Editing Bruce Lee (section)

=== Racial barriers and stereotypes ===
Lee is credited with helping to change the way [[Asians]] were presented in [[American films]].<ref name="Time 100" /> He defied [[Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States|Asian stereotypes]], such as the [[Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States#Emasculation and celibacy|emasculated Asian male]] stereotype.<ref name=":10" /> His friend Amy Sanbo recalls that, "In a time when so many Asians were trying to convince themselves they were white, Bruce was so proud to be Chinese he was busting with it.{{sfn|Polly|2018|pp=111–112}} In contrast to earlier stereotypes which depicted Asian men as emasculated, childlike, [[coolies]], or [[domestic servants]], Lee demonstrated that Asian men could be "tough, strong and sexy" according to [[University of Michigan]] lecturer Hye Seung Chung. In turn, Lee's popularity inspired a new Asian stereotype, the martial artist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 23, 2005 |title=In Bruce Lee's Shadow: Asians Struggle to Create New Hollywood Images |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=771790&page=1 |access-date=May 17, 2022 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |archive-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517053914/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=771790&page=1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In North America, his films initially played largely to [[African-American|black]], [[Asian Americans|Asian]] and [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]] audiences. Within black communities, Lee's popularity was second only to heavyweight boxer [[Muhammad Ali]] in the 1970s. As Lee broke through to the mainstream, he became a rare [[non-white]] movie star in a Hollywood industry dominated by white actors at the time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Early |first=Mwanafunzi Gerald |date=January 17, 1975 |title=The Fists of Bruce Lee |pages=4 |work=[[The Daily Pennsylvanian]] |location=[[Philadelphia]] |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-daily-pennsylvanian-jan-17-1975-p-4/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 7, 2022 |quote=Bruce Lee, at this time, rates behind only Muhamnad Ali as the most popular personality for Black folks. (...) Lee's films have played largely to Black, Puerto Rican, and Chinese audiences in America. Indeed, when "The Return of the Dragon" was released it grossed an unbelievable $185,000 in one week at two theaters in the Black section of Chicago (...) He became an image, a very powerful, very beautiful, non-white image in a world where only Liv Ullman and Robert Redford are supposed to be beautiful. |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407224040/https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-daily-pennsylvanian-jan-17-1975-p-4/ |url-status=live}}</ref> According to rapper [[LL Cool J]], Lee's films were the first time many non-white American children such as himself had seen a non-white [[action hero]] on the big screen in the 1970s.<ref name=":9" />