OPINION: Andrew Yang shatters the Asian male stereotype while breaking down in tears

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

Andrew Yang got all choked up in a town hall about gun violence.

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang broke down in tears Saturday (Aug. 10) while discussing gun violence during a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa.

The unexpected display of genuine emotion, something we don't attach to the traditional American definition of what makes a man a man where stocism prevails, is just another example of how Yang is breaking the mold.

Say what you will about businessman Yang's chances of winning the Democratic nomination for POTUS, but in his own way he's helping change the image of the much-maligned Asian American male.

During the past year since he announced his intention to run for the highest office in the land, he has handled himself well in the public limelight.

If you are one of those people who hear Yang speak about his initiatives -- especially the Freedom Dividend that gives everyone in the country over the age of 18 $1000 a month -- and you're surprised at his confidence and articulateness and his ability to brush off racial slights or attempts to fluster him -- then you've fallen into the trap of the Asian American Male Stereotype Syndrome.

Don't feel guilty about that. You're not alone.

That trap is something that has been centuries in the making in an effort to dehumanize and emasculate the Asian male and turn him into something less than human and less threatening.

People expect him to be inarticulate, speak with an accent, to be submissive and unemotional.

During the Everytown Gun Safety Town Hall in Iowa, Yang was asked a question by a woman named Stephanie about preventing unintentional shootings by children.
Stephanie said she lost her 4-year-old daughter Dayla when she was struck and killed by a stray bullet in March 2011. Her son, Dayla's twin, witnessed it.

"As President, how would you address unintentional shootings by children?" she asked.

When Stephanie finished her question, Yang went to Stephanie to give her a hug. As he came back up on stage, Yang said, "I have a six- and three-year-old boy, and I was imagining ..." before getting too choked up to continue.

As shown in a CNN clip, he fought back tears for several seconds, he added, "I was imagining it was one of them that got shot and the other saw," before breaking down into tears again and telling Stephanie, "I'm so sorry."

Andrew Yang starts at the 2:10 mark.

Television hosts who make fun of his campaign or some of his unorthodox policies are often surprised that what Yang's proposals might at-first, sound outlandish, but they kind of make sense. 

The devil is in the details. We haven't heard him fully explain what he plans to do about climate change, provide affordable health care or what he'd do with North Korea, Iran or how to avoid a military confrontation with China in the Philippine Sea or between two US allies, Pakistan and India.

I harbor no delusions that Yang could ever capture the Democratic nomination for POTUS, but I can't help but that that he's looked at the stereotype in the eye and simply ignores everybody's expectations and assumptions -- from Stephen Colbert to Rachel Maddow to Fox News.

From his choice not to wear a tie during the nationally televised debates to his dry, almost sarcastic sense of humor as he aikido-like turn questions meant to fluster him back into answers his questioner unable to refute with facts. His proposals on workforce development, robotics, innovation and the future (not the past) make him a favorite of the Silicon Valley set.

Now he's qualified for the third (and almost certainly, the fourth) Democratic debate, again surprising political pundits who never expected his outsider campaign to last this long and fare better in the polls than some of the supposedly seasoned and better known governors and senators running for the same office. 

With a campaign infrastructure that is barebones at best, expectations are not high for him to last until the Democratic convention next summer. But, he appears to be at his best when he's underestimated.

Besides, everybody loves the underdog ... especiallly if he shows his vulnerability. 

After he struggled with his emotion on that Iowa stage, the audience, who will be the first to vote in the primaries next February, broke into applause in support of Yang's honest, human display of emotion.

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