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.

The ending of “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang takes a major turn because we find out that Monkey King and Chin-Kee have all along been the same character. We find this out when Danny (who is really Jin Wang) beats up Chin-Kee because he is so annoyed at him for his consistent visits and the embarrassment he causes. When Danny throws a punch, Chin-Kee’s head flies off and underneath is Monkey King’s head. This is how we find out that all along Monkey King was Chin-Kee. It turns out that Monkey King is actually Wei-Chen’s father. This explains his consistent visits and presence in Jin’s life. It is because he comes to assess Wei-Chens progress during his test of virtue.

            I believe the end of this book is used to emphasize the importance of embracing our identities no matter what anyone else says about us. When Monkey King’s head is first revealed he says to Danny, “Now that I’ve revealed by true form, perhaps it is time to reveal yours…” (Yang 213). This is Monkey King calling Jin out for claiming to be someone he’s not. Jin had wished to become a white boy to escape his life as an Asian youth. He wanted to live the life of the majority of his classmates. One in which people would not treat him any differently because of his race. He transformed into Danny shortly after one of Amelia’s friends tells him to stop hanging out with Amelia because he doesn’t think Jin is “right” for Amelia. Jin knew he was saying this to him because he’s Asian, so this made him want to be white, so he didn’t have to deal with situations like that anymore. Monkey King was reminding Jin Wang who he really was.

            Before Monkey King leaves, he tells Jin, “I would have saved myself from five hundred years’ imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey” (Yang 223). This is Monkey King giving very wise advice to Jin. He is basically saying that he wishes he accepted and loved himself as a monkey long ago, so that he didn’t have to live through the misery that he did undergo. The self-hate he had formed and the lack of happiness of his true identity locked him up in an emotional prison. He allowed the negative things other people told him about his identity as a monkey to resonate deep down inside of him and sit there. He started to believe those degrading thoughts that others would tell him about himself. He started to live and bask in what other people thought about him instead of what he knew was true. This is exactly how Jin has been living…he’s been allowing his classmates to walk all over him and his self-confidence as an Asian youth. From him changing his lunches from dumplings to sandwiches at the beginning of the book, to him allowing a white boy to prevent him from talking to a girl, he was allowing the people around him to shape how he felt and acted. Monkey King was trying to remind him to be proud of his Asian identity, and that once he does that and accepts himself, he will be able to set himself free from the captivity he has allowed himself to fall into. I agree with Monkey King because if you can get yourself to love yourself for who you are, then no one has the power to take that away from you.

Your sixth journal entry will respond to either the last few chapters of American Born Chinese or to Min Zhou’s article “Are Asian Americans Becoming White?” You could also use some of the ideas from Zhou’s article to talk about ABC. Feel free to pick any theme, angle, and issue you want to discuss from either/both texts and write a 500-word entry with at least two direct quotes.

 

 

In reading American Born Chinese, I have some very conflicting feelings about some of the commentary and images shown throughout the chapters. Some I feel could be very offensive if taken out of context and others I would say are very good insights on the injustices of America. So I would like to elaborate on the theme of stereotypes. I think Gene Luen Yang does a fantastic job of bringing these societal stereotypes under the microscope. The way that he uses the character “Chin-Kee” is striking to me, and I think that is the mission. I believe that he made Chin-Kee so blatantly offensive with a purpose. The character of Chin-Kee is a conglomeration of a lot of the stereotypes that we see of Asians in America. His yellow skin, crossed eyes, round head, buck teeth and terrible “Asian accent” are all ways to bring these things to the light. I would particularly like to discus three of these types of stereotypes individually.

The first thing that I would like to highlight specifically is the way that Chin-Kee speaks. We see him having this accent that confuses consonants, which can definitely be seen as offensive. When Chin-Kee first enters the house, on page 54 (may not be the same as the print as I have the e-book), he announces loudly “HARRO AMELLICA” which is accompanied by laughter and clapping at the bottom of the page. As the story proceeds, we see his speech take on a tone that seems very sexual and offensive. I think Yang does an effective job of pulling these characteristics together to create a tone that sounds absolutely absurd to read. I would also say that reading the dialogue of Chin-Kee made me think “Does it really sound that terrible when we attempt that accent?” This, I’m sure, was Yang’s mission. I think this is also why he chose a derogatory term as the inspiration for his character’s name.

