I'm Asian, You're Asian -- Let's Be Best Friends

Imagine this scenario: You are Asian American and in a social situation/gathering in which Asian Americans are definitely in the minority. At this social gathering you spot someone with an Asian face. Do you immediately go over to him/her? Do you make eye contact? Do you give the head nod? Do you ignore him/her and just mingle with other people?

I had this question put to me a few years ago by an Asian American friend who didn't understand why I was so fixated on issues of race. She, in this scenario, would not feel any special reason to go over to the fellow Asian person. I, on the other hand, would have definitely made an effort to find my fellow ethnic/racial counterpart, if not immediately than at some point during the gathering.

Now, having said that, I fully realize that just because we share a racial (and possibly ethnic) identity doesn't mean we'll be best friends. That we'll even like one another or have things in common to talk about or share common experiences.

So why make an effort to talk to the Asian American person? Because it's lonely to be the only one. Because we may, in fact, have common experiences as Asian Americans. Because as irrational as it may seem to be drawn towards someone based on race, it is a category one uses to make distinctions in a crowd--to organize the world.

Asian American identity

I'm continuing the theme from the last post about Asian American identity because it's something I've been mulling over lately. In many ways, I feel like I'm back at Asian American Studies 101: What does it mean to be an Asian American? Who IS an Asian American? What is Asian American identity?

I'm actually looking for something beyond the basic answers of ethnic ancestry, phenotype, oppositional identity, social constructedness, political solidarity.

Or perhaps I'm looking for more nuanced discussions of these topics.

I remember having a very lively discussion with a friend in grad school--a woman who came to the U.S. from Hong Kong at the age of 7, who spoke fluent Cantonese and English and had lived a majority of her life in the U.S. and who felt the category of Asian American was odd and counterintuitive. Why should she share an identity with a Japanese American? These two countries, Japan and China, have been at war and in conflict over the course of several centuries. And what affiliation would a person with Pakistani ancestors have in common with a Filipino person? Interestingly enough, my friend actually developed an Asian American identity (or perhaps more specifically Chinese American identity) when she moved back to the West Coast from the East Coast.

I rebutted every one of her challenges, talking about Vincent Chin and civil rights and the Asian American studies movement and how Asian Americans get lumped as perpetual foreigners, regardless of their length of stay or perfect English--that there was a way we get perceived by others--that in fact, this threat to our individuality (ironically enough) is what pushed Asian Americans to band together into a political group, in solidarity with one another and with other minoritized groups of the 1960s (American Indians, Chicano, Gay and Lesbians, and of course African Americans) to fight for civil liberties and social justice.

So I guess my question is: Can you be an Asian American person without having an oppositional identity--without your identity being political--without any notion of essentialism? Can you be Asian American in any positive (as in affirming) way without devolving into cultural nationalism?

To put it another way, is the day when Asian American literature dissolves a good day because it will mean that Asian American literature is now American literature--is seen as being on par and indistinguishable from American literature and the expanded American canon, which includes John Steinbeck, Nella Larsen, Leslie Marmon Silko, Rudolfo Anaya and Sui Sin Far? (by the way, I don't think I'll see this day in my lifetime, but you can always project).

I guess what I'm wondering is what is the efficacy of an Asian American identity beyond political solidarity? And rather than saying just beyond political solidarity, perhaps this is more than enough...perhaps the fact that it is first and foremost a political identity because it is a racial identity is the key point and that I should stop being so concerned about the scope of Asian American collectivities beyond political concerns. That inherently Asian American as a category is political and its power lies in precisely this fact--that there are challenges and limitations, no doubt, but that a political identity that is centrally an oppositional identity--one that focuses on social justice, is perhaps the way to best understand what it means to be Asian American.

I'm Proud to be a Chinese American!

Back in the 1970s there were a series of public service announcements focused on educating people about bigotry and race/ethnicity. If you're a certain age, you know exactly what I'm talking about (or did these only come out in CA???)--the white grandpa and his grandson in a rowboat, the kid talking about his Jewish friend (I think it was a Jewish friend) and how he's not prejudiced against Jewish people and his grandpa calling him out and telling him that if he calls "Billy" his Jewish friend then he IS prejudiced because that's bigotry and that's wrong!

There was also one that featured a young Chinese American girl leading viewers around Chinatown (I think in SF) and talking about the wonderful contributions Chinese have made to American life (Damn it! We built the railroad!) and at the very end she smiles and says "I'm PROUD to be a Chinese American!"

So I've been thinking lately about ethnic nationalism and ethnic pride--and I guess the question is: if I can be proud of being Chinese American because of my fantastic ancient culture and the many contributions Chinese Americans have made to the U.S. (lets consider the bing cherry--named after Ah Bing, the Chinese immigrant who brought this fruit to fruition), should I also feel shame at the negative things Chinese Americans have done (Norman Hsu does not seem a source of pride right now) and should I feel ashamed at the past and current human rights atrocities of the Chinese nation? I mean, their treatment of the Dalai Lama, for one, doesn't seem like something to be proud of. What does ethnic pride look like exactly, in this day and age when ethnic essentialism seems to be something of the past.

And pushing this further, can I be proud to be Asian American? What does it mean to be Asian American? I've always maintained that this is a political category--a racial category that is socially constructed, as all racial categories are. It clearly has meaning and functions as a reality marker for many of us since we have been living with the reality of "race" throughout the last 3 centuries of the founding and solidification of the U.S. as a world empire. And yet, all leading researchers point to the fact that race is an invention--a social fabrication without a basis in genetics--without a basis in blood. And while we can't shrug off the social construction (I can't just tell people race is imaginary and therefore I'm not Asian American) the thing I'm struggling with currently is: beyond politics, beyond being a means for political and social enfranchisement and a place for righting wrongs and fighting against injustice, what does it mean to be Asian American?

Any thoughts?