LESSONS:

Yellow Rat Bastards*

An Art-Eye View of Recent News

*title of artwork by Roger Shimomura

Summary:

Students will learn about the March 16, 2021 shooting in Atlanta killing eight, a majority of whom were of Asian descent. This is one of many such events of violence against the Asian-American community.

In his first prime-time speech as president, marking a year of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Biden denounced “vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated.”

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth

BIG IDEA:

Stereotypes

Essential Question:

How does art challenge stereotypes?

During his Superintendent's Report to the school board on March 22, 2021, Dr. Anthony Lewis expressed dismay at crimes and harassment directed toward Asian Americans.

“The recent rise in violence and discrimination against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community across the country really alarms me. As a learning community, Lawrence Public Schools values equity, diversity, and inclusion, and stands in solidarity with students, school families, and staff who may be experiencing any type of direct or indirect trauma as a result of these attacks,” said Dr. Lewis. “Our district is, as always, committed to providing safe and supportive learning environments, where every student and staff member feels welcome and a sense of belonging. We even talk about it in our strategic plan that includes a focus on safe and supportive schools and effective employees. Both of these are fundamental to our teaching and learning mission.”

“I encourage any student needing assistance, especially members of our Asian American community, to reach out to our school counselors or other members of our school mental health teams for support. We are here for you. I urge staff members to consider using the resources available through our staff wellness and our EAP, Employee Assistance Program. It is important that we continue to listen to and support one another. This district will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in our school community,” he said.

Asian Stereotypes: An Artist's Personal View

Roger Shimomura

Stereotypes and Admonitions, 2003

This series illustrates incidents of racial insensitivity I have experienced during my life. Accompanying each painting is a written description of the incident that inspired the piece. Also included in this series are events that have affected the Asian American community on a regional and national basis over the past 60 years - essentially my lifetime. - Roger Shimomura

Source: https://www.gregkucera.com/shimomura_stereotypes.htm

In these paintings, Shimomura depicts himself and other minority people as he believes surrounding Caucasians see them. Sometimes Asians appear in traditional dress; elsewhere they look as if they’ve stepped out of propaganda posters, with yellow skin, slanted eyes and big teeth. Shimomura incorporates stereotypes of American Indians and Arab-Americans as well, portraying characters with crooked noses and turbans.

https://www.thepitchkc.com/been-there-got-the-tshirt/

6 Ai Weiwei Artworks That Bravely Call Attention to Social Issues in China

Roger Shimomura’s art has been informed by his incarceration as a young child in Minidoka (Idaho), one of ten internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII. Highly relevant for today’s conversations about the government’s incarceration and separation of migrating children from their parents, Shimomura’s world view was forged in conflict, exclusion, and the annexation of the “other.” Working in painting, printmaking, and theatre, his works address sociopolitical issues of ethnicity and identity.

Yellow Rat Bastard, 2000, is a complex diptych with multiple painted and real elements. Over the years, Shimomura, a third generation Japanese-American, has amassed a significant collection of objects and ephemera illustrating stereotypes of Japanese people which the artist mines for inspiration including a 1940s TIME magazine article titled, “How to Tell the Difference Between the Chinese and the Japanese.” Illustrated on the left panel is a former colleague at the University of Kansas, Norman Gee, a San Francisco-born Chinese-American, and Shimomura on the right panel. Influenced by Pop Art and cartooning, each is surrounded by figures and objects of mass culture that identify their own ancestries. The artist states, “the defining moment in each painting is the fact that Norman is holding a pair of Chinese chopsticks with a long-grain kernel of rice, and I’m holding a pair of Japanese chopsticks with a short-grain kernel of rice. Chinese eat long-grain rice, and Japanese eat short-grain rice.”¹

In the center of the two painted panels is a shopping bag from the lower Manhattan clothing store, “Yellow Rat Bastard,” which holds an oversized cloth head of Mickey Mouse. Shimomura frets over the use of a 1940s stereotype for Japanese people that perpetuates ignorance and racism today. By bringing these issues into the light, his work can help create a conversation about cultural differences and inclusion.

Source: http://gtmuseum.org/human-nature/ii-pop-art/

Yellow Rat Bastard was a clothing store in NYC (closed now)

Perhaps the most personal piece in the show is the two-paneled “Yellow Rat Bastard.” Shimomura is the main character on the right; to the left is his former colleague at the University of Kansas, Norman Gee, a San Francisco-born Chinese-American. Each man is surrounded by a collage of family members as well as people and items associated with his ancestor’s country — a red Communist star and a panda for Gee, anime characters and a Zero bomber for Shimomura. “The defining moment in each painting is the fact that Norman is holding a pair of Chinese chopsticks with a long-grain kernel of rice, and I’m holding a pair of Japanese chopsticks with a short-grain kernel of rice,” Shimomura explains. “Chinese eat long-grain rice, and Japanese eat short-grain rice.” The piece was inspired by a LIFE magazine article from the 1940s titled “How to Tell the Difference Between the Chinese and the Japanese,” which listed facial features and physical characteristics as examples of differences.

Displayed on a pedestal between the two panels is a shopping bag printed with the words “yellow rat bastard” in bold black letters; a stuffed toy mouse pops out of the top. The title comes from a New York City clothing store named after the 1940s phrase for Japanese people. Shimomura says he was shocked when he first saw the store. In an effort to be ironic, he says, “I went in and bought one of their T-shirts and wore it to one of my openings.” When it came time to give a talk that night, the shirt helped him get his points across. “What’s even more interesting to me is that fact that a lot of Japanese tourists are in there buying clothes. These are young kids who have no kind of cultural memory about things like that. They come to this country without an awareness of what they were called or their parents were called during World War II.”

https://www.thepitchkc.com/been-there-got-the-tshirt/

Embattled Lawrence - Keeping it Local!

Definitions:

Anti-Racist: a person who opposes racism and promotes racial tolerance.

Bias: favoring or showing prejudice towards certain people or ideas.

BIPOC: Black, Indigenous and People of Color.

Cultural Appropriation: inappropriately and/or incorrectly using or taking advantage of, or claiming ownership and rights to use another culture's capital and patrimony; such as fashion, trends, iconography, traditional art, ceremonies, etc.

False Narrative: a story that you perceive as being true but has little basis in reality, this perception can be due to insufficient or inaccurate information or to insufficient or inaccurate assessment.

NBIPOC: Non-Black Indigenous People of Color

Person of color: a person who is not white or of European parentage.

Stereotype: a category or group that we put people into (thinking a certain type of person or thing acts/thinks/looks a certain way).