Are asian americans becoming “white?”, the title of a piece by Min Zhou.  Before I began to delve into the text I noticed how he didn’t capitalize “Asian Americans” in the title of his piece. This made me think; what is the purpose of such a literary move?

            After reading the article I have concluded that he did this to show the term “Asian American” is not something that Asians in America like to be called.

            Zhou’s piece does a very god job of explaining why Asian immigrants feel this way. He describes their reasons for leaving their native lands and the hardships that many of them face in America.

            Many have trouble finding a sense of belonging when they arrive. Many also struggle to maintain their culture and language in a place that is unaccepting of their way of life. Their language is not appreciated and those who aren’t educated in English find it nearly impossible to find work.

            The thing I found most interesting was the attention given to the success of many Asian immigrants. “For example, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian, and Filipino Americans tend to be over-represented among scientist, engineers, physicians and other skilled professionals, but less educated, low-skilled workers are more common among Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong Americans, most of whom entered the United States as refugees” ( Zhou pg.31). This quote spoke to me as it is something I have witnessed on many occasions. My best friend, who is Asian, or more specifically Korean, has two parents who are both doctors. From as early as I can remember we used to tease him about going to Harvard and becoming a doctor like his parents. This usually upset him as it was something he was very proud of, and he only wanted to make his parents proud. This brings me back to the question of why they’re so proud of who they are, they have so much self-respect and determination that they don’t want America to be something that defines them. He would tell me he’s Asian even though he’s lived his whole life in the states, and that it would never change.

            After I understood the reasoning of this decision, Zhou compares the success of Asian immigrants to that of the Jews. He writes, “many in the media have dubbed Asian Americans the “new Jews.” Like the second generation Jews of the past, today’s children of Asian immigrants are climbing up the ladder by way of extraordinary educational achievement” (Pg.33). As an American Jew, I too often faced the stereotype of; are you going to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman? This question never pinched a nerve until I read this passage. After reading this I can empathizes with someone who is going through a very similar experience. I like to say, I am an American and I am a Jew, but those two things don’t have to be exclusive. I never liked to be singled out because of the achievements of others and I don’t think it is right to hold Asian Americans to a double standard.

In “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang, he tells the story of a monkey who has mastered all the pillars of Kung Fu. Upon becoming very powerful through all his studies the Monkey King proceeded throughout the universe to show his power to the other leades of the various sects of society. He was indeed a very strong and powerful monkey as he demonstrated to those who doubted his abilities.

In his quest to display his ultimate power, the Monkey King became complacent. He did so as he forgot where he came from and that he was not, after all, the most powerful among the rulers of the universe. He came upon Tze-Yo-Tzuh, who warned the Monkey King that he was not the greatest and he must stop his recklessness. He told Tze-Yo-Tzuh with the utmost confidence, “I don’t care who you say you are, old man. I can still take you” (pg. 81). He refused to listen to Tze-Yo-Tzuh as he felt that he had a rightful place in heaven with the other rulers. He was punished for his actions and was placed under a bed of rocks for 500 years. This demonstrates that trying to fit in where you don’t belong will never work. As discussed previously, those immigrants to America who refused to learn/speak English faced great hardship. Immigrants were seen in the same light as the Monkey King, as a higher power had determined their fate.

After some time trapped under the rocks that held the Monkey King in place, he was approached by Wong Lai-Tsao, sent on a mission by Tze-Yo-Tzuh. Wong Lai-Tsai expressed his intentions to the Monkey King who was reluctant to listen yet again. While Wong Lai-Tsai was being attacked by demons he pleas to the Monkey King one last time, “to find your true identity…within the will of Tze-Yo-Tzuh…that is the greatest of all freedoms” (pg. 149). His proclamation reasserts the idea that one must find who they really are to fit in, and not try to be someone they aren’t. The monkey was oppressed as many immigrants are when they are trying to fit in, but when they find who they are and find their place they are able to settle into their new environments.

Though this example of how the Monkey king was not accepted is a little silly it portrays and all too real story in America. Many immigrants try very hard to fit in when they arrive as they only know the lives they come from and know very little to nothing about the American way of life. A common occurrence is for immigrants to come from very wealthy and prestigious families and jobs, yet when they come here, they are forced to start new lives. The Monkey King demonstrates this struggle with one’s self that many will have when trying to redefine themselves. In the end it is important to keep pieces of you that define who you are, but it’s nearly impossible to overcome the higher power that has already determined your future. America is the power ,and history has determined the way that immigrants must behave in order to be accepted members of society.

