Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 6 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 7 months ago by
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- Why do people assume all Asian people just 'got right off the boat?' My family has been here five generations. I've been told 'you speak very good English for a foreigner.' Give me a break, I don't speak any other language. When people ask me where I'm from and I say Baltimore, they'll say 'No, where are you really from? I even had one guy who had just met me chastise me and say, 'Young lady, you know you weren't born here.'
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Name : K. Miller, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 36, City : Baltimore, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Giving kids nicknames as legal first names (such as Sally and Peggy), not encouraging them to 'be American/Canadian,' living in an area dominated by your home culture and not encouraging them to go to summer camps and other North American activities does not help. Seriously, this sort of behavior only adds to non-Asians perceiving Asians as 'outsiders.'User Detail :
Name : CC19150, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 22, City : Somewhere, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : University Student, Social class : Upper middle class,I think that's part of the Asian-American strife thing. It happens everywhere, though I've lived my entire life in the San Francisco area (crediting the liberalism here that may not exist in Baltimore). I'm glad you brought it up; non-Asian Americans need to hear this. I'm a fourth-generation Chinese-American.User Detail :
Name : Sarah28138, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : San Francisco area, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,People assume that because a lot of Asian people here ARE 'fresh off the boat.' We are a nation of immigrants, and where I live, in New York, the Asians are mostly immigrants or first generation (their parents were immigrants). It's natural to ask, because that is what most people experience. Instead of getting angry or upset, the best way to combat this attitude is by education. When people ask, they often don't mean any malice, they just want to know out of curiosity. They are interested in your culture. The more you tell people that you're fifth generation, the more they'll come to realize that Asians have been in this country for a long time, also. We are not often mentioned in their textbooks, and we don't get that much media coverage; we are still relative newcomers to this land.Another thing you have to examine honestly is why you would get upset when someone mistakes you for an immigrant. Are you ashamed of your culture? Are you embarrassed that someone might think you are an immigrant? What's wrong with that perception? I'm an immigrant, so naturally, I don't take offense when someone asks me where I'm from. I just tell them. I have no accent, and some people assume I was born here. I don't get angry at that, I just tell them no. I wonder why you would take offense at the opposite assumption.
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Name : CF, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 27, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I met an Asian-American woman recently who was accepted to a graduate program in the Midwest. The graduate school office assured her that she spoke English very well, but that they would need her Test of English as a Foreign Language scores before she was admitted. She told the school she was born in Chicago and that she was very offended-- and then enrolled in another program. I've never experienced anything like this, but I'm sure it would drive me crazy-- my sympathies!User Detail :
Name : Rhiannon, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 29, City : Eden Prairie, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Professor, Social class : Middle class,C.C., I'm wondering, though, why does a person have to disregard his/her native culture to become American/Canadian? That's basically like saying that this 'new' culture is better than their native culture, and honestly, it's not. It's just different. It's one thing to learn the language, but it's another to just forget all of who you are just b/c some people are xenophobic and have problems with diversity.User Detail :
Name : Jessi-J30822, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Columbus, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : College Student, Education level : 2 Years of College,
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