The second thing I would like to highlight is the laughter and applause at the bottom of the page. When I first saw this, it reminded me of the laughter that you would hear in an old sitcom on TV. I feel like when we watch some of those shows nowadays, the jokes aren’t as funny or may seem rude or offensive, which causes the audience’s applause to give me a sort of cringing feeling. The same goes for this text. It left me with a feeling of what I would describe as a mild disgust. On page 57, Chin-Kee says ” Such pletty Amellican girl wiff bountiful Amellican bosom! Must bind feet and bear Chin-Kee’s children!” and then on the bottom of this, there is laughter. I can’t speak for others, but I honestly found this quote pretty disgusting, yet there was people that were apparently laughing at this. Maybe this was the intent, to spur people to stop making these kinds of stereotypes a reality so there will be no audience to applaud.

The last think that I would like to speak on is Chin-Kee’s actual physical appearance. He has a round head, buck teeth, eyes that are perpetually closed eyes and pale yellow skin. Now if you’ve ever actually seen a person of Asian decent, you would know that this is not even close to being accurate, but for some reason, we have blown the differences in appearance of the average white American man and a common Asian man to such wild proportions that now the stereotypes have become this ridiculous looking. As kid, we may have pulled the corners of our eyes to the side and said “Hey, look! I’m Asian!” but as adults, we can see, via this comic if nothing else, how inaccurate and offensive this actually is.

So far I have very much enjoyed reading Yang’s take on the stereotypes of Asians in America, and I think he is so good at getting the point across with emphasis. For me, this has had me thinking whether or not I have any preconceived notions about Asian people that I need to stifle. I am anxious to continue reading and continuing to self-analyze.

I found the way in which Gene Luen Yang incorporated transformation into the plot of his book, American Born Chinese, very complex throughout the three storylines. The theme is initially introduced in the second chapter of the book when Jin is a young boy playing with his friends. They always played with, watched, and wished to be transformers. They wanted to be someone who could transfer between forms at will. These robots would use their abilities to fight “epic battles” against each other, yet, there was never a declared winner. In fact, there was never even a reason given as to why they were fighting in the first place. After reading the quote by the herbalist’s wife, “It’s easy to become anything you wish… so long as you are willing to forfeit your soul.” Transformer robots are soulless machines created to fight, making them fall under her assertion as well. I believe that this was placed by Gene Luen to represent the violent nature of constantly altering one’s state, and the toll it takes on the relationships one has with those around them. This especially manifests when the person in question is attempting to convince their peers to accept their new state of being.

               I have come to this conclusion due to several examples present in subsequent chapters. For instance, the Monkey king in the fourth chapter jeopardizes his entire life and all his godly connections in order to have everyone recognize him as “The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven”. He beat every other god into submission and even threatened the creator, which led to his entrapment for centuries. Another example is when Wei Chen confronts Jin for kissing Suzy. Jin did it out of spite and to prove that he was not like Wei Chen.

               Eventually, both characters undergo a transformation. This change, however, is the opposite of what the characters had attempted to achieve themselves. They tried to become something that they were not; for the monkey king, this was a humanlike deity, for Jin, this was a white kid. Gene Yang portrays them coming to the realization that for them to truly find happiness and the correct identity, they must allow people to accept them as they are. The transformation ends up being the pride and self-love that they can discover through their experiences and apparently interwoven stories.

