What do you think about Ana May Wong being the first Asian-American on US currency?

I never heard of Ana May Wong. Sorry that she was treated poorly by Hollywood movie makers.

She’s a person, nothing more, nothing less. One person may be as good as another.

When is American ever gonna start thinking of it’s citizens as Americans and not distinguishing between race? All Americans are Americans. Why can’t we see past color???

My first thought was that it was great, but I wish it would have been someone other than an actress. But before commenting I looked her up and found this. She was by no means ‘just an actress’.

Wong’s image and career have left a notable legacy. Through her films, public appearances and prominent magazine features, she helped to humanize Chinese Americans to mainstream American audiences during a period of intense racism and discrimination. Chinese Americans had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society, but Wong’s films and public image established her as a Chinese-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Chinese immigration and citizenship. Wong’s hybrid image dispelled contemporary notions that the East and West were inherently different

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_May_Wong#Legacy

@RayaHope Honestly, because of politics. For various reasons and agendas it appears that keeping identity out front and in the discussion is a power play by both the left and the right. It results in an us vs them mentality that really does not need to be there. There is also a lot of old history that gets past down to people about your age right when you’re forming your identity. It’s learned behavior and often causes people to act badly to others.

@Blackwater_Park Right, and a lot of that information and history is intentional lies and unintentional misinformation, which keep perpetuating themselves, generation after generation.

@Blackwater_Park I think what you said is true and it makes me so sad and even mad at the same time. We as human beings have to get past this prejudice and be treated as equals or we will never advance as one race, the human race.

^^ I don’t think that will ever happen, but this question is getting way off topic. Sorry @JLeslie

I’m so glad she’ll be on a quarter.

@smudges Honestly, I do think it will happen. It’s advantageous for human survival.

Reading about Ana May Wong, I was seriously surprised that Lucy Liu was the 2nd Asian-American woman given a Hollywood sidewalk star. In 2019!

It brilliantly illuminates how non-white people can be treated as accessories instead of normal mainstream people.

Regarding the implication that Wong was “merely” an actress, it’s necessary to recognize how including (or excluding) people from popular media affects the majority’s ability to see someone as “us” instead of “them”.