I remember from when I was kid, my dad told me a story of him and his Asian Hawaiian coworker. something about how the coworker called himself an American, but that my dad thought that was only half the story since white Americans will never see Asian Americans as truly American.
when I was much younger I disagreed with him. it was true for him, maybe, since he was a naturalized citizen who only came to the US in his 20s and still spoke in a heavy accent. but me, I'm American! I was born and raised here; I speak with a SoCal accent. white Americans will see me as one any other American.
I think it was only in high school that I realized he was right. by then I was at a school white a ton more people (2000 students) and more racial diversity.
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the last part of this article in the NYT:
...I told my parents they were wrong about who we were. We were Asian-American, not Asian, and we were definitely not Oriental.
“We’re not American,” they said. “We’re Asian." At least they didn’t laugh me out of the house for my arrogance.
“Asian-American,” I said. “Not Asian Asian.”
That was more than 20 years ago. On a recent visit to New Jersey, I asked my parents, former Reagan Republicans turned staunch Obama Democrats who voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary, if they felt American now that they’ve been in the United States for half a century.
“Of course,” my mother said. “What else would I be? Even though other Americans don’t see me as American.”
“Well, who cares how they see us,” my father said. “They can think what they want, but it doesn’t matter to me.”
I hope he’s right. Regardless of how we are seen by others, we are the ones who can best see ourselves.
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New American Economy - Combatting the AAPI Perpetual Foreigner Stereotype
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