-american
and a classic hunk due to copyright
issues I’m not able to put up a picture
of him in my slides so for those of you
who are unfamiliar with the show or this
actor you just have to use your
imagination in 13 reasons why Butler
plays Zack Dempsey a popular basketball
player with a nice insensitive but
mysterious side as I’ve described before
Butler is six feet four athletic and
good-looking had some might occur to you
naturally but he would be a good fit for
this character yet it wasn’t always easy
for Butler to land these roles being an
Asian American Butler’s path in
Hollywood was not exactly smooth sailing
he was stereotyped since roles written
for Asians usually required him to be
the geeky computer nerd or the martial
artist he was neither sick of casting
calls like these Butler decided to stop
auditioning for just the Asian rules by
doing so he had stepped out of the
ordinary and have begun to obtain roles
such as Reggie mantle the playful jock
on Riverdale which is another famous TV
show and Zack Dempsey on 13 reasons why
Ross Butler’s case is one that we need
to take a look at why because it shows
that Asian stereotypes aren’t just an
issue in small towns such as
champaign-urbana but it is just as
prevalent and somewhere as glamorous as
Hollywood furthermore another reason why
we need to bring our attention to Butler
is because of his attitude he persevered
in the face of these stereotypes and at
last successfully broke them on the
other hand consequences of these
stereotypes are not always positive
take me for instance in middle school I
was left feeling out of place not only
did I feel like I couldn’t keep up with
the high expectations teachers and peers
had for me but I also struggled with the
fact that I was unable to be like all of
my American friends I begged my parents
not to make me sushi with healthy black
rice for school lunch because I wanted
to eat pizza like everybody else I
wasn’t able to relate to my friends
conversations about Barney the Dinosaur
as I had never watched the show growing
up I could ensure anon my friends
excitement for Christmas
as my family taught only celebrated
Chinese New Year my differences felt
like scars which was something I needed
to erase in the end I felt myself
desperately trying to live up to the
Asian stereotype of the model student
well trying to be more American
culturally this continued until one day
my language arts teacher forced us all
to enter a district-wide
young authors writing contest at first
it seemed easy to me I loved writing as
it provided for me a way to decide every
single detail from witty characters to
mind-blowing plot twists I intended for
my story to make up for everything I
didn’t have in life consequently my
story revolved around a family of
wizards on Christmas Eve
then something felt wrong I had no idea
of how to describe the spirit of
Christmas or the thrill of opening
presents that was when a light bulb went
off in my head and I came to a sudden
realization I began to write furiously
and as the pages grew that contained
more of what I cherished in life rather
than what I desired Christmas Eve turned
into Chinese New Year and I became a
more optimistic person and I realized
what I felt before about not belonging
was a mental obstacle in the title of my
talk I mentioned a term used in film
breaking the fourth wall for those of
you who are having trouble understanding
the fourth wall is defined as a
theatrical term for in the imaginary
wall that exists between actors on stage
or actors looking at a camera lens and
the audience thus breaking the fourth
wall meant that actors break boundaries
and speak directly to the audience
instead of into a camera lens in my
situation it represented a shift in the
way I thought of myself I began to
appreciate who I was and even qualities
of my own that seeped into the
characters and my stories my differences
were still scarce but now I looked at
them as a part of myself as something
that made me special by just changing my
mindset I returned into a more
optimistic person and someone who knew
that I what I was worth
to sum up Asian stereotypes are still
very much real even though we are
constantly named the model minority
meaning that we agents achieve higher
success than that of the population
average we still face racism and and
discrimination it is something that we
cannot ignore people like me or sixth
grade me still struggle with the
negative implications of not fulfilling
the image of an Asian model student they
suffer from feeling similar enough not
to get rejected from the American
Society but too different to feel the
comfortable with their place in it Asian
actors in Hollywood still undergo
stereotypical casting calls and receive
unfair treatment the question is what
can we do to solve this a solid
practical answer to this would be
education education is the root to all
kinds of change and change is exactly
what’s needed to abolish these harmful
stereotypes however I promise myself not
to end this talk on a cliche note which
is why I’m not going to say be the
change you wish to see in the world
instead I want to say talk pass your
knowledge on to others share your
experiences for people who want to hear
them and if you’d like even for those
who don’t let what you say move others
if you find yourself stereotyped or
caught in a situation similar to one
I’ve been in speak up and stand up for
yourself let others know that their
actions kind of detrimental effects let
there be one less sixth grade me in the
world meanwhile in the face of hardship
be like Ross Butler persist and never
give up
you were you were possibly just one tiny
step away from your goal but most
importantly if you ever feel like you
don’t belong be proud of who you are
embrace your unique qualities and be
yourself because differences are what
make up this world and by appreciating
yours you can make a difference thank
you
[Applause]
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