“We can’t fight societal hate and ignorance with more hate and ignorance.”
-Wong Fu Productions
DISCLAIMER: The following entry is strictly a reflection and analysis on Asian identity in society with a focus on the media portrayal based on personal experiences and ideas. Since each POC is unique (as part of a different minority and minority experience), I understand that I cannot speak on behalf of others but believe in the merit that comes with this type of open dialogue. These types of conversations are naturally controversial and uncomfortable but how will society learn and grow without being challenged – especially with the recent occurrences in political and cultural spheres.
Assimilation: “to conform or adjust to the customs, attitudes, etc. of a group, nation or the like”
Integration: “an act or instance of combining into an integral whole; of relating to or belonging as a part of the whole; constituent or component”
How can we begin to start a cultural dialogue when we are so concerned with raising our voices that we forget to lend an ear to others? How can we learn to appreciate the individual narratives and realize the ubiquitous human experiences when we are so concerned with identifying the dividing factors? How do we connect with our culture and heritage if we are unwilling to challenge our history and traditional beliefs? How do we see the world as a collective of individuals striving for the same hopes and dreams when we spend our time resisting emerging and inclusive ideologies?
How do we allow ourselves to become a part of the whole when we do not allow ourselves to understand that change and adaptation do not void our individuality? When will we learn that there is unity in diversity?
For years I have followed Wong Fu Productions and enjoyed every minute of the emotional rollercoaster through stories of comedy, romance and life experiences. Over the past few weeks they released “Yappie”, a mini-series exploring the Asian-American experience and challenging societal stereotypes. Quite honestly, in spite of being a die-hard WFP fan (#WongFu4Lyfe) I was incredibly wary of the theme of the subject matter due to the seemingly cyclic and frankly, hypocritical rhetoric on Asian identity I have become familiar with around my college campus. As someone raised in Toronto with all its incredible diversity, my life experiences have shaped my opinions to be inherently different from those I go to school with. By definition I am not an “Asian-American”, nor will I ever truly understand that experience. In fact, I suppose aspects of my upbringing in Canada have provided me with an outlook that some would argue only someone with privilege could afford.
However, this cultural wealth wasn’t always something I had the privilege of enjoying and like most other immigrants I had several instances of awkward adjustments throughout my elementary years: swapping rice for Lunchables (I still don’t understand how those are considered a meal), facing racism in the school system (shoutout to my kindergarten teacher who colored over my self-portrait saying my eyes aren’t that big and that Asians have black hair…never brown), being the kid who could never have sleepovers unless they were at my house, and (as I got older) the common question of “What are you?” followed by fascination of my mixed ethnic background somehow contributing to my level of attractiveness. Yes, I was aware that these experiences made me different and perhaps strange, but the good people who were open to the real definition and practice of cultural diversity showed me that it is possible to reconcile these disparities and that holding a grudge against society would simply perpetuate institutionalized racism.
For me, growing up Canadian, ideals of cultural inclusivity were seemingly inherent. You didn’t pay attention to the fact that Anthony had the last name Singh, nor that Johnny had a Jamaican accent, or that Martin lived in the same house with his family and extended family from the Philippines. I never realized that with many American opinions trying to highlight minorities, by emphasizing that fact of something being “ethnic”, that characteristic became the defining attribute…the only thing you would note about a person, place, food, etc. I never really had to consider the implications of cultural identity until I got to college across the border and found a world of a difference just a little down South…
One of the most striking aspects of the Asian-American culture was the existence of the “Asian bubble”. Whether it was the exclusive and elusive pack of international students from China, the boba obsessed ABCs trying to reconcile their cross-cultural identity, the Asian Christian Ministries, or the cohort of minority martyrs from various Asian cultural organizations who claim to know everything about the “Asian-American” social dynamic; all of these groups seemed to be bonded together by the simple fact that they were Asian. Several individuals…decide to gather…over the fact that they are of a similar predisposed condition. Not that there is anything wrong with cultural sharing especially when providing a space to talk about issues with a community that understands, and of course the tag-line tacked on is always “not Asian exclusive but of Asian interest” such to entice those outside of the bubble; however, there seemed to be a silent alienation of other minorities and groups if they didn’t quite “get it”. The safe-haven of a bubble, perhaps unintentionally, creates this strange paradox of self-segregation in which this vacuum of shared experiences and ideologies prevent its permeability to outside input.