               I did not find the connection of the stories by Yang in the end of the book very compelling by any stretch of the term. It was not well set up by the rest of the story and left the reader with a sense of unfinished explanations. For example, why did the monkey king believe it was necessary to be the embodiment of a stereotype so abysmally offensive to visit Jin? I believe that this question overshadows much of the commentary afforded by the presence of such a character. I will admit, the use of a white character in the form of Danny to illustrate Jin’s outlook/presentation of himself was an ingenious way of portraying his transformation in high school. The lack of explanation, though, for Chin-Kee’s actions sully this experience as he proved to be such a central character to the storyline. ry

Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel carries with it a reoccurring theme of transforming into one’s own self. We have discussed many themes and ideas in class so far that are intersectional, and I think the concept of identity fits best throughout all aspects. The most prominent place I found this to come into play is when we are introduced and learning about the story of the Monkey King. This character comes off to me as very noble and has a great sense of self and where he wants to be in relation to the other deities. In order for the Monkey King to become an equal to these deities he does what he can to be the best version of himself and reach his highest level of Kung Fu. In this fantasy world, the Monkey king falls short of impressing the deities through his egotism and lack of characteristics that had originally set him apart. Not only does he lose his diversification and ability to stand next to the deities, but he also loses his sense of belonging in himself through his efforts to conform. 

Focusing on one of the first stories we’re exposed to, we see the Monkey King being refused a spot alongside the deities when he tries to enter with no shoes on. When they are in the midst of shunning him, they proclaim that, “You may be a king— you may even be a deity— but you are still a monkey,” (23) to which the Monkey King realizes the discrimination that takes place and begins to put his true self into question. Like many can most likely relate to, when faced with mockery, we usually partake in any way that will make ourselves conform to be the same as those who ridicule us. This is exactly what the Monkey king did, and he began to trade the things about him that made him a noble leader to his people, to things that would strip him of being hit with more criticisms. When he went back to reconvene with his people, he almost ridicules them the same way he was by the deities, forcing them to only step foot into his kingdom with shoes. The Monkey King, with zero penitence, proclaimed to his followers, “All monkeys must wear shoes!” (60) 

Through his journey with the deities, he goes through a transformation of identities shifting from what was his idea of a “higher self” with the gods to staying rooted to what was original and authentic to himself. His people began to notice this identity crisis as well, as we saw the growing frustration between his internal and external relationships which reflect in his transformation in his true self. 

The novel, American Born Chinese, by Jin Wang tells three very different stories with common themes. All of these stories deal with assimilation into a different dominant culture and the struggles that come with it.  In the first story of the monkey king, Monkey King tries to attend a party of the gods but is rejected. In the book the reasoning for his rejection was summed into one sentence, “You may be a king, you may even be a deity, but you still are a monkey.” (pg 15) This single phrase shows the tragic nature of discrimination. The monkey king was a great person and has done many great things worthy of praise but no matter what he does he will not gain any respect simply for what he is. A monkey. 

            This is a very fitting analogy for reality in that people get placed into groups based on race or place of origin, and these are things out of the control of that person. It is a real crime that people choose to judge based on things out of one’s control as opposed to things that the person has had the choice to make. Because of this people often try their hardest to change themselves and their self-image to what the new society deems acceptable.  Monkey King is no exception. When he is discriminated for being a monkey, the first thing he does is look for everything that is “wrong” with him and attempts to change it. However, the things he deems about him that are “wrong” are not things that are necessarily bad nor are they things that her can realistically change, but they are the things that make up his personal identity. When Monkey King tells all monkeys to begin wearing shoes, then learned how to change his appearance to look like a human, then goes as far to call himself a human and totally throw away his whole prior existence as a monkey, he changes everything that makes him unique and great. He makes these changes not for himself but for others and that is what we see in reality as well. Immigrants to new nations are often discriminated for their previous culture and seek to leave behind what they know. This decreases the diversity of culture and is actually harmful for society that is strengthened by diversity.

            Jin Wang went through similar discrimination upon moving to a new city. Jin Wang was very different racially from almost everyone at his new school and was treated differently because of it. The first question that was asked to Jin Wang was whether or not he ate dogs which was thought he did solely due to his ethnicity. Jin couldn’t even be friends with another Asian girl because of ludicrous rumors about them, “When the class finally figured out we weren’t related, rumors began to circulate that Suzy and I were arranged to be married on her thirteenth birthday. We avoided each other as much as possible.” (pg 31) Jin had to consciously avoid being a target of stereotypes and was forced to assimilate to the dominant culture because of discrimination for his ethnicity.

