Posts Tagged ‘minorities’
To be an American
The other day I was walking past the Sundial with my friend Beaker where draped in in front of the fountain hung a bunch of international flags all in a line. I wanted to try a little social experiment, so I pointed ambiguously to the line of flags and said to him, “Hey, there’s my flag.” He looked at me and said, “Oh, you mean the Chinese one?” And I said to him, “No, I mean the American one.”
Whenever people talk about ‘racial tension’, it’s always in regard to blacks. It seems like the country has just simply forgotten about the struggles of the other two major minorities that live here, hispanics and asians. Asians have been around since the beginning, migrating from China, Japan, and Korea to seek a better life and opportunity, just like all the other immigrants that came here. Why is it, then, that even after all these years, we still find it hard to become accepted into American society? The best example I can think of is the Irish. America experienced a mass migration of Irish in the mid 1800’s. The Irish population was at first ill-treated, bearing the brunt of the Industrial Revolution, working in factories for ridiculously low wages and terrible environments. Americans commonly treated the Irish as criminals and scum of the streets. There was once a saying, “Let Negroes be servants, and if not Negroes, let Irishmen fill their place.”
But the Irish remained fiercely loyal to America; they pulled together, organized Irish towns, even fought in the Civil War. Soon after, they were able to assimilate into American mainstream society. They even got their own holiday: St. Patrick’s Day.
The Jews, Slavs, and Italians all had their respective turns at being the low-rung on the American hierarchy of respect, but over time have steadily risen to find their place in American culture. I feel that the Chinese, on the other hand, have not found their place. My friend Beaker, when he thought I meant the Chinese flag, meant no offense of course, but still I felt offended anyway. I felt like he was labeling me as something of an outsider, like I wasn’t really an American, but a Chinese man living in America.
It’s in part, I think, our own fault that we have failed to climb the social ladder. Our eastern culture prescribes that we lower our heads to our superiors, we keep our opinions to ourselves, and we never boast or brag or claim credit for anything. We are taught from the very beginning to hold everybody higher than ourselves. This is all good and fine; humility is a virtuous quality, after all. But when we are so subservient that we don’t even cry out against the wrongs that have been committed to us? That is a crime. The other day, I was waiting in line at the Diner for lunch. Just as I had gotten what I’d order and was walking over toward the tables to find a place to eat, I heard the the two guys that were standing behind me say, “Look at all these damn Asians.” I was greatly injured. Not a single white American will ever feel how I felt at that moment, because he will never be in a position where he is treated as a lower person just because of his race. I didn’t do anything about what those dudes said because I didn’t want to make a big scene out of everything.
The story of racism toward Asians is a quiet, low-keyed one that nobody really seems to talk much about. But until this story is told to the world loudly and proudly, nothing will ever change. When people automatically stereotyped me for an Asian, like they’d say I was good at math and spent my Friday nights playing video games and chess and ping pong, I’d just ignore them and say nothing, sometimes even lie by agreeing just for the sake of avoiding argument. But I have since vowed that from now on, I will speak up and defend myself. Because although I love China and all she has to offer, I am also an American.
