Custom essays on Orientals by Robert G. Lee

Historically, Asian-Americans were oppressed and discriminated by the white majority. At the same time, the position of Asian-Americans changed in the course of time under the impact of historical event that took place in the US. Today, Asian-Americans are still oppressed and suffer from discrimination because often they are viewed as non—native born Americans but as immigrants from other countries regardless of the time when their ancestors arrived in the country. In this respect, it is possible to refer to the book “Orientals” by Robert G. Lee, who researches the origin of the prejudiced, biased attitude to Asian-Americans, whom he defines by the term Orientals. The book reveals the history of the discrimination and marginalization of Asian-Americans because of their race and, what is more important, the author shows the persistent discrimination of Asian-Americans by the white majority.
On analyzing the origin of the discrimination and biased attitude of Americans to Asian Americans, Robert G. Lee refers to the past, to the history of Asian immigration to the US. In his book, the author shows that Asian-Americans were always viewed as strangers, aliens, who arrived in the US and stayed their forming their own community, maintaining their original cultural traditions, and, therefore, remaining in isolation from the mainstream white culture. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the “real Americans” were white Americans, although the whites were not even the native population of America (Lee, 130). The author shows that the whites hold the dominant position in the US society and controlled practically all spheres of the life of the American society. The real Americans neglected apparently Asian-Americans as equal citizens because they were aliens to the US society and this stereotype has persisted throughout decades and centuries in the US.
At the same time, the origin of the discrimination and superior attitude to Asian-Americans date back to the mid-19th century.

Robert G. Lee stands on the ground that the discrimination of Asian-Americans has started since the mid-19th century because it was the time when first Chinese immigrants had started to arrive in the US to work at the construction of railroads in the US. They had totally different culture, traditions, religion and lifestyle, compared to the white culture. As a result, they were viewed as strangers and aliens to the US society.
In such a situation, the idea of inferiority and strangeness of Asian-Americans was first promoted by music hall songsters and social commentators and steadily this idea grew deep-rooted in the consciousness of ordinary Americans (Lee, 194). Furthermore, in the 20th century, World War II and the War in Vietnam contributed to the rise of the negative attitude of Americans to Asian-Americans as hostile aliens. As a result, racial, discriminatory stereotypes and biases are deep-rooted in the consciousness of Americans and persist to present days. Naturally, Asian-Americans lead the struggle against their discrimination but their involvement in the Civil Rights movement and the ongoing struggle for their rights led to certain changes in the legal status and position of Asian-Americans but they still fail to eliminate biased, subjective attitude of white Americans to the Asian-American minority.
Thus, the book “Orientals” by Robert G. Lee shows the origin and evolution of the attitude of white Americans to Asian-Americans. The author shows that the attitude of white Americans to Asian-Americans was biased and led to their discrimination.

Works Cited
Lee, R.G. Orientals. New York: Temple University Press, 1999.