In Neither Real Americans nor Real Asians? Multigeneration Asian Ethnics Navigating the Terrain of Authenticity, Mia Tuan discusses how Asian Americans today are not fully Asian nor fully American, and are characterized as not Asian enough due to the way they behave and/or live. Tuan discusses that when Asians interact with non-Asian people, they must “fight” to prove that they are not embracing their Asian roots more than their American roots due to wanting to feel accepted. On the other hand, they are seen as less Asian by “authentic” Asians, due to them not fully embracing their ethnic roots.…
Ronald Takaki’s essay, “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority”, discusses the supposed construct of Asian Americans being the “model minority”. He stated statistics and studies to back up the idea but also used those strategies on discussing how it is not always the case. Despite the stereotype of Asian Americans attending the best universities and having exceptional business skills, there is still that notable percentage who are not doing so well. After reading Takaki’s essay, several questions, even coming from him, are left unanswered. He fails to specify on who they are supposed to be models for. For other minorities? And if so, what certain traits do Asian Americans possess for them to be deemed worthy as exemplars of minority standards.…
This assumption is erroneous because Asian Americans have experienced racial prejudice, discrimination, faced racial stereotypes and they had difficulties fitting in with white dominant culture, just like Blacks and Latinos. Therefore, they are considered minority groups that have experienced similar racial challenges as other groups of color due to their minority status. Moreover, a third misconception about the model minority myth are that Asian Americans do not face difficulties due to their ethnicity. For instance, some articles and books rejected that Asian Americans face discrimination, or that they focused on challenges that whites faced instead. As mentioned, Asian Americans are less likely to attain college degrees than other ethnic groups.…
In the book “Asian America Through the Lens”, Xing discussed that Asian American aesthetics is usually defined as “consciousness” or “sensitivity” by various filmmakers. He further elaborated that the reason for this is because filmmakers make films from their consciousness. Resulting from the idea of who they are and how they view themselves in the society. Some of the common themes I have seen in Asian American films are the emphasis in performing dance and song, traditional family values, and culture. In the film “Flower Drum Song”, the journey of Mei Li started when a traditional family of Sammy Fong ordered him a picture bride from Hong Kong. Sammy Fong has his eye already with Linda Low so he made his way to transfer…
They also examine the historical perspective of Asian immigration, the analysis of forces that shape the US reaction towards Asian immigration and examine why Asian Americans immigrate to the US. Asian Immigration raises issues about economics and capitalism. To better understand about America’s economic and social future, Ramasamy and Shaw empathizes that we must learn about Asian American immigration history. The history of Asian immigration has not received a lot of attention. Their main goals is to add that curriculum into K-12 education. The Chinese first started working for the Americans, then more unskilled Chinese labor workers came. As a result, the Americans accused the Chinese of lowering wages and stealing Native people’s jobs. Eventually, the organization of labors then restricted Chinese immigration on economic grounds. Immigration acts were posed on the Chinese to further restrict Chinese immigration. However, the racism and the immigration restriction were temporary. Now, Asian Americans are a significant minority group…
Like past immigrants who came from Germany, Ireland and other places around the world. Chinese people in America faced many challenges when migrating. They felt like outcasts. Some experiences for the Chinese were in racist encounters and the feeling the way that Nazli Kibra felt when she came to America. She had always thought of herself as an American when she thought of herself as “the American kid on the block,” (Source F) until she went to school and she felt outcast and that “Whites think they own the world and the rest of us are just here for them.” (Source F) They felt as though they did not fit in in America. For Kibra, the Americans that she noticed at her school were people who were “VERY white, very wealthy. These kids owned sports cars and went to Rio for the weekend.”…
As a minority, immigrating from Korea to a wildly different country like the United States has been the most influential decision that my family made to live the possibility of the "American Dream". Moreover, growing up as an Asian-American wasn’t simple; I was faced with the challenge of malicious racial slurs, spiteful judgment, and condemnation. However, through these criticism, I’ve grown to understand that our response to those judgements is what builds character in which has made me more transparent, vulnerable, and empathetic.…
Growing up as a child of immigrants, I felt trapped between two worlds. I was often referred to as a ‘Twinkie’ (yellow on the outside and white on the inside). It never really bothered me up until recent, and I’ll tell you why. Being Asian-American had always been a confusing part of me. I was born on American soil, but raised in a strict Thai household. I’ve always been proud of my heritage, but I had a hard time feeling as if I belonged somewhere.…
