Ailene+Lee’s+Final+AmEx+2013+Speech

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=Text of Speech= Last week was YouTube comedy week and one of the videos posted was made by Ken Tanaka called “What kind of Asian are you.” Now if you haven’t seen it, it’s basically two people having a conversation: A Caucasian man and an Asian woman. He asks her where she’s from and that “her English is perfect.” She says she was born in Orange County but he wants to know before she was born… She then proceeds saying that her great-grandma was from Korea and he was excited because he knew she was either Korean or Japanese but was leaning towards Korean. This has happened a lot to me: people asking me where I’m from, if I’m North Korean or South Korean, oh a little fun story on the side: one person asked my cousin’s friend if she was North Korean or South Korean and she said she was actually “East Korean” and that person believed her… I don’t mind when people ask me what ethnicity I am but it bothers me if they straight up try to guess my ethnicity which usually starts with Chinese then Japanese and then they don’t know what to do afterwards because it seems like those are the only countries in Asia or they ask if I’m North Korean. Yes, everybody. I guess it’s time to tell you the truth. I escaped North Korea and came to America. In the America I was born in and want to grow old in, I wish to see the end of racist jokes and stereotypes. Let me tell you guys a little bit about myself. I am first-generation and I was born in Santa Barbara. The first time someone made fun of me for my “Asian-ness” was when I was in fourth grade. A boy named KC came up to me and called me a chink. I still remember the first time I was somewhat set apart because of my looks and to this day, people constantly point out the fact that I’m Asian and for what? Really, nothing. There’s no reason in that statement you just made that would make sense for you to point out that I’m Asian. Everyday, I hear racist jokes and comments being made. Back when I was in my dance crew, I would hear people constantly call each other the N-word or tell them to “go back to their homeland” as jokes and it made me quite uncomfortable. Some people say it’s okay that they call each other that because they’re both black; however, it still shouldn’t justify their use of the word. Many people joke and stereotype about a certain race and truthfully, it hurts when people stereotype me because I’m Asian. I don’t want good grades because I’m Asian, I want good grades so I can go to college. I don’t play piano because I’m Asian, I play piano because I enjoy playing the piano. I don’t have tiger parents, I don’t eat rice and use chopsticks everyday, I don’t have freakishly small eyes, I don’t make a “V” with my fingers when taking a picture, and I don’t have an A in math. Do you all know Adam Braver? Well, it was only about a week ago that he was finally able to tell Lucy, Emily Sim, Sarah Serrano, and me apart, and my “good friend” Sergio always accidentally calls me Lucy or Emily. Usually I just laugh it off or pretend that it was okay but really, it’s not. It’s understandable to mess up every once in a while but every time? It’s just hurtful that I can’t be told apart from someone I’m not even related to. It seems that we are all just lumped together and seen as one person and even colleges are putting Asians at a disadvantage. In fact, “studies show that Asian-Americans… often need test scores hundreds of points higher than applicants from other ethnic groups to have an equal chance of admission.” These stereotypes and the fact that people can’t see the differences between Asians always chips off a little piece of me, telling me that I’m not unique and everyone expects all Asians to look and act the same. Stereotypes block off the chance to get to know someone. It separates a person from who they truly are to what people think they’re like because they base them off the color of their skin. I hope in the America I grow old in, there will be no discriminations against a certain ethnicity or insults towards a person’s race. I hope that we will be able to laugh at a joke without laughing at someone. I hope that one day everyone will be able to see me as a unique individual and not as one of those Asian girls. Thank you.

Here's the link to the "What kind of Asian are you"! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWynJkN5HbQ =Cite Your Sources= http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-12-03/asian-students-college-applications/51620236/1