being P.C. is not easy...

Following my entry from last week, I am quite pleased that this week's open discussion was heated and incorporated everyone's opinions into the discussion. It is just these kinds of discussions that I feel we should be having more of in an Asian American Studies class. I think that it just took a topic that affects everyone's daily lives to get people talking, and I wish we could have continued the discussion for a longer time. So much so, that I have more to say.

Talking about Asian Americans as the "model minority" got me to thinkin'. First of all, I am pretty sure that I don't have all the facts necessary to comprehend what makes Asians the model minority, or how we compare to other groups in terms of immigration and levels of success. However, I do know from seeing friends I have grown up with that many Asians suffer from similar levels of poverty and racism as other groups, yet many (or most, I would even dare to say) find some way to rise up beyond the circumstances dealt to them and achieve higher levels of success through each new generation. That is to say, I have met many Asian families who lived in Oakland upon entering the states, manage to put their children through school, and their children are able to attend a university and find a decent to well paying job. Most commonly where I live, this second generation of Asian Americans move to the wealthy suburb of Alameda called Bay Farm Island and live comfortably in their two-story homes with a Lexus or two in the driveway.

And then I think about Oakland, the city I grew up so close to, yet it is so far away from the world I live in. "Underprivileged," "minority," "disadvantaged," "low-income," "underrepresented." All words you hear when we talk about Oakland, right? Especially at Cal, we are all aware of this issue in the city not-so-far-away. We even have a plethora of volunteer organizations aimed at the (insert adjective from above here.) We all know equally as well that when we talk about Oakland, we have to talk about the African American status quo. My question is, what is it about the many Asian Americans who have made it out of difficult economic circumstances that makes them different from the many African Americans who are having such a hard time getting out? I do acknowledge that there are many different circumstances, regardless of racial group, but in speaking about these groups in a whole, I think it is necessary to note ethnic trends among the whole.

I must admit that in today's society of "politically correct" (P.C.) and "not" I was and am still a bit nervous to mention race in such a bold topic, but I feel that it is significant enough to discuss or simply touch upon. I just feel that, no matter how much we would like to step away from stereotypes and statistical observations, we cannot ignore what is before us. And what I am seeing, and I'm sure many others can see too, is that somehow, some way, there is something different about many of the Asian Americans that immigrate here that helps us rise up in a very short amount of time. Perhaps it is circumstances upon immigration, educational background, educational drive, or a difference in upbringing. Who knows. Maybe the Asians have something they can teach the African Americans, and all would be well. For now, we don't know what makes us the "model minority," and we cannot answer the age old question of why Asian Americans do not qualify for affirmative action. I'm not sure this was as coherent as I wanted it to be, or as well-written. Maybe I was afraid to say most of what I had in mind when I started this because of fear this blog would not be "P.C." Or maybe just short on time. But hopefully I was able to probe a few key thoughts out of you.