Comments on: College, Bananas, and the Chinese Student Association http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/ A blog for Asian Americans Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:41:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Boogerhead http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-150298 Boogerhead Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:02:29 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-150298 I think of bananas as people who are hostile to fellow Asians not that they socialize more with white people. I wonder how many of the people I consider to be Asian-hating Asians i.e. bananas actually fit the psychological profiles of narcissistic sociopaths. I think of bananas as people who are hostile to fellow Asians not that they socialize more with white people. I wonder how many of the people I consider to be Asian-hating Asians i.e. bananas actually fit the psychological profiles of narcissistic sociopaths.

]]> By: Boogerhead http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-150297 Boogerhead Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:58:51 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-150297 Chinese cliques in undergrad never giggled at my jokes or spontaneously smiled at me or sought me out in any way. They were basically stone faced even when in groups. Maybe they were laffing it up in private homes. Most people just wanted to hold officer positions in Asian clubs for their resume. I wouldn't think that someone who was Chinese hanging out with nonChinese was necessarily a banana but I do think that some Asians who are only seen with nonAsians especially/only white friends give the stinkeye to other Asians. Chinese cliques in undergrad never giggled at my jokes or spontaneously smiled at me or sought me out in any way. They were basically stone faced even when in groups. Maybe they were laffing it up in private homes. Most people just wanted to hold officer positions in Asian clubs for their resume. I wouldn’t think that someone who was Chinese hanging out with nonChinese was necessarily a banana but I do think that some Asians who are only seen with nonAsians especially/only white friends give the stinkeye to other Asians.

]]> By: Efren http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-115388 Efren Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:45:08 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-115388 I think as a queer Filipino Am male at the most conservative UC (UC Riverside) at the time, I realized that I would get shit from all sides--my insistence on identifying as queer irritated a lot of the people of color, especially Filipin@s on campus; and my insistence on being proud of my Fil Am heritage led many queer white folk to assume that I was separatist and didn't want to be associated with them. I could count all the queer Filipin@s I knew at UCR at the time and have fingers left over, and many of them had fucked up politics so I didn't want to bother dealing with them. I had to make friends across identities in order to survive; the funny part is that I became known for being able to make alliances with people who I would sometimes be opposed with politically simply because I had no choice but who agreed with my causes, and these were people who I had commonalities with that went beyond mere superficial identities. Most of my close friends ended up being conservative white and Asian people, and we laid a ground rule that we would never talk about politics or religion since we knew that we would never get anywhere and that exercise in futility would ruin our friendships. Most of my liberal friends ended up falling by the wayside because there was very little commonality beyond the perception of agreeing politically. I think as a queer Filipino Am male at the most conservative UC (UC Riverside) at the time, I realized that I would get shit from all sides–my insistence on identifying as queer irritated a lot of the people of color, especially Filipin@s on campus; and my insistence on being proud of my Fil Am heritage led many queer white folk to assume that I was separatist and didn’t want to be associated with them. I could count all the queer Filipin@s I knew at UCR at the time and have fingers left over, and many of them had fucked up politics so I didn’t want to bother dealing with them. I had to make friends across identities in order to survive; the funny part is that I became known for being able to make alliances with people who I would sometimes be opposed with politically simply because I had no choice but who agreed with my causes, and these were people who I had commonalities with that went beyond mere superficial identities. Most of my close friends ended up being conservative white and Asian people, and we laid a ground rule that we would never talk about politics or religion since we knew that we would never get anywhere and that exercise in futility would ruin our friendships. Most of my liberal friends ended up falling by the wayside because there was very little commonality beyond the perception of agreeing politically.

