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.]

Moonprincess:

YES !!!!!! I agree with you !!!!!!!!
I cannot stand ABCs either!

I am a Chinese FOB young girl....I love being Chinese...but I certainly do not like all Chinese.

I do not like some of my Chinese fellows because I am a FOB from China and I know the Vulnerabilties of the Chinese people too well...and I am objective about it.

ABCs...on the other hand...has no ground to criticize Chinese people because they have not lived in China...so if they criticize...it is not from a point of being objective...but rather from insecurities.

Larri Kong..... Sunday, July 07, 2002 at 12:41:09 (PDT)

to 6'1 FOB i totally agree with you. my bf is exactly how you describe an ABC. he looks different from FOBs (dress-wise and facial features), he can't even speak chinese and he says he even hates chinese people. that really aggravates me that he seems to have no sense of culture or identity. yet when i confront him about it he says he is proud of being asian. but then again he hates being chinese. what is wrong with that picture. by the way all his friends are white. i am probably more FOB than he is. (I'm viet by the way). I personally can't stand ABC's. no offense to any abc's out there.
Moonshineprincess Tuesday, July 02, 2002 at 11:13:05 (PDT)

6'1 FOB:
"How can you say ABCs and FOBs look the same. THere is a difference in facial features between a fob and a abc."
That's just usually due to body weight. And in the case of some ABC guys, a lot of time spent walking around with a pissed off expression on their face trying to look hard and gangsterish.
T.H. Lien Monday, July 01, 2002 at 18:53:54 (PDT)

How you say ABCs and FOBs look the same. THere is a difference in facial features between a fob and a abc. I know so many white washed chinese people it is not even funny. They can't even know how to hold a chopstick, speak their own native english which is a disgrace, and some even say they hate being chinese. Why would these people want to be white so much? Being Chinese and Asian is the coolest thing that could happen to you.

let me know what you think.
6'1 FOB Saturday, June 29, 2002 at 06:54:38 (PDT)

WE ARE NOT CULTURALLY IDENTICAL
FOBS and ABCs may look the same, but we can completely different when it comes to culture. If you've ever met a 4th generation ABC like me, you would probably realize that I dress, speak, and know less about the culture than the normal asian person you run into. (Probably a 1st generationer) It is because families like mine have been grown up here and have been accultured to American norms and values we lose major part of our identity when growing up. I'm not going to brag, but I have met only a handful of 3rd or 4th generation ABCs in my entire life and right now I'm trying to learn the language and gain all of the cultural knowledge that sets us apart from FOBs. I suffer from an identity crisis of becoming too fobby or too american now that I have started my path in learning about my history and most of all who I am. I don't see myself as a power hungry ABC but a fortunate yet cursed at the same time of having the best of both worlds. This is only 1 AM's POV, I'd like to hear what people have to say.
The Saint Monday, June 17, 2002 at 03:06:37 (PDT)

FOB - do they still use boats,

Yes! How can an Asian who was born here (whose parents just came here before their birth) be any different than someone who came here at age 1, 2, or 3?????? Culturally, the two are about identical. They are both "fresh" in comparison to ABCs who are 3rd, 4th, 5th generation.

I call them "immigrant-ABCs" and they take their USA birth soooooo seriously. Sooooo annoying. Growing up in a heavy Asian community, they *DO* think they are sooooooo much superior if theyre born here.
intra-racial prejudice Sunday, June 09, 2002 at 13:49:35 (PDT)

"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

I think ABCs do or wnat to think that they are better than FOBs, becuase they were born in America. It's human nature, people tend to make themselves feel superior in any way they can. You mentioned that "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". But as the poll suggests 31% of the sample beleive that FOBs are people who are not born in the US. So if an asian one-year-old came to America, he/she would still be considered an FOB, if he/she would probably still have very western views.
FOB- do they still use boats? Tuesday, June 04, 2002 at 02:38:37 (PDT)

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