From: ajh@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Alan Hu)
Subject: Re: What does Arthur Hu mean to *me*
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 01:17:21 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.205613.568@cbnewse.cb.att.com> ronaldd@cbnewse.cb.att.com (ronald.h.davis) writes:
>In article <1993Jan8.140439.12779@nynexst.com> clare@nynexst.com (Clare Chu) writes:
	[Clare's observation that Asian Americans are less prejudiced than
	 recent immigrants deleted.]
	[Ronald's comments on racial animosity arising from the Vietnam war
	 deleted.]
>
>>  sure they are Asian Americans, or Asians that are studying here.  Asian
>>  Americans usually have gone to elementary school, jr. high, high school
>>  here and have experienced prejudice first hand.  I don't think 3rd generation
>>  Japanese-Americans are very prejudiced in my experience.  However my
>>
>i've been unable to spot a trend here because i've run across foreign nationals
>who i thought were really reasonable, and i can say the same about some asian-
>americans.  but among other asian-americans there seems to be this attempt to
>be super-anything-white [or associated thereof].  thus, they try to be super-preppie,
>acquire a set of interests that one might associate with being "white" [whatever
>that means].  it seems that when people are *trying* to act a certain way, it comes
>across as an act.  i often times have *real* problems dealing with people like
>that.  i figure attempting to be super-white in their minds carries with it the
>association of being super-racist even if they might possibly feel that they
>might find themselves an occasional target of predjudice themselves.  i don't
>know, maybe such people need to have someone or some group to which they can feel
>superior.

	There's a number of factors here.  First is that, thanks to
	racist US immigration laws, for a long, long time it was essentially
	impossible for an Asian to immigrate to the US, unless he/she was
	a very highly educated scientist/engineer/mathematician/physician/etc.
	(Immigration from China had been completely cut off in 1882; from
	the rest of Asia (except the Philippines), in 1924; from the
	Philippines, in 1934 (in exchange for a promise of eventual
	indepedence).  This is the only instance in US history of specific
	racial groups being excluded from immigration.  These laws were
	lifted during WWII, in response to Japanese propaganda that the
	US was carrying out a race war, but the immigration quotas were
	still maintained artificially low (around 50 people per year).
	Not until 1965 were the quotas raised to be the same as for
	other countries (except Ireland gets a special, extra high
	immigration quota, thanks to the Kennedy's).  Competition for
	the limited immigration slots was intense, and preference was
	given to a very highly-educated elite.)  It's not surprising
	that these people did their best to try to assimilate with the
	whites, and that their kids growing up in white suburbia will
	play tennis and dress preppie and in general act "white" whatever
	that's supposed to mean.

	A second factor is post-1965 racial attitudes in this country.
	Whereas African Americans continued to be subjected to white
	racist hate, continually being portrayed as lazy, shiftless,
	stupid, violent, and criminal, Asian Americans were subjected
	to white racist love, elevated to Model Minority status as
	the "good" minority -- hard-working, quiet, obedient, politically
	apathetic, happy to be second-class citizens, and "as long as
	all you gooks and chinks keep quiet and work hard, we won't
	treat you as bad as we treat the niggers".  This playing off
	of Asian Americans against African Americans continues to this
	day:  Look at the media coverage of the Rodney King verdict
	and the ensuing LA Rebellion.  What started as rage over
	institutionalized police brutality, in the form of white
	police officers beating a black motorist and being acquitted by
	an almost all-white jury, got converted by the media into
	a race war between Korean Americans (media stereotype: hard-working,
	quiet, racist foreigners) and African Americans (media stereotype:
	lazy, violent, criminals).

>
>my attitude is that after as much racist stuff [against black people] that you
>see from japanese/nisei individuals and/or from japan (including government
>officials)

	Asians and Asian Americans are distinct.  Time and time again,
	people get this wrong, and the media is happy to perpetuate
	the misperception.  Can I hold you personally responsible for
	the actions of, say, Idi Amin?  Of course not.  So why do people
	hold me responsible for the statements of some dickhead in the
	Japanese governement???

	   i am *totally* unsympathetic when i hear cries of racism against
>japanese people by white people.  my tendency is to think:  "yeah, they're ones
>to talk..."
>
	[Stuff about intra-Asian tensions deleted.]
>
>-- 
>  __  ______  __  / __/ |       at&t bell laboratories, naperville il, usa
>_/ (_(_) / (_(_/_/_(_/  .       ronald@iexist.att.com / att!iexist!ronald
>"if you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes" -- edmund wilson

	Does your attitude help?  Does this kind of divisiveness really
	improve things for you or for me?  Would the world be a better
	place if I had watched the Rodney King videotape and cheered,
	"Yeah!  Kill the fucking nigger!"?  If a bunch of neo-Nazis
	came into my office now and Louisville Sluggered me to death,
	would you laugh?  Would you say, "Goddamn Chinks and Japs are
	stealing our jobs!"?

	Sure, there's plenty of racist Asian Americans, just as there
	are plenty of racist African Americans and Latino Americans
	and white Americans.  Just as there are sexist men and sexist
	women.  But should I lash out with vengeance at all other
	groups?  Should I divide and hate?

	We're all in this together, black, white, yellow, whatever.
	Why can't we start acting that way?
						--Alan Hu
----------
I am not Arthur Hu.  I am NOT Arthur Hu.  I AM NOT ARTHUR HU.

I am not a neo-conservative writer for AsianWeek.  I did not go
to MIT.  I do not conduct phone surveys.  I am not married.
I do not believe in Dan Quayle's family values.

Arthur Hu is a fine person.  So am I.  We are not, however, the same person.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american