Another Perspective: What Does “Asian American” Mean?

By William | Monday, January 7, 2013 | 8 Comments

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Johnny C previously wrote Asian America: Confusion from Within, Abroad, and Why, inspired by the same Economist article. –Joz

White. Black. Asian. Common words that are used to define a person’s ethnic background in a very crude way, but perhaps they hold more water than the term “Asian American”. One denotes a supposed ethnicity, the other denotes nationality, but is it right to categorize such a major group of diverse people under the one umbrella? Take the analogy of African Americans. Some are actually “African” and living in America, some are African in origin and actually “American”. Is there really a difference? Do you distinguish them by the clothing, looks or social attitude?

Racial Classification has always been a messy issue. Too specific, and you run the risk of either being accused of racism or getting entangled up in too many different groups of people. Too general and it defeats the purpose of classification. Moreover, is the term “Asian American” even able to accurately define the supposed people it represents? The Economist questions this created identity and its implications for America, particulary considering the rate of immigation compared to other groups (higher than Latinos) and the percentage of support that those in this group gave to Barack Obama. However, it was Eric Liu, Chinese-American author and former adviser to Bill Clinton that summed it best, as a “classically American invention” that gives perceived power by virtue of numbers to a group of people. It won’t be long before candidates and parties will begin surveying and actively targeting Asian Americans as a defined group of people to garner votes and political support and donations.

I believe that having a unified term is far more powerful than having several different identities of different ethnic groups. Sure, use terms like “American Chinese” or “Vietnamese American ” or “Korean American” or “Japanese American” or whatever, but the fact remains that any one singular ethnic group by itself at this stage is too weak to be able to effectively make changes. Sure, we have differences. We’re not the same. But it seems that as a whole, we’re far more focused on our individual ethnic identities and not enough on the collective good that a singular identity gives to us. I know that some of us are fiercely protective of our racial identity, that we choose to actively use specific terms rather than generic terms. There are two reasons why this is detrimental in the long run.

First, the reason why we are “Asian Americans” is because no matter the ethnic background, we are Americans first but we hold a collective power to advocate for all people who are Asian. Where we splinter and fail to rally for other groups facing the same problems, we end up rending our efforts useless.

Second, Asians have not had a good reputation stemming due to several reasons. Whether it’s the fact that military intervention has been necessary on several occasions in many countries, where as Asian countries have never sent troops to intervene in Europe/America to the perceived less manliness and cowardice of Asian men and promiscuity of Asian women with non-Asian men, overturning misguided racial perceptions start with actively forging a network of people across the spectrum to fight against it.

Take pride in your racial identity but take even more pride in the fact that you are part of greater group of people that are, in the words of the Economist, “richer, better-educated and more optimistic than other groups, including whites”. Actively change the social perception through your individual actions and we will change the way people see us.

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LTE2

“targeting Asian Americans as a defined group of people”
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“in the words of the Economist, “richer, better-educated and more optimistic than other groups, including whites”
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In today’s political environment, that in deed would be putting a target on your back.
http://www.facebook.com/viral107 William Tsui

@LTE2:disqus – For the better hopefully. The less Americans see asians as outsiders, the less racial bias there will be. Althought I say this with a big “hopefully”.
http://www.facebook.com/tinabot Tina Tsai

I’d rather be “Asian American” than “Counterfeit Asian” lol
jk2001

The term was invented in the 60s by the Asian American movement, a student movement and also an outgrowth of the Civil Rights movement. The commonality they had was that they were Asians in America, and at the time, the majority had been in the country for two or three generations, but were still treated like immigrants. At the time, I think the main clusters of people were Chinese Americans in SF/Oakland and NYC, and Japanese Americans in L.A. I’d say it’s a political condition more than anything else – and a coalition of Asian people willing to identify and push some political issues, or to take some cultural or community issues and make them a political issue.
jk2001

That’s an inaccurate generalization. The demographics are complicated by immigration patterns and refugee patterns. There are recent immigrants and refugees, and families that have been here over a hundred years. There are a lot of different stories and situations.
LTE2

“That’s an inaccurate generalization.”
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My major point was waving your money around today is not a good idea.
LTE2

“The less Americans see asians as outsiders, the less racial bias there will be”
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A while back I was reading an article on the internment camps and before 9066 was signed it was suggested the federal government do a charm offensive for Japanese- Americans. FDR liked the idea and gave it the go ahead. The program didn’t progress fast enough and the security pressure groups won out.
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One of the advantages of being an “unknown” is you can work to create your image and there is no reason why Asian- Americans can’t make their own case as to why they are good for America. No reason Asian- Americans can’t do a charm offensive on their own.
jk2001

I agree. It’s in bad taste, and also inaccurate.

There are Asian American groups that are poor. There are Asian American groups that are rich. Most of the press only note the latter. There is a large working class Asian American population, but you just don’t hear about it in the media. All you hear about is business and college.

When I lived in South LA for a couple years, I found out that there are Cambodian Americans in South Central LA. They live at the Pueblo projects. I never knew about that. I bet a lot of people reading this right now didn’t know about them. No, they aren’t rich. They are poor. Who the hell has money and lives in South Central? Duh.

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