J.D. Hokoyama compared Asian Americans to Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man in his speech last night at a banquet for an organization for Asian American professionals (the org is by no means exclusive and has plenty of non-Asian American members). He said we're seen as the nice, quiet, model minority types who are supposedly silently succeeding in America.
He had a few suggestions for us to be successful:
-Be comfortable with yourself. Being comfortable with yourself will allow other people to be comfortable with you. And these days you can still be successful while being proud of where your roots, you background, your whatever.
He was, of course, preaching to the choir at the banquet. The people who he really needed to talk to are not in that organization. Either they are embarrassed about their backgrounds, which I'm sorry to say plenty of Asian Americans are like that here in the U.S. or they think are white or black. Seriously. You think I'm joking but that's what some people think. What I want to say is Hello! You're Asian American. You're not Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. You're Asian American. You're a hybrid and you should be proud of it. Obviously you're not, which is why you're pretending to be something else you're not.
Personally, I don't like being called Asian or Chinese because that's not really who I am. I am Asian American. It embodies everything about me. Sure, I'm Chinese by blood, I don't deny that at all. It's not that I'm not proud of my heritage but I lived in China for a year, studied the language and the culture extensively, so I am aware of the fact that at the end of the day I am not that Chinese. This has nothing to do with speaking the language. I'm talking about my values, what my culture is (hybrid), what I've experienced, the way I think, etc.
I've noticed since I've moved back from China that I see certain things differently compared to my Chinese American peers. When I tell some of them that they aren't really that Chinese, they have no idea what I'm talking about. Being Chinese isn't just about working really hard or doing well academically or pinching your pennies. It's about a thought process, maintaining all of your relationships with people and functioning collectively.
-Develop the skills you need to become successful.
Obviously, that's a given. But knowing about as much as you can because when you get to the decision-making table, YOU WILL HAVE AN OPINION and people actually value what you're talking about it. IMAGINE THAT. Asian Americans who are not just good worker bees but LEADERS in our own country. It's about time.
And people wonder why I haven't settled down yet. IT'S CUZ I'M STILL DEVELOPING THOSE SKILLS. Am I behind the curve? Nope. I know myself. I can't be super woman and do all of those things because I would just be a wreck. That's another topic for another time.
Here's Hokoyama's bio:
http://www.naaapconvention.org/2011/SpeakerProfiles/JDHokoyama.aspx
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