What FOBs Think of American-Born Asians | Asian American Issues

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WHAT FOBs THINK OF AMERICAN-BORN ASIANS
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:03:24 PM)

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

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To KB Direct Admit Freshman:

"they (FOBs) also have less identity issues..."

As an ABC, I'd have to agree with that statement. FOBs, for obvious reasons, know where they're coming from. Us ABCs? Sometimes, we try to be White or Black or even a blend of everything and anything or nothing.

Basically, if we don't keep in contact with our language, culture, family, and Asian friends, we're lost. We're left floating out at sea with no real place to call "home."

You see a lot of these with mixed people. From what I've seen, mixed people (HAPAS) either chose one culture or the other. Few will identify with both. And, if they choose whichever culture they want to identify with, it's a whole new matter of whether that culture will accept them as their own.
Just from what I've seen
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 at 11:29:26 (PST) [63.210.221.98]

After having lived in the US for more than a decade, I now notice that lots of Chinese FOBs, whether they are from HK, China or Taiwan, always discard their original Chinese names, and pick up and start using English names as soon as they land. This is not the same with Korean, Japanese or other Asians. I wonder why.
FOP

the following is just my opinion, so don't get too worked up if it does not agree with any of you.

firstly, i have noticed this trend a long time ago (i'm chinese myself)
there are several possible explanations for this.

1. the chinese yearn to integrate into their new societies more than the koreans and japanese

2. this leads to my second point;
generally speaking, from experience, the koreans have the most pride of being koreans, the japanese and chinese have less. there is no denying it. while a lot of asians accuse the japanese of being suckers to westerners, most asians are suckers to the japanese- (this is very true and nothing any of you say will change the truth).

3. so then why are there so few japanese people with english or christian names? this might be due to the colonial past of hk and certain parts of china. undoubtedly, some children were adopted and so they are probably then given christian names. the other chinese then see this and adopt a christian name too, most likely to show that you have 'class'. so this then spreads throughout the chinese world, to an extent that it has become a 'culture'. so now most chinese people in the western world have a christian name and if you don't, you'll probably be seen as an alien or someone uncool. this is of course not the case for the japanese and the koreans, in fact, if anything, there is a culture for them NOT to be given a christian name as the majority of them are not. in other words, if you are chinese, you have pressure from other chinese to have a christian name, whereas, if you are japanese or koreans, you have pressure from them not to have a christian name.

whoa, quite a long opinion
D of E (cbabc)
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 at 10:53:44 (PST) [172.179.113.246]

I am a FOB...I have a lot of respect for other FOBs...because unlike ABCs...they worked their own way here to America...and did not just freeload off of their parents...

FOBs seems to be more confident than ABCs...this is because the ones that are able to make it here are often the brighter bulbs back home...(students)...they also have less identity issues...

ABCs are cool too...the ones that make an effort to familiarize themselves with their own culture...
KB Direct Admit Freshman
Monday, January 27, 2003 at 19:52:34 (PST) [67.241.7.170]

As a kid, I used to look down on FOBs, but now I think many are pretty cool. I mean, everyone is still different and individuals (so I'm not going to like/dislike someone based solely on FOB status), but the fact that they're not "ugly Americans" is refreshing. And this also includes other non-Americans like Australians, Europeans, etc.. I notice they tend to be more open-minded, socially/environmentally-conscious, less Bible-beating, less racist and generally about 25 years ahead of America in terms of thinking. Americans in general just need to get out more.
World Tourist
Monday, January 27, 2003 at 09:27:24 (PST) [148.104.5.7]

from my personal experience fobs are very rude to ABA's.
aba
Sunday, January 26, 2003 at 21:56:42 (PST) [209.233.224.38]

First of all, I just want to say that whoever came up the term "FOB" should be taken out, shot, and hung up to dry with the sign "IDIOT" hung on his neck.

Second, the term "FOB" is meant to demoralized people. It's used by weak people so they could feel superior. They're immigrants, not FOBs.
hnguyen
hnguyen3k@cox.net Wednesday, January 08, 2003 at 23:42:25 (PST) [68.100.131.106]

hehehehehehehe very funny discussion :) :)
Texan
Monday, January 06, 2003 at 11:43:49 (PST) [144.9.158.88]

I don't know about you guys, but I tend to prefer hanging out with FOBs. I'm an ABC or ABA or whatever the term is these days.

I do speak Cantonese fluently (without an "American" accent) and I do love to do "Fobby" things (karaoke, speaking in loud Cantonese, smoking, da beeen lo, gambling, AC concerts, etc.). Speaking of loud, when they were playing blackjack, poker, "fish, shrimp, and crab", or MJ, I had to cover my ears because everyone was screaming so loud! ;) I don't know why, but they remind me of my family when I was young. I also have a ton of ABC friends who also associate and hang-out with FOBs.