]]> By: Efren http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-140368 Efren Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:45:00 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-140368 I think as a queer Filipino Am male at the most conservative UC (UC Riverside) at the time, I realized that I would get shit from all sides--my insistence on identifying as queer irritated a lot of the people of color, especially Filipin@s on campus; and my insistence on being proud of my Fil Am heritage led many queer white folk to assume that I was separatist and didn't want to be associated with them. I could count all the queer Filipin@s I knew at UCR at the time and have fingers left over, and many of them had fucked up politics so I didn't want to bother dealing with them. I had to make friends across identities in order to survive; the funny part is that I became known for being able to make alliances with people who I would sometimes be opposed with politically simply because I had no choice but who agreed with my causes, and these were people who I had commonalities with that went beyond mere superficial identities. Most of my close friends ended up being conservative white and Asian people, and we laid a ground rule that we would never talk about politics or religion since we knew that we would never get anywhere and that exercise in futility would ruin our friendships. Most of my liberal friends ended up falling by the wayside because there was very little commonality beyond the perception of agreeing politically. I think as a queer Filipino Am male at the most conservative UC (UC Riverside) at the time, I realized that I would get shit from all sides–my insistence on identifying as queer irritated a lot of the people of color, especially Filipin@s on campus; and my insistence on being proud of my Fil Am heritage led many queer white folk to assume that I was separatist and didn’t want to be associated with them. I could count all the queer Filipin@s I knew at UCR at the time and have fingers left over, and many of them had fucked up politics so I didn’t want to bother dealing with them. I had to make friends across identities in order to survive; the funny part is that I became known for being able to make alliances with people who I would sometimes be opposed with politically simply because I had no choice but who agreed with my causes, and these were people who I had commonalities with that went beyond mere superficial identities. Most of my close friends ended up being conservative white and Asian people, and we laid a ground rule that we would never talk about politics or religion since we knew that we would never get anywhere and that exercise in futility would ruin our friendships. Most of my liberal friends ended up falling by the wayside because there was very little commonality beyond the perception of agreeing politically.

]]> By: Paula http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-115364 Paula Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:56:03 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-115364 In my high school, the majority of the population was white with a small percentage of minorities. I hung out with two different groups, Asians and Caucasians. The reason for this is because my Asian friends understood me when it came to my cultural background, such as parent expectation and basically growing up Asian. My white friends were people I knew and befriended in the AP classes. These were conflicting times. My Asian friends called me Banana or Twinkie because I acted too "white" - to this day I still don't understand how to act "Asian." Whereas I was sometimes placed in the Miley Cyrus situation with my white friends, meaning, they made racist jokes and I uncomfortably laughed or was deemed too sensitive when I was offended. I know better now than to take that sort of behavior. I went to college far from my hometown so one of the first things I did was join a club, Asian Pacific Student Alliance. This way, I can be active on campus and make new friends who have a similar background as me. I'm still friends with a lot of the Asians in the club. To my relief, I wasn't called Twinkie or banana. In my high school, the majority of the population was white with a small percentage of minorities. I hung out with two different groups, Asians and Caucasians. The reason for this is because my Asian friends understood me when it came to my cultural background, such as parent expectation and basically growing up Asian. My white friends were people I knew and befriended in the AP classes.

These were conflicting times. My Asian friends called me Banana or Twinkie because I acted too “white” – to this day I still don’t understand how to act “Asian.” Whereas I was sometimes placed in the Miley Cyrus situation with my white friends, meaning, they made racist jokes and I uncomfortably laughed or was deemed too sensitive when I was offended. I know better now than to take that sort of behavior.

I went to college far from my hometown so one of the first things I did was join a club, Asian Pacific Student Alliance. This way, I can be active on campus and make new friends who have a similar background as me. I’m still friends with a lot of the Asians in the club. To my relief, I wasn’t called Twinkie or banana.

]]> By: Paula http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-140367 Paula Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:56:00 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-140367 In my high school, the majority of the population was white with a small percentage of minorities. I hung out with two different groups, Asians and Caucasians. The reason for this is because my Asian friends understood me when it came to my cultural background, such as parent expectation and basically growing up Asian. My white friends were people I knew and befriended in the AP classes. These were conflicting times. My Asian friends called me Banana or Twinkie because I acted too "white" - to this day I still don't understand how to act "Asian." Whereas I was sometimes placed in the Miley Cyrus situation with my white friends, meaning, they made racist jokes and I uncomfortably laughed or was deemed too sensitive when I was offended. I know better now than to take that sort of behavior. I went to college far from my hometown so one of the first things I did was join a club, Asian Pacific Student Alliance. This way, I can be active on campus and make new friends who have a similar background as me. I'm still friends with a lot of the Asians in the club. To my relief, I wasn't called Twinkie or banana. In my high school, the majority of the population was white with a small percentage of minorities. I hung out with two different groups, Asians and Caucasians. The reason for this is because my Asian friends understood me when it came to my cultural background, such as parent expectation and basically growing up Asian. My white friends were people I knew and befriended in the AP classes.

