Always Asian, always white, always confused
Lisa Ayame Eckenrode,
Asheville, NC
I spend too much time on the /hapa reddit but it’s the only place I can find mixed community right now
Sorry, you all look the same.
Sonya Wang,
Ballston Lake, NY.
Asian. Asian-American. Doesn’t seem to matter with most people.
They only see the Asian half.
Katelyn Tsukada
Northampton, MA
My mother is of Irish and Italian heritage; my father of Japanese descent. Both of my parents were born in the United States as were their parents before them. Both consider themselves to be American as documented by their passports, drivers licenses and birth certificates. My mother and father speak English has their first and only language. And the American child they created and raised together? Well she constantly gets asked where she is “really” from because New York State is never the correct answer.
I learned to identify myself as Asian-American because that is how others categorized me. My classmates assumed Asian was the reason I got good grades. Asian was the reason I liked seafood and tanned like an islander. And Asian was the reason my grandmother was made to live in an internment camp directly following the attack on Pearl Harbor. My history. Asian history. The rich Irish-Italian culture of my mother’s family never stood a chance.
Where are you from China? Korea?
Anonymous,
Aurora, CO
As an Asian-American I am typically asked by my peers where I am from, or automatically assume I am either Chinese or Korean.
When do I become just-American?
Wen Wen Yang
Dallas, TX
I tell people I’m Chinese-American. My parents are Chinese, born and raised in China, while I was born and raised in the United States, so I think the term Asian-American is accurate. I am straddling the divide, but leaning towards American – I’ve never been to China and do not speak Chinese. My taste in food leans Chinese.
However, I wonder my friends who people will call, and may call themselves, African-Americans and wonder how long you’d have to trace their history to reach Africa. How many generations must be born here to be called American, even if we don’t ‘look’ like it?
I speak better English than you.
Nicole Huber,
Colorado Springs, CO.
I am Asian American. Being an Asian American, no one clutches their purse tighter when I walk by, and no one finds it surprising that I teach at a university. But despite Asian Americans being perceived as the “model minority,” we are not seen as “real” Americans. I was adopted by a Caucasian couple when I was two weeks old, and grew up in a Caucasian family in Colorado. There is nothing Asian about me, except my appearance, of course. Nevertheless, people often ask me what nationality I am. I always reply definitively, “I’m American.” Then they ask me where I’m from, and I say Colorado. They shift uncomfortably, and then ask again. “No – I mean… originally.” The thing that gets me is that these people aren’t even familiar with any of the various Asian countries, so I don’t even know why they are asking. I could make up a country like Kerblinkistan and they would just smile and say, “Oh, how nice. You know – I had sushi for the first time on Sunday!” Perhaps the next time someone asks me, I will reply, “Haven’t you heard? All modern humans are originally from Africa.” But I usually play nice. When I finally tell them I was born in Thailand, it is usually met with a standard response: “Oh, so you’re Taiwanese.” No, I am not Taiwanese, nor am I even Thai. I’m American. And I’m pretty sure I speak better English than you do.
Asians challenge the Black-White racial binary.
Jason Fong,
Los Angeles, CA.
Asian Americans have been in the U.S. for hundreds of years and yet we are routinely excluded from discussions about race relations in America. I’m in the 11th grade and I learn nothing about Asian Americans and our long history in America in my U.S. history class. I don’t think we can say we know American history or understand contemporary American politics without making sure that we have a more complete perspective.
No, I won’t do your homework
Dillon Pham,
CA.
As a person who enjoys volunteering and helping others, I typically don’t mind if my friends or fellow classmates ask me for help on their homework. Sometimes however, they ask me to send a picture of my homework because they don’t “get it.” This irritates me because one, I feel like I am just being used as an answer key, and two, I am faced with a dilemma. If I send my homework to this person, I risk them copying it without learning anything. However, if I refuse, I risk losing a friend or damaging a relationship. I feel like my ethnicity is a contributing factor to this problem. Being an Asian American, people sometimes presume I am “smart” even if they have never met me before. This assumption is caused by a popular stereotype that all Asians are smart. This stereotype is not always true. I think that anyone can be smart if they try their best and learn in school. As a student at SFHS, I set my goals and work hard to achieve my desired grades. With dedication and motivation, I believe that anyone can be just as successful and be seen as “smart.”
Hey show me the answers please
Dylan Pence,
Laguna Niguel, CA
As an Asian American I am often associated with the stereotype that all Asians are good at math. So almost every week during the school year I am asked to send the homework to a number of students because they automatically assume that I am smarter than they are. When in reality I am not that smart, in fact I have never received in A in a math class before. I know this isn’t really a huge deal but I just feel like people should judge others on their actual skill instead of their stereotypes.
I believe in the hyphen!
Roberto Jara,
Alto, MI.
