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History

鈥淭o my mind it is clear, that the settlement among us of an inferior race is to be discouraged by every legitimate means. Asia, with her numberless millions, sends to our shores the dregs of her population.鈥�

So said California Gov. Leland Stanford in his inaugural address on Jan. 10, 1862. Stanford鈥檚 negative perception of the Asian population, however, didn鈥檛 stop him from employing thousands of Chinese workers in his Central Pacific Railroad Company, profiting off of their labor. Stanford鈥檚 nativism and hypocrisy is simply one of many manifestations of anti-Asian discrimination in the 19th century, including legislation such as the Page Act of 1875 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This attitude persisted into the 1900s: Franklin D. Roosevelt鈥檚 Executive Order 9066, for example, legalized the internment of Japanese American civilians during World War II, while U.S. servicemen mistreated Korean military brides after the Korean War.

Discrimination pervaded at a local level as well. According to 鈥淧alo Alto: A Centennial History,鈥� a book published in 1993 by Ward Winslow and the Palo Alto Historical Association, certain land deeds in Palo Alto carried restrictions specifying that no persons of African, Japanese, Chinese or Mongolian descent were to use or occupy homes. However, the Asian population in the Bay Area persisted, from gold-miners in the 1850s to today鈥檚 engineers and computer scientists 鈥� or so the stereotype dictates. This community is continuously growing, providing a comfortable environment for new immigrants.

Assimilation and diversity

With its 46.2% Asian population, as per its 2022-23 school profile, Gunn boasts a welcoming space for Asian students. Freshman Doyoon Kim moved to Palo Alto from Seoul, South Korea, in middle school. Although she was born in San Diego, Kim moved to South Korea when she was 6 years old and had to reacclimate to American culture when she returned to California, a change made easier thanks to the deeply rooted Korean community in the Bay Area. 鈥淚n a way, it鈥檚 been easier for me and my family to assimilate, since there鈥檚 a bigger Asian population and the culture here is integrated with Asian culture,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I went to a different area with a lower Asian population, it definitely would鈥檝e been harder for me to feel included.鈥�

Junior Saara Doke, born and raised in the Bay, similarly finds it easier to maintain cultural practices and celebrations thanks to the large South Asian presence in the area. 鈥淭here are so many places nearby in which there鈥檚 a large South Asian population, with all of these temples and places I can go for holidays,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y cousin lives in Texas and has nobody to communicate her culture with.鈥�

Kim said that the emphasis on learning about and acknowledging diverse cultures in Palo Alto has also made her more comfortable in the local community. For example, Gunn鈥檚 annual Global Cultures Week included a multitude of events to foster interest in and teach about different languages and customs. 鈥淪chool life in general is really different because everybody at my Korean school is Korean and speaks Korean,鈥� Kim said. 鈥淗ere, there鈥檚 a lot of different nationalities. In the U.S., we focus a lot more on diversity than Koreans do.鈥�

Sophomore Janus Tsen, who moved to California from Shanghai, China, in 2018, concurs that the importance the Bay Area places on inclusivity differentiates it from other places around the world. 鈥淚nclusivity and diversity are so emphasized here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a core tenet to be considered a good person.鈥�

Microaggressions

Despite this emphasis on diversity, racism 鈥� specifically microaggressions or unconscious biases 鈥� still worms its way into Kim鈥檚 day-to-day life. 鈥淚 sometimes hear people (use) slurs towards Asians,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople use (them) and don鈥檛 consider (them) to be as harsh as slurs towards Black and Hispanic people. A lot of people joke about Asian stereotypes, and sometimes it鈥檚 fine, but sometimes it鈥檚 like, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e still stereotyping Asian people in this community?鈥� and it鈥檚 uncomfortable.鈥�

Doke agrees that the belief that Asians face less discrimination than other historically underrepresented groups and that slurs towards Asians aren鈥檛 as harmful is false. 鈥淎 lot of people try to say that being Asian is kind of like being white, but Asian people still deal with so much discrimination that people (overlook),鈥� she said.

