The Chinese Struggle

It was interesting to read The Woman Warrior because it was an interesting contrast to many of the other books we’ve read in the class. Very much like Amy Tan novels, Maxine Hong Kingston mixes her Asian heritage in her writing and discusses the trials she’s gone through in finding identity in America.

Much of what I read, I was able to relate to. Before I go any further, it is interesting to note (in my opinion) Asians are one of the most unnoticed minorities. Asians do not benefit from affirmative action or any ethnic politics designed to alleviate previous injustices. However, when I look at top CEO running corporate companies, there are Black, White, Hispanic, and woman executives, I rarely see an Asian executive. The purpose of my post is not a racial rant about how I want affirmative action to benefit me. Rather, I hope to create awareness that Asians are just as capable as any other races.

Sometimes, I feel that Asians are an invisible minority. I often feel the pressures of having to fully Americanize at the cost of losing my Chinese heritage. I was born in Houston, Texas and raised following many Chinese customs. However, as I grew older, I saw the need to shed those customs in order to “fit in” with my peers. Now, I regret having dropped out of Chinese school. I understand a lot of Cantonese, but I can barely carry a conversation. I still love to celebrate Chinese holidays and eat Chinese food. But I don’t feel like I belong. It’s sort of an identity crisis that plagues many Asian-Americans. We’re not American enough to fit in with the whites, nor do we feel Chinese enough to fit in with the Chinese. Kingston describes this perfectly. She writes, “Those in the emigrant generations who could not reassert brute survival died young and far from home. Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America” (Kingston 5).

Though this might seem like random ranting, it’s not. I really believe that the Chinese face many barriers to assimilate in the US. Both of my parents have accents, and they notice that even though they speak English well, their accent prevents them from rising higher in corporate America. Unfortunately, that is probably the case with many minorities. The language “barrier” or lack there of, is a big hindrance. Speaking with my mom, she says that sometimes, she feels an automatic loss of credibility from her peers because of her accent. Also, though I don’t have an accent or anything like that and feel that I speak English well, sometimes, I feel that I get looks from other people as if I am a foreigner. I haven’t really experienced it that much, but in some parts of the country, it’s pretty back. I think that diversity is good, and we can help educate American more about diversity and to be more receptive to others.

Kingston writes again, “The immigrants I know have loud voices, [used] to call their friendships out across the fields… Walking erect and speaking in an inaudible voice, I have tried to turn myself American-feminine. Chinese communication was loud, public. Only sick people have to whisper” (Kingston 11). This represents the struggles of the Chinese to fit in with American culture. The Asian culture and the American culture are vastly different, and I feel this is the primary reason for the struggles of an Asian-American. To alleviate this, I feel that awareness of the struggle is vital. I also feel it is important for younger Asian-Americans to have successfully Asian-American role models. As a first generation Asian-American, I am proud of both my Chinese roots and my American culture. A fusion of both is necessary to quell this struggle between the cultures.