Deceit: The Silent Chinese Stereotype

Outline - Deceit: The Silent Chinese Stereotype

I. Introduction

A. Historical development

B. Political and global implications

C. Educational effects

II. History

A. “Middle Kingdom�? roots

B. Chinese immigrants

1. Hard workers until recession

2. “Chinese must go�?

C. Harmful definition

D. Twentieth century

1. Wars

2. Hollywood’s involvement

III. Political and global stresses

A. Chinese government’s affect on deceit

1. Spy scandal

2. SARS epidemic

IV. Educational effects

A. New Orient School

1. Doctored documents

2. Selling tests

B. “Gunners�? and “ghostwriters�?

C. Concerns amongst teachers

1. No perceived cultural relationship

2. Per incident basis

3. Student awareness of deceit’s consequences

V. Conclusion

Deceit: The Silent Chinese Stereotype

When it comes to the words Chinese and stereotypes, legendary author Mark Twain may have said it best in his work Roughing It (1872):

They [The Chinese] are quiet, peaceable, tractable, free form drunkeness, and they are as industrious as the day is long. A disorderly Chinaman is rare, and a lazy one does not exist. (As cited in Rand, et al., 2005)

And while these stereotypes personify what may be viewed as desirable traits amongst the Chinese, there is another stereotype that dates back over 200 years in the U.S., and has more recently resurfaced amongst many American citizens. Deceit, dishonesty, and even cheat can be silently heard amongst many Americans although many will avoid openly admitting it for fear of being seen as racist. In conjunction with this stereotype, I will present a brief look at the historical, political, and global implications of this ascertation along with how this stereotype has even filtered down to the educational setting, causing anguish amongst colleges and teachers alike.

Some of the first signs of deceit amongst Americans concerning Chinese can be traced to the end of the 18th century. Americans went in search of the “Middle Kingdom�? (A view that Chinese citizens lived at the center of the Universe), but came back with the notion that they were superstitious, dishonest, cruel and were afraid to confront the oppression minded rulers they lived under because of their firm belief in tradition and resistance towards innovation. These stereotypes were enhanced as a result of the Opium Wars that were soon to follow (Chen, et al., N.D.).

Progressing to the mid 1800’s, as the first Chinese immigrants came to America via California in search of a better life, they were originally viewed as hard workers. But as recession set in on the West Coast, many people saw these immigrants as taking away American Jobs. Quotes such as “The Chinese Must Go,�? made famous by labor leader Dennis Kearney created a resentment towards the immigrants. Coinciding with these thoughts, several violent attacks against Chinese occurred in San Francisco, Tacoma, and other areas throughout the West Coast (Grunberg, 2001). Further emphasizing this hatred for the Chinese during this period, one could find in the Encyclopedia Britannica information such as:

The Chinese is cold, cunning, and distrustful, always ready to take advantage of those he has to deal with, extremely covetous and deceitful, quarrelsome, vindictive, but timid and dastardly. (Morgan, 1979, as cited in Grunberg, 2001)

In all, there was a significant amount of hatred that was fostered through stereotyping during this period.

Through the course of the 20th century, several instances reigned supreme. The “Yellow Menace�? views of the 1930’s (Wong, 2004), the torturing of prisoners by the Chinese during the Korean War and the distrust created by the Cold War, a subject that some may be able to write books on in itself, created views of distrust, inferiority, and deceit amongst many. Hollywood has even been accused of, perhaps falsely, in promoting a deceitful atmosphere of late with the depiction of the Neimoidian characters in the Star Wars Saga as being of Asian decent and deceitful business thugs (Wong, 2004), and Lucy Liu’s Character, Ling Woo, on the show Ally McBeal, being seen as “Hollywood’s traditional portrayal of Asian women as “dragon ladies�? - exotic and deceitful objects of desire�? (Frutkin, 2000).