David Mack

Journal 4

            In Gloria Anzaldúa’s How to Tame a Wild Tongue, she explores the complexities and struggles of living in a body that can be expressed by many languages. She talks of all the different languages that she experiences and how it can be difficult to know which ones to use and when. She describes the different languages that range from English to Spanish and all the mixes in between.

            In describing her personality and how language impacts her daily life in society and how she identifies herself, Anzaldúa sprinkles pieces of her languages into her text. As a student who also takes Spanish I understood a lot of what she wrote as she did a beautiful job incorporating Spanish into her work. In Spanish anything that has a -ar, -er, or -ir suffix is considered to be a verb. When I was learning Spanish in 7^th grade I often added those endings to common verbs to make it sound as if I understood the language. Anzaldúa describes one of the dialects that defines her as; “Tex-Mex argot, created by adding a Spanish sound at the beginning or end of an English word such as cookiar for cook, watchar for watch, parkiar for park, and rapiar for rape, is the result of the pressures on Spanish speaker to adapt to English” (pg.70). Her quote defines the Mexican immigrant through the use of language and pressure. Something I did as an innocent middle schooler has become something that is used and understood by people who speak Spanish and different variations of the language.

            Anzaldúa also talks of the effect this mixing has had on her and others who consider themselves to be Chicana. She recalls, “In childhood we are told that our language is wrong. Repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self. The attacks continue throughout our lives” (pg. 80). Americans have been known to discriminate against those who don’t fit in, but Anzaldúa makes the point that they do fit in and have a rich history here. I believe that Anzaldúa talk of these experiences and her history because its important and any normal person can feel for the struggle she has had to endure. For anyone to have something so important to them targeted simply because it is not what the majority believes in is absurd. This country was built on immigrants and to read a story like hers makes me so upset that people aren’t accommodating. She also notes that, “by the end of this century, Spanish speakers will compromise the biggest minority group in the U.S.” (pg. 81). This fact alone should make a reader realize the importance of Spanish speakers and the culture they bring to American society.

            If I were in her position I would feel the same way and hope that a country as great as America would accommodate her to live the life she wishes to live. English is important, but this country needs the diversity brought here by others, and their languages should be prized not punished.

            In this piece by Phillip Deloria, he begins by telling the story of the Boston Tea Party, an event that changed public opinion of the Native Americans and their culture. The Boston Tea Party took place after foreign tea was prohibited from being offloaded from the ships waiting at the port, and in response a group of men dressed as Indians stormed the ships and dumped all the tea into the harbor. Deloria claims that this began a rich history of Americans using Indian dress and culture to define themselves. Americans had been battling a dilemma, kill the Indians or force them to assimilate to the new society. Neither happened, instead, many Indian practices were brought into the American society. Deloria’s piece outlines many reasons and examples for why this took place in the growth of America and why we bring Indian culture into our lives.

The ideal American, or characteristics of an ideal American are so vague and there is nothing that definitively separates Americans from others. We may share things in common, but I don’t feel that we have a set of defining characteristics that make us American. Deloria writes about how Americans have been attempting to define themselves as a unique people.  Deloria claims that, “costume and disguise—especially when associated with holidays, rituals, or concealing the dark—can have extraordinary transformative qualities” (Deloria p.6). This quote reaffirms the idea that the men disguised as Indians set a precedent for others to display Indian dress. The costumes gave the men a false sense of reality, as they needed the disguises to legitimize what they were doing. The wearing of Indian clothing has been a sign of the effect the Indians had on the newly colonized United States.

            Deloria continues to cite examples where Americans use Indian ideas and practices as their own. He describes a common situation where “at the turn of the twentieth century, the thoroughly modern children of angst-ridden upper- and middle-class parents wore feathers and slept in tipis and wigwams at camps with multisyllabic names” (Deloria p.7). This observation demonstrates that Indian culture and tradition had an impact on the American lifestyle. The people who were making decisions in America sent their kids to a place that openly utilized Indian practices. Deloria makes the point that if they are you using all these aspects of Indian life it would be quite hard to discredit the active role the Indians had in the growth of America

I was a boy scout for many years and have slept in many Native American structures. Many of our ceremonies required men to dress in Indian attire and recite Indian teachings in the native tongue. Had we not adopted Indian practices, I know for a fact that scouting would not be the same as it is today. I think this speaks to the fact that even today we rely on Indian practices and culture to fill our voids as a people.

