Search for an Asian American Identity

This paper discusses the search for an Asian American identity. In East to America, Elaine H. Kim and Eui-Young Yu attempt to answer this from the Korean American perspective. Their book includes interviews with diverse of Korean Americans, some of whom define themselves as Korean, some as Korean American, and some as simply American. As this self-definition implies, a single identity does not exist. Nevertheless, many of these interviews show that immigrants and the children of immigrants continue to struggle to create a synthesized identity, one that provides them with the benefits of their rich heritage while acknowledging their new circumstances, new loyalties, and new home. The task is not an easy one, but it is necessary as part of the ongoing search for roots, meaning, and personal validation.

The term "Asian American" is relatively new. Immigrants to the United States from Asia have always been a part of the nation's history, but legislative efforts to restrict their numbers have prevented them from having the dramatic, long-term effect of many other nationalities until fairly recently. Like other cultural groups before them, Asian Americans have undergone (and are still going through) a struggle to define themselves as residents of a new society and a foreign culture.

Asian Americans have also had to contend with the fact that they do not share a homogenous heritage. Immigrants from Taipei, Hong Kong, or Vietnam all arrive with very different histories,

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o cling to the values and customs of their homeland, modifying their original culture as little as possible to live in the strange new world. They establish Korean centers, shop in stores run by fellow immigrants, and live and work in a closed community that tries to deny the larger world in which it exists. Kyu Min Lee declares, "I'm not Korean American; I'm Korean . . . It's where I was born . . . I hate to hear Korean people say, 'I am American'" (128). The problem is that, at least politically, Koreans who come to America, even if they do not apply for citizenship, are still living in a new country. While most of those with whom they come in contact may speak Korean, even the most ardent nationalist will need to learn a few words of English to get by. Denial, separation, and isolationism are not effective answers. Yet full-scale surrender to the new culture is not the answer, either. Sean Suh says, "If I were living in Korea, I'd raise my kids in the Korean culture; but if I am living in America, I am going to raise them in American culture . . . I'm not Korean. I'm closer to being an American" (145). However, no matter how much he may wish it, he can never be "just American," either. Numerous subjects interviewed

Category: Psychology - S