I remember in my freshman English class, we had to read a book called "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. In the book, the main character, a Native American named Junior, decides to attend school for a year at a white high school, alienating his ties to his family and friends on the reservation. Throughout this experience, Junior understands that he appears to everyone as Native American, but he internally is indoctrinated into white society. Because of this clash of identity, Junior calls himself an apple: red on the outside, white on the inside. The reason I bring this up is because I am a lot like Junior, as I have grown up in a white climate even though I'm an Asian, except instead, due to my ethnicity, I'd identify as a banana.
The reason I bring this up is because being an Asian in America for me brings up a tension between both identities, concerning acceptance. As an Asian, I have always been different to my peers, so I never felt fully accepted by my white peers, while on the other hand, growing up in America has created a sort of disconnect with my Chinese roots. I know I'm not the only one feeling this. Many Japanese-Americans that were sent to internment camps have mixed feelings about being both Japanese and American, to the point where some "fence-sitters" decided to stay in America or repatriate in Japan based on which side won. On one hand, these people have been raised as Americans, yet their fellow peers treat them as foreign aliens intent on destroying the land they too had grown up in. There is that lack of acceptance.
Even post-WWII, the lives of the Asian-American community, not just Japanese, have felt a wholesome sense of acceptance. As groups of color settled into the Bay Area suburbs, many white people fled their homes. Contractors from Asian malls saw businesses such as Whole Foods decline to operate, because they thought Asians wouldn't be interested in their products.
The reason I bring this up is because being an Asian in America for me brings up a tension between both identities, concerning acceptance. As an Asian, I have always been different to my peers, so I never felt fully accepted by my white peers, while on the other hand, growing up in America has created a sort of disconnect with my Chinese roots. I know I'm not the only one feeling this. Many Japanese-Americans that were sent to internment camps have mixed feelings about being both Japanese and American, to the point where some "fence-sitters" decided to stay in America or repatriate in Japan based on which side won. On one hand, these people have been raised as Americans, yet their fellow peers treat them as foreign aliens intent on destroying the land they too had grown up in. There is that lack of acceptance.
Even post-WWII, the lives of the Asian-American community, not just Japanese, have felt a wholesome sense of acceptance. As groups of color settled into the Bay Area suburbs, many white people fled their homes. Contractors from Asian malls saw businesses such as Whole Foods decline to operate, because they thought Asians wouldn't be interested in their products.