Help Fight Stereoptypes With Asian Crew Clothing

By Matthew

I’m a member of Asian Crew Clothing, along with Hao-Kai Wu, Ryan Kwan, Kevin Han and Kevin Foo. I started this company because being Asian is cool.

In history classes, Asian Pacific American history is overlooked, and hardly even discussed. Our ancestors who moved here from their homeland faced hatred and were subject to hurtful stereotypes. Somehow, they managed to work hard, earning minimal wage to make their children’s lives better. They instilled in us a work ethic and discipline that has cultivated success. Yet some how, many Asian stereotypes still exist today and are exemplified in the media.

The stereotypes are not true and undermine hard work. For example, in high school, I took BC calculus and it was the hardest class I had ever taken. I struggled, and failed some exams throughout the year, but I worked hard and put the time and effort into learn everything I didn’t understand. By the end of the year I understood a majority of the material and received a 5 on the AP exam. There are people in the world who would think to themselves, “he got a 5 on BC calculus exam because he’s Asian”. For some reason, people think that Asians are born knowing how integrate and take derivatives. But the truth is, I worked just as hard as the rest of my peers, but few people would believe me.

So, we thought making cool shirts that inform people about Asian Pacific American culture as well as combat common stereotypes used against Asian Pacific Americans would be the best way to approach the problem. We all realized that Asian American themed shirts were limited to certain themes and stereotypical shirts. So at Asian Crew Inc, there are no “Got Rice?” jokes, Bruce Lee pictures, or over-used gimmicks here. We’re dedicated to making Asian American themed shirts with style and originality. We want to give you unique and kick-ass gear that makes you proud to rep Asian culture.

We need your help. We need to raise money to order our newest batch of designs so if you agree that being Asian is cool, donate to our Kickstarter project. We need all the help we can get, so tell your mom, your dad, your uncle(s), your second cousin(s), and even your friend you haven’t talked to in a long time, about our project. Help us spread the word. If you have any comments, critiques, ideas, or even experiences you’d like to share with us, send us an email at asiancrewinc[at]gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I’m a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts and partner of Asian Crew Inc.