[Jerome O.]

You’re looking at it in reverse, Andrew. The first part is an adjective. It’d be like saying you’re a ‘white male American.’ You’re American first and foremost, and of the white male kind. By using the hyphenation, we minorities are trying to hold onto our heritage (which is what makes us what and who we are) while celebrating the fact that we are American. Accusing us of not being interested in being American and saying explicitly that we should stop doing that is exactly like telling you to stop being white and male. Those are characteristics that have defined who and what you are. Just the same, being of Japanese descent has defined me and what I am. Denying it means denying a significant part of what made me who I am — just as you can’t deny all the aspects of being from Texas and how that’s affected YOUR life. Finally, we minorities have to use those definitions because of the simple fact that we ARE minorities. If I say ‘I’m American,’ the assumption is that I’m white and male. Even I do it, and so does just about everyone else. It’s just the simple characteristic of being a majority — everyone assumes one is a member of that majority without any distinctions otherwise. We’ve ‘allowed’ ourselves to become a hyphenated society because THAT’S the freedom that America was supposed to promise, not the xenophobes that we’ve become.

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Name : Jerome O., Gender : M, Race : Asian, Age : 31, City : Sterling Hts., State : MI, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jerome O.]

In addition to being fearful of causing offense, there is also no defined line of what’s acceptable and what isn’t. With minorities being exactly that — less in numbers — many white people don’t come into contact with members of minority groups. We minorities encounter white people ALL the time, so we’ve grown familiar with how to interact with white people. However, the converse isn’t always true — thus, the proliferation of ‘white jokes’ with black comedians but hardly the reverse. I try to break the ice with my friends by making comments about my ‘Asianness’. After all, I know I’m different, so why hide it or avoid it? By me saying it first, I am hoping to give my friends a measure of relaxation so they don’t have to tiptoe around that MAJOR difference. I also encourage them to ask me about my cultural background.

User Detail :  

Name : Jerome O., Gender : M, Race : Asian, Age : 31, City : Sterling Hts., State : MI, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

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