There is a rather obvious imbalance of give and take and ironically, the simultaneous hyper-activity in pushing the independent cultural agenda and disregard for other minority groups results in further isolation of the community and prevents any progression toward integration toward a collective understanding. Furthermore, the complexity of evaluating this type of progression is complicated by the way in which we measure it – it is not meant to be quantifiable. The flawed logic is the misalignment between mechanism and application of cultural awareness. Developing a thorough understanding of a singular minority group – Asian, black, Hispanic – does not mean that one truly understands diversity unless they have opened themselves to being receptive of all others’ cultures. More importantly, mechanically attempting to member groups and collect friends and experiences as if they were Pokemon cards does not define understanding of cultural sensitivity. True awareness comes in being able to look past the labels and to understand that when breaking out of the bubble, when done with sincere intentions – in pursuing friendships, or relationships or other cultural connections, one is able to strike the balance of understanding why identity is an important component of a person’s being but not the sole identifier.
Often times, as represented in the series, the cultural divisions are unintentional, are not intended to discriminate, and are not generated out of malice; rather it is developed from a fear of venturing beyond the safe and familiar. Could there be a more human experience? It is human nature to be afraid of the unknown and to resist change; and once we are able to recognize that fact outside of race, gender, class, etc. do you see the similarities in humanity.
This deeper understanding is also very significant when analyzing the narratives of different minority groups. A black person will never have the same minority narrative as an Asian person and an Asian person will never have the same minority narrative as a Hispanic, and none of the individuals belonging to these differing racial categories will ever have identical experiences. More intuitively, none of these and other racial minorities would have the same experience as a mixed person or a person born with white-privilege (often the two coincide). But by that same token, there are different forms of both privilege and oppression that apply to each racial category. Simply put, privilege was described to me as being synonymous with the wind; you may not always feel it but it is ever-present and identifiable only when it is blowing in one direction – against you. In fact, it is arguable that privilege is not race-based; rather a system of power and influence that can be transcended upon awareness. Hence, racism is not an exclusive act reserved for white people and realizing and accepting that in every classification there are both instances of oppression and privilege is critical to the progression toward integration; it shouldn’t be a pissing contest of which minority group has it worst. At the end of the day, everyone experiences their own version of hardships and successes, often influenced by racial profile, however, one cultural narrative does not take away from another. On an individual scale, one’s independent experience does not define the entire minority group; nor should the history of a minority group define the experiences and expectations of the individual.
Flag Wall by Banksy
Another paradox of proprietorship of culture exists; there is a fine line between claiming your cultural identity as a significant part of your being and letting it influence your life, versus allowing its expectations to govern your decisions completely. Understanding the cultural context of everyday actions influenced by race, yes, is important, but if we want to be the change we want to see we cannot continue to perpetuate the stereotypes by using the “minority card” only when it works in our favour either. The introductory episode of the series features the challenge of Asian-Americans living in the socially constructed box of being the “model-minority”: the smart kids in class who dominate the Iveys, the future doctors and lawyers and CEOs, and women who are often fetishized in the media. Comparable to the stigma that often surrounds other minority groups in the States, Asians seem to have it pretty good. Our culture is centralized around family reputation which involves valuing higher education, obedience and respect for authority (be it parent or employer), acquisition of wealth and stability. Sure, consequently this leads to the conditioning of members of this traditional model to apply it to a Westernized society which may perceive this behaviour as docile and dismissible and slot Asian-Americans into the gaps that need to be filled as opposed to positions they would favour. The series brings up how Asians have privilege of experiencing racism as a spectrum; trying on different stereotypes with our labels spanning from refugees and communists to world-class billionaires capable of gentrification.
