ADVANTAGES OF BEING ASIAN AMERICAN

or some the only downer to being Asian American is being lumped with all the whiners.
     The problems that afflict us? No different from those faced by all Americans, they argue. Vincent Chin? Won a barroom fight and was ambushed in the parking lot by a pair of drunken sore losers with a baseball bat. Happens to white guys too. Media stereotypes? Would you rather be cast as a beer-guzzling milquetoast with a spare tire and a perpetual sunburn? Not to mention being unable to jump, dance or multiply.
     Weigh the trivial irritations against the big advantages, exhort the upsiders. Like being raised in two-parent families that provide emotional stability, a solid educational foundation, a multi-cultural perspective and healthy eating habits. Like being seen as innately more intelligent, diligent and honest. Like having a full head of hair past 30 and never having to shave your back. Sure, the new immigrants have a rough time, they concede, but compare apples to apples. The Census Bureau stats show that U.S.-born Asians do as well as any group and better than most.
     So what's your take? Are we getting a raw deal or are we just too busy complaining to appreciate our many advantages?

(Updated )

Hi, i'm an Asian Australian and would just like to say that this site rocks. I think you have huge advantages in being Asian Americans! You guys in the US are so lucky to have such a culture where it's considered normal to express your pride in being Asian. We hardly ever hear or read about it anywhere in my country.. here the presence of Asians is mainly portrayed as a threat to Whites, or 'real' Australians. I've really enjoyed reading this site and wish we could have something like this for Asians here. Instead, this country has online debate forums with topics like "Asianization: myth or reality?" where Whites get together and gripe about a perceived depletion of Australian culture due to Asian immigration; Here Asians are really discouraged from expressing pride in their ethnicities, because it's seen as being "disloyal" to Australia. The government currently preaches 'multiculturalism' but society is slow to change.. The culture here is so hostile to Asians, but i guess when you grow up in it like i did, you get at least partially accustomed to it, and it seems normal.
Then I read this site and other American sites for Asian Americans, and it was like wow, Asian Americans have really got it together - solidarity, pride, open public dialogue on Asian American identity, and a strong, healthy take-no-racist-bullshit attitude. How come we don't have it down here? We are truly pathetic. You guys might complain about stereotypes, but i think over here it's so much worse - it's not only stereotypes but also being treated like a foreigner in our own country. At least in the US there's such a term as 'Asian American'. Here you hardly ever hear 'Asian Australian' because to most people, the two words are considered mutually exclusive. I would love for us to have an internet site like this, also because it would really piss off the racist hordes in Australia. You guys are lucky, but I guess you also had to fight for your rights a lot of the time. Don't ever stop, good on you people and God bless America!!! ;)

proud Asian from the *really* deep south
   Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 08:55:52 (PDT)
To Kyleen,there is nothing better than being African-American. Everything you Asians,Hispanics and immigrants acquire is because us African-Americans had the spunk to get out and fight for our rights.I ask the Asians and Hispanics where is your Martin Luther King, where is your Malcolm X ? the answer is you all do not have one. So please do not disrespect my race, from which because we have fought for our rights other minorities have benefited.
TELLING LIKE IT IS
   Monday, April 15, 2002 at 20:55:14 (PDT)
I just love how so many AAs have come to this country for freedom, education, opportunity, and they do very well for themselves and get very far in life. Then they turn around and b**tch and moan about "Oh we're treated so unfairly" and "The white man is taking all our women" and put down whites (on many many of the boards on this site white-bashing is quite popular). I mean you're here, enjoy that you are the most successful minority in the country and enjoy all the wonderful things about the USA instead of stereotyping and bashing whites.
get over it
   Monday, April 15, 2002 at 11:11:25 (PDT)
I am usually lumped in with all the smart kids who play the violin at school. Which I guess I'm doing nothing to change, especially since I get pretty good grades and play the violin. Asians just automatically get lumped in the "good" category - it's better than being African-american and everyone thinking we're thieves and rappers.
Kyleen
firstchairKO@aol.com    Sunday, April 14, 2002 at 15:25:38 (PDT)
"The Census Bureau stats show that the U.S.-born Asians do as well as any group and better than most."

The "better than most" claim/thesis seems to obliterate the psychological-ideological costs of a marginalized identity as an Asian American. There is the life of the physical body (food, water, shelter, etc.) and then there is the life of the mind/heart. The issue of a mind/heart living in the absence of plenitude in a classic, dysfunctional society of "lack" (i.e., the dominant culture here in the U.S.) is the key issue.

I point to "The Saint" as a case in point ("The matter seems hopeless, I need some therapy, bad.").

This implicit "model minority" thesis (a cowardly strategy of containment; a device to side-step the real issues of injustice, crimes, and human savagery here in the U.S.), therefore, needs to dismantled and placed in the garbage bin where it belongs (along with a few, or more, mentally defective Caucasians).
Koryo Hunk
   Friday, April 12, 2002 at 14:59:55 (PDT)
"america beats kwan and wins gold!"

That's good, because Ms. Kwan had a thirstful lust for winning the gold; she overestimated her skating abilities and underestimated the others. She was the biggest asian choke artist in the Olympics!...

Ms. Kwan's problem is also shared by many other Asians. They think that by having a better work ethic than Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics it will give them an advantage..WRONG, as Ms. Kwan has proved it! Some people are just more talented than others; a less talented person trying to work hard to oust a more talented individual is just wasting time and energy. Ms. Kwan really needs to admit to herself and to everyone around her that she is not one of the best skaters that this country has seen. She is by no means a Yamaguchi, Lipinski, or even a Sasha Cohen.

Yes, most Asians can combine the best of both worlds..What's stopping them are their parents! In fact, if Asian parents were more lax with their children, they can do much more in this country. Most identity crisis issues involving Asians stem from their parents' strict and overbearing demands, which also lead to array of other problems such as the AA gender divide and the self-hating Asian/Sellout issue.

Talent beats Experience and mostly wins
   Friday, April 12, 2002 at 14:24:39 (PDT)

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