It drives me nuts when people say, “Let’s all be color blind, forget our cultures of origin and just be ‘American,’ instead of ‘Latin-American,’ ‘Asian-American,’ etc. I can be American and preserve by culture of origin! Those of us who come from cultures other than the dominant Northern European Culture, have something to contribute to North America as our country evolves. Life would be boring without Chinese food, Salsa music, etc. I’m proud to be Mexican-American. My suspicious side suspects that when people say, “Let’s just all be American,” that they just want me to forget my culture and be absorbed into their dominant Northern European culture and story. The story needs to grow! My ancestors didn’t come across on the Mayflower, they waded across the river and I am not ashamed. I’m proud of what they have done to make this country better by not being absorbed into a melting pot, but making a wonderful stir-fry of people from all kinds of beautiful cultures living side by side and creating a whole better than the sum of the parts!
Where are you from? You’re exotic!
Abbie Elliott
Leesburg, VA
For my entire adult life, dating has been a challenge. As an Asian-American, I vehemently resisted falling into stereotypes. But, as an Asian-American on the dating scene, my looks delivered my first impression for me. Men developed ideas about me even before I spoke. Where they expected to find a quiet, submissive and conservative woman, they found a loud, liberal feminist.
I am NOT who they are
Lorali Nelms,
Jefferson, GA
It’s no secret, racism exists. With recent attacks on Asian-Americans and African Americans, more white people are becoming aware of the racism other races experience. I feel like I experienced a sheltered childhood and I thought racism was a thing of the past. However, as I’ve grown up I’ve seen that it’s still a real problem in our society even today. With a rising amount of gen z activists, I can hope that we can contribute to ending racism. It may be a crazy idea, but as white people, we need to start helping minority groups get the respect and power they deserve with our own privilege. Our ancestors and older family members may be the cause of racism, but we are the change in the world everyone needs to see.
America is not Black and White
Anonymous,
NY
And every Asian, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American people are living in it. We need to understand why being an anti-racist is not just pro-Black, and Black people need to understand that most don’t see the world like they do. We have different cultures and experiences, but understanding that most of us don’t live in a Black world, doesn’t mean we don’t know about racism. On the contrary, I believe, Asians, Hispanics/Latinos, and Native Americans know more about how to be an anti-racist, more than Blacks and Whites do.
A few years ago, and a Black woman was telling us about BLM and police brutality. While the seminar was good, the whole class was actually supposed to be about conversations about race and ethnicity. Granted, it was a topic that was important, and 4 years later, we see the death of George Floyd as a symbol that racism is still alive and well. However, as an Asian-American, I heard nothing about my demographic for the majority of a 6-week class (and only because I fought back to say they should talk about AAPI issues). This is a demographic that institutions and the Census want to cram all of us together and call us “Asian”. East Asians are different from South-East Asians, in educational attainment, graduation rates, and poverty levels. However, it’s not about Asians at the moment and I understand. Skip to the part where the same Black woman says that I am “colored”. Unfortunately, I don’t agree with her – and she got mad. While she might think that a synonym for “Person of Color” means “Colored”, I have never, ever heard someone refer to Asians as such. But of course, I, as an Asian-American, was wrong about my identity – and she made it known.
Flash forward to racism at my alma mater, where Xenophobia and Black racism appeared on bathroom walls. The next week, the school got reports of 10+ issues of xenophobia, with a 3-4 issues of Black racism, and 1 anti-semantic posts. You know what got attention? Black issues. And a student group that solely identified as Black student advocacy group to “Stop the Hate”. Does this follow the stereotype that Asians don’t stand up for themselves? Or is it that no one pays attention to Asian racism? Considering that most places who have a Chief Diversity Officer are either Black or White, it can appear that Black and Whites can talk about racism, but only on their terms. Calling out racism in other groups does not denounce Black racism, but you often see that America only cares about Black and White racism.
Lastly, we talk about Christopher Columbus and the realization he did not find or “settle” in a place where Native Americans have been. But what do we hear about? How Blacks were brought alongside Columbus to the new world. But what about the genocide of Native Americans? Native Americans have suffered so much… but unless society can find it a way to make it include Black people, their issues become salient. They’ve been trying for years to make Christopher Columbus day an Indigenous People’s day… but after the current protests, Blacks have taken the space to talk about Black injustices against Christopher Columbus. There’s no solidarity if you don’t want to understand issues that do not impact your group.
I support the movement of Black Lives and understand issues of systemic injustices made to denounce and imprison Black men/women. However, this does not mean that every Black person/White person can speak about racism that affects other minorities. Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans need space to talk about race and privilege without the influence of Black or White rhetoric. Please give us this space, because America is not just Black and White.
I am not your model minority.
Jennifer Ho,
Carrboro, NC.
I’m an Asian American woman and often times in my daily life I’m the only Asian American person in the room, sometimes the only person of color. And it’s exhausting to deal with the stereotypes people have, especially because they think Asian Americans are a successful “Model Minority.” And so I want to dispel that idea and work toward making Asian Americans visible.
