Racial, Social, and Economic Issues: Too Black and White?

So I was lying in bed wide-awake when I thought of an interesting topic for my post. Yes, I am the type of creature that actually does the thinking at night and walk around like a zombie in the morning. Anyways, it keeps nagging me so I have to post it before I forget. Forgive me if there is any part in my writing that sounds incoherent. I’m working off of 3 hours of sleep. Shall we proceed?

You know how we talk about race as a predominantly black and white thing in class? Obviously, this is because “white and black” racism has strong historical roots and affect the majority and biggest minority groups in America (almost 90% of the population). Waves of Hispanic and Asian immigrants come relatively recently so racial controversies surrounding them are significantly less; well, not so much for Hispanics, but this is especially true for Asians.

So I was scanning the overall racial configuration of the class in my mind just now and I realized I may be the only one who is not directly personally involved in the racial discussion we have in class. Forgive if I am wrong, but I think almost everyone of you identify yourself as either racially white or black. So when we discussion topics that deal a lot with white and black issues, you guys seem to have more at stake than me, which is why I am taking the initiative and bringing Asian Americans onto the map. This is undoubtedly because I am personally interested as an Asian, but I also feel that there are very prevalent racial issues concerning Asian Americans that society often tend to overlook because Asian is not a big minority group in America and because we are often viewed as being economically and socially better off than other minorities.

The latter I will say is not true because it is inconsistent across the Asian race. Chinese and Japanese, who generally have more than a few generations to establish themselves in America, are typically more well off than other Asians in America. They are often held as the first wave of Asian immigrants. Those who just recently came to American, especially to seek refugee from war or poverty, such as Vietnamese and Laotians are the ones who are still struggling to climb the social and economic ladders in America.

It is often within these groups that social and racial problems occur. These new immigrants are typically still in the transitional process, trying to adapt to the American ways of life. Because they are often poor, owning little but the clothes on their backs, and driven away by instability and war from their homelands, they have many economic challenges in America and the language barrier makes it easier for others to discriminate against them. If they are discriminated against on an institutional level, they wouldn’t even know because they are uninformed about the rights and laws in America. Furthermore, because they are poor to begin with, they often start off in America living in socially and economically debased neighborhoods, making their children more susceptible to gang violence. The children sometimes join gangs themselves once they come of age because parents often have to immerge themselves in work in order to keep the family financially secure and thus can’t provide the children the sense of belonging and comfort of a home that they need. Lastly, these second and third waves of Asian immigrants have a much lower rate of going to college for reasons that are similar to the working class African Americans.

These are social, economical, and racial issues that are often overlooked because Asians are lumped together as one big racial group and society see Asians in terms of the social and economic achievements that the first wave of Asian immigrants have attained. There is a myth that society has for Asian Americans: they are model minority (http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-aamodel.htm). This misleading view hurts Asians because it conceals the issues within the Asian race and perpetual racism against Asians because not many think it is apparent or urgent enough to be addressed.

So there is my two cents on this issue. I am a Vietnamese so I have personally witnessed some of the social and racial issues that I have discussed in the Vietnamese community in St. Louis.

What I am interested in knowing is what are your thoughts and beliefs about Asian Americans in the racial, social, and economical senses? Has my post brought you any new information? How do you subconsciously view Asians in your daily lives?

O my, it is almost 5. Time for me to get so sleep. Good night!