Arya, Week #5 - The Evolution of the Bay
I’ve realized I’ve been analyzing a lot of things, unlike some of you who have been getting personal, or at the very least reading someone else getting personal–and that’s inspired me! This is between my dad and me: how we look nothing alike (only my mom disagrees, of course), and how we’ve been treated the same despite this distinction.
Not trying to spill my dads secrets or anything, but being a first-generation half Asian boy in the 1970s made him anything but American. Like him and the three other non-Asians here at the time, he was harassed verbally and physically, and was assumed to be Chinese because no one could even attempt to tell the difference back then. Slurs were just regular words because of the economic recession that led to the intense hate of Asians. Whenever someone looked at him, they would immediately think “This guy’s not American.” Especially being Korean in a time post-Korean war, there was a certain type of silence around his seemingly unknown ethnicity (which I would love to discuss in another blog). Yes, he grew up in the Bay Area–but it was still predominately white.
Now in the East Bay, it’s completely changed–there is so much diversity of so many different cultures like Asians going from 6% of the population to 30% of the population today, which is now the same as white people. In a way to bring back his own roots, my dad always told me about how Asian I am, but I never really felt or was ever seen that way from anyone else. Like both my parents said they could see it in my eyes, even though they’re colored like the prophesied girl in Big Trouble in Little China (the impossible instance of a full Chinese girl with natural green eyes that absolves a curse). At the same time, when I was young, people told me I was lying when I said I was part Asian to fit in! This is the oddest situation because even though my dad and I grew up in different times and in different groups, we actually experienced the same thing–being the odd one out. People said and thought the same things simply because we did not fit their status quo of being “American” or “one of them.”
I know that the Bay is a unique place that encourages diversity and inclusion, unlike let’s say West Virginia–but this doesn’t mean we're cured of preconceptions. All it means is that our preconceptions change, most of us have grown up here and see the majority of people living here being Asian, so white people kind of stick out. But this is somewhat of a rare case, we could drive 30 minutes to Pleasanton and see a majority of white people. Both groups grew up with different ideas of the “norm,” and so the idea of the average American changes as well. Language used to describe Americans is constantly changing because Americans are constantly changing.
Arya, this blog reminds me of a work friend of my dad’s. Like your dad, he was Asian, and lived in Bay during the 70s—in fact, he lived in what is now Union City, in a location that could have been mistaken for a small town in the Central Valley back then. He, too, is partially surprised by the change the East Bay has gone through, with James Logan High School now existing (he had to go to Washington High School before) and the Bay having one of the largest Asian populations in the US. The changes that occur in the population makeup may be vast; yet, I notice one striking similarity between the two times: the “othering” of new immigrants or unique groups. At American High School, for example, recently immigrated people from China often do not make friends with longtime residents in America; rather, they form their own circles of friends, rarely stepping out of those circles throughout their daily interactions. This is why I heavily agree with your point about American society: anyone who does not fit the ideal model of an American is left out of the conversation about what makes an American. This ordeal is one of many that the US’s people have to solve, hopefully in a more equitable and inclusive manner.
ReplyDeleteIn your comment on my blog about my experiences being mixed race, you said we had a lot in common in terms of our experiences, and now I’m going to say it right back to you! My mom also insists that you can tell that I’m Asian just by looking at me, but I’m still pretty skeptical…I think the furthest that I could go is slightly ethnically ambiguous. Your observation on how the dominant group has changed, but not the treatment of the “other” is incredibly accurate. I’ve often thought about how crazy it is that when my mom was young she was getting bullied for being Asian, and when I was that same age I was wishing that I was more Asian.
ReplyDeleteStill though, I think I have to say that I’m glad I live in such a diverse area. While it has caused some issues for me, I think at the very least it’s taught me some resilience, and I love that I’ve been able to experience so many cultures. I hope that in the future everyone will be able to be accepted no matter what their ethnic makeup looks like, and that the experiences of mixed people will continue to improve with time!
I really like your point of how even though the majority of people are now minorities, ostracizing and social out-grouping have not changed. I think this really sheds light on the concept of intersectionality, which would prove why equity is simply not achieved when demographics shift. Instead, ostracizing, similar to how Michelle Alexander explains racial prejudice, is a deeply ingrained apparatus. The human impulse to construct an out-group can simply adapt or shift due to demographic changes, finding new ways to exclude individuals, whether through race, religion, sexuality, income, or something else. Therefore a majority-minority America or Bay Area is simply not one with “less prejudice”. I think Alexander herself expresses this powerfully: oppressive systems don’t “die” but rather adapt to stay alive. She explored this from the perspective of racial prejudice, which she argued went from being utilized to uphold the Jim Crow laws to upholding the mass incarceration system, but we can apply a similar framework for almost any sort of exclusion, be it Xenophobia, Homophobia, etc. I was also pondering upon Kan’s comment here. I wanted to sort of push back on people being excluded because they didn’t uphold the standard of being “American”. As we explored in our synthesis essay, most Americans actually had a pretty inclusive view of what “American” meant, with a small but incredibly vocal group representing the more populist, nativist views. I think the reason for this split in reported views and real-world microaggressions and discrimination comes down to a conflict in what we say we want an “American” to look like and what we are actually comfortable for an “American” to look like. Therefore, while most people may report being incredibly inclusive with the term “American,” their internal biases (again with intersectionality) might actually reflect more nuance and biases.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the microcosm of the Bay Area. Specifically Fremont. There’s a really funny joke that I saw online about Fremont. I’ll share with anyone who wants to hear it if they come in-person to me.
ReplyDeleteI’m really happy how society keeps progressing as time marches on. I think back to our APUSH lessons on the 1800s and exclusionary acts like the Chinese law passed because of San Francisco and California residents worrying about increasing numbers of immigrants. I think about your dad’s 1970s experience of being allowed to live in the U.S. as an Asian, but facing discrimination constantly. And now I think about me, a lucky 2000s Asian American who got to grow up right in the heart of the Midwest and experience a friendly, almost picturesque American lifestyle.
Our nation, in this day and age, is filled with places that welcome newcomers who are nice and bring something interesting to share with their new community. What hurts me is how predominantly white places in America, like my hometown, get negatively viewed by my classmates here in Fremont, and how those white places are stereotyped as hostile pits of despair, and even get italicized when being referred to. I’m really looking forward to our next blog post, where I’ll write about the love there is to share in America, and how we can take a “road trip” to explore the places we’ve heard so much about but haven’t gotten to experience for ourselves. I hope people will be inspired, or at least less reluctant, to voyage outside of our community!