From: rw@HPLB.HPL.HP.COM (Russil Wvong)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: The Asian-American Community
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:25:42 GMT
Reply-To: russil%idacom.hp.com@hplb.hpl.hp.com

Andy Shaw asks why the Asian-American community should work together,
given the divisions within the community.  (I thought Andy's analysis
of these divisions, and Jeff Sedayao's followup, were quite good.)
Indeed, does the concept of an "Asian-American community" which covers
Chinese and Indians, refugees and millionaires, first generation and
second generation, even make sense?

I think so.  However, my view of what "being Asian-American" means may
be different from Andy's.

Each of us belongs to several different communities.  For example,
I'm a member of:

    - our particular division (IDACOM) within HP
    - HP
    - the worldwide computer community

    - the local recreational volleyball league
    - Mill Woods (the area within Edmonton where I live)
    - Edmonton
    - Canada
    - the world

    - the Chinese-Canadian community
    - the Singaporean Chinese (through relatives)
    - the Chinese (all >1 billion of them)
    - the Asian-American community (assuming it includes Canadians :-)

As a member of each community, I have certain interests, experiences,
values, and responsibilities which I share with the rest of the community.
For example, as a member of IDACOM, I want IDACOM to be successful in our
particular market.  As a member of HP, I want HP to be successful as a
whole.  But of course the contribution which I can make to HP's success
is much smaller than the contribution which I can make to the division's
success.

In general, a broader community will have fewer shared interests, experiences,
and values than a more restricted one.  Thus members of the Asian-American
community, which is quite broad, would have fewer common experiences than,
say, Chinese-Americans who were born and raised here:

    - The "glass ceiling" isn't a concern for Korean-American shopkeepers.
    - I don't think interracial dating would be a big concern for
      fifth-generation Japanese-Americans.
    - ESL programs (English as a Second Language) aren't of interest to any
      second-generation Asian-Americans.

But this does not mean that we -- Asian-Americans, that is -- have *no*
common interests, experiences, or values.

I think the single most important common interest which Asian-Americans
have is:

    Reducing racial tension and violence (or conversely, encouraging
    harmony) between Asian-Americans and other groups.

Take the current tension in trade relations between America and Japan
as an example.  The current atmosphere is decidedly hostile towards
the Japanese.  Naturally, people don't distinguish between Japanese
(in Japan) and Japanese-Americans, or between Japanese-Americans and
Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, or other East Asian ethnic groups.
I think Vincent Chin was mistaken for a Japanese by his attackers,
wasn't he?

So our most basic common interest is nothing more than the following:
Because we all look the same, we have a common interest in preventing
attacks on any of us.

I think existing Asian-American political organizations do attempt to
do this, e.g. by counteracting media portrayals of Asians which are
likely to lead to hostility, or by providing education about
Asian-Americans.  Helping Asian immigrants to adjust to American
society might also be considered such an activity.


That said, I think discussion groups like this one are most useful not
as a basis for common action to achieve shared goals -- unlikely on USENET --
but as a place to talk about and deal with shared experiences.  For example,
I think almost all second-generation Asian-Americans have to deal with being
what Chinese call a "banana":  being Asian on the outside, but American
on the inside.  We should at least be able to help one another understand
and deal with with these kinds of problems.

I should also note that the "Asian-American community" should include
people who are *not* Asian-American, but who are linked to the
Asian-American community through marriage, friendship, and other
relationships (in the same way that I'm connected to the Singaporean
Chinese through my relatives).

Enough for tonight.  I'd be interested in hearing what other people
(particularly the radicals and non-Asian Americans) have to say about
this view of "being Asian-American".  And I hope this fits in with the
"kindler, gentler" soc.culture.asian.american that James Pak keeps
talking about. :-)

Regards,
Russil

--
Russil Wvong
russil@idacom.hp.com
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Not an official statement of HP.
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