24 November 2003 22:01
the following is an excerpt from the following website, alllooksame.com. (the original site (here) itself is not the object of this blog, although it's pretty cool. it's a test to discover how accurate you are at distinquishing between three major asian ethnicities. i scored a 7/18, the equivalent of pathetic. the test is fairly cheesy, but telling).the objective of this post is to have you read the following excerpt (presuming of course, that you're even halfway interested in reading it). nothing exceptional from the text jumped out at me. rather, the subject matter in general was of interest, she takes a stance that i agree with. also, she writes with wit, and even addresses the audience in a manner that i myself have used (although probably not too much on this blogsite). read away, and see if perhaps you can enjoy her use of the language as much as i did. ps, i haven't read all of her posts that i linked to above in very great detail. the only other one worth mentioning is July16, 02. the rest are mediocre, and most are downright useless, so read those at your own risk.
However I have as of late observed that this question, harmless enough in a multicultural grab bag like this fine city, can create great duress and offense to certain people of the Asian appearance and persuasion. When a NALP (Non-Asian Looking Person) asks where I am from, I presume that the question is in fact an implicit inquiry of my ethnicity. The subtle stress on the words are and you in the question suggest that they are by no means interested in a domestic locale such as Brooklyn, and they certainly would be enormously disappointed should this pair of rose petal lips answer with a ghastly, “Ohio.” I have never assumed the worst in the NALP for noticing my physical difference (after all how could he not notice?), nor have I assumed that this NALP is discriminating and treating me with political in-correctness. For the life of me, I couldn’t conjure another way of inquiring another’s ethnicity. One can’t very well say, “Your eyes sho’ look funny. Where are you folk from anyway?” Or “What’s that language you be speakin’ theres?” Would the incensed Asian Looking Person (pun intended) be less indignant if the NALP had explicitly asked, “What country are you from?”
One particular encounter I will recount demonstrates the complexity and subtle political play involved in our innocuous question. An Asian looking man and I were having a lovely conversation and sharing typical immigrant stories of growing up as one of the few Asian families living in our town. You gentle, sophisticated Readers may find nothing remarkable or worth noting about this, but I must remind you, in the olden days before “feng shui” and Pearl River Imports became popular, wearing a Chinese-styled dress to school did not elicit compliments and positive attention. Since I could not tell whether my companion was of the Chinese, Korean, or Japanese descendent, I asked him the question.
“Brooklyn,” he answered matter-of-factly.
“I meant where were you born?” I persisted.
“Brooklyn,” he said again unblinking.
“What ethnicity are you?” I finally inquired. Correctly this time.
He was Chinese.
Aye, and there is the rub. National versus ethnic identity has created the ideology of being a “dash-American.” No one else in other countries identify himself as an “Chinese-English,” “Chinese-French,” or a “Chinese-Kiwi.” A “Chinese-American,” “Japanese-American,” or the all-encompassing “Asian-American” exists only in America where it suggests: A) I am not FOB (fresh off the boat), B) Don’t ask me questions about “feng shui” or what my Chinese name is, or C) Watch what you say around me.
Although I do think that having a strong sense of one’s national identity is important, I do not think that this sense can be defined through nomenclature nor through employing a language of denial. Belonging, entitlement, and the right-to-be-here are ideologies that can not be shaped by attaching a “dash” after one’s ethnic root. Does anyone really care what comes after “dash”? I do not.
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