Though Willamette University is a predominantly white institution, I’ve had the opportunity to read abundant scholarship on both the shortcomings and advantages of the Asian American pan-ethnic label. I’ve mulled over how I, as a multiracial Asian American woman, subvert and contribute to stereotypes regarding the Asian American experience. In what ways do I perpetuate the model minority stereotype? In what spaces and ways am I perceived as foreign? How does my multiraciality and east Asian identity grant me privilege within systems of white supremacy over other community members?
Though these readings were helpful in catalyzing my own identity formation, speaking to my fellow cohort members reanimated my struggle with the label in a way that I had not previously experienced. In the first days of orientation, we each created life maps displaying integral moments throughout our lives. Though each of our maps began in an Asian country before moving to America, this is where most similarities stopped. Generation of immigration, religious affiliation, cultural context, interests, and family dynamics changed as each person spoke about their life experiences. The vast differences in these individual histories points to the perhaps counterproductive nature of the pan-ethnic label.
With this vastness in mind, I’ve been able to interrogate more deeply about how Asian American-ness is communicated to those outside of the label. As a fourth generation Chinese immigrant, my family’s history is somewhat bolstered over others as a contribution to the wider American culture. California’s Gold Rush and the subsequent opening of Angel Island is taught briefly in elementary school textbooks, though the singular paragraph dedicated to this time period is more than what most Asian ethnic groups are afforded. Additionally, my family’s success within (and access to) San Francisco’s Chinatown allowed them to navigate a new country among other Chinese families doing the same. Eventually, one of my uncles would go on to become a famous actor with roles in Mulan, Jurassic Park, and Law & Order who quite literally represented Asian Americans within popular culture.
Thus, in many ways, I feel overrepresented within the Asian American identity. As I discussed the lack of disaggregated data on Asian Americans with a small group of my peers, we traced the label back to the Census Bureau’s need for neatly categorized identities as the American population grew. This umbrella term has informed stereotypes and myths such as the model minority and perpetual foreigner which in turn informs the cultural understanding of Asian Americans at large which provides groundwork for policies regarding our somewhat overly diverse populace. The cyclical nature of the issue is frankly daunting and in some ways it feels too deeply ingrained in the fabric of American culture to disseminate entirely.
Regardless of this issue’s daunting nature, this week left me with a new perspective on how to combat the real-world implications of this label. From disaggregated data to art exhibitions on the Asian American senior population to printed zines, there are small steps that individual members of this community can take to communicate a more nuanced picture of our histories to America's wider cultural understanding of Asian American identities.