Hyphenated Asian Americans-
“It is a term used to describe how Asians can never be seen as just Americans since Asians can and will never be able to fully assimilate to American culture or image”—or at least that’s how my best friend describes it.
My friend is a current first year here at UC Berkeley; she is also taking an Asian American class through the FPF program. During one of our conversations, she mentioned how she is learning about the term “hyphenated Asian Americans” in her class right now. I felt like sharing this term and her definition of it with all of you today, because I feel as if it relates to our continuous discussion of what it means to be “Asian American.” Personally, I had never heard of such a term; after hearing my friend discuss the term and the issues of race that surround it, I felt as if the term itself had added another nuance to the complex definition of the personalized meaning of “Asian American-ness.”
In class we talk about how being Asian American (in particular) creates a personalized and specific part of each of our identities. However, I also feel as if aspects of our supposedly unique identities are shared among us—such as our similar experiences of racial discrimination or categorization into this term: “hyphenated Asian Americans.” In other words, despite our unique cultural customs, one underlying fact that continues to bind us to one another is the fact that as “Asian-Americans,” this hyphenated label will continue to be associated with our racial identities further and possibly even forever emphasizing how even as individuals living in the 21st century of America, a majority of American society can never see us fully assimilating into their white and American society.
The definition of one’s “Asian American-ness” is complex and this new term: “The hyphenated American” adds a whole other level of complexity to the definition, allowing American society to forever categorize and separate those individuals that have already and supposedly assimilated into society at large.
“It is a term used to describe how Asians can never be seen as just Americans since Asians can and will never be able to fully assimilate to American culture or image”—or at least that’s how my best friend describes it.
My friend is a current first year here at UC Berkeley; she is also taking an Asian American class through the FPF program. During one of our conversations, she mentioned how she is learning about the term “hyphenated Asian Americans” in her class right now. I felt like sharing this term and her definition of it with all of you today, because I feel as if it relates to our continuous discussion of what it means to be “Asian American.” Personally, I had never heard of such a term; after hearing my friend discuss the term and the issues of race that surround it, I felt as if the term itself had added another nuance to the complex definition of the personalized meaning of “Asian American-ness.”
In class we talk about how being Asian American (in particular) creates a personalized and specific part of each of our identities. However, I also feel as if aspects of our supposedly unique identities are shared among us—such as our similar experiences of racial discrimination or categorization into this term: “hyphenated Asian Americans.” In other words, despite our unique cultural customs, one underlying fact that continues to bind us to one another is the fact that as “Asian-Americans,” this hyphenated label will continue to be associated with our racial identities further and possibly even forever emphasizing how even as individuals living in the 21st century of America, a majority of American society can never see us fully assimilating into their white and American society.
The definition of one’s “Asian American-ness” is complex and this new term: “The hyphenated American” adds a whole other level of complexity to the definition, allowing American society to forever categorize and separate those individuals that have already and supposedly assimilated into society at large.
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