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Why do Chinese Americans feel offended and insulted
when being asked asked from where they had come?
Or whether they could speak English? Or when they
were type-casted in plays? There are so many new
comers from China as students, immigrants, visitors.
Many of them do not speak English. That's nothing
to be ashamed of. They need time to learn the language.
What's wrong with being mistaken as one of them?
How do people know that one is an American born
Chinese who can only speak English or a newly arrived
who speaks no English? There is nothing written
on our faces to tell people. So why must one get
angry when being mistaken? Is it shameful to be
a newly arrived Chinese?
Another ridiculous reason to get angry is when
people ask "Do you plan to stay here or go home?"
or "How long have you been here?" or "when do you
plan to go home?" or something in that nature. I
think the most rediculous answers are " I am just
as American as you are." or "What home? Where do
you think my home is?" or "Do you plan to go back
to where your grandparents came from?" or somthing
hostile like that. There are people from another
country whose stay is temporary. How can people
differentiate those from the U.S. born?
This sensitivity and insecurity comes from lack
of self-confidence and identity. Many blame the
American society for discriminating against foreigners
and ethnic minorities. While discrimination is an
inexcusable bigotry, it is not an American specialty.
We can find it everywhere.
Let's see a few examples:
1. Denis and Jenifer
Denis, an Anglo-Saxon American, was a Chinese language
teacher. His wife Jennifer is a woman from Taiwan.
Once while taking a vacation in Taipei they shopped
in a store. The sales girl, used to taking advantage
of foreigners, quoted a higher price on an item
to Denis. Jennifer knew that the girl was over charging
them. So she asked for an explanation. The sales
girl looked at Jennifer, puzzled. She said: "Why
do you side with that foreigner and not try to help
ourselves?' The sales girl thought that Jennifer
was a tourists' guide.
2. Helen and David
Helen was a pianist from Hong Kong trained by Julia
School. Her husband, an European American, was a
college science professor. One year Helen was invited
to give a concert in Taiwan and her husband went
with her. At the Grand Hotel, the most high class
hotel at that time, the clerk gave them two separate
rooms. Bill told the clerk that they only needed
one room. The clerk looked at Helen from head to
toe and said: "You have to go to another hotel.
Grand Hotel is not that kind of a place." He thought
Helen was a call girl.
3. John
Jim was a son of an American GI. His mother was
also an American. In 1949, when the American army
withdrew from Shanghai in a hurry Jim was with his
nanny. His parents could not get to him. So he was
left in Shanghai. As he grew up he became a full
fledged Chinese. The only thing that differentiates
him from the otheres was his physical appearance.
He often got special treatment because of misunderstanding.
During the Cultural Revolution he was sent to the
countryside for "reform through labor." It was a
time when the U.S. and China had very adverse relations.
He was naturally discriminated against by his fellow
laborers. When China professed "unity among all
peoples," he was being presented by his unit as
a symbol of unity. After the Cultural Revolution,
foreigners were treated with respect. Jim would
be given seat in a crowded bus, be let to walk through
a door before everyone else, and so forth. People
did not know that he was as Shanghainess as anyone
else. The film production companies hired him and
others like him to play foreigners in the films.
He did not take offense or complain about it. His
friends only joked about it and said that he had
got a good deal.
Should we always get so wrought up or is it acceptable
to treat it with humor and take it in stride?
Note: The cited incidents were completely
truthful. But the individuals' names were changed
to protect their privacy.
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