From: yjhbhc@dante.lbl.gov (Joe Huang)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Asking someone his "nationality" (Today's "Dear Abby")
Date: 24 Jul 1992 22:55:17 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
Distribution: na
Reply-To: yjhbhc@dante.lbl.gov (Joe Huang)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.106

Clare Chu writes:

> That reminds me of some job advice I got from some older Asian
> Americans.  First of all, if you have an English first name
> and a Chinese middle name, don't put your Chinese middle name
> in.

> The reason is that if you put your full name, they might think you're
> not "American" and throw out your resume without looking.

> Secondly, if you don't have an English name.  Get one.  Adopt one
> and use it on your resume.

> George Shen or Bill Chen is perferable over Chen-Chung Shen or Wen-Toh Chen

I hate to get too negative, but this advice sounds pretty 
pathetic to me. The overall message is that we should 
camouflage our Asian identities to avoid possible rejection 
by racists.  Among African-Americans, this tactic used to 
be called "passing", i.e., making yourself appear white in 
order to get ahead.  But I wonder, why stop at the first name, 
why not also change your last name, or better yet, bleach your 
hair and get some plastic surgery? After all, an interviewer 
who doesn't like Asians can still tell your ethnic background 
the minute you walk in for an interview.

The flip side of this message is that Asians who don't try to
camouflage can only blame themselves for being discriminated
against. Pity the poor Asian immigrant who _does_ have a 
different name, _does_ speak with a heavy accent, and _is_ not 
familiar with American culture. So what if they're hard working 
or competent, they don't know the American office culture, so 
they deserve to get shafted, right ?

Maybe it's because I still remember how it felt getting off 
the boat in San Francisco, but I think the way to combat 
racism is to promote greater tolerance and appreciation of 
differences, rather than trying to make ourselves look and 
act as American, i.e., white, as we can.

> Finally, if you marry a non-Asian change your name and use theirs.
  (I didn't follow their advice here).  My mom's cousin says that having
> an American last name is a great advantage (she traded in Lui for
> Jasinski,  I guess she didn't know about the Pollack jokes :0 )
> Her sister traded in Lui for Ott.  Notice that none of these names
> are ye olde English.  But my aunts thought they were more American than Lui.

Another rationale for marrying a white man - it makes for a
better resume!  What advice would you give for Asian men? 
Should we also adopt our wife's names if they happen to be of 
European descent? Boy, if this works out, in two generations
there would be no trace of Asians left, except for those 
immigrants and some pesky facial features that refuse to go away.

More seriously, this "passing" phenonomenon may help to explain 
the disparity in Asian male/female outmarriage. Since the 
American culture is a male-dominant one where the woman 
adopts the man's attributes more than vice-versa, a white woman 
marrying an Asian would be burdened with various social
disadvantages, whereas an Asian woman marrying a white would 
be escaping hers.

> Ver important: put in bold text at the top of your resume.  U.S. Citizen
> if you're so lucky to be one.  They said that this will help
> separate your resume from all the Yen-Ping Wang and Shao-Ching Chu
> that are applying for the job.  

Unless I've been living in the wrong country, I would have
thought there were more Georges or Bills than Yen-pings and 
Shao-chings. Let's be blunt about this tactic, the aim is not 
to distinguish yourself from the crowd, but to avoid being 
associated with foreign Asians. 

> And also put your birthplace in
> a prominant position so that they won't think you're naturalized.

Gad, is this Asian American nativism or what ? Is being 
naturalized something to be ashamed of?  Since America is
a nation of immigrants, why make such a big fuss about birth 
rights ? Besides, waving an American birth certificate isn't
going to cut much mustard with people with a racial bent.
Nobody cares that Ted Koppel, Henry Kissinger, etc. are
naturalized citizens since they're white, but you can still 
hear jokes about "our Japanese" Kristi Yamaguchi beating 
out the "real Japanese" Midori Ito on Saturday Night Live.

>  I must say that I followed their advice and was able to land two
> jobs at defense contractors.  None of them asked me if I was a citizen
> because they had already screened my resume.  Do people think I'm
> selling out to get a job?

I would, but that's just my Asian immigrant point of view. 

Joe Huang
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american