Of course, this discussion was prompted by Alexandra Wallace's now-infamous "Asians in the Library" rant. To say that video was misguided is an understatement, but what compelled young Alexandra to come to her racist perceptions?
Stereotypes help people simplify information processing in a complex world. But this efficiency comes at a cost, usually bigotry. Ms. Wallace believes that Asians are rude, so she's more likely to attend to instances that support this stereotype and ignore evidence to the contrary. In other words, she suffers from confirmation bias, and in that she is not alone. (Note: at the beginning of her video Ms. Wallace gives a kind of shout-out to her Asian friends with whom she has no problem).Lau goes on to offer a number of reasons why Alexandra was emboldened ("possessed") to go full ching chong on the internet, including perceptions of "yellow peril," the threat of the model minority, and Asians as the perpetual foreigner. Maybe something we all know already, but it's a pretty interesting read all the same. Check it out.
But what would embolden Ms. Wallace to post her anti-Asian sentiments so publicly, when 2 of 5 UCLA students are Asian American? I mean she took it all the way to "Ching-chong, ting-tong, ling-long", she only forgot to tug at the corners of her eyes to produce the full effect. Ching chong is the Asian American equivalent of the N-word. Have we not learned this from Rosie O'Donnell's gaffe? So, what possessed Ms. Wallace? A couple hypotheses to ponder...
