Post 145: Using stereotypical Asian American images to teach about Asian American stereotypes--The Asian American Experience

Post 145: Asian American stereotypes

Historic images such as the treacherous Fu Manchu, the exotic/erotic Suzy Wong, and the inscrutable Charlie Chan, coupled with contemporary depictions of the Japanese tourist and Samurai businessman, the dog-eating refugee on welfare, the gang member, and the violin-playing/whiz-kid/spelling bee champion, offer little of value in clarifying the identities and realities of Asian Americans. Yet, these pervasive stereotypes continue to shape how many parents, teachers, administrators, and students perceive Asian Americans, and how Asian Americans often view themselves. (Nang, Peter, Asia Society, Perceptions of Asian Americans)

Taken from Sax Rohmer's The Return of Fu Manchu  (Gutenberg Project)

THE RETURN OF DR. FU-MANCHU

By Sax Rohmer


CHAPTER I. A MIDNIGHT SUMMONS


“When did you last hear from Nayland Smith?” asked my visitor.

I paused, my hand on the syphon, reflecting for a moment.

“Two months ago,” I said; “he’s a poor correspondent and rather soured,
I fancy.”

“What--a woman or something?”

“Some affair of that sort. He’s such a reticent beggar, I really know
very little about it.”

I placed a whisky and soda before the Rev. J. D. Eltham, also sliding
the tobacco jar nearer to his hand. The refined and sensitive face of
the clergy-man offered no indication of the truculent character of the
man. His scanty fair hair, already gray over the temples, was silken and
soft-looking; in appearance he was indeed a typical English churchman;
but in China he had been known as “the fighting missionary,” and had
fully deserved the title. In fact, this peaceful-looking gentleman had
directly brought about the Boxer Risings!

“You know,” he said, in his clerical voice, but meanwhile stuffing
tobacco into an old pipe with fierce energy, “I have often wondered,
Petrie--I have never left off wondering--”

“What?”

“That accursed Chinaman! Since the cellar place beneath the site of the
burnt-out cottage in Dulwich Village--I have wondered more than ever.”

He lighted his pipe and walked to the hearth to throw the match in the
grate.

“You see,” he continued, peering across at me in his oddly nervous way,
“one never knows, does one? If I thought that Dr. Fu-Manchu lived; if
I seriously suspected that that stupendous intellect, that wonderful
genius, Petrie, er--” he hesitated characteristically--“survived, I
should feel it my duty--”

“Well?” I said, leaning my elbows on the table and smiling slightly.

“If that Satanic genius were not indeed destroyed, then the peace of the
world, may be threatened anew at any moment!”

Discussion Questions about Fu Mancu 

1. Is Fu Manchu the hero or the villain?

2. What nationality is the hero of the story?

3. How are Asians perceived in this photo and in this short excerpt of Fu Manchu?

4. How do these negative stereotypes still affect how people perceive Asian Americans today?  What negative stereotypes do people have today about Asians/Asian Americans because of Fu Manchu?