AA Attitude toward F.O.B.s | Asian American Poll

ATTITUDE TOWARD F.O.B.S
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:18:18 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Assuming you are an Asian American, what's your definition of an F.O.B. ("Fresh-off-the-boat" immigrant)?
Anyone not born in the U.S. | 31%
Anyone who speaks with a noticeable accent | 30%
Anyone who acts or dresses old-country | 39%

Assuming you are an Asian American, what's your attitude toward F.O.B.s?
I am fully open to friendships/relationships with them. | 44%
I am friendly but would not want to get too close. | 41%
I generally avoid them on a social level. | 15%

Assuming you are an Asian American, what do you find most annoying about F.O.B.s?
They play into offensive stereotypes. | 15%
They are obsessed with flashy materialism. | 39%
They maintain Asian customs and values. | 0%
They are no more annoying than other AA. | 46%

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

"its the cultural superiority that your friend flaunts, not just the physical location of birth."

right. the people i'm describing thought they were better because if they were born here then they somehow were more assimilated, modern, superior and accepted. BEing foriegn born represented asian-ness, backwardness, less modern and inferior in the minds of these people. BEing an ABC, for them, symbolized that they were less asian and more american (maybe even "white"). but in reality it is a reflection of self-hate.

split level american asian Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 00:18:56 (PDT)

To split level American Asian:

I doubt that anyone could seriously believe that they are better than someone else just because they were born on a different patch of soil. They probably have a higher opinion of people born in America because of the different attitudes and prevailing customs, outlook on life, personality traits, etc. that are a dividing line between FOBs and ABCs. I don't think that there is anything wrong in being very proud of your culture: its the cultural superiority that your friend flaunts, not just the physical location of birth.
Thomas Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 16:26:19 (PDT)

I grew up in a community where Asians called other Asians FOBs if they weren't "born here" or someone who they thought were less assimilated or "backwards." For me, it's like: how long have *you* been here?

I wasn't born here but my great grandfather and grandfather both worked on the railroads in this country. They immigrated here at a time when most Europeans hadn't even come yet. But my forefathers couldn't bring their wives so I ended up being born in China.

But anyway, I came here young. And I grew up with other Chinese people who's parents came here not much earlier than mine, but they had children shortly after their arrival. So then yes those "ABCs" were "born here." But they would make that out to be like some big deal -- like they're better than foreign-born Asians. And I'm thinking: you're no different than me. I came here young; your parents "just" came here and then had you. How does that make you better? And who even cares. Big deal.

Of course, I have relatives that are like 5th and 6th generation American Asians; and yes, I see them very different than me culturally.

But as far as the ones I described above, I don't understand where they get this idea that they are better. I mean, sheesh, I have a friend who just thinks she's so much more desirable than every foreign-born Asian just because she was born here (yet her parents were here for 2 years before her birth).

split level American Asian Monday, May 27, 2002 at 05:04:58 (PDT)

VA Girl,

Basically the last paragraph was to state your husband would put down snobs whether they were MBC or WASP (white anglo-saxon protestants).

That was just my opinion.

Maybe they took extensive language training programs when they were in China.
AC dropout Sunday, April 21, 2002 at 18:03:44 (PDT)

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