This past Christmas Eve was the first super-Fobby party that I've ever attended. My friend Cindy's from HK ( I think her husband is ABC), btw. EVERYONE at the party was Chinese and EVERYONE spoke Cantonese. Believe it or not, I had a BLAST!!! I've never felt so at home!
An ABC in NYC
Sunday, December 29, 2002 at 09:12:51 (PST) [209.244.103.64]

FOP,
Maybe they are sick of people butchering their Chinese names.
Other Asians does used English names, don't assume they don't just b/c you don't know any.
TAG
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 at 17:28:34 (PST) [140.254.26.25]

Dell, IBM blah blah blah. What does computers have to do with the subject of FOBs and ABAs? Wanna know the answer? The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the TOPIC. Why do some people come to these forums and attempt to make it into what they want it to be? That is pathetic. This topic is about FOBs and ABAs. NOt the computer industry, okay people?
wake up
Friday, November 22, 2002 at 10:49:22 (PST)

i had this roommate...and he was also a Korean who just arrived to the U.S.A. He spoke little english to me (an ABA). He was always willing to help me out even when he couldnt speak english taht well. I was once late for an important meeting and if someone was to take my spot temporarily, i can be dismissed. This meeting i had to go to was for ABA's/people who could speak english well...but my friend went there for me and gave me another chance to get to the meeting. ANother incident was when I lost my wallet an airport in the U.S. to a theif. Fortunetly, A korean man, who have just arrived from Korea, grabbed the thief and with some techniques he learned from TAEKWONDO, a korean martial art, he knocked the thief down and retrieved my wallet. I offered him a $20 bill for helping me, but he refused.
With all due respect, I wish koreans worldwide great wishes and thanks. I also hope that the two korea's can resolve their problems and become one again.
A man who wishes to give Koreans worldwide thanks and hope
Thursday, August 22, 2002 at 21:51:38 (PDT)

I'm an ABA. I once had a roommate who was a student from Corea (FOB). Honestly, I truly don't have any biases against FOB's, especially Coreans. We both had similar experiences with people, regardless we were Asians. He was pretty nice to me, and I did the same for him. We both shared some foods together, and he took me out to dinner sometimes. We argued some things here and there at times, though we never hit each other.
Anyway, if you want to know my experience with FOB's, I find Coreans, for example, whether FOB and/or ABA, they can speak a little English, though not fluently; I don't know if this fact is true, but from other sources here in the Goldsea webpage, they tend to scorn others, especially Asians. If you say something negative about them, regardless if it is the truth or not, Coreans will overreact. I don't say that all are like that. I am saying this because my Corean roommate was like that to me, though he never scorned me behind my back whenever I go out.
You want to also know something? I find that FOB's Chinese and Taiwanese were pretty nice to me when I got to know them. I don't speak for all, of course.
In closure, as an ABA, I like FOB's, although not all of them.
dsfbcbsijbdax
Sunday, August 18, 2002 at 13:13:59 (PDT)

I have a lot of respect for "FOBs." Sure some "FOBs" can be mean to those that aren't, but that's true for anyone. I think it's very funny that when I go to class and the only person actually willing to ask the professor a question is some "FOB" whose english is extremely broken. It takes a lot of guts to move to entirely different country and completely start over. To all asians who are not, any of us could have easily been FOBs, and if you feel that you don't respect "FOBs" or they are smelly, comb their hair funny, or maybe just loud, I'm sure that your parents are probably "FOBs".
Asian at UT (One of the many)
Tuesday, April 23, 2002 at 12:14:04 (PDT)

AA with too much time,

Remember the first post on the subject was a satire to someone else's post to Jews and Blacks on USA culture.

If you want a dissertation to every factor that lead to MS dominiance and weigh them, you found the wrong forum to do that.

However, if you are too dense to see the relationship of Asian OEM/ODM parts (including fake CPU) and including architecture that could not be protected by itellectual property laws ---> Cheaper PC ---> MS OS dominance. I never claim that this relationship was exclusive to MS dominance and was not open to other market forces. Nor was there a conspiracy of asians that decided to sell copies of MS OS. They were just market trends that mutually allowed for spreading of IBM clones w/ MS OS in the US market in the 80's.

I pointed out the elegant argument against my stance, because it was obvious you were bursting a blood vessel on the matter, with all the time on your hand.
AC Dropout Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 11:57:45 (PDT)

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