Tommy Sailors remembers a time when all he wanted was a normal boy's haircut.
As he looks back on his childhood in Fort Wayne, he wanted to be just like everyone else. And he was like all of the other Asian boys +â-óGé¼" they just weren't around.
Sailors, a Ball State University sophomore, was one of four students who spoke at the Asian American Student Association's (AASA) Opening Ceremony Tuesday. The program included three traditional Asian piano selections by Ball State music students, followed by a discussion on racism, stereotypes and foreign adoption.
"Stereotypes suck," Sailors said. Common stereotypes for Asians include their excessive use of cameras and that they are the model minority who gets straight A's and plays instruments, Sailors said.
"Ball State is diverse enough, but we lump certain groups together," Nihal Perera, director of Asian Studies, said.
"It is a consciousness, and most just aren't aware of the diversity."
Living in a complex world with many ethnicities causes people to try to simplify it by branding people, Perera said.
"The ways in which we simplify it are by creating imaginary geographies, and an example of that is stereotypes," Chris Airriess, chair of the Asian Studies Committee, said.
Although Asia makes up half of the world, there are only five of 20,000 Ball State students studying there, Perera said.
Asian Americans make up less than one percent of Ball State's student body, and AASA encourages diversity and the awareness of an Asian American community on campus, AASA President Lily Tsay said.
"I am Vietnamese and Taiwanese, and growing up in Kokomo made coming to Ball State my ultimate exposure to other Asian Americans," Tsay said.
She said that instead of minorities being ashamed of being different, they can appreciate who they are.
"You can't define Asian Americans, but you can see what they are interested in and what activism is like," Tsay said.
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