I Was A True American

What this novel does not touch on is the harsh levels of discrimination that some Asian-American families faced during the 20th centuries, some people telling at them to go back to Vietnam, Korea, or wherever they came from, some refusing service, perhaps throwing them out for being different, similarly to how African-Americans were treated during that time, and similar to how some Muslims are being treated today. However, more insidious than moments of outright hostility, and maybe more powerful, are the constant weak reminders that you’re different, that you’re not one of them. The “sign at the Peking Express” (Ng 193), the “little boys on the playground, stretching their eyes to slits with their fingers” (Ng 193), you even “saw it when waitresses and policemen and bus drivers spoke slowly to you, in simple words, as if you might not understand” (Ng 193). All these tiny things, these little reminders that you’re not the same as everyone else around you, may have more impact on the people being discriminated against than blatant in-your-face

To be young and Asian in America is a special brand of torture. There is an unspoken dictum of silence that grips Asian youth, a denial of our place in popular culture. Asian youth walk in America not quite sure where we fit in-black children have a particular brotherhood, Hispanic children have a particular brotherhood, white children own everything else. We cannot lay claim to jazz or salsa or swing; we cannot say our ancestors fought for equality against an oppressive government or roamed the great hallways of power across the globe. We do not have a music, a common hero, a lexicon of slang. Asian youth experience personal diasporas every day.

As someone of Asian race, but adopted into a white suburban family, it has always been hard to reconcile the two. Growing up I never saw myself different than my primarily white classmates. Only when kids, mostly strangers, would sometimes pull their eyelids back or spoke pseudo-Chinese in an attempt to imitate Asian culture in middle school did I realize that I was different on the outside did I begin to understand that the

In this age of the internet, we know hear even more and more of racism against Asian Americans still occurring. In Le C.N.’s blogs at www.asian-nation.org , he writes about what he reads in the newspapers or sees on the Television when an Asian American is the victim of violence that is occurring in school or even around

Asian Americans may also face the realities of racism and discrimination in the United States. Institutional racism, like initiatives to speak English only, as well as individual racism that includes “differential treatment, verbal insults, and racial slurs” are a reality that some Asian

A terrible experience during the eighth grade has caused me to become prejudiced against Koreans, and believed that they were the most avaricious race of people. Since then this has prompted me to develop a negative notion towards them. During my middle school years, my parents would give my brother and I lunch money for school on a daily basis. Every day after class, we would have to walk to our house which was quite distant from our school. One day, we decided to stop by a store on our way home because we were dying of thirst. After we selected one drink that we agreed to share and went to the counter, we realized that we were short five cents. The store owner told us that we could not purchase the drink unless we had the exact amount of

Dave Hazzan's article offers how the Korean media think about Black people. Media critics did not know for the first time the appearance of black people in Korea.It was true that the images of black culture that were familiar to Koreans before 1980 were slaves and poor people. Since the 1980s, media images have become more sinister, focusing on black crime, violence or drug use.

When the Koreans are forced to change their family names to Japanese ones, their Korean identity is weakened. Going through this traumatizing experience is

Looking at Zia’s chapter, “To Market, To Market, New York Style” she mentions that based on the middleman minority theory the Black community generally hated the Koreans (Zia). However, this is not true as the community simply had social customs that were considered rude (Zia). This does not mean Koreans were prejudiced free as they constantly saw blacks as, ‘Crime-prone predators’ (Zia 95) because of Hollywood and American G.I.’s. As a result, both communities loathe each other which worsen racial relations. Looking directly at the L.A. riots, Zia’s, “Lost and Found in L.A.” mentions like in her previous chapter racial relations were not well. Continuing from the chapter, the media portrayed the shooting of Latsha Harlins as a racial incident worsening each’s other anger (Zia). To the point, any peacekeeper would be, “Called out as an apologist and sellout” (Zia 181). So, when the L.A. riots occurred racial tensions peaked and all was scared from the events. Looking back at the time is Kim’s documentary “Home is Where the Hans Are” where she states America was the dream for fortune and fame until it turned out as a lie because they had to struggle in this new country to survive (Kim). This relates back to lecture and Zia’s point on the middleman minority theory as both state that the black community were against the Koreans because they were financially better. However the video Wet Sand

