Racism & Interior China Town

 In Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu tackles the theme of racism through a satirical lens, giving readers a window into how Asian Americans are subject to systemic and cultural racism. Structured as a screenplay for a cop show on TV, the novel follows Willis Wu, who plays Generic Asian Man.

“In the world of Black and [w]hite, everyone starts out as Generic Asian Man. Everyone who looks like you, anyway. Unless you’re a woman. ...” (Yu 24)

A central motif in the novel is the idea that Asian Americans are consistently relegated to certain stereotypical roles both in media and society and struggle to break free from them. 

It is important to note that in the late '90s and early 2000s, racism against Chinese in America was rooted in longstanding political, economic and cultural tensions. This influenced how Chinese and broader Asian representation was portrayed in American TV shows and movies. 

The movies have typecasted Asians in roles such as Martial Arts or Kung Fu Guy as called in the novel, played by iconic figures like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, or the model minority asians who are high achieving, hardworking individuals but are socially awkward or devoid of emotion.  

h “[play] out the same tired old skit, chopsticks and dragons, Family and Duty, Father and Son” (Yu 278)

I think an important idea that the novel tries to convey is that it is important for Asian Americans to break out of their role as a Generic Asian man and just become real. 

“You are not Kung Fu Guy. You are Willis Wu, dad. Maybe husband. Your dad's skills are B, B-plus on a good day. But you’ve been practicing...Try to build a life...Life at the margins, made from bit pieces.” (Yu 248)

Of course, with America’s history of racism, breaking out of these stereotypes is tough, but maybe if we start creating more roles for Asians beyond their stereotypes, we can make the new generation hope that they can be something more than just the Generic Asian Man, Delivery Guy, Exotic Lady, Silent Henchman and Striving Immigrant. 

Works Cited 

Yu, Charles. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books, 2020.