Japanese American Identity & Self-Image | Asian American Poll

JAPANESE AMERICAN IDENTITY & SELF-IMAGE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:14:00 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%

This poll is closed to new input.
Comments posted during the past year remain available for browsing.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISING INFO

© 1996-2013 Asian Media Group Inc
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.

WHAT YOU SAY

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

Navy LCDR Airdale,

Thanks for the apology. I know that I will never understand what it's like to be a minority and have my American-ness questioned. I can only imagine how hard and unfair that must feel. I definitely think that preserving one's cultural heritage is a wonderful thing, if that's what you want to do. My boyfriend is Chinese American and his family speaks, writes Chinese, goes to dim sum, plays mah jongg, etc. And if we had children I expect to teach them Chinese as well as English to preserve both sides of their heritage. But ultimately it's up to the individual how much of their culture they choose to keep alive, and no one way is right or wrong.

curious girl Tuesday, May 14, 2002 at 10:41:25 (PDT)

Hawaii residents of Japanese Ancestry were interned but not EN MASSE as the AJAs on the mainland.

Hawaii's AJA incarceration was limited to influential leaders of the community as well as Buddhist priests, consulate personnel etc as well as those the government had reasonable suspicion of. In contrast, mainland AJAs, newborns as well as the frail 91-year old were sent to prison.

Curious girl, you said that you are German and Swedish but your culture is American and that you are insulted because I implied that you are "cultureless".

I am sorry.

However, your white skin places you in a position that no one will doubt your "American-ness" while the color of our skin will forever subject us to remarks like "Boy your English is superb", "when did you come to this country, etc." Has anyone EVER asked you when you came here or remarked that your English is superb?

For example, a fellow Naval officer who worked with me, is a white guy from the Dutch West Indies. He has NEVER had his Americanism questioned (naturalized US citizen) while I am always questioned, even as we return to San Diego from Tijuana. (Immigration officer at the border wanted to know if I knew what teether ball was, ostensibly to detect if I was really American. My West Indies pal whos parents came from Holland skated right through.)

So while I am treated as less than American, I find solace in the fact that my bilingual skills and bicultural life that I experience are the envy of those who think that they are "more American" than me.

Curious girl, the day this country can see past my color and treat me exactly like they treat you, then maybe I can shed the biculturalness. Until then, it is important for my family to maintain that inportant ancestral link.

Once last question. If someone were to fix up a guy with a blind date and the guy asks, "So what does the babe look like" and the response was "She has classic American looks", which one would the speaker and the receiver of that response visualize?

1. Jennifer Lopez
2. Michelle Kwan
3. Britney Spears

The answer is obvious.

Navy LCDR airdale Tuesday, May 14, 2002 at 07:58:11 (PDT)

I grew up in Louisiana, and there are many towns in the Acadiana Region of the State where the strong Cajun/French culture is all too obvious. In some of the smaller cities like Thibodeaux, many of the schools were operating in French until the 1970s. I remember bringing home notices from school in Baton Rouge where they had copies of the notices in French, Vietnamese and Spanish for parents who didn't speak english. There was even a French Newscast on WWL-4 in New Orleans on into the mid-1980s.

The state still has its boards and committees (ie. CODOFIL) to preserve the French Culture in regions where it dominates. However, due to Federal Issues surrounding school standards and so forth, there are no more French Schools. The State still requires 1 year of French in Middle School to move onto High School though. Some European traditions don't die as hard as you would think.
LeRoux Monday, May 13, 2002 at 11:33:42 (PDT)

NEWEST COMMENTS | EARLIER COMMENTS