The graphic novel American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang takes a dynamic look at American identity. The book takes the reader through three seemingly unrelated storylines, each exploring a different facet of Chinese-American experience. The three plots follow Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny through struggles regarding ethnicity. Throughout the novel, though, a recurring theme of shame seems to appear.

The Monkey King thrives in his homeland, ruling over the other monkeys and his kingdom. He fits right in with his subjects, and never needs to even acknowledge his monkey-ness. It is not until he journeys to heaven after obtaining important disciplines that he realizes he is different than the other deities. He shows up to the party with confidence, only to be turned away at the door and scrutinized by the whole crowd. The doorman rejects him immediately, saying “you may be a king- you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey” (pg. 15 panel 2), taking notice of his bare feet. Monkey King is first rageful, but upon returning to his home, he feels immense embarrassment and shame. He longs to wipe all indication of his primate background as quickly as possible and soon tries to spread this throughout his monkey kingdom. He orders subjects to wear shoes and act less like the monkeys that they are. The king goes through intense transformation attempting to show his worth and leave his heritage behind.

Jin Wang is faced with adversity as soon as he transfers from a predominantly Chinese neighborhood to a school of white children. He notices he is different immediately and the teasing from his peers only worsens his moral. Jin feels shameful and works hard to blend in with his peers. From switching the contents of his lunch, to donning a new hairstyle, he tries his best to appear and act like his white counterparts. He internalizes the sentiments that have been thrown at him about his ethnicity and when approached by the new Taiwanese student, Jin yells back “You’re in America. Speak English.” (pg. 37 panel 3). Assimilation based rhetoric has certainly been something Jin has been exposed to and he mirrors back these ideas at his fellow minority.  Jin and his friends are teased by others at Mayflower Elementary and the abashment they feel combined with the pressures to be more white, makes accepting their identities difficult.

Danny experiences not embarrassment about his own heritage, but of his cousin Chin-Kee’s. As soon as his flamboyant and inappropriate cousin comes to town, Danny is mortified by his stereotypical actions. He does everything in his power to discredit and evade Chin-Kee’s shenanigans, but finds himself becoming more and more hateful towards his cousin’s culture. Danny hides his guest away from his peers to the best of his ability, but Chin-Kee still finds means to disrupt the peace. With each heavily accented, perverted comment and vulgar act, Danny becomes more and more ashamed that he is related to Chin-Kee and tries to denounce their association. Danny is unable to accept their differences because they are far too great.

Shame has been a common emotion felt by ethnic minorities throughout history. Often, since the influence of the majority is so great, the only way to feel at peace is to assimilate into white culture. W.B. Du Bois echoes these sentiments in his work, explaining the disgrace African Americans feel within this country. It is nearly impossible to accept one’s identity when nothing but resentment is mirrored back. Dual identity is also a novel concept because any inkling of a past ethnicity will bring certain scrutiny. Yang does a remarkable job of capturing all of the different ways shame is personified when it comes to ethnic differences.

In the graphic novel “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang, there is a main concepts that stood out to me, assimilation. All the story about the monkey king, the mother and child who moved houses three different time and the main character who moved to a new school all connected through the assimilation theme. The monkey king tried to change himself to fit the “criteria” of people who are accepted to the party that he was denied access because he was a monkey and he was not wearing shoes. The meaning of the story about a mother and her child is that the child “fit” in the environment he was put in. When he lived near the market, he played as vendors, buy and sell sticks. When he lived near a cemetery, he sang songs to the ancestors and he started to study, to read books when he moved near a university. And as for the main character, he also tried to fit in with his friends and stopped packing dumplings and started to bring sandwiches. In all stories, something had to be changed so that the characters are more like the others or to fit with the environment that they lived in, even if the change altered who they are, their core identities.

