Asian American Experience Essay Example

Asian American Experience Essay Example Asian American Experience Essay Asian American Experience Essay Bill Ong Hing tries to discover the different ethnicities and their relation to being identified as Asian American. Bill Ong Hing remarks: â€Å"To many, then, the concept of Asian American identity may not involve a new cultural identity. Rather, it might properly be viewed as a means of achieving political integration. † There have been numerous accounts where these Asian Americans identify themselves as Chinese, Japanese, and other nationalities rather than Asian. I can recall identifying myself as an Asian American because of the Caucasian environment I grew up in. However, the people who grew up in a Taiwanese community identify themselves as Taiwanese or Chinese, rarely would they identify themselves as Asian because they do not feel an affinity with the other nationalities. The complexity of the Asian American identity demonstrates the need for a deeper understanding of the sophistication and its continuing evolution. Asian Americans tend to switch identities depending on the situation. Is the Asian American identity defined by the cultures and customs or for the political mobilization purposes? The majority tends to believe that there is not a common cultural identity established among the Asian Americans, but there is a common means of achieving political integration. As Bill Ong Hing states, â€Å"the persistence of Chinatowns, Filipino American suburbs, and Vietnamese business pockets promotes intra-community mobilization. Thus it is extremely difficult to integrate our cultures since the immigrants tend to flock to these towns instead of integrating with society. They find it easier to identify themselves easier with their nationalities than as an Asian American. However, for the purpose of political mobilization, they understand the need to identify as Asian American in order to persevere within society. These are the stories of our founding fathers. However the Asian American history fails to land in the history textbooks. They only make a passing notice of Asian Americans altogether. As Tagaki asserts, â€Å"When one hears stories about the pioneers going West to shape the land, the Asian immigrant is rarely mentioned. † The constant unfair treatment by the employers, the social pressures forcing the Asian Americans to exclude themselves from society, the government continual institution of racial and discriminatory policies has been glanced over by the historians. We need to create a â€Å"rev-vision† history to include Asians in the history of America. America has proclaimed to be the melting pot, a nation of immigrants. Yet coming from Asia, these immigrants were not accepted with open arms. They were seen as â€Å"aliens† invading their land and jobs, and even their great-grandchildren still find that they are considered â€Å"aliens† and not accepted as Americans. There has been a remarkable situation with Senator Daniel Inouye who became a target of racial slurs during a scandal. They wanted him to return back home to Japan even though Senator Inouye was born in America and was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his valor as an American soldier during World War II. Even when an Asian American would serve in the army and die as an American, society continued to mark Asians as aliens and foreigners. These are the reasons why there is a need to establish an identity as an Asian American. With a strong political identity, society would be able to understand that Asian Americans are indeed part of their society. Instead of being judged by the character and merit of a person, our skin complexion brought judgment from society as a whole. The history of Asia America has been shaped by the continual struggle to be accepted by society. Our forefathers came to America seeking an opportunity to succeed and create better lives for their families and relatives. These men strived to break down the racial barriers, while facing persecution from the â€Å"whites† and burdens of institutionalized racist policies from the government. They never complained about the dual wage system, being paid less than their counterparts, and yet they still were shunned from the labor markets. However, our forefathers continued to fight to establish a life in America, whether it was establishing their own Laundromat or their own restaurant. Even to this day, we have faced many types of discrimination, and even when we continue to work hard and have this American life, society still label us as â€Å"aliens. † Furthermore, with the integration of Asia America, we will continue to fight for our way of life and force society to recognize us as one of the groups of America. We will continue to create new history of our struggles as we pass these stories down generation to generation.