Asian American Identity
Who is an Asian American? "Asian American" can mean different things to different people. At the most basic level, an Asian American is an American who is of Asiatic descent. The term is so broad though that to make further assumptions about an Asian American would be folly. Within this racial category are many distinctions, like ethnicity, class, and place of origin, that overlap and intersect as they define Asian American identity. The "Asian American" identity is a like a melting pot for people of Asian descent. As time goes by, increasingly ethnic identity, though still strong, is being subordinated to the pan-ethnic identification of "Asian American." Without looking at the more specific aspects of Asian American identity, one can gather almost no information from the term "Asian American." Ethnicity is an important aspect of Asian American identity and looking at ethnicity reveals significant information about what the category means. The various ethnicities of Asian America are not absolutely agreed upon by everybody. As Linda Trinh Vő says, "The Asian American or Asian Pacific American label is a contentious one with ongoing debates over which groups actually 'belong' in this racialized cat
According to the American-born Asians, the new immigrants contribute to the typical anti-Asian stereotypes like being "clannish, selfish, rude, aggressive, unwilling to assimilate, nerdy, and overachieving. These Southeast Asian groups face very severe financial situations that in many cases they are powerless to change. This type of reaction is becoming more and more commonplace. An interesting result of this type of attitude for American-born Asians is resentment towards these new immigrants. As a result, they are especially resistant to the Asian American identity. Many of these people have problems speaking English, and they have limited job skills. Resentment builds against Asians as a result, creating tension between Asian Americans and other racial groups. The problems of those groups are forgotten when all everyone looks at are the SAT scores of Japanese American teenagers. The economic problems of these Asian Americans are very serious. The place of origin for an Asian American can play a significant role in that person's identity. Between then and now, the category has become much more inclusive, reflecting the diversification of the Asian American population that took place. According to Juanito Tamayo Lott, there are several levels of identity among Asian immigrants. Unfortunately, as immigrants who have no shared history of discrimination or solidarity with American-born Asians, they become more likely to identify themselves according to their ethnicity, as opposed to identifying themselves pan-ethnically as Asian Americans (Ancheta 85). The development of such an identity has already begun and gained strength, as seen in the interethnic marriage figures shown before.
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Acceptance Essays