However, the actions of the Chinese government of late may be the most compelling source for distrust and deceit amongst not only Americans, but members of the European Community and other countries as well. The China spy scandal of the late 1990’s where nuclear information was obtained by Chinese spies implanted by the Chinese government amongst immigrants to gain information along with Peter Lee’s betrayal of American secrets while on a lecture trip to China caused considerable distrust amongst the American government towards the Chinese (O’Sullivan, 1999). In addition, as Baum (2003) states, the “Chinese governments self-damaging denial of the spreading of the SARS emergency�? not only affects their stability, but I can also recall the fear and anguish that was spread throughout Europe and other parts of the world as the story unfolded. Hence, not only has deceit derived from perhaps racist views from many, it has been fueled by their own actions as well.

With this in mind, are there any implications for the educational setting as well? The most damaging evidence for deceit can be traced to the New Oriental School in China, where many of their students pay upwards of $1000 to have their resumes, personal statements, or other documents doctored by paid writers who make up a lot of the information to enhance the possibility of admission to American graduate Schools (Walfish, 2001). In addition, what Walfish calls “ghostwritten essays�?, the forging of degrees and or transcripts, or the hiring of “gunners�?, a person who takes the place of another on a test, are shortcuts many students are even willing to use. The Educational Testing Service has even won a court case, being appealed, against the New Orient School accusing the school of stealing and selling copies of TOELF and GRE tests and having students sit in in the place of others (Jones, Oberst, 2003).

So as a teacher, is deceit amongst Chinese students a major concern? In my opinion, no more than it is a concern amongst all students. Deceit, dishonesty, and cheating, have no ethnic, racial, national, or cultural bounds. It should be viewed on a per student incident. Instead, as a teacher, concern should be more based on educating students how to be open, working within educational guidelines of fairness and responsibility, and providing students pathways for expression and cooperation to help alleviate the potential development of the fore mentioned concerns. And when the situation does arise, instruct the students not only why it is wrong, but what may be some of the consequences, personal, social, legal, etc. they should consider. By doing this, the hope is to educate students to be more accountable for their actions and avoid potential pitfalls that can have serious impacts on their educational opportunities.

Hence, deceit, dishonesty, and even cheat are stereotypes that Chinese people residing in the U.S. and elsewhere may have to deal with. As presented, there is evidence available to show how some can hold these stereotypes to be true. But of emphasis should be noted that the actions of a few can have unfair implications towards all associated. In assuming that all Chinese meet the stereotypes presented would be wrong, narrow-minded, and foolish. Instead, one should realize that stereotypes are crude generalizations made by some and are not representative of the population as a whole.

Sources

Baum, R. (2003, June 30). Is China Ready to Listen to its People? Article found at <http://www.glocom.org/special_topics/asia_rep/20030630_asia_s24/>

Chen, et al. (N.D.). Chinese Culture in the Workplace. Article found at <http://www.csupomona.edu/~crwyrick/www/diversity/chinese/chinese.rtf".>

Frutkin, A. J. (2000, December 24). The Faces in the Glass are Rarely Theirs. The New York Times. section 2, p. 31.

Grunberg, Emma (2001, May 2). A Tale of Two Cultures: The Expulsion of the Chinese from Tacoma in 1885. Composed historical paper.

Jones, R. C. & Oberst, B. S. (2003, October 27). Educational testing service wins court case in china. International Engineering Education Digest.

Murray, Morgan. (1979). Puget’s Sound. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 216.

O’Sullivan, J. (1999, June 28). Asians of influence - racism and chinese spy scandal. National Review.

Rand, A., Sowell, T. & Epstein, R. (2005). Ethnic Prejudice, Stereotypes, Discrimination, and the Free Market. Article found at <http://www.friesian.com/#contents>

Wong, Michael. Racism In Star Wars and Star Trek. Article Found at <http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Racism.html>

Walfish, D. (2001, January 5). Chinese applicants to U.S. universities often resort to shortcuts or dishonesty. The Chronicle of Higher Education. p. A52.