Tonight, I had dinner with girl from Korea. And, when I say from Korea, I mean straight from Korea - first time in the States ever. So, basically I be trying to school her on American history and try to learn a thing or two about my? her our Korean culture. So, anyways we were discussing Asians in America:
Her: So, how long have Asians been in America?
Me: ah, since the 19th century, a lot of Chinese immigrated here in the late 1800s
Her: whaaa? I never knew that
Me: yo, I know!!
And, it made me think of the politics of erasure practiced in the asian american community - that it seems everyone else took and ran with. Almost no one is aware of the long historical and political struggle that Asians had in America. Primarily, because it's a history that has been erased in our collective memory.
What I find so interesting about the erasure is that it seems to be both a product of Asians disavowing a radical, political history in an attempt to align themselves with whites and a product of whites choosing what history to teach - essentially saying whose history is important and whose is not. But these dual efforts (along with other historical and social policies and structures) have so rooted the narrative of asians as :forever foreigners that everyone - white, black, latino and ASIAN - has bought into the myth.
Takawa Ozawa, a Japanese immigrant, brought a challenge to the court in 1922. He said that he and his children deserved to be American citizens. He argued two points before the court: the first that he acted culturally like any white American and, second more importantly, that citizenship should be based not on nation your ancestors but on what's in your heart. "In name Benedict Arnold was an American, but at heart he was a traitor. In name I am not an American, but at heart I am a true American."
The court denied him, saying whiteness (and thus citizenship) was based on biology and while his skin color was indeed lighter than many white people, he was clearly from the mongloid race. Case closed. Following the case, land and property was stolen from the Japanese-Americans resulting in immobility of the people, which was furthered by their physical immobility during the period of Japanese internment in America. They - sometimes 3rd and 4th generation Americans - were still foreigners. Their long history in America was erased because of the "threat" they posed - a threat that German-Americans and Italian-Americans did not pose.
Her: So, how long have Asians been in America?
Me: ah, since the 19th century, a lot of Chinese immigrated here in the late 1800s
Her: whaaa? I never knew that
Me: yo, I know!!
And, it made me think of the politics of erasure practiced in the asian american community - that it seems everyone else took and ran with. Almost no one is aware of the long historical and political struggle that Asians had in America. Primarily, because it's a history that has been erased in our collective memory.
What I find so interesting about the erasure is that it seems to be both a product of Asians disavowing a radical, political history in an attempt to align themselves with whites and a product of whites choosing what history to teach - essentially saying whose history is important and whose is not. But these dual efforts (along with other historical and social policies and structures) have so rooted the narrative of asians as :forever foreigners that everyone - white, black, latino and ASIAN - has bought into the myth.
Takawa Ozawa, a Japanese immigrant, brought a challenge to the court in 1922. He said that he and his children deserved to be American citizens. He argued two points before the court: the first that he acted culturally like any white American and, second more importantly, that citizenship should be based not on nation your ancestors but on what's in your heart. "In name Benedict Arnold was an American, but at heart he was a traitor. In name I am not an American, but at heart I am a true American."
The court denied him, saying whiteness (and thus citizenship) was based on biology and while his skin color was indeed lighter than many white people, he was clearly from the mongloid race. Case closed. Following the case, land and property was stolen from the Japanese-Americans resulting in immobility of the people, which was furthered by their physical immobility during the period of Japanese internment in America. They - sometimes 3rd and 4th generation Americans - were still foreigners. Their long history in America was erased because of the "threat" they posed - a threat that German-Americans and Italian-Americans did not pose.
And now, decades later, asians still are seen as non-citizens. It's the same old lines - "you're english is really good" "no where are you from? where are you really from?" For a people that have been part of the States in big numbers since the 1800s, when will we be just from "New York" or "California" or "Oklahoma." How can we reclaim our historical identity? And, in what ways can people of color generally begin to push our history into the mainstream, instead of being relegated to just a chapter?
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