What Doke refers to is known as the idea of a 鈥減roximity to whiteness,鈥� where Asians are culturally 鈥渃loser to white鈥� than other racial minorities. While this stereotype seems to benefit the Asian community at first glance, its undertones promote disunity, suggesting that the Asian people are part of an oppressive majority and alienating them from other minorities. According to South Asian American psychotherapist Divya Kumar, many Asian Americans might be led to believe that proximity-to-whiteness is a safeguard against racism, when it isn鈥檛.

While blatant racism toward Asians is less common in Palo Alto, other forms of harmful stereotypes exist, including that of the 鈥減erpetual foreigner.鈥� It is a form of nativism in which some are regarded as foreigners because they belong to an ethnic or racial minority. This stereotype is often applied to those who are naturalized citizens, as well as those who have lived in the U.S. their entire lives or whose families have been in the U.S. for generations. 鈥淢y (Asian) friends who are American, people ask them, 鈥榃here are you from?鈥欌�� Kim said. 鈥淭hey were born and raised here. People still consider them foreigners even though they were raised American.鈥�

The perpetual foreigner stereotype is harmful for two reasons. First, it creates an us-versus-them mindset, dividing society into an 鈥渋n-group鈥� and an 鈥渙ut-group.鈥� These groupings come with biases 鈥� there is a tendency to favor and support those who belong to the 鈥渋n-group,鈥� and dislike or belittle those in the 鈥渙ut-group,鈥� whom one doesn鈥檛 identify with. Second, the perpetual- foreigner stereotype lumps all people of Asian descent into one large group, even though experiences vary significantly. 鈥淭here鈥檚 communities within the bigger Asian community, and we all have different traditions and different cultures,鈥� Kim said.

Students respond to microaggressions they encounter 鈥� including the perpetual-foreigner stereotype 鈥� in different ways. Some, like Tsen, simply try to forget racial slights. 鈥淲e talked about microaggressions at some point in SELF, and I was trying then to think of times I鈥檝e encountered them, but I couldn鈥檛 think of anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think the reason for that is, even if people are being racist, I try not to be affected by it and forget it. It鈥檚 harmful to remember that people hate me for my race.鈥�

The beauty standard

Doke鈥檚 struggles with her ethnicity largely stem from pressure to conform to Western beauty standards. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something a lot of brown girls go through,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n middle school, I got made fun of for Indian traits like having thicker eyebrows. I was also really tan in middle school, and even other Indians would say, 鈥楢t least I鈥檓 not as dark as Saara.鈥� The beauty standard is heavier on girls because there鈥檚 so much of an emphasis on beauty for girls. As you grow up, you get the idea enforced into your head that white equals beautiful.鈥�

Doke noted that these standards continue to persist in many Asian communities. 鈥淐olorism is such a huge issue,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y grandma got me skin-bleaching (products) once, and my white friends were like, 鈥榃hat the hell.鈥欌��

Moving forward

Communities of peers that Asian people can relate to on a cultural level provide both comfort and support. Even though the Bay is ethnically diverse and aims to promote tolerance and inclusivity, racism, however unintentional, is still prevalent. Being a part of historically underrepresented group comes with a slew of nuances that can go unnoticed by some.

Students seem to agree that a community makes the burden more tolerable. 鈥淢ore conservative places don鈥檛 have as many Asian Americans, so it鈥檚 easier to hate on a minority,鈥� Tsen said. 鈥淏ut here, Asians are part of the majority and so it鈥檚 harder to hate on a majority.鈥�

Currently, it鈥檚 the pressure to assimilate that weighs heavily on many Asian Americans. Opportunities to communicate about their cultures and talk about the roles their racial identities have on their lives 鈥� both daily and cumulatively 鈥� is what will make the Bay truly diverse. Moving forward, an emphasis on 鈥渟afe communication,鈥� which Tsen describes as 鈥渨hen you can freely talk about your ideas with other people without being persecuted for it,鈥� could be a beneficial next step in terms of racial integration and inclusion. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a 鈥榮afety in numbers鈥� thing鈥攊f there鈥檚 a lot more of you in a group, you feel safe,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easier for you to congregate and have safe communication.鈥