Thought among Asian Americans there are seemingly similar cultural traits, such as strong family tie, collectivism, emphasizing on education attainment, preserving traditions. However, Asian subgroups are not homogeneous because they come from countries with distinct cultural and linguistic patterns, and their immigration to the U.S. has been shaped by many dissimilar cultural realities that do not apply to Asian-Americans as a whole. In addition, each Asian subgroup is very in culture, tradition, and religion identity, have different socioeconomic characteristics as well they face new challenges and LEP barriers as they try to improve…
As an Asian American Student Advocacy Project youth leader who represents the Asian Pacific American community, I partook in a project in which I communicated with officials through town hall hearings to further an ethnic studies campaign in New York City public schools. This is an effort to build cross-cultural understandings to combat bullying and stereotypes, and promote engagement in school curriculums to limit immigrant alienation. In turn, this will bring forth a close-knitted community.…
Asian Americans represent a diverse range of over twenty-nine unique people groups and cultures. Asian philosophy is group-centered rather than individual-centered as Western culture is. While this philosophy is not necessarily wrong, it presents different perspectives and problems of which Western-trained counselors should be aware. A individual’s identity is highly tied into identifying with the culture and customs they from which they come, deviating from culture and tradition such as seeing a mental health professional, is shamed by society. Mental disorders are categorized as “…insanity, a source of shame, or a lack of self-discipline…” (Erwin, Huang & Lin 2002 pp. 623). In most families, strong interpersonal bonds decrease the likelihood and severity of mental illness. However, in Asian American families, due to the tight family cohesion, immigrants and children of immigrants were less likely to seek mental health treatment out of their family’s fear for shame (Ta, Holck, & Gee 2010). Asian American clients are hype aware of maintaining face, especially in society and with authority figures, and showing emotions is seen as improper.…
In the near future, I would like to see the Asian Pacific American community get more involved with business. This has typically been a mostly Caucasian field, but I believe there should be more Asians striving to get degrees in business administration, finance, and accounting. Many are capable of excelling in these facets of business, and I believe they would make a strong impact. My dad is a testament to this and he has done well for himself as a CPA and partner for an accounting firm. He is my role model and I aspire to accomplish what he has in the business world. In addition, I want to break stereotypes and stigmas about Asian Americans and that many pursue a degree in medicine, engineering, and computer science. This narrow view creates boundaries and walls for many leading to people only believing this point of view. I believe the medium to do this is by becoming a leader. I desire to serve others, to inspire and motivate them to achieve common goals, and to earn their respect. I hope to accomplish this through hard work, determination, and a strong passion for business. My plan, as it stands, is to graduate with an economics/business degree from USC, gain experience through a job, and return to school for a Master’s/MBA. I desire to become a role model for the Asian…
Coming from an Asian immigrant family and being one myself, I always knew that it couldn’t have been easy for my parents to leave everything behind and start a new life in the states. In 2002, my family of seven moved from Vietnam to California. I was only four years old, and have no recollection whatsoever on the process of immigrating. My mother was my choice of interviewee for this assignment, and after conducting the interview, I learned more about my family’s history than I had before.…
Asian American women have gone a long way to get to America. They have faced many tribulations ranging from racism, gender issues, to familial issues. Those who experienced these problems back in their home town still faced them when they first immigrated to America. Even though they experienced hostility, life in America was still a luxury that they were willing to work hard for. It was because of this that deemed Asian Americans, particularly Asian American women, to be the model hard workers. Also, because of their hard work, they were able to indirectly achieve the “American Dream.” The three experiences in Louise’s life that corroborated her to be a hard working model minority are: growing up, life after marriage, and coming to America.…
The Vietnam War ended in 1975, which caused many Vietnamese people to be driven out of their homes and immigrate to America, seeking a safe life away from the affects of war and political turmoil (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012). My family was a part of these refugees searching for a way out. I interviewed my mother, Huong Carter who was born and raised in Vietnam and came to the U.S. with the second wave of immigrants after the war had ended. The second wave of immigrants, including my family, could not speak English very well and traveled by boat, which was one of the most dangerous ways of travel during this time (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012). With the threat of pirates, theft, illness, and drowning, my family faced these dangers in order to gain their freedom.…