A Prejudice America

We all live in a society where everyone is judged based on their appearance. People automatically assume the type of lifestyle you live and who you are based on the way you look, dress, speak, or present yourself. Gene Luen Yang discusses this issue in his graphic novel American Born Chinese. Jin Wang and his family have recently moved from San Francisco to a new neighborhood where Jin will start a new school. on his first day his new teacher introduces him to the class and informs them that Jin had just moved from China. Jin then corrects her by saying "San Francisco". the author is introducing the issue he is trying to address in this scene. he is elaborating on the issue that because Jin expresses Chinese features, people automatically are assuming he is from China when in fact he is just as American as the rest of them are. Yang also discusses the issue of stereotyping in his novel. Timmy, an american boy in Jin's new class makes a comment about Chinese people eating dogs. Because Jin is of a Chinese background, he automatically assumed that he also eats dogs because that is what he had learned about ALL Chinese people. Yang is emphasizing on the issue that many think just because a few people do something, EVERYONE of that particular group does it also which is not always the case. Americans do tend to prejudge people of a certain ethnicity or people who are "different" than the average American. this is usually done for Americans to feel a sense of superiority over these minorities or to downgrade their customs and traditions to make themselves look better.