Menlo School Library: Ethnic studies: Life & culture

Database sources

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Access World News (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
Daily Life Through History (ABC-Clio) This link opens in a new window
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Ethnic Diversity Source This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
JSTOR This link opens in a new window

General resources

Websites and Articles

AAPI Data
Asian Americans More Worried about Racist Americans than Coronavirus
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to increased incidence of anti-Asian comments and behavior.
Critical Media Project: Race & Ethnicity
Media representations of diverse groups, from the USC Annenberg School of Communication.
A Dangerous Distortion of our Families
A report published by a professor of communication at the University of Illinois.
Latino, Black And Middle-Eastern Immigrants Portrayed As Criminals On TV
An article from Forbes.
Minorities in Media in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts
This is a free area on a subscription database site.
People Of Color Face Tremendous Stereotypes During Times Of Catastrophe
An article from the Huffington Post.
Perpetual Foreigners: A Reflection on Asian Americans in the American Media
A 2016 article from the Huffington Post.
Seeing White
This podcast is an in-depth examination of the concept and historical definition of race.
Tokens on the Small Screen: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Prime Time and Streaming Television

African Americans

Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype
Historical information from the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Media is Much to Blame for Negative Stereotypes about African American Men, Says UC Berkeley Journalism Professor
A 1997 article from UC Berkeley.
Negative Racial Stereotypes and Their Effect on Attitudes Toward African-Americans
An essay on common stereotypes seen in American media.

Arab Americans

Chinese Americans

Chinese in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center.
I Learned to Embrace My Chinese-American Identity Through My Voice
A Chinese-American woman describes how she developed her identity.
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans
Overview of Asian Americans in the media from the Asia Society.

Filipino Americans

Filipino Americans
A long reference article about the Filipino American community.
Filipino Immigrants in the United States
History and data from the Migration Policy Institute.
Filipinos in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Data on Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the US, from the PEW Research Center.
Pew Research: Over 4.2M Filipino Americans In The US 
An article reporting on recent statistics about people of Filipino descent in the United States.

Indian Americans

Indians in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center,
Western Media's Stereotypes of Indian Culture
A 2010 article from the University of Illinois.
What is the Problem with Apu?
An article from an Indian daily newspaper.
Who I Was and Who I Want to Be — Indian Americans in Media
A Huffington Post article from 2013.

Irish Americans

How Stereotypes of the Irish Evolved From ‘Criminals’ to Cops
Historical perspective on the Irish in America.

Italian Americans

How Jersey Shore Transformed America
An article from Esquire magazine.
Italian American Stereotypes in U.S. Advertising
A 2003 report from the Order Sons of Italy in America.
Shadduppa Ya Stereotype! Italian-Americans Fight Back
A 2012 article from The Independent.
You Looking at Us? Italian-Americans Object to Sopranos
A 2001 article about legislators protesting The Sopranos and other media depictions of Italian-Americans

Japanese Americans

Japanese in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center.
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans
Overview of Asian Americans in the media from the Asia Society.
Walt Disney on the Front Lines
This is a collection of movies that can be found in the library, showing depictions of Japanese people during WWII.

Jewish Americans

Enough of the Jewish Stereotypes
An opinion piece, from the Huffington Post.
Stereotypes in the United States
An in depth article on Jewish stereotypes, with a long list of further readings.

Korean Americans

Koreans in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center.
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans
Overview of Asian Americans in the media from the Asia Society.

Latinx Americans

Hispanic Trends
Reports and data from the PEW Research Center.
Why are half of Latino Immigrant TV Characters Portrayed as Criminals?
An article from The Guardian.

Muslim Americans

How to Reduce Negative Stereotypes of Muslims in the Media
An article summarizing a speech given at Duke University.
Muslim Americans
Reports and data from the Pew Research Center.
The News Media Offer Slanted Coverage of Muslim Countries’ Treatment of Women
An article about a research study carried out by a Stanford postdoctoral fellow.
Struggling Against Stereotypes
An article about Muslim portrayals in the media, from Harvard University's Pluralism Project.
U.S. Muslims Concerned About Their Place in Society, but Continue to Believe in the American Dream
From the PEW Research Center - this is a more general report but there are references to media coverage in here.

Native Americans

Ending the Era of Harmful “Indian” Mascots
An article from the National Congress of American Indians.
The Newspaper Indian
This is a book about press portrayals of Native Americans in 1820-1890. This book can be checked out at the library desk.
Stereotyping Native Americans
An article from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia.

Pacific Islanders

Interior Celebrates Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Communities
A brief article from the US Department of the Interior.
Moana Might be Great for Representation but it's not all Heartwarming for Hawaii
An article about the influence of the movie Moana on Hawaii, with references to portrayals in the film.
Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander Americans
A chapter of a book written by a University of Massachusetts professor.
Pacific Islander Americans
A Wikipedia article with good background information, history and statistics.
Pacific Islander Americans
A Wikipedia article with good background information, history and statistics.
Pacific Islander Americans
Long reference article about Pacific Islander communities. Good for background tho it's not a particularly authoritative source.
Profile: Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders
Demographic information from the US Department of Health.
Representations of Pacific Islanders in Film and Video
A nearly 20-year-old article by a Fijian professor and filmmaker.

Racial activism in sports

High School Players Taking Knee for National Anthem Across Country
High school athletes across the country knelt for the National Anthem after Colin Kaepernick introduced the idea.
The History And Future Of Sports Activism
A radio broadcast from WBUR; the page also includes a number of links to related articles.
How Athletes are Changing the Conversation around Racism
A review of 50 years of activism in sports.
The Racial Justice Reckoning Over Sports Team Names Is Spreading
Organizations are rethinking their names, mascots and logos.
Timeline: A Look Back at Some of the Most Prominent Sports Protests Over the Years
Athletes have embraced activism for many years.
What’s Next for Activism in Pro Sports?
The NBA response to police killings of Black Americans opened the door for activism across a range of sports.

Transgender people

Fair and Accurate Media Coverage Really Could Improve the Lives of Transgender People Like Me
A British article about transgender media representation.
“Recognize Me”: An Analysis of Transgender Media Representation
A 2018 Master's thesis from the University of Windsor in Canada.
Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television
A 2012 article from GLAAD that looks at transgender characters on television.