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The phenomenon of asian pride and the stereotyped
identification of asian-american youths leaves me with a quesy
stomach and insupressable desire to slap all the people who
tYpe LyKE thEy KeeP HittINg tHe sHifT kEY AcCidentAlLy. perhaps
i overact, but i don't recall when being an angry looking punk
with a brand new civic and a cell phone that dresses like he's
going clubbing every day started proving how true your are to
your asian roots. asian pride is a cliche that effectually means,
i love anything associated with asian-ness for no reason. boy
am i cooler than those loser white boys. if i recall correctly,
asian cultures treasured such things as honor, respect, and
discipline. i guess it's easier to dye your hair and buy fubu
clothes nowadays (asians buying fubu to stay asian is ridiculously
ironic). I have no problem with people who do any of these things,
but there is something wrong when such nonsense is seen as representin
yo azn culture. all the asian pride (and the subtly toned down,
all my friends are asian but ap is stupid stage) craze has proven
to me is that which we value as our cultures and identities
is incredibly shallow and pathetic. the various cultures in
the continent known as asia have much more to offer than the
trash we seem so proud to show the many Americans who know nothing
of our people but what we seem so intent on being. the article
below is enlightening. enjoy.
What’s Up With Asian Pride?
by Phillip Shen
dO yOu LiKe It WhEn I wRiTe LiKe ThIs? IsN'T
iT kEwL?
Okay, I'm just playing here. There's no actual
evidence that extremist pride means writing with these alternating
capital and non-capital letters. But a strong growing trend
across Asian communities (mostly teens) all across the US
is this newfound "Azn Pride". I appreciate Asian
Pride very much. It shows me that some people actually are
proud to be Asian. It shows me that many of my fellow Asian
Americans want to be more than just "Bananas".
Perhaps this is a subject that many Asian
American's would just take for granted or ignore. Because,
"one can never be too proud to be Asian" (quote
from a fellow Asian Avenue member).
For one thing, while these people claim to
have "Azn Pride", what exactly are they proud of?
It seems most would just say, "proud to be Asian".
If that is the extent of one's pride, it seems kind of lame-o
to me. Because the philosophy employed by just being proud
of your skin color is the same philosophy the KKK and Nazis
have taken. Interestingly enough some of the Azn Prider's
do take the extreme racist stance just for the sake of "being
more Asian". Whether it be racist jokes to a dignified
resentment of non-Asian races, this doesn't seem like the
proper attitude. I highly doubt there will be a march on Washington
with Asian Americans carrying a yellow flag, wearing yellow
robes and screaming out "Yellow Power!". What I
am concerned about is spreading around racism in the name
of coolness and ignorance. Liking your race is one thing,
but treating other races badly because of it is another...
There are various other little nitpicks of
Azn (or sometimes "Azian") Pride that are strange
to me. For instance, recent consensus claims that owning a
dope ride (Acura Integra, Honda Civic SX Special) is having
pride. I don't quite understand how owning a car is supposed
to make you be more Asian. But I definitely do agree those
cars do look very nice. There are various other materialistic
objects that Azn Pride people are "supposed" to
have: cell phones, alphanumeric pagers. Last time I remember,
showing pride means doing something to enlighten others about
your heritage. I highly doubt just owning a pager is supposed
to make you any more Asian than you are now. I have no qualms
against those that do own these things, but to ideally stress
that to become more Asian requires these items is a bit far-fetched
for me.
There are certain etiquittes that many in
the Azn Pride community will require. Azn Girls are supposed
to like Pochacho, Hello Kitty, Sailor Moon, or some other
cutesy Sanrio stuff. They are supposed to wear the black dress
pants with the slight bell bottoms, and the tightened white
shirts. Azn guys are the same too. Except this time they are
to dress like thugstas. Both parties are supposed to dye their
hair dark brown. There seems to be a resurgent use of Azn's
using racist terms against each other (much like how ghetto
brothas use "ni---r"). And of course, you rEmEmBeR
HoW tO wRiTe, dOn'T yOu?? Okay, perhaps I'm exaggerating when
I say supposed to, as I'm sure many of these are voluntary.
Though I don't really mind how my fellow Asians dress or act,
but again, I want to stress that you don't need to do these
things to be Asian. Sometimes a little variety would be nice,
because as my Filipino friend once bitched to me "All
Azians look the same".
To me, Azn Pride has become something of a
recent trend. I get the feeling people are exemplifying this
pride to either sound cool or to relinquish some type of guilt
(guilt of not being Asian enough, perhaps?). As far as I can
tell, most Azn priders are rather ignorant on just how they
are Asian--or better yet, how they are Asian American. Well,
yes, most of these young Asian kids now adays know about Zhou
Ren Fa (Chow Yun Fat), Jackie Chan, Li Lian Jie (Jet Li),
etc. etc. But oh goodness, there's so much more than just
movie stars to be proud of. Whatever happened to issues, like
minority representation, like media hostility towards Asians,
like so many other things that Asian Americans would like
to be aware of. Yes, that's what I find troubling. Aside from
various pop culture icons and having yellow skin, Asian American
youths today have a hard time grasping just how they are (or
can be) "more Asian".
Then again, there's no high power that can
judge anyone to be Asian or not. But as for Azn Priders, I
don't know exactly what they're trying to be, but it sure
as hell does not seem very Asian to me. What does it mean
to be Asian... I'm sure every one has their own definition.
Here's my own, and it doesn't require too much struggle. It
only takes a little dedication. Some reading of good books.
Or even talking to your parents. LEARN OF YOUR HERITAGE. If
many of these Azn Prider's research their culture, their heritage,
their race's achievements, their race's struggle--that shows
real pride in my mind. It's funny, most of the Azn Prider's
I have met don't know an ounce of their native customs, any
real history, or any real Asian issues. Well, except for pretty
famous events like the Japanese Internment Camps or Chinese
Rail Workers suffering. Seems like many Azn Prider's are bent
only remembering the suffering and hatred (and not even knowing
all of it either...). Trust me, that's just the icing on the
cake... Learn of the true heroes of Asia, learn of yourself.
Of course this is just my viewpoint of it.
I don't want to condemn people who thouroughly
express Azn Pride, because I think it's healthy to be proud
of your race. But consider this message a mere suggestion.
Be proud of not only your race, but your heritage as well.
Just don't be ignorant.
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