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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
WHAT FOBs THINK OF AMERICAN-BORN ASIANS
y FOBs we mean anyone who has ever been called an FOB. -- "fresh-off-the-boat", anyone not born here. In other words, half the AA population. Even the 2 million AA who immigrated as kids and speak English like -- or in some cases, better than -- native-born Americans rarely escape the sting of being dismissed by American-Born Asians (ABAs) based on real or imagined differences.
The stereotype of the hopeless FOB who just doesn't get American culture is all too familiar. But intra-Asian prejudice is a two-way street.
No less insulting are the images held by FOBs. ABAs are the descendants of the lowliest of peasants forced to flee their homelands to become indentured servants, sniff some FOBs. Born and bred to accept second-class status in a white society, sneer others. Slackers who don't know the meaning of ambition and sacrifice -- and who lack the guts to do anything about it in any case.
FOBs run the socio-economic gamut. A significant minority (perhaps a tenth) are highly successful trans-Pacific business families seeking a safe haven for their fortunes. The vast majority are engineers, scientists, physicians and academics braving the uncertainties of new lives for a chance to work hard for more money and better opportunities. A few are refugees and illegals risking their lives to escape hopeless, grinding poverty.
It's safe to say few FOBs feel in any respect disadvantaged relative to American-born Asians. In fact, given a dozen years most do as well or better than ABAs financially, if not socially. They can be excused, then, for harboring some less-than-flattering assessments of ABAs. By the same token, in their struggle to acculturate, FOBs often come to appreciate the trails blazed by the ABS, or at least, by their ancestors.
Assuming you're FOB or straddling the FOB-ABA fence, what's your image of ABAs? Let's hear the good as well as the bad.
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:03:32 PM)
hannybunbun:
racism against asian people is not acceptable, whether by a white person or by a fellow asian.
moreover, when such statements are made by other asians, they are usually about groups other than their own. thus, cantonese people will put down taiwanese people. korean people will put down chinese. they rarely speak unfavorably about their own groups, so it stems clearly from ignorance.
if you read my posts, i do comment when other asians make such racist statements--but only when it is blatantly so. otherwise, it's just a waste of time because it happens so often.
i found the comments that you made to be racist. upon reading your post, i questioned whether it was because you were white. however, when i reread your post, imagining that it was written by a chinese daughter-in-law, i felt it the statements were racist all the same. (this does not mean that i think you are a racist person).
reread my last post--my reaction to your statements was reasonable.
penelope
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 14:01:17 (PST)
hannybunbun
"And if I am so ethnocentric, I suppose that I would not be married to a Chinese man nor would I choose to have a bi-cultural child."
that's not necessarily true. especially since you're husband isn't "stereotypically Chinese,"--with that defined as how it has been defined in this post.
i was never searching for racism in your posts. i was the first to commend you about eating pig's feet and trying out the culture, if you can recall. however, some of the statements you made were blatantly racist--for example, implying that there is something wrong with them because they watch only Chinese cable. (note that this implication was drawn without in the absence of you saying anything about chinese people).
i also am not a big fan of materialism. i was merely correcting your spelling of louis vuitton and was not the least bit insulting about it.
i don't agree with some feelings of superiority that some asians have other others--and this form is racism is existent in almost all asian groups. however, your in-laws were raised in a completely different environment and put through an entirely different socialization process--one that you may not necessarily be able to conceive of. it would be arrogant to say that you definitely would not have turned out the same way.
penelope
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 13:47:46 (PST)
The Cantonese are like the Italians. It may seems like we are argueing but we are only communicating.
I had to say that to my Mandarin Chinese teacher once because I was learning damn Mandarin and it kept getting butchered with Cantonese. She told me to say it softly so I told her why.
To Fop:
I have the best of both worlds my women has big brown eyes with double lids and she acts like a damn Blonde. Imagine that an Asian Blonde women without any surgery to look so!
Happy AM
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 12:24:44 (PST)
Ms Kwan,
"Hk girls dye their hair blonde and red, purple, brown to look like the japanese trend these days. HK seemed to take it further"
So what do you think those Japanese youths try to imitate? Among overseas Asian, Japanese has a notorious reputation of indiscriminately following western trends, modes, and styles.
FOP
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 10:26:55 (PST)
Ms Kwan,
"Most HK people I talk to are the most racist people ever! They talk in a way towards westerners as a joke, so dont think they try to be westerners. "
But they would make fun of the mainland Chinese for not being able to speak English (Well, they don't speak good English either), which is a foreign language that we don't use in our social lives, right? Your arguement holds as much water as black men claim black women are the mothers of the earth, but they would run over their sisters to pursue white women.
And they would jostle with the unruly crowds in tiny western expat enclave like Lan Kwai Fong just to be close with those expats so that they could feel more cultural superior, right? Remember, one new year's eve, some HK youths were crushed and stampeded to death in LFK b/c the unruly crowd went out of control. Why would they hang out in such a tiny spot with few seedy European/American bars? Cos the expats hang out there. That's why.
To FOP:
Yes, I am sure. Their hair might not be as blonde as they wish. Since Asian's hair is black, it would take twice as much dosage of peroxide to bleach out the black pigment. Then, it would cause an enormous damage to the hair. Some might choose to settle with reddish blonde or brownish blonde. However, these people are still generally called "Kum Mo" (Blonde Hair) by the public.
FOP (A HK Born Chinese)
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 10:03:27 (PST)
read this somewhere:
Ming Pao Daily claimed that flu and other respiratory infections are more common in HK cuz people talk so loudly, making their throats more sore, thus increasing the risk of infection ... go figure. There's a better solution to population density: keeping one's voices low and developing a culture which ostracizes people who talk loudly. Might also save medical bills. But this requires being concerned for other people beyond ones' self and immediate ingroup members, i.e. caring for "society at large."
Ms. Kwan:
"but the best is when mandarin people try to speak cantonese... so cute!!!!"
Now there's a rare attitude =). Just had dinner and went out with some friends, including one girl from the mainland. I can understand her Cantonese perfectly fine despite some mispronunciations, but since we got back home tonight my HK friends have done nothing but bitch about her accent and express continual amazement that I can understand.
Personally I think HK people are more prejudiced against other Chinese than they are against Westerners. Last time I was in HK, tried an experiment, called a bookstore to ask if they had some book in stock. The first time I put on a heavier version of my normal accent (Hakka), the second time I put on an American accent. Got distinctly better service the second time ...
T.H. Lien
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 09:31:26 (PST)
Ac Dropout,
Hehehe... yep, my sister-in-law translates for me alot and when I ask her sometimes what is said, she rolls her eyes and says, "you really don't want to know. Try not to learn Chinese so fast, you'll be better off."
I know regardless of culture and race, in-laws can be a little pain in the butt at times. I think that living with them and being from a different culture can be a little difficult too, but I did gain some insights and knowledge along with my frustrations.
And to FOP: Thank you FOP, I am glad that you understood my post. Although I must say that my husband's cousin has blonded her hair and it looks cute and her Korean boyfriend just dyed his blue!I think they look great with their natural colors too, but they tell me it is a "college trend" and are just being kids.
Hannybunbun
Friday, March 15, 2002 at 08:26:56 (PST)
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