These were conflicting times. My Asian friends called me Banana or Twinkie because I acted too “white” – to this day I still don’t understand how to act “Asian.” Whereas I was sometimes placed in the Miley Cyrus situation with my white friends, meaning, they made racist jokes and I uncomfortably laughed or was deemed too sensitive when I was offended. I know better now than to take that sort of behavior.

I went to college far from my hometown so one of the first things I did was join a club, Asian Pacific Student Alliance. This way, I can be active on campus and make new friends who have a similar background as me. I’m still friends with a lot of the Asians in the club. To my relief, I wasn’t called Twinkie or banana.

]]> By: Daniel (different) http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-115252 Daniel (different) Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:41:21 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-115252 I went to a small liberal arts college (Drury) in a small Midwestern city. The only demographics-centered group I know of is the International Students Association, so we didn't have that luxury of such diverse groups. So far, since college, my closest friends (really close) are a intelligent-open white guy who comes from the somewhat poor background, a female international student from Ghana, and a very nice anime-loving white girl. This might be too much detail, but I just want to describe how my college environment and personal experiences are like for that school. In terms of the Bananas you all talked of, for some odd reason, I didn't see them as such, more like they were just being themselves. Like for the Asian American students, the music lovers hang out with other music lovers, sports lovers with their own group, tech-lovers with their group, etc. and there was much overlapping. I don't remember any Asian American who specifically didn't contact with other Asian Americans, but there were a few bad apples, mostly due to their personality issues. I went to a small liberal arts college (Drury) in a small Midwestern city. The only demographics-centered group I know of is the International Students Association, so we didn’t have that luxury of such diverse groups. So far, since college, my closest friends (really close) are a intelligent-open white guy who comes from the somewhat poor background, a female international student from Ghana, and a very nice anime-loving white girl. This might be too much detail, but I just want to describe how my college environment and personal experiences are like for that school.

In terms of the Bananas you all talked of, for some odd reason, I didn’t see them as such, more like they were just being themselves. Like for the Asian American students, the music lovers hang out with other music lovers, sports lovers with their own group, tech-lovers with their group, etc. and there was much overlapping. I don’t remember any Asian American who specifically didn’t contact with other Asian Americans, but there were a few bad apples, mostly due to their personality issues.

]]> By: Daniel (different) http://www.8asians.com/2009/03/06/college-bananas-and-the-csa/comment-page-1/#comment-140366 Daniel (different) Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:41:00 +0000 http://www.8asians.com/?p=2750#comment-140366 I went to a small liberal arts college (Drury) in a small Midwestern city. The only demographics-centered group I know of is the International Students Association, so we didn't have that luxury of such diverse groups. So far, since college, my closest friends (really close) are a intelligent-open white guy who comes from the somewhat poor background, a female international student from Ghana, and a very nice anime-loving white girl. This might be too much detail, but I just want to describe how my college environment and personal experiences are like for that school. In terms of the Bananas you all talked of, for some odd reason, I didn't see them as such, more like they were just being themselves. Like for the Asian American students, the music lovers hang out with other music lovers, sports lovers with their own group, tech-lovers with their group, etc. and there was much overlapping. I don't remember any Asian American who specifically didn't contact with other Asian Americans, but there were a few bad apples, mostly due to their personality issues. I went to a small liberal arts college (Drury) in a small Midwestern city. The only demographics-centered group I know of is the International Students Association, so we didn’t have that luxury of such diverse groups. So far, since college, my closest friends (really close) are a intelligent-open white guy who comes from the somewhat poor background, a female international student from Ghana, and a very nice anime-loving white girl. This might be too much detail, but I just want to describe how my college environment and personal experiences are like for that school.

In terms of the Bananas you all talked of, for some odd reason, I didn’t see them as such, more like they were just being themselves. Like for the Asian American students, the music lovers hang out with other music lovers, sports lovers with their own group, tech-lovers with their group, etc. and there was much overlapping. I don’t remember any Asian American who specifically didn’t contact with other Asian Americans, but there were a few bad apples, mostly due to their personality issues.

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