Japanese American Identity & Self-Image | Asian American Poll

JAPANESE AMERICAN IDENTITY & SELF-IMAGE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:14:01 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

In relating with other Asian American groups, Japanese Americans most exhibit which of the following attitudes?
More Americanized than thou | 51%
More rooted in ancestral heritage | 0%
More anxious to be low key | 49%
More embracing of other AA | 0%

Which of the following has the most impact on the Japanese American identity?
Smallest percentage of recent immigrants | 36%
World War II internment | 51%
Japan's economic success | 6%
Smaller population than other AA groups | 7%

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WHAT YOU SAY

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"We Asian Americans assimilate at too high a rate. Even more than other white ethnic groups such as Italians and Jews."
Huh? The only time I have ever heard an Italian-American speaking complete sentences in Italian was that one episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where the family goes back to Italy. And the older sister of this one girl at my university who went on an exchange program to Italy. But she was pretty emphatic that her motivations were personal - interest in art history. I went to her wedding and have visited their home. Completely Americanized lifestyle and she hasn't got much desire to pass on her command of the Italian language to any future kids. Complete assimilation is when you no longer even consider your lack of language skills as detracting from your ethnic identity. I don't think most Asian-Americans have reached that stage ... yet. Maybe a portion of JAs have.

MLK, Navy LCDR airdale:
Regarding preservation of European ethnic cultures in the US ... there used to be a giant unassimilated Quebec-American community in New England. They had their own towns, schools, churches, and even a university. This situation persisted for almost half a century - kids growing up bilingual, but with French as their primary language, and making their living mostly within the community. Even the immigration cutoff of the 1920s didn't do that much to them. Mainstream society only succeeded in assimilating them through a government takeover of their schools, staff turnover, and a switch to English-language teaching and punishing kids who spoke French at school.
T.H. Lien Saturday, May 11, 2002 at 10:14:22 (PDT)

[Because the Japanese were forced to evacuate their homes and their communities, there are almost no distinctive Japan-towns that exist today (except in Hawaii -- where they were not interned).]

Hawaii residents of Japanese ancestry were also interned. Even though the Hawaiian Islands were not yet a state in the World War II era, a number of Japanese in Hawaii were interned. I believe Sand Island, which is located in the Kalihi district in Honolulu, was one of the many designated internment camps for the Japanese residents of the Hawaiian Islands.

Planky Friday, May 10, 2002 at 22:30:49 (PDT)

To optimistic,
I don't know where you live but I think it's important for you to realize that not all Americans interact with people of different backgrounds. The majority of Americans do not live in big, diverse cities like yours. Most of the people I interact with at home are white. I do not get to eat Thai, Indian, Korean, Chinese, Italian, French foods. America is also not the only place where you can interact with different people and read about the history of the Jews in Europe or Ancient Cambodia. Although having an optimistic attitude is important in life, it is just as important to have a pessimistic one. Personally, I think it's important to balance both optimism and pessimism. If a person was too optimistic or too pessimistic, he would have a very skewed vision of reality.

equilibrium Friday, May 10, 2002 at 21:57:32 (PDT)

Navy LCDR airdale,
Wow. It's really impressive that you speak Japanese in your family considering you're third generation. I know some 2nd generatation Asian Americans who can't even speak their parents' language. I'm a second generation Chinese American who is jealous of people like you. While my mother speaks to me in Chinese and my comprehension skills are good, my speaking skills are not as good. I usually speak to my mother in "Chinglish". English comes to my tongue more naturally than Chinese. I'm currently taking Chinese in college to improve my speaking and to learn how to write Chinese. I realy really admire you for speaking Japanese and trying to preserve the Japanese culture. Awesome. I wish more Asian Americans were more like you.

Roots are important Friday, May 10, 2002 at 21:44:32 (PDT)

to Navy LCDR airdale

I'm not sure what you're trying to convince me of. I do understand what you are pointing out. When I said that Eurpoean-American children don't have to be taught what their culture is like, they live it every day at home, at school and at play, what I'm implying (and I thought it was pretty clear) was that UNLIKE Euro-American children, Asian-American children DO have to be taught their culture and language at home because they are not surrounded by Asian-ess all day long. Your example only furthers my point that your family had to teach you to be Japanese, not society. The white family next to you may not speak French, but they do speak English, and that's as European as it gets since English came from England.

No, we are not mixed...yet. But given a couple of hundred years of coexistence, I'm sure we'll have plenty of Japanese/Chinese/Indian/Filipino mixed children, or Korean/Vietnamese/Burmese/Malaysian mixed kids. And then, the culture will be more American rather than Asian because it's too hard to teach a culture to a child who is made up of only a fraction of that culture.
MLK Friday, May 10, 2002 at 20:43:03 (PDT)

NAVY LCDR airdale- I think it's great that you and your family preserve your language and heritage. But just because Americans are mixed does not mean that we lack culture. I am a 4th generation German/Swedish American. I have never been to Germany or Sweden. I really have no desire to learn either language. I am an American, my culture is American, I don't feel that I'm somehow cut off from my identity or assimilated because I don't speak German or eat Swedish food. America is a culture unto itself, and I resent others calling Americans "cultureless".
curious girl Friday, May 10, 2002 at 11:43:22 (PDT)

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