{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/aapihistory","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"slug":"aapihistory","excerpt":"Generations of Asian families in America have experienced racism – but students are fighting back.","headline":"Between us and our parents","author":"Megan Tagami","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/aapihistory/prime.aapihistory.AF.1-9d6944253ece6168a3dbb25be43dd383.jpg","covercred":"Ariana Fadel","coveralt":"Photo of Swan Ye Htut","articleType":"article","updated":null,"content":[{"type":"text","value":"Jason Vu had to stop and think when asked about his family’s experience with racism – not because he and his parents have never faced anti-Asian racism, but because they have normalized the hurtful remarks and actions."},{"type":"text","value":"“The microaggressions have been in such mundane circumstances,” said Vu, a second-generation Vietnamese American. “It’s a really difficult thing to think about how this gets so normalized.”"},{"type":"text","value":"When he was growing up, Vu’s family rarely talked about anti-Asian racism. Although Vu and his cousins favor speaking out against racism, their parents tend to keep quiet."},{"type":"text","value":"“There’s a huge generational difference between us and our parents,” said Vu, an alumnus."},{"type":"text","value":"Michelle Vu nodded in agreement with her cousin’s statement. Michelle Vu, who is also a second-generation Vietnamese American and UC Santa Barbara alumnus, said she has engaged in many conversations with Jason Vu and her other cousins about their Asian American identities and racism – issues she cannot always discuss with her parents."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"Although Vu and his cousins favor speaking out against racism, their parents tend to keep quiet.\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Jason Vu said his parents have emphasized laying low amid the recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. Michelle Vu said that her parents still feel lucky to even be living in the country."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photo of Jason Vu.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/aapihistory/prime.aapihistory.AF.c.1-8b673dede1373179cc00831e25310ecd.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Ariana Fadel\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"“I feel like my parents have definitely pushed the narrative (that) we should be grateful we’re even allowed to be here,” Michelle Vu said. “I feel like they just disregard the anti-Asian stuff they see, they don’t think it’s part of a wider problem.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Anti-Asian hate crimes have increased by 164% in large U.S. cities between the first quarters of 2020 and 2021, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Many of the recent verbal and physical attacks against Asians have been tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and its perceived association with Asian countries."},