From: nina@panix.com (Nina Yuan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: "Chinese-Americans..."
Date: 9 Sep 92 16:59:11 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC

In <1992Sep8.230325.4375@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:

>In article <1992Sep8.132644.13167@panix.com> nina@panix.com (Nina Yuan) writes:
>>In <1992Sep7.212324.19675@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU
>>(Dwight Joe) writes:

>Ms. Yuan should read what Mr. Cheng wrote.  He said, "This scares me."
>What scares him is that there are Chinese-ge people with _no_ Chinese-cu
>culture in them.

>It's reasonable to interpret this fear to mean that Mr. Cheng sees
>an unnatural state occuring.

I stand by my interpretation of Mr. Cheng's statement, though I'm sure when
he wrote it, he didn't imagine that it would be analyzed to death.


>>>special rights to it by virtual of being Chinese-ge.  A German-ge
>>>can be as much a part of Chinese-cu culture as a Chinese-ge can.
>>Of course; I know of many people who are not at all ethnically Chinese who
>>immerse themselves in Chinese culture.  But as soon as someone who IS
>>ethnically Chinese expresses the slightest bit of interest in Chinese culture,
>>you immediately call them a "Chinese-cu racist."

>That's a lie.  It's very Chinese-cu of you, Ms. Yuan, to put words
>into my mouth.

And it's very racist of you, Mr. Joe, to attribute my comment to the evil
influences of a whole cultural system shared by billions of people who don't
even know that Usenet exists.

If Mr. Cheng had been Mr. Smith instead and made the same comments, would you
immediately brand him a "Chinese-cu racist?"


>Mr. Cheng does say that he is frightened to see Chinese-ge with no
>Chinese-cu culture in them.  This suggests something unnatural
>about a Chinese-ge without Chinese-cu culture.  This is a very

What about a Chinese-ge with Chinese-cu culture?  Is that unnatural too, or
does the Chinese-ge simply become a Chinese-cu? 

>>>The heritage of a Chinese-ge is not automatically the Chinese-cu heritage.
>>>If he choose that to be his heritage, then it is his heritage.
>>>But a Chinese-ge can also choose his heritage to be the Western
>>>heritage.
>>Why is this an either/or proposition?  The whole point of Mr. Cheng's post
>>is that he identifies with BOTH Chinese and American (or Western, if you
>>prefer, though I think that term's a little broad) culture, and would like
>>to integrate the two.

>No where did I say that this was an either/or proposition.

When you refer to the choice a Chinese-ge can make between the "Chinese-cu"
heritage and the "Western heritage," that certainly sounds like an either/or
proposition to me.

Incidentally, do you distinguish between "heritage" and "culture?"  You appear
to use the terms interchangably.

>ethnicity does not, in any way, determine culture.  I recognize
>that culture is just a system of behavior.  Hence, people can choose
>any behavioral pattern that they wish, including, for example,
>a combination of Korean-cu culture and French-cu culture.

Sure.

>>An admirable, though difficult goal, and one that I
>>think many of us on s.c.a.a. are struggling with.

>Not in my opinion.

Well, that's your opinion.  As you were the first person to respond to Mr.
Cheng's post, I didn't want him to think that your opinion represented the
collective s.c.a.a. opinion (should such a thing exist).

>Many aspects of Chinese-cu culture are irreconciliable with Western
>culture.  For example, the brutal disposition of Chinese parenting
>techniques (like the strangulation of female infants, for example) is
>irreconciliable with Western compassion and understanding.

That's your narrow-minded view of Chinese-cu culture, Mr. Joe.  I'll freely
admit that there are less-than-desirable aspects of Chinese culture, just as
there are less-than-desirable aspects of American culture.  Just as the
Republicans do not have a monopoly on "family values," "Western" culture
does not have a monopoly on "compassion and understanding."

-- 
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Nina H. Yuan
Harvard College             Panix -- Public Access Unix & Internet of NYC
yuan1@husc.harvard.edu      nina@panix.com
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american