From: shaw@au-bon-pain.lcs.mit.edu (Andy Shaw)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Perceptions, Realities, Perceptions
Date: 3 Sep 92 14:20:02 GMT
	<1992Sep1.122629.19484@nynexst.com> <78915@ut-emx.uucp>
Distribution: soc
Organization: MIT Lab for Computer Science, Cambridge, Mass.

In article <78915@ut-emx.uucp> joe@astro.as.utexas.edu (Joe Wang) writes:
   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.

Really Joe, if this is your philosophy, then I don't see how we differ so
much.  I have no problems "cooperating" with anyone, as long as I'm getting
what I want at a price that is reasonable to me.  Frankly, I don't
understand how the belief and support of an Asian-American identity is at
odds with this idea of "cooperation" -- in some ways, it is merely a
negotiation chip which will allow me to enter into "cooperation" more on my
own terms.

And like you, I would like to enter the "power elite", but we may have
different strategies to go about doing it, and different feelings about
what happens to those who aren't in the "power elite".

   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."

What terms are these?  If you want to consider yourself Chinese first, then
that is your perogative.  If you want to paint yourself a victim of
Asian-American activists just like Lui likes to do, go right ahead -- think
of yourself as a victim, if that's how you get your jollies.  No one is
forcing you into some mold -- no one is telling you that you ARE an
Asian-American, because that is an identity that you must choose for
yourself.  Whether you and I will face similar problems, similar issues,
and have similar interests is a matter of reality, not of what I say --
frankly, I believe that we do, but that does not force you into my
conception of you.

I think of myself, first and foremost, as an American.  That is the
difference between myself (and probably Alan Hu, Jim Pak, and Clare Chu)
and yourself.  I want to claim what is mine, as my birthright as an
American.  I do not want AMERICAN to be equivalent to WHITE.

   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.

No.  But what you have to say does not affect me to the extent that it
might if you considered yourself an Asian-American.  And you aren't --
you're Chinese in your mind, and therefore, Chinese in your actions and
motivations.  You take advantage of your privileges as an American, but it
is clear that your loyalties lie elsewhere.  Fine ... bark all you want:
it's your right, but it's certainly my right to view your opinions with
contempt, or to simply ignore them, or to deflate them, or at times, to
agree.

   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.

If YOU are smart, you can be nice to ME, and we can work together.  It's
clear that we have some common goals, although we've been arguing primarily
about strategy.  If you are stupid, you will only hurt yourself by ignoring
or fighting something that will happen, regardless of your actions.
You can't hurt me, and furthermore, you can't hurt the formation of an
Asian-American identity, because it's bigger than you and me, and it's
going to happen.

   I like working from a position of strength.  It gains respect.  It
   also seems to help get into the "power elite."

Yeah, just be sure that the "power elite" you want to get into will still
be there when you get there.

-Andy
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american