This Virginia Tech flyer for international students doesn't feature any actual international students

Perpetual foreigner syndrome strikes again!



Virginia Tech recently printed up a promotional flyer urging international students to complete an upcoming survey to help make the campus better for international students. The flyer, posted around campus, featured a photo of smiling Asian students at Virginia Tech. You know, international students. Cool, right?

There's just one problem: none of the students in the photo are international students.

If you're wondering what the problem is, it looks like these students just got inadvertently smacked in the face with the perpetual foreigner stereotype -- the idea that no matter how long or how much or how far Asian Americans make our way in this country, we'll always be perceived as foreign -- never quite enough American.

In this case, whoever put together this flyer saw a photo of a bunch of Asians kids at Virginia Tech and erroneously assumed they must be international students. Not the kind from "here."

New York Times Editor Thinks American-Born Mirai Nagasu Is An Immigrant

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Perpetual Foreigner stereotype alert: shortly after US figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel in an Olympic competition, New York Times Opinion section editor Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) tweeted "Immigrants: they get the job done," a line from Hamilton.

The implication from Weiss' tweet was obvious: Nagasu should be celebrated as an American immigrant. One problem, though: Nagasu was born in Montebello, California. And yet, for Weiss, the place of Nagasu's birth doesn't seem to matter: instead, the colour of her skin appears to have marked Nagasu as foreign.

Why is it that American media personalities commenting on the Winter Olympics can never seem to remember that Asian Americans are American, too? Let's not forget the infamous headline: in 1998, MSNBC published a headline declaring that "American Beats Out Kwan," implying that US figure skater Michelle Kwan wasn't an American. Now again, a mainstream media commentator can't seem to figure out that Mirai Nagasu isn't an immigrant.

Of course Donald Trump has a "Where are you from?" moment.

"I was born in Texas, raised in Colorado."



It was only a matter of time. Kind of surprised this didn't happen sooner. This week, Donald Trump had himself a "Where are you from?" moment with an Asian American audience member while on the campaign trail.

South Korea? Trump's 'Where Are You From' Moment

On Monday, the Republican presidential candidate took a question from Joseph Choe, a Harvard student, at the No Labels Problem Solver Convention in New Hampshire. As Choe started to ask a question about South Korea, Trump interrupted to ask "Are you from South Korea?"

"I'm not," Choe replied. "I was born in Texas, raised in Colorado."