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Asians and the White Light
October 1976, I was born in a small suburban hospital in New Jersey.
1760's Filipinos were residing in Louisiana. 1848, Chinese begin to immigrate
in mass numbers to the western coasts of America. It wasn't until 1898,
with Wong Kim Ark v. United States, that all persons born on US soil,
including Asians, would be recognized as American citizens.
Still FOB
Being treated as foreigners is nothing new for Asian Americans, even to this
day, centuries after locating on American soil, and over 104 years of being
recognized as US citizens. If it wasn't some 120,000 Japanese Americans forced
to live in interment camps during WW2 due to the belief that Japanese Americans
posed a threat to national security, it was in 1999, when Los Alamos Scientist,
Wen Ho Lee, was placed in solitary confinement without probable cause for 9
months for allegedly engaging in espionage for China. If it wasn't the massacre
of 28 Chinese Americans coal miners in Rock Springs Wyoming in 1885 for stealing "American
jobs", it was the slaying of Vincent Chin, Jim Loo, Luyen Phan Nguyen,
Thung Phetakoune and countless others during the 80s, 90s and even into the
21st century, as white males took vengeance for "Japs stealing our jobs" or
for "what happened in 'Nam". If it wasn't in 1859 when Chinese children
were banned from San Francisco public schools, it was in 2000 when Congressman
David Wu was denied entry into the Department of Energy (even after showing
his Congress ID) because he did not look American. If it wasn't headlines speaking
of "Japs to be Interned" at the start of WW2, it was MSNBC in 1998
and the Seattle Times in 2002 referring to "American" athletes ousting
figure skater Michelle Kwan.
Although laws have been passed and more strictly enforced that would lead many
to believe that the blatant racism of the past no longer exists, what is clear
indeed is that the racist attitudes of the past have not changed. In fact,
for those who believe that America is becoming a more tolerant society, hate
crimes against Asians have been on a steady rise over the past couple decades,
according to figures gathered by the National Asian Pacific American Legal
Center (NAPALC). The NAPALC cites that from 1993 to 1995, hate crimes against
Asian Americans rose by a whopping 37 percent. In 1999, there were 486 anti-Asian
American crimes, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. What is particularly
disturbing about this rise is that the Department of Justice's 1999 annual
crime victimization report concluded that total violent crime rates had actually
fallen by 10 percent.
Like schoolyard taunts or prepubescent acne, fighting racism and discrimination
based on the stereotype of being perpetual foreigners is the bitter and inevitable
part of growing up Asian American. Yet, it does not go by the way that grade
school and puberty do. This unfortunate circumstance has placed a psychological
burden on many Asian Americans wherein Asian Americans feel the need to prove
their "American-ness" to white society.
On an individual level, such pressure has had an engrained effect on the lifestyle
decisions of Asian Americans. Many immigrant parents refrain from speaking
to their children in their native Asian tongue so that they can grow up "American".
Asian women often date white men to prove to their peers or to their parents
that they want to embrace "American" ways. Asian men seek out white
women to try and prove that they are just as virile and masculine as their
non-Asian counterparts, as backlash to the emasculation done by the media and
mainstream.
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