From: joe@astro.as.utexas.edu (Joe Wang)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Perceptions, Realities, Perceptions
Date: 2 Sep 92 08:19:25 GMT
Article-I.D.: ut-emx.78915
Distribution: soc
Organization: McDonald Observatory, University of Texas @ Austin

In article <1992Sep1.122629.19484@nynexst.com> clare@nynexst.com (Clare Chu) writes:
>  Since you do not consider yourself Asian American, we'll take
>  everything you say the same way we take what JJ and other visitors
>  say, i.e. knowing that they don't represent the AA viewpoint.
>  So we delete you as a datapoint.  Thanks for making it clear.

In other points,

If I don't think like you,
If I don't talk like you,
If I don't believe what you believe, 
If I don't join "your group"

you can ignore me as a datapoint.............

Interesting, I thought this was your complaint against the "power
elite."

Anyway, I'll join "your group" only on my terms, and if you don't let
me in, I don't really care.  But, please realize that I'll be here
posting, and you are going to have to deal with me one way or another.

I'm not moving. 

>  Now I can heartily accept everything you say, since you are just
>  sharing with us your esteemed Chinese-cu wisdom.  

Sure thing.  There's a lot you can learn from ancient Chinese wisdom.
One is

  Zi yue "jun zi he er bu tong, xiao ren tong er bu he."

Roughly translated it means......

  According to Confucius, the wise person cooperates with a group
  but does not try to become the same as the other members of the 
  group.  The foolish person tries to become the same as the other 
  members of the group but does not cooperate with it.

>  Point is that since you do not consider yourself American, then
>  you have no political power here.  

I consider myself American.  I also consider myself Chinese.  Got a
problem with that?  If you do, then deal with it.  I'm not changing,
and I'm not moving.

As for political power, I do vote regularly.  I consider it my civic
duty to improve this part of the world.  After all, I live here.

>  You're a visitor, and we'll
>  tolerate you as a visitor.  But you can't go around telling
>  Americans to get lost.  Most likely they'd tell you to get lost.

Why would I want to tell an American to get lost?  We all live here,
it's in everyone's interest if we are polite to each other.  

As for Americans telling me to "go back to China."  I'm not about to
change who I am, simply so that they will accept me.  If they accept
me the way I am, then fine.  If they don't, that's their problem, not
mine.  I live here, and I'll leave when I feel like it, not when they
force me to.  In fact, trying to push me out, simply increases my
resolve to stay, just to annoy them.

It's this thing called "self-respect," "being sure about who you are,"
and "being accepted on your own terms."  I've stated my terms, and the
"power elite" seems to accept them.  People who talk a lot about "the
Asian-American" identity, however, seem to have problems with my
terms.  Strange.  It's they who talk the loudest about not "giving in"
and not being "someone who you are not."

>  That's all.  It's like the Ugly American goes to China and
>  tells them to get him a hot dog, or something.  Reverse analogy,
>  but I think you get the point, I hope.

You mean, if I consider myself Chinese, I should shut up.  But if I
consider myself "Asian-American", I can talk as loud as I want.
Right?

Well.........

I don't need your or anyone else's permission to talk.  I'll talk when
I feel like it, and if that annoys you then that's your problem, not
mine.

I live here now.  I might move back to China someday.  I might move to
Europe someday.  Or Africa.  Or India.  Then again, I might not.  But
I'll decide what to do.  Don't try to push me, because I won't move if
you do.  I really not like being pushed, and I've learned enough
tricks so that the person or persons pushing generally end up in worse
shape than me.

And as long as I live here, I'll try and have some say into what goes
on here.  And I'm not going to shut up.  And I'll vote.  I'm very good
about voting.  In fact, I've voted in every election in the past year.
If you got problems with a Chinese person voting, then tough.  Not my
problem.  Deal with it.

I'm not like the people who want acceptance and who are scared to
death of being called "foreigner" or "outsider."  To be honest, there
are large parts of me which are "foreign" and which come from the
"outside," and I'm really, really, incredibly proud of those parts of
me.  And I'm not about to give them up for anyone.  If someone thinks
that the "foreign" parts of me, disqualifies me from speaking and from
voting, then tough.  I'll speak when I choose, and I'll vote whom I
choose.  Live with it.

My position is simply this....

If you are smart, you can be nice to me, and we can work together to
make this a great place for all of us to live.  If you are stupid, you
can be mean to me, and spend all your time harrassing me.  But if you
are stupid, you are only hurting yourself.  You can't hurt me.

I like working from a position of strength.  It gains respect.  It
also seems to help get into the "power elite."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american