From: ajh@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Alan Hu)
Subject: Re: Perceptions, Realities, Perceptions
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 08:43:11 GMT

In article <78424@ut-emx.uucp> joe@astro.as.utexas.edu (Joe Wang) writes:
>There is a curious paradox that's crept up once again...........
>
>Everytime there is an argument between "whites" and AA activists, I've
>invariably found myself on the side of the "whites."  From this, one
>would expect that I would be the ultimate twinkie and be in favor of
>complete and total assimilation and always wishing I were white.
>
>But that's not the case at all.  I'm probably as far away from a
>twinkie as you can get, and I'm quite adamantly non-assimilationist.
>I consider myself a Chinese born and raised in the United States, and
>if you put me into a room full of graduate students who had just come
>from China, it would be fairly difficult to distinguish me from them.
>I will almost certainly marry someone who speaks Chinese, and I will
>try to raise my kids up to be Chinese.  If the political situation
>improves there, I might even consider trying to get a job in China.
>
>And yet despite this, I consistently find myself on opposite sides of
>an argument with most AA activists, and I consistently find myself
>defending the establishment.  My attitude toward people has always
>been that I'm both Chinese and an American and if they can't deal with
>that it's their problem, not mine.  And the few people who do have
>problems with me are people who are not in any real position to do me
>any damage.  After all, if a computer manufacturer has problems being
>"on the same team" with me, he or she is going to have serious
>problems dealing with their suppliers in Hong Kong or Taiwan.
>
>Perhaps part of the reason I don't agree with AA activists, is that I
>don't in anyway see myself as a minority.  If you look at the "big
>picture," (i.e. the entire world) I'm not.
>
>So what's going on here??????
>

It's easy, Joe; you're weird.  :-)  Seriously, based on my limited
experience, yours is quite unusual.  I commend you on your
cultural chameleonism; it's an admirable trait, whether you're
passing for Chinese or French or Sudanese or whatever.  You have an
easy escape.  If things are bad here in the US, you can up and go to
China.  If things suck over there, you can live here.  That's wonderful.

But do you honestly believe that your dual-cultural ability is
pervasive, or even anything but rare, among Asian Americans?  I've
met a lot of Asian Americans who *believe* they can pass as totally
Asian, as you can, but almost every one has been sadly deluded by
the "I'm *both* Chinese *and* American since I can't really be an
American since I'm not white and besides I like chow mein and dim sum
and I can even speak a little Chinese like ... um ... Wo(2) huei(2)
... um ... shou (2) Zhong (4) wen (4) [sic]" (substitute different
Asian nationality to customize example) myth that pervades second
generation Asian America.  I used to believe the myth, too.  (And
my Chinese is a hell of a lot better than my example!)

This, I think, is the distinguishing feature of the people I consider
to be Asian-American activists:  They have fully understood that there
is no escape, there is no other country, there is no other home.  We
are Americans, and our lives and our children's lives depend on our
ability to carve out a stable position in the American mosaic.  If someone
believes in the future of Asian Americans as real, fully-empowered
Americans, they have my support (at least in this area).  I hope you
can understand and support this "activist" position, even if you feel
it doesn't apply to you.

I don't demand that everyone go out and hold sit-ins on the freeways
or marches on the Capitol.  There's value to that kind of activism,
but there's also value in toeing the party line and getting appointed
to the Supreme Court.  Or being a good role model.  Or being a successful
professional who can afford a $1000/plate campaign fundraiser.  Or simply
working hard, doing your best, and making lots of friends.  Or, for that
matter, wielding a grenade-launcher and being willing to die for the cause
(the kind of activism that got the Soviets out of Afghanistan).  What is
important is the idea, the beliefs.  Anyone, rich or poor, black, brown,
red, yellow, or white, politically involved or not, who truly believes in the
rightful equality of Asian Americans, is far more of an ally than someone
who mouths the PC party line, while deep-down feeling that Asian Americans
are inferior and/or don't really belong in the US.

This kind of activism is for everyone.  And our future as a nation
depends on it.
						--Alan Hu