Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

Cynthetiq · 05-02-2005, 12:13 PM

Quote:

LINK

Of all minority groups in the United States, Asians have the unenviable distinction of having the least amount of political clout, though we are often viewed as the “model” minority. What this means is that Asians are the ideal minorities; they generally get good grades in school, they work hard and most importantly, they don’t make a large outcry in the face of discrimination. This would explain why Asians are still considered second-class citizens in the United States, the eternal foreigners. The experience shared by almost every American born Asian is being asked, “Hey, you’re pretty good at English, where are you from?” When they explain that they’re from Chicago, LA, Topeka, the questioner inevitably follows up with, “No, I mean, where are you really from?”

When Asians protest against racism in our college campuses (Catch an illegal immigrant day at a prominent Texas university), online (Facebook groups such as, “People Who Hate all asians That Talk With Each Other In There Chingy-chang-chong Shit”), on the radio (New York City’s Hot 97’s infamous “Tsunami Skit”), and even on clothes (Abercrombie and Fitch), in movies (Channing Tatum, a white former model, playing Genghis Khan in yellow face) everybody else just shakes their heads and turns the situation around by accusing us of being too sensitive. Let’s think about it this way, if any of these had been aimed towards the blacks or the Latinos, there would have been a greater outcry. These incidents would be all over the news with Rev. Jesse Jackson in the frontlines demanding justice. More often than not, there would be apologies and restitutions. But what about us? Why do we only get head shakes and smirking glances?

Part of the reasoning behind this is that we are culturally conditioned to look the other way, to avoid unpleasantness. Most of the people of my (2nd) generation grew up with immigrant parents and, if those people lived around here (Chicago), chances are, those parents owned a drycleaners. For people who are self-employed and working in the service industry, it’s important they don’t do anything to antagonize their clientele. Therefore, if a customer makes a fuss, soothe her ruffled feathers. Keep your business, your family, and yourself safe by keeping your head down and ignoring the things that don’t concern you.

Another reason for this imbalance is that Asian Americans are too divided by ethnicity and economic background. Each ethnic group believes they have suffered more than the next so when it comes time for them to unify, they can’t. There is too much baggage in their pasts that can’t be left behind so easily. Unfortunately, there are prejudices that some ethnic groups have against those of another ethnic group. For example, the Chinese and Koreans are generally hostile to and distrustful of the Japanese, while Southeast Asians, as a group are usually looked upon with disfavor by East Asians. Then there is economic prejudice which cuts across racial lines. No matter what race you are, if you are poor, you’ll be looked down upon by the affluent.

To be Asian in America is to walk a fine line between assimilation and rejection. It’s a popular belief that, in order to succeed, minorities must assimilate into the dominant culture. Theoretically, this is a sound move. After all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? Unfortunately, assimilation involves ridding oneself of any reminders that one is not white. This may involve any accent, method of dress, cultural practices, food and maybe even religion.

Then, there are the reactionaries who decide to completely reject the dominant culture. Though it’s natural for individuals to have pride in their culture, it’s unnatural to become militant and nationalistic when they are living outside of their ethnic homeland. It’s unfortunate, but the ones who completely reject the white culture also have a tendency towards racism. These are the people who view the dominant culture as the “enemy” and have the mentality of “us versus them.” Oftentimes, the people in favor of complete rejection seem to forget that they are living in a country in which many different groups live within its borders. It’s completely unrealistic for them to refuse to associate with anyone who is not Asian.

Either extreme is unfortunate and illogical. Individuals who are successful at assimilating will still be viewed as an outsider because no matter good they may be at fitting in, it’s still not possible to change the face they were born with. Additionally, they will be vilified within their own communities as “sellouts” or be labeled “whitewashed.” In order to become like the dominant culture, the individual has had to sacrifice his/her culture, an important aspect of one’s identity. And for a person to reject the very country s/he is living in is unreasonable. If an individual has problems with different races mingling in one country, then that person would probably find peace where the people are homogenous, like Asia.

Is it any wonder that Asians have a difficult time unifying into one cohesive unit? There are so many schisms within our own group, each faction with its own beliefs and biases. We can’t even agree on what is offensive or not; therefore, it’s not too surprising that we aren’t taken seriously when we finally work up the courage to protest. If we want to change the injustices of the society in which we live, we must first change ourselves. How can we expect to combat racism and insensitivity when we harbor feelings of hate and judgment?

To be Asian American, then, is to learn how to walk the knife’s edge between the extremes of assimilation and rejection. Never fully conforming to nor denouncing the culture in which one is born is the way to live a balanced life. Asian Americans should hold onto their culture and be proud of the clothes, the language, the customs, and the foods. That, however, doesn’t mean that they have to go out only wearing traditional clothes, speaking only the ethnic language, only celebrating the holidays of Asia and eating only traditional foods. Really, it’s okay to adopt parts of the native culture and to develop friendships and romantic relationships with people of different racial backgrounds.

To be Asian American isn’t difficult. The key lies in the etymology of the description. To be Asian American is to be both Asian and American. We can be proud of our Asian heritage without having to give up our rights as American citizens.

A Kim is the Halfway Sr. Editor

I do not consider myself Asian American, Filipino American or anything else but American. The heritaged hyphenation doesn't add any more to my life, in fact I think that it detracts and allows people to focus on the difference instead of the similarities.

In the thread Double Standard of Racism and posters point out "Asians should just get over it...they're too sensitive...." I found it ironic that the author of this article also states that "everybody else just shakes their heads and turns the situation around by accusing us of being too sensitive."