Dale Minami:
“white people are feeling threatened by the number of minorities who are now in this country, that are growing at a huge rate”
Ark Chin:
Ark’s personal immigration process from China to United States.
“They asked questions that required detailed answers because, as I understood later on, they brought my father in for interrogation to see if they matched up.”
My grandmother immigrated to the United States from England when she was 12. I asked her if she had a similar experience when immigrating and she did not. She said she was not separated from her parents and did not feel interrogated.
Did the US immigration office have differing protocols on the basis of race?
Hoan Dang:
“My image of America was very different than what it really was. For some reason it just didn’t occur to me that it was a normal place like Vietnam.”
I feel very privileged to have been born and raised in a country that people dream about as a form of escapism.
Susim Chen:
Susim’s idea of America before immigrating here came from pop culture.
“In my mind the country is happening, everyone goes to parties all the time, wears beautiful clothes – no poverty in this country, everyones rich. But after I came here I realized that wasn’t the case.”
Why do we put this facade of America in pop culture?
Is it because pop culture is a form of escapism?
Quig Shan Liang:
“many immigrants, husband and wife, work, so they send their young children back to China for parents to take care of until they are school age.”
Why did they not use a day care or babysitting service? Did it have to do with money? Or racial issues?
Frank Bai:
In China Frank was a manager for large shoe company. But when immigrating to America, he could only get jobs picture framing, jewelry seller and a delivery man. This made me sad, as he had proper qualifications for a similar job, but it most likely came down to the topic or race.
Dale Minami:
“I have been involved in civil rights in the seventies, suing institutions, a lot of institutions. I had just finished a case against Washington State University about creating an Asian American studies program because they didn’t have one.”
I was born and raised in Washington. It saddens me that an institution’s lacking so close to home.
Gary Locke:
“I felt if I could do a really great job as governor I could raise the glass ceiling for others to go into politics and make it possible for then to succeed and win.”
I found it interesting how Gary was selective with his Asian American conferences, to pave the way for other Asian Americans.
Ruby Chow:
Bruce Lee lived with Ruby for four years and he called her “Auntie Ruby”. Being a Bruce Lee fan, I thought this was interesting.
Cheryl Chow:
“some people would yell out, “Ching Chong, go back to China” or Japan. They didn’t even know what we were, and we got into a number of verbal confrontations.”
Why are we so uneducated about Asian culture, that all we reference is Chinese and Japanese?
Shamita Das Dasgupta:
Shamita discusses immigrants who go back to their home country to marry. They bring their wives back to America on tourist visas, not green cards. They then hold their undocumented status over them, sometimes turning abusive.
It saddens me that women endure abuse because they are so scared of deportation.
Ark Chin:
Ark discusses the younger generations struggles with identity.
“They’re able to get great jobs and get an education, but to a degree she of them suffer from lack of identity.”
Is he implying that struggle can help form identity?
Hank Sasaki:
Hank loves the music of Hank Williams.
“When I grow up I want to sing just like him.”
Due to country music being a more American genre, how does this conflict with his Japanese roots?
Jake Shimabukuro:
“One of my heroes was Bruce Lee, and he didn’t believe in any one style of martial arts; he said they’re all expressing the same thing so you have to study everything about martial arts. Then you have to see which ones speak to you and which ones you believe in and which ones represent who you are”
Joann Lee:
Joann was apart of a singing group called the Fortune Cookies. They reminded me of the Ronettes.
Steve Thao:
“The general American dream is not very realistic for a lot of Asians.”
Albert Lee:
“Oriental was the term of art”
Daniel Jung:
Daniel discusses how his white friends had junk food.
“It was weird going over to their house and then coming back to my house, because I knew my mom wouldn’t let us eat junk food, so there was no junk food in the house.”
Jeff Andrada:
“when I meet certain Asian Americans – like some Chinese friends who speak the language – I compare myself with them, and they’re a higher degree of Asian American”
What does it mean to be a higher degree?
Jake Shimabukuro:
Jake says that in Hawaii, people can tell if you are Chinese, Japanese, etc. but this differs among other states.
Why Hawaii?
David Tang:
“I think my generation is a lot more desensitized to it because we didn’t live through total outright racism.”
Laura Jung:
Laura is Korean and feels bad for North Koreans.
Agnes Braga:
Agnes discusses British and American men in the workforce.
“Their expectation of Asian women is being submissive – its easier to get along with an Asian than a Caucasian woman – in the workplace or even at home.”
Albert Lee:
“Will there ever be an Asian American superstar at the level of Nicole Kidman?”
Corky Lee:
Corky discusses the decline of Chinatown after 9/11.
What is due to the decline?
Dale Minami:
Dale talks about the popularization of Anime and other Japanese culture.
“Those things become romanticized, popularized Japanese.”
How do the Japanese feel about this aspect of their culture becoming popular globally?
Steve Thao:
“Families still want their sons and daughters to marry Hmong, but I think thats changing a bit since were seeing so many divorces. They’re probably a little bit more open-minded.”
Hoan Dang:
“Now they work in the nail industry. Cosmetology.”
Why are Asians so prevalent in the nail industry?
Laura Jung:
“I think its important to have a place like Koreatown. I think its good for the immigrant to have some familiarity”
Daniel Jung:
“In LA there are a lot of Koreans that are superficial. They’ll care more about what they’re wearing and what they’re driving than about where they live.”
Why is it a stereotype that Asians buy designer/luxury items? Where does it stem from?
Shamita Das Dasgupta:
“We have to recognize the we have multiple identities, multiple nationalities, multiple ways of doing things. The question of who is an American is problematic in itself, isn’t it? Who is American and what is American?”
Veronica Leung:
“if we were still back in China, I would not be able to talk to you like this”
Corky Lee:
“There were, I think, over 120 garment shops in Chinatown before 9/11 and about 40 of them closed up within three months after 9/11”
Shamita Das Dasgupta:
After 9/11.
“men from Bangladesh and Pakistan had to go and write down their names and where they lived so people could keep an eye on them”
Naomi McWatt:
Naomi is Asian and African American.
“there are times when I’d have to fight for that other part, where people say, You’re not really African American”
Gita Deane:
Gita discusses Bollywood making movies about lesbians but many of them aren’t allowed to be shown in India.
Albert Lee:
Albert discusses homosexuality in the Asian community
“Theres also this term called “rice queen” which is someone who is non Asian who refers to date Asian men exclusively.”
Karl Ludwig:
Karl discusses what its like to be a Asian American police officer.
“I find it advantages when we do come across minutes and they see I’m a minority”
Kristen Houghton:
“All I wanted was chopsticks and there was a fork and knife.”
Ark Chin:
“China literally they had control over your whole life”
Candace Chin:
Candace discusses interracial marriage in the Asian community.
“When I married a non-Chinese, they disowned me.”
Susha Pratt:
Susha grew up in Sequim Washington, the town just next to my hometown Port Angeles!
you told the stories you understood the stories and made ideas that you had clear. in short you did a good job thank you Karlie.
for got to say
-Jacob Harvill