However, the common complaint of disregard for their potential isn’t valid when solely assigning the blame to American culture (which by definition is technically a culture of immigrants itself) – as in their own way, Asian cultural values are being practiced and expressed but within a different cultural system. This traditional safe and secure route is often restrictive and Asian-Americans do not necessarily have the rights to the blame the Westernized system. Arguably, cultural values have taught them to abide by a certain order therefore in complaining about how these systems oppress Asians, they are operating on a system they had, in some way, engineered themselves. That’s not to say that they don’t have a point. The reason why these tightly bonded cultural spheres exist is because there is obviously discrimination and maltreatment from white figures. I don’t particularly enjoy the drive from Toronto to Chapel Hill because of the uncomfortable encounters in “redneck towns”; but will I allow those instances of institutionalized racism to affect the way I perceive myself and my friends – colored and white? What good will demonizing others do and how would that differ from the exact behaviour I wouldn’t want to receive. In the end aren’t we all just people?
I think one of the most important things to realize is that institutionalized racism exists and it will always exist for as long as we – both people of color and those who are not – allow it to. Big cities like Toronto and New York and Los Angeles in the States have jobs, tourism, and other attractive factors that draw in people of every background. The focus in these cities is the need to achieve something and be a part of something bigger than ourselves – consequently although these places are not immune to racism, there is more liberty and acceptance of diversity because people have been forced to confront change. Diversity is prevalent – you cannot avoid it or hide from it when it is everywhere; which when you think about it, operates by the same convention as racism. Bounds for discomfort are pushed; experiencing how the different and strange can work together breeds a new and emergent culture that considers the individuality of its members while allowing them to come together in one holistic symbiotic mosaic. Once we shift the focus from the labels to the simple idea of just living as people with similar goals and capacities, then will we be able to understand and appreciate what our cultural identity means. In order to change the current climate, minorities just as much as white people need to be open to understanding the experiences we may never personally have but that will always exist around us and the world we live in. We have to be open an willing to venture into the uncomfortable and question why our one-track-mind beliefs and bubbles exist.
Maybe I follow the Canadian stereotype of being polite and concerning myself with the person next to me that counters the American principle of individualism and needing to push for what I believe. Perhaps this is what contributes to my counter-perspective on the definition of diversity and trying to understand the insights of others’ experiences before my own. Maybe it is the fact that I grew up feeling that multiculturalism was something to celebrate instead of something to fight for; that one immigrant story, regardless of what country it came from, was nonetheless and immigrant story with experiences that resonates with the collective. I would like to hope that in the overall face of racial adversity, the rising generation with a more open-mind with respect to diving into the uncomfortable differences, has the power to change feelings of segregation and oppression – starting with ourselves and perhaps the subtle ways we perpetuate the cycle in the way we treat our cultural identities.
In this day and age, we are at an interesting cross-roads where the shift in generations is influencing the systems of power, representation of government and overall amalgamation of immigrants and their motherland experiences in North America. The first-generation immigrants (hello nearly-extinct Tiger parents) who paved the way for their families with the unweaving determination to create a better life for their loved ones, are aging and disappearing, and though their influence is deeply-rooted in their family’s foundations, this up and coming generation is emerging with its own novel culture. The children of first-generation immigrants begin to have their own families and though they grew up with the influence of the first-generations and close ties to their country of origin, will never posses the same experiences and will alter the upbringing of their children. Their native land is the new migrant land and the ideas of cultural identity change. Cross-cultural dialogue is becoming increasingly more significant with the blending of changing generational values and inter-racial relationships (both platonic and romantic).
Ultimately, assimilation doesn’t or at least shouldn’t require us to give up the parts of ourselves that make us who we are but it also should not prevent us from integrating into and exploring a new culture that accounts for everyone – regardless of who or what they are. In order to reach a common ground, we must learn to put down our experiences of pain, our grudges, our fears, and stop ourselves from focusing on the labels – the ones we give others as well as those we give ourselves.
heartonherkeys 