Individual paragraph analysis

1. In this paragraph, the author gives us the context behind the early migration of many Chinese men and the “legal” actions taken from Americans against what they saw as an economic threat. 
2. Mention of the turning point in stereotypes, the idea of the Chinese being “illiterate and unassimilable was substituted with them being extremely hardworking and materialist. 
3. The author comments on how the media strengthens stereotypes. Even Chinese producers make use of racist jokes to deliver what they believe the public desires.
4. The author recounts how certain events in the movie Crazy Rich Asians only reinforce harmful stereotypes, as they give us a short introduction of what is thematic of the film.
5. Recount of the stereotypes found in the film – making mention of them- as well as making mention of the lack of accurate representation of the geocultural circumstance and events in the film. 
6. Comment on how the film is an example of how popular media reinforces the idea that Chinese people cannot “fit in” or “assimilate” American values
7. The author shares a personal experience in which they felt their cultural heritage was discriminated against and in which he was directly affected by a known stereotype. 
8. Uses supporting arguments from a specialist (Larry Tung), who estates that the public in general are often misled and influenced by what they see in media like television. “Representation doesn’t necessarily mean good representation”
9. The author talks about his expectations for the Fresh of the boat series based on Eddie Huang’s book. Afterward, he mentions the disappointment he felt when the producer in charge (who was Asian-American) decided to modify the story to please Caucasian audiences. 
10. Analysis of the modification content of the Fresh of the boat series and how it moved from a story showing real-life circumstances to a stereotypical show. 
11. Comment on specific moments of the series that not only completely ignore the setting of the original story but push towards common stereotypes.
12. The author presents a counter-argument from the defenders of theFresh of the boat series who argued that using Asian-American actor was representative enough. 
13. The author presents some connection to the background; as well as their argument that although Chinese representation in Hollywood has increased, it has only been used to strengthen racist stereotypes instead of depicting real-life issues that Chinese-American face on their day-to-day. 

Summary

At the beginning of his text, Tristen Chau gives us context about the early migration of Chinese workers looking for a better life in America. As a response to this migration, American citizens complained that Chinese foreigners were taking their jobs and a series of laws were passed to affect Chinese workers and discourage migration. Later on, he mentions how the stereotypical perspective toward the Chinese changed from them being “illiterate and unassimilable” to them being “too hardworking” and materialist. Since the “yellow peril” (an ideology that Chinese people are a threat to the American Economy during the 1800s) the media industry has used the irresistible opportunity of representing Chinese characters in films as an opportunity to attract the sensationalist public by reinforcing racial stereotypes. As a modern example of this type of representation in the media, the author mentions and analyses the 2018 comedy film Crazy Rich Asians. While giving us a short introduction to the film, Chau mentions the stereotypical views of the film and how it depicts cliche aspects of Chinese culture like them being too materialistic and superficial, and unable to comprehend and incorporate American values and culture. In one section of the text, the author mentions a personal experience in which he felt attacked by stereotypical views when he recapped with his peers what he ate over family dinner; some of them made hurtful comments without even knowing, those ideas he attributes to the stereotypical image depicted by the media. To finalize, he mentions his sadness towards the poor representation of Chinese-Americans in the modern media, emphasizing that all representation is not necessarily positive. And although there is no longer any laws that oppress  Chinese- Americans, stereotypes have changed very little. 

Analysis in terms of organization

 In his text, One Step Towards Equality, Two steps back for Asian-Americans, Tristen Chau talks about the stereotypes that exist towards Asian-Americans and how the media aggravates the condition with the sole purpose of quenching the demands of a sensationalistic audience that feed on easily produced racist jokes. In terms of organization, Chau starts by giving the reader some historical context on the first experiences of Chinese immigrants during the 1800s; given the facts, circumstances, and quotes, these first paragraphs give the reader an idea of the struggle many Chinese workers had to endure when even the law demanded their exclusion. From those instances, the Chinese were seen as exotic and different, unable to incorporate into the American culture. It is presented in such a way so that the reader can understand the irony of imposing their exclusion, to later identify them by their apparent lack of assimilation to the American culture. Consequently, producers saw an opportunity to mock Asian-Americans in the popular media by playing with known stereotypes and using race-based mockery. The text continues to develop into more up-to-date examples of popular media abusing stereotypes, like Crazy Rich Asians, where Chinese people are depicted as being superficial, with an intense interest in wealth and appearances; also commenting on the lack of accurate geocultural representation occurring in the film, who seems to have almost completely ignored the cultural aspects that should be represented. The text continues to build its claim around the corrupt media whose only desire would seem to be satisfying Caucasian audiences for profit based on simple/efficient racist comedy, causing as a side effect a negative reinforcement of racial stereotypes in audiences that don’t seem to be able to differentiate media from reality. Important to mention, that in-between his arguments he shares one testimony of his own experience being Asian-American; when he recounted what he ate at family dinner and his friends -supposedly- unknowingly made hurtful comments about it, “Oh, didn’t you also eat any dogs at dinner?”, demonstrating the effect and influence of the popular media in the minds of the public. Arguing that those types of stereotypes are the result of the under-representation of minorities in films and television. By the end of his piece, he estates that being represented is not valid if it is in the incorrect form and that although there are no laws discriminating against Asian-Americans anymore, the media has now taken control of those actions.