what asian americans want you to know
Gathering into “caucuses” based on racial identities to share our experiences was a surprisingly edifying. Many of our anecdotes involved being stereotyped in some way, whether it was assuming someone would have an arranged marriage, that someone couldn’t speak English, or calling someone exotic based on their ethnicity. I myself have been assumed to be an international student. One of my best friends is a third generation Japanese-American, who still gets asked “where she’s from” when she’s probably been living here for maybe longer than some Caucasian people who will never get asked that question because they look “American”.
The thing, Asian people are still viewed as inherently foreign and as a result, are not as integrated into American culture except as stereotypes and cliches. What we want the rest of America to know is that we are a diverse group of people. The word “Asian”, which is used liberally to describe anyone “oriental” or “brown” looking (btw, don’t call us oriental) is a hugely broad one that encompasses many ethnicities with diverse cultures. We’re not all math and computer whizzes. We’re not all quiet and socially awkward sidekicks. We can speak English, maybe better than you. We don’t dream of marrying white people (although people have different preferences). We don’t all read manga, or watch Bollywood movies, or sing karaoke. And although our cultures may have stringent beauty standards, those beauty standards don’t necessarily mean we want to look Caucasian. Although we’re lumped into one category - Asian - we’re not all the same.