We Do Not Look The Same
Le Hoang Nhat Vy,
Huntington Beach, CA
As an Asian American growing up, I have been continuously been called the looking same as my other Asian friends even though we are two completely different people regardless of what any people say. It really irritates me when that happens. I grew up in Vietnam for my first 10 years of life and not once have I encountered the stereotype of looking the same! Well, it was because Vietnamese or Asian in general is not the minority, we are in fact the majority. There were no such things as stereotyping me as a mathematical person because we were all mathematical people! But as soon as I step foot on the cultural melting pot known as the United States, I was constantly being stereotyped and made fun of (which is absurd to me). How does someone mistake me with a completely different person when the only things in common were our hair and skin color? East Asians have a higher genetic diversity than even the Oceanians and the Native Americans but I don’t go around mistaken Sam for William because they are not the same person!
There is a term that I learned in my Anthropology class called Differential Worth which means that races were ranked according to moral and intellectual standards that were based on the researcher’s population affiliation.
Many scientists have made sexists and racist conclusions just based on their research, for example, Pierre Paul Broca, who is a French anthropologist believed that males were smarter than females because he classified humans based on their brain size. However, as I expand my knowledge in Anthropology, I realized that Anthropology should only be focusing on the morphological differences between species and not focused on sex or race. I listened to a report by NPR where they reported that even though millennials are now accepting racial differences but there are some people who are mostly white, still grew up with different mindsets and experiences which is weird to me for some reason. I still believe that stereotyping should not be a thing anymore even if some are true, or at least stereotyping where the person is being insulted or put down upon. Anthropologists are out here focusing on the cranial vaults and morphological differences because of their curiosity not of racism nor sexism, they are sincerely just researching for the development of humans and I hope that we, as humans, can also advance to the point where we don’t prejudice categorization on certain races.
Asian-American stories are rarely told.
Timothy Leong,
Orinda, CA.
I want to change that. Representation in American media spaces need to change in order to combat the stigma that comes with the model minority myth. Also to show the world that we are all different and vary from stereotypes.
Asian Americans, we the ultimate invisibles
The Invisible,
USA
While the media strive to be politically correct about every other race and ethnic group in America, somehow Asians, esp. Chinese Americans, seem to be the forgotten (and often bullied and ridiculed) race. In a country where people are “outraged” just about everything, nobody (outside of the Asian community) says anything about Jimmy Kimmel’s “comedy” of “killing all Chinese”, and nobody feels “indignant” about Bob Beckel’s blatantly racist, xenophobic, and hateful statement that all Chinese (AMERICANS!) are the biggest threat to the US. And surely, unlike Sterling, neither of them is or will be publicly shamed or punished for their explicit racism, because somehow Chinese Americans are practically sub-human. We are the ultimate invisibles, and the ultimate scapegoats, just like in the 19th century during the Chinese Exclusion Act era. It’s sad how history repeats itself, how things never change, and how extremely biased the media have become.
Not Asian, nor American, but Asian-American.
Margaret Lin,
Houston, TX.
Although ethnically Asian, I stick out like a sore thumb in Asia. When I visited China last summer, my mother told me that everyone there could tell I wasn’t raised in China. Perhaps it was the way I dressed, or my heavy accent when I attempted speaking Chinese, or how my mannerisms simply were not the same as theirs. I wasn’t fully aware of how different I was from everyone else until my grandmother commented (in Mandarin), “A Chinese person [zhong guo ren] who can’t speak Chinese; that’s just not right.” And my reaction surprised me – I felt somewhat repulsed and thought to myself: But I’m not a “zhong guo ren” (person from China). I’m a “mei guo ren” (person from America).
But at the same time, I knew even that wasn’t completely true. Although I was born in the US, I’m still seen as a foreigner here; after all, I have yellow skin, black hair, and “narrow” eyes. I live in an area relatively well-populated by Asians and go to a university with a sizeable number of Asians as well, but when I step outside of my bubble, I still run into people who are shocked that I speak perfect English. They ask me where I’m “really” from, and then repeat themselves when I answer that I’m from Texas.
So where does that put me? I can’t assume a “double consciousness”; I’ve been rejected by both of the cultures that I theoretically should identify with, and truth be told, I don’t see myself ever fitting into either anyway. My American upbringing makes me reject many aspects of Asian culture, such as the complete and utter deference to superiors that is such a crucial part of Confucianism; and yet, I can’t bring myself to reject my heritage and assimilate into full-on “whiteness” either. That makes me the mule; the mutt; the one oddball in the family whose faults each parent blames on the other.
Don’t get me wrong though. I’m not at all resentful of my unique identity. Am I confused by it? Yes. Do I feel lonely because of it? Sometimes. Am I disappointed in society’s inability to accommodate for it? Considerably. But am I bitter about it? No. There is nothing I would rather be than an Asian-American. Not Asian, nor American, but Asian-American.
