While reading Playing Indian, a particular passage stood out to me: "In playing Indian, Americans invoked a range of identities - aborigine, colonist, patriot, citizen - all of which emerged from the categories Indian and Briton. In the process they created a new identity - American - that was both aboriginal and European and yet was also neither... After the Revolution, Americans remained stuck in the middle, lost somewhere between 'simultaneous identity' and 'no identity.'"
Can this experience be synonymous with the people of color in this country? Take Asian Americans, for example. First generation Asian Americans arrive in the U.S. as Asians, but with time they begin to assimilate to American culture. Thus, they evolve into having a "simultaneous identity" of being both Asian and American. But what does it exactly mean to be Asian American?
To me, being Asian American always meant that I never quite fit in wherever I went. In America I was always "that Asian girl," and even in Asia I stuck out like a sore thumb with my tan skin and thick American accent. I have definitely felt what Philip Deloria pinpoints as being "lost somewhere between 'simultaneous identity' and 'no identity.'" This feeling of confusion and being stuck between two cultures bothered me for a long time.
But the silver lining is that like the first colonists who had to create a unique "American" identity, we Asian Americans have similar experiences that no other Asian or American can share. And there's something really special about that.
Can this experience be synonymous with the people of color in this country? Take Asian Americans, for example. First generation Asian Americans arrive in the U.S. as Asians, but with time they begin to assimilate to American culture. Thus, they evolve into having a "simultaneous identity" of being both Asian and American. But what does it exactly mean to be Asian American?
To me, being Asian American always meant that I never quite fit in wherever I went. In America I was always "that Asian girl," and even in Asia I stuck out like a sore thumb with my tan skin and thick American accent. I have definitely felt what Philip Deloria pinpoints as being "lost somewhere between 'simultaneous identity' and 'no identity.'" This feeling of confusion and being stuck between two cultures bothered me for a long time.
But the silver lining is that like the first colonists who had to create a unique "American" identity, we Asian Americans have similar experiences that no other Asian or American can share. And there's something really special about that.