Good Stereotype Argumentative Essay Example

Stereotyping and its effects on people is one of the most important lessons that the book, American Born Chinese addresses. There are particular characteristics that the Americans and the American society have towards people with a Chinese origin, which makes them an object of scorn and ridicule. The main focus of the poem is the children, who may not have displayed any of the stereotypes, yet they are scorned by their fellow children due to the general view that the society has towards them. Amidst the stereotyping and the stressful moment that the children go through, we see a determination and willingness in the children to work at disapproving their communities that they are beyond what they thought of. At the end of the novel, the author exhorts people to accept the body they wear but not the negatives that come with it. Once a person knows who they are and what they want to achieve, then no form of discrimination can hinder them from achieving their dreams.
The novel is based on three story lines that revolve around the subject of stereotype. One is of s Chinese boy who chose to school in a white only school and the determination he shows even as he is ridiculed. Jin Wang does not appreciate his Chinese background and simply wants to fit in the white community. He is in love with a while girl, and this gives her the hope of being accepted and appreciated. The second story is of a white boy Danny, who is ashamed of his cousin, from the Chinese origin. He does not want to be associated with him due to the stereotypes held against the Chinese immigrants. He even transfers school, just to avoid being associated with his Chinese cousin. The last story is a bout monkey king, whose desire to fit in the human community pushes him to perfect his skills to fit those of the human generation. He is however disappointed when he is not accepted in the kingdom simply because he is not human. The human skills that he has acquired do not make him human and hence not getting the privilege of association.
The most ironical things that have been addressed in the novel about the stereotype is the attitude that has been birthed in the children. Young children, who probably don’t understand the meaning of being poor and desperate, have become participants and even victims of the stereotypes. This therefore implies that as the children grow up, they are warned against a particular culture because of what has been believed on them. Parents and teachers encourage the children to stereotype by planting in them that a particular community is superior and the other is inferior. White children may not have any wealth of their own or even taken time to learn about their Chinese counterparts yet by looking at their skin color, they look at them as an inferior and poor community (Lasker 285). On the other hand, the Chinese children tend to believe in the stereotype and therefore doing all they can to ensure they fit into the community.
Jin Wang is a typical example of the people of the Chinese back ground who do not want to accept their identity due to the stereotypes associated with them. Jin Wang has believed in the stereotype of inferiority that is associated with his community and counters it by associating with the white. He believes that being in a white only school will make him feel special and even dilute the stereotype on him. He believes that by being the only Chinese in the school, the other children and teachers will not quickly notice it and therefore making him feel white. Jin Wang goes a head to fall in love with a white girl, a decision he believes will earn him more points in the white dominated community by making him to be accepted and appreciated even more. All the steps and decisions he takes are simply to cover up for what he has believed and the attitudes that the society that holds against the community.
Danny has been displayed as a victim of the stereotyping and is ashamed of his friends knowing that he has relatives of the Chinese decent. Danny feels that being associated with his cousin could also expose him to ridicule and even the stereotype. The young boy wants to enjoy the privileges of being white, yet he may never comfortable deny his relationships with the Chinese. He believes that the perfect solution for his dilemma will be to change school and be the white boy he wants to be.
The story of the monkey king is the climax of the novel that proves that changing the characters of one does not change his body. This hence implies that the stereotypes held against people of the Chinese decent are not based on the characters they display but the stereotypes associated with their skin color. The monkey king may represent Jin Wang and Danny, who do all they can to evade the stereotype that is associated wit their relationships’ in as much as they may succeed in their activities, there is no guarantee of deliverance. This is simply because the skin color will always speak against them (Lee 420). In the long run, they will still be denied the opportunities that come with white skin, simply because their skin is different. After diligence and practice, monkey king would qualify to be human; however, being human is not measured by character but the physical features.
The most important thing that the author notes is on accepting some of the defining features of our being. A person may run away from anything by behaving differently, yet their physical features, which are the first to be noticed, will never leave him or her. Accepting who the person is and even the environment he lives in will ensure he adopts survival tactics that will help them manage the stereotype as well as living a positive life. When it comes to stereotype, it is not about proving your disassociation with the community but rather proving the fact that such stereotypes are not necessarily true. People need to work on their character which will ultimately change the attitudes that people have towards them.

Works cited

Lasker, Gabriel Ward. "Migration and physical differentiation. A comparison of immigrant with American‐born Chinese." American Journal of Physical Anthropology 4.3 (1946): 273-300.
Lee, Stacey J. "Behind the model‐minority stereotype: Voices of high‐and low‐achieving Asian American students." Anthropology & Education Quarterly 25.4 (1994): 413-429.
Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. Macmillan, 2007.