Categorical denial
By Thyda Duong
May 27, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Growing up in Salinas, second-year undeclared student Lucy Toan,
a Chinese American, says she was not exposed to many Asians in her
town, and coming to UCLA was a significant change.
The northern California town of Salinas ““ famous as the
hometown of author John Steinbeck ““ has a population that is
predominantly Latino and white.
Similar to the experience of many students, she says she finds
herself unable to make ethnic distinctions within the diverse Asian
community that seems to thrive on UCLA’s campus.
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month during which many
on campus seek to recognize and explain the history and diversity
within the Asian community.
“People say there are little subtleties or certain facial
features that you can pick up on,” Toan said, “but
growing up, I didn’t know much about ethnic backgrounds to
begin with, let alone their differences in relation to people of
other ethnicities.”
This year, over 11,000 Asian undergraduate and graduate students
were enrolled at UCLA, making up approximately 30 percent of the
campus population.
But this number does not differentiate between those of Chinese
descent, who comprise nearly half of the Asian population, and the
numerous smaller, underrepresented groups, such as Cambodians,
Thais, and Laotians.
“There is definitely a tendency to lump people
together,” said Min Zhou, professor of sociology and
chairwoman of the interdepartmental program in Asian American
studies. “People don’t try to make
distinctions.”
The tendency to group Asians, a minority group in the United
States, into one category can be explained by a misunderstanding of
the role and history of Asian Americans, said Dennis Arguelles,
assistant director of the Asian American Studies Center.
“There’s a difference between Asians who choose to
come to the United States, and those who were forced to come as the
result of war,” added David Do, director of Southeast Asian
Campus Learning Education and Retention.
“Just because we may look similar and come from the same
global area, it doesn’t mean we are the same people with the
same history,” Do said.
Congress recognized Asian Pacific Americans by establishing May
as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
President Jimmy Carter instituted a week dedicated to
acknowledging the contributions of Asians in American history in
1978. The acknowledgement was extended to a full month by President
George H. W. Bush in 1992.
May was chosen to coincide with the anniversaries of the arrival
of the first Japanese immigrants on May 7, 1843, and the completion
of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. This
year’s theme is “Freedom for All – A Nation We Call Our
Own.”
Though dedications like these help bring attention to the Asian
community, they are still just small steps, Arguelles said.
There is usually a focus of study on Chinese and Japanese
Americans, with lesser regard for other Asian ethnic groups. There
are over 20 Asian ethnic groups in the United States, with
approximately a dozen represented at UCLA, Arguelles added.
“One thing UCLA can do is to demarginalize the category of
“˜Asian,'” Do said.
For example, Do noted that enrollment numbers for Asians in
general are very high, but this is not the case for smaller groups
such as the Hmong, which is represented at UCLA by only 20
students.
To see the real numbers and to recognize the wide diversity,
UCLA needs to break down the data and track enrollment of specific
ethnicities, rather than lumping everyone into one category, Do
suggested.
Many students said they would prefer not to be just another UCLA
statistic, and say insufficient education may be to blame for the
lack of distinction.
“Ideally I would want people to refer to me as
Filipino,” said Portia Bautista, a second-year physiological
science student who is a member of Samahang Pilipino.
“But I don’t think I can blame others for not
knowing. … Unless you are educated about different cultures and
have grown up interacting with a variety of ethnicities, it’s
very hard to differentiate (between) people,” Bautista
added.
Many students said they believe everyone is subject to general
categorization.
“It’s the same with Latinos,” said Jaira
Figueroa, a second-year sociology student. “I think people
lack the education of other cultures so they think it’s
correct to assume that race and ethnicity are
interchangeable.”
Most faculty regard generation of public knowledge and specific
education about diversity within the Asian community as key to
enabling people to make ethnic distinctions.
“We need to write, speak, and educate,” Zhou said,
adding that she believes students in the Asian American studies
department are the driving force behind this education.
Though more than 90 percent of students in the Asian American
studies department are Asian, Zhou maintains that the program
serves non-Asians as well.
“The majors and minors are predominantly Asian; however,
there are still quite a few non-Asians (that) enroll in the
classes,” Zhou said.
Arguelles points to the diversity requirement and ethnic studies
in universities as factors that can help students become more
educated about diversity within the Asian community.
Arguelles also said he believes there is a significant and dire
need to focus on diversity education in the K-12 curriculum.
“History books mention one or two lines about Japanese
internment, and that’s it,” Arguelles said.
“We need to make sure that these students have a better
understanding of the diversity that surrounds them,” he
added.
