What does it mean to be Asian-American?

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Asian American

Introduction

Sometime back people would say it is blasy to be Asian American , but only a few decades ago things have taken a new dimension . Asian American ' did not exist , they were not even included in the United States Census , and they were considered other ' during the census it is a term that was never heard on TV , Radio or read in the newss (Kwon 2006 : pp .2-7 . In this context , choosing to be Asian American is about deciding to be

Asian and not white because it was about rejecting racial stratification and stereotypes of whom exactly Asian people were in the United States and taking the side of the oppressed people . The Asian American identity rose out of common experience in US and out of the experience of being treated as that of an inferior race (Kwon 2006 pp .7-14 . Therefore the differences in our home countries became less important and as a result , we were able to find a common interest and identity

Actually the term broke the old thinking and symbolized a new way of looking at ourselves . The term spoke to us since it was a refusal to allow white people and their mainstream culture to define us . We were given rallying point which identified who we were , who we are and what we stand for . However , the older talks , the Chinese Six Companies , the Japanese American citizens ' league , our parents were shocked , but they too came to understand that Asian American ' was to oriental ' as per what Black ' was to Negro . The political climate of 60 's and 70 's enabled us to overcome language and historical barriers in to come together as Asian Americans , at the same time build alliances with other communities it made little difference whether one is a Chinese Japanese , and Filipino or Korean , we were all treated the same , badly we were subjected to the same racist attitude and values (Huang 2002 9-15 . This treatment actually pushed us together and we were able to identify it as an institutional racism , it helped us to understand that there is nothing inherently wrong with us as individuals . It motivated us to learn our own culture and family histories : the untold stories of Asians in America , the colonial history of Americans and Europeans in Asia . We were amazed by the determination and achievements of our predecessors considering how they had been treated and suffered . But instead of being ashamed , we appreciated ourselves and began to feel proud . But Asian pride was anti-racist and politically progressive in this sense . We felt our togetherness since we were all part of one larger community it even brought us closer to the blacks , Puerto Ricans , Chicanos and the Native Americans

In addition the injustice and racism exposed during the Vietnam War helps us in cementing the bond between different Asians groups living in America . However in the eyes of the US military , even if you were Vietnamese or Chinese...