 The adoption of Indian ideas and cultures started with The Boston Tea Party and continues today. America is an ever growing/changing county and the Indians ways have and will continue to have a role in our countries’ identity.

David Mack 

America has been a place that immigrants have wanted to call home since the Declaration of Independence. When people come here, they are forced to become a member of our society and assimilate to all aspects of American life. I personally believe don’t believe that assimilation is a necessary process to occur when a group of people moves to a new country. I believe that keeping your identity and culture is extremely important to who you are and ensuring that the legacy of your ancestors carries on in your life and hopefully your children.  

“Nathan Zuckerman, on a visit to Israel finds himself defending his identity as a Jew against the claims of an ageing Zionist who insists that there is no country for a Jew but Israel.” This point resonates with me as a Jewish-American who has traveled to Israel. Over the past three generation of my family we have lost many of our ties to Israel and the Jewish religion. When traveling to Israel I feel like your typical American on a tour and not a Jew who feels at home. My family has roots in Israel but as a result of the Holocaust many of my ancestors were killed or fled to foreign countries and many left their religion behind to ensure their families safety. We are still Jews, but time and time again I ask, am I really Jewish? Do I really embody everything that my ancestors believed in? Would they see me as a Jew or an American who forgot his history? 

My family much like many others has become assimilated and lost our religion, language, and culture. My ancestors would never have eaten a bacon cheeseburger let alone a cheeseburger, yet with these foods being so readily available I have failed to keep kosher as my grandparents once did. In a similar fashion to others who have lost their history as a people, I don’t feel that I have a special space in society. I am a part of America, but there really isn’t anything that makes me stand out or feel a connection to my roots as a Jew and an American. 

In the complete flip side, the Native Americans, a people who were already here, were subjected to the same forces of assimilation, and I would say these forces were even stronger than my ancestors experienced. The colonists “in positions of power defined Native Americans as a racially inferior, savage, childlike, and in need of readjustment to the ‘better’ life of the dominant culture.” In this case Native Americans had a new culture forced upon them, simply because they didn’t match the ideal American or believe in the same things as the majority of the people moving to the new world. The Native Americans were treated with utter disrespect and hatred, simply because they didn’t fit in. 

I don’t think assimilation is necessary in any society as these two examples show. I think America is the great country that it is because of all the different people it attracts. I don’t believe any person should ever be forced to do or believe something they don’t agree with. The differences we all have is what makes us who we are and defines us as people. If we were all the same this country/world would be so boring and I don’t think assimilation has any place in it. 

            I started this reading being very confused. The poem threw me off and then the essay began without an explanation or transition. I quickly realized that W.E.B Du Bois was writing about the way he grew up and the hardships he encountered as a black man in the United States. Despite being mocked and jeered at constantly he never lost his composure. It upset me when he told the story of how he had tried to give the new girl in his class a card and she refused it with a look of disgust, which is when he realized he was different. This anecdote was relatable as every young kid wants to be accepted by his/her peers regardless of their differences. I too would have plotted in my head to figure out a way to get ahead of those who disrespected me. I think Du Bois does a very good job here to appeal to the feelings of the reader regardless of their background.

            Du Bois writes, “One ever feels his two-ness, –an American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” Du Bois talks of the daily struggle that a black man had to endure as a result of being a member of American society. It’s hard to fathom the strength it took to be in this situation and maintain the self-control that many people did as described by Du Bois. They had to live a double life, two lives that didn’t agree, two lives that were extremely hard to maintain, and as a reader this makes me feel the utmost respect for the strength exhibited by these men and women.

            Bu Bois continues to write about the impact that black culture and history played in the creation of the America we know today. He points out the fact that, “there is no true American music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave; the American fairy tales and folk-lore are Indian and African; and, all in all, we black men seem the sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness.” Du Bois discusses the little things that allowed the Negro’s to have an identity for themselves. The whites prided themselves in making a lot of money and educating themselves and their kids. The general public in America was so caught up in their lives they failed to acknowledge the hardships the Negro population faced. The Negro men and women didn’t have much, but they were proud of their history and the little things that couldn’t be taken by the whites. They may not have been educated as the others or making money like the others, but they knew that if they kept their heads held high and minded their own business they too would one day live a better life.

            I really enjoyed reading this essay as it came from the perspective of someone who lived through the events he described. The account given by Du Bois is very complex and shows the challenges that Negros had to endure as second class citizens in America.