Much like the readings from class, these characters had to change their identities to be more of a “God” or “American” or just more fit with the conditions they live in. Being bullied by his classmates, Jin Wang completely brushed off his Chinese culture starting by not bringing Chinese food for lunch to learning the “cool””American” phrases like “‘Don’t have a cow, man’” (102). He even told Wei-Chen “You’re in America. Speak English” (37). Such response learned, no non-white children would have said it if it was not because a white person told them that. Again, the idea of “fitting in” is the same as the pieces we read before like Philip Deloria’s “Introduction to Playing Indian” where the Indianess had to be striped from their identities so they can be fully American. It seemed that the idea of being fully American was ingrained in Jin Wang’s mind through being bullied and discriminated against.

I think there is a lot of reading between the lines in this graphic novel and the readers have to really pay attention to the details because there are so many hidden meanings. Our class had discussed a great deal about assimilation and how it affect the individuals of minority groups and read a lot about it also, but to be able to see the graphic of it, the emotions are better described in this graphic novel. The novel brought all the emotions alive, instead of just feeling through words, we can see the expressions of the characters in the novel.

The first few chapters of Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel, American Born Chinese, addresses several of the various key issues and themes discussed thus far in class. One of the most prominent of those concepts, I believe, is the idea of assimilation, which is demonstrated most notably in the section of reading focusing on the Monkey King.

A proud yet idealistic ruler of his people, the Monkey King strived to be the best version of himself that he could be. He mastered the various Kung-Fu techniques and disciplines of immortality, all in an effort to one day be accepted as an equal by his fellow deities in Heaven. His arrogance soon brought about his downfall, however, as he quickly began losing not only the great power he acquired to impose his will on the other gods, but also the unique traits that set him and his people apart from the other groups living in this fantasy world.

Upon arrival at a dinner party in Heaven, the King was quickly met with prejudice, ridicule, and ultimate rejection by the other deities in attendance. After being told by a guard that he could not be allowed in, the Monkey King began to boast: “I, too, am a deity!,” he proclaimed. “I am a committed disciple of the arts of Kung-Fu and I have mastered the four major heavenly disciplines, prerequisites to immortality!” (Yang 14). The guard, dismissive of the King’s claims, brashly replies, “Look. You may be a king – you may even be a deity. But you are still a monkey” (Yang 15). This encounter reflects one of the central messages in Of Our Spiritual Strivings, an earlier reading in our class by famed African American writer and intellectual, W.E.B Du Bois. In this reading the author briefly mentions a story of how his card was rejected by a new girl during an exchange at school. He later states, “Then it dawned on me with a certain suddenness that I was different than others” (Du Bois).

This parallel between Yang’s work and Du Bois’ reality exemplifies the dilemma of assimilation dealt with by all minority groups. Du Bois continues on in his piece to assert that despite all of his various achievements in life, he was still heavily characterized by his outward appearance alone. The Monkey King faced a similar struggle, as he was still ridiculed by his fellow deities despite his newfound immortality and gains in the art of Kung-Fu. In an effort to be accepted, both Du Bois and the Monkey King tried to assimilate. But despite their efforts, they still faced rejection.

As mentioned earlier, the Monkey King lost some crucial aspects of his identity during the assimilation process. After his embarrassing encounter in Heaven, the King forced all his Monkey subjects to wear shoes. He then later emerged from his isolation a different ruler; he was taller, prouder, and even refused a banana offered to him by his subjects. He denounced the monkey race and even the title of Monkey King for a much more elegant title of, “The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.” This dismissal of self is common amongst minorities trying to find belonging in an unfamiliar environment, one in which their identities and past lives are overwhelmingly rejected. Take Jin Wang (another character in the novel), for example. After being made fun of by his peers for eating dumplings, he starts packing sandwiches for lunch. When a new Asian student tries to befriend him, he scoffs, “You’re in America. Speak English” (Yang 37). Jin willingly throws away aspects of his identity that made him unique, all in an effort to fit in. And despite this, he stilled faced ridicule from his fellow classmates.

Several of the themes discussed thus far in class have been key elements of the storytelling in Yang’s American Born Chinese, with assimilation being one of the most prominent. Although several other examples of this concept can be found in the first few chapters of the text alone, the ones discussed in this discussion post are what I believe to be the most noteworthy.