Under the Black Umbrella tells the many captivating stories about the 35 years of Japanese occupation in Korea through both world wars. The memories are all from the perspective of Korean men and women who lived through some or all of it. Many of their stories and the history during that time are influenced by several factors, some of which include their location in Korea or surrounding areas and the government’s involvement in recording history. The Japanese were not all awful to the Koreans, since they were humans all the same, but they committed enough atrocities to have a bad reputation with the Koreans. In attempts to unify, North Koreans employed nationalism and ethnocentrism to fuel their way to become a strong nation again. South Koreans did not rally around such extreme ways and did not utilize their northern brethren’s methods of fear for power. Back then and now, globalization is a part of life and it should not be stifled. Nationalistic thinking will bring about more pain and suffering rather than just trying to coexist. Korea faced many hardships with the Japanese occupation. In recovery to their rule, issues arose when it came to accuracy in history, nationalism, ethnocentrism, and the different roles they all took between the north and the south.

Research qualitatively interviewed 13 Korean immigrant youth and found that they struggle to negotiate and shift their identities across different interpersonal contexts – “frame switching” (Lafromboise et al. 1993) - to meet deferring expectations, and to balance “American” and “Korean” cultural values and norms. Some stressors include discrimination, stereotypes, conflicts from parents’ cultural values being transmitted down to the adolescents, and these immigrant adolescents rely on school, peers and church to deal with the

So, if I make the fried Kim-chi with the Kim-chi from a market, it is just not tasty as much as the one that my mom made. Yet, however the taste of it, every time I eat Kim-chi, it reminds me of my mom’s caring for me and the fact that I am Korean. Because when she tried to make me eat Kim-chi, she always used to say like ‘oh, Koreans should eat Kim-chi.’ By that time, however, what she said did not really come across my mind. Since all the people around me were Korean, I did not really know what being Korea means. But now I am in America, and being ‘Korean’ becomes one of the unique characteristics that represent me.

A real epiphany came to me when a friend of mine told me that she wanted to learn Korean. When I asked her why she said that she just loved Korean pop music and dramas so much that she wanted to learn some of the language to appreciate the culture more. This made me realize that coming from a different background is a blessing and not an embarrassment. Why would I purposely avoid my culture and try to be Americanized? As I go back to the Korean culture of which I avoided, I realized that there is no such thing as being “Americanized”. In the only place that will be a minority-majority nation by the mid-century, the US has a distinct identity for accepting other people's cultures. As I taught myself Korean, made Korean foods with my parents, and watched KPop videos online, I felt more appreciative, but more importantly, I felt more secure as a person. I had no right to run from who I was. My parents were the ones who were harassed for being first-generation immigrants, not

Don’t be racist, be PewDiePie. He is Swedish, looks American, lives in the UK, has an Italian girlfriend, and likes Mexican candy. The U.S. is no longer as racist as it used to be, as 200 years ago, you were likely a slave because of your skin color. However, today many Americans are being racist to Asians in a new way: stereotyping. Hello, I’m Dexter Chen, and today I will be discussing why you shouldn’t stereotype Asians because stereotypes aren’t true, are extremely discouraging, and because stereotyping is offensive in general. Before we get into this topic, let me explain what stereotyping is. Stereotyping is judging a group, religion, ethnicity, or even gender, although these stereotypes might not reflect on reality. This is caused by social media, the human tendency to reduce complex things to simple things, and prejudice. You might be thinking to yourself: Gee, how is stereotyping offensive? It’s just a playful way of describing someone! If you are thinking that doubtful thought, then pay attention, because I will show you why you shouldn’t stereotype anyone, especially Asians.

My return to Korea in the summer of 2001 was nothing short of a culture shock. I was in a country I thought I had learned by heart. It was the country I always rooted my identity and pride from. I wasn’t ready for the shock. I