You think you're living in the year "2011," when America has long since left its ugly legacy of racism behind, until you read something like this: companies are still using Asian people as "tech experts," in commercials. Free your minds!

This lengthy rundown of all the commercials recently starring Asian actors portraying technologically savvy employees is enough to make one choke on one's ironic "Chop Suey" dish. Are Asians supposed to feel better, just because the "martial arts expert" stereotype has been replaced with the "IT expert" stereotype? This AmeriKKKan mind sickness has gotten so strong that it's even infecting the Asian community itself, according to a recent study:

Result: Asian American consumers were more favorably disposed toward the tech products when they were endorsed by the Asian models. They also liked the non-tech products more when they were endorsed by Caucasian models.

A stereotype is no less insidious simply because some people perceive it to be positive. Stereotypes have the effect of making us judge others based on superfluous concerns, rather than the content of characters. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes throttle humanity's fundamental freedom of will; they wall us into preconceived worlds and stifle our imaginations; they erode the souls of both their subject and their object. It is no exaggeration to say that all stereotypes are tragedies.

Besides, those natural math skills could be used for engineering, teaching, architecture—any number of fields besides technology.

[Washington Post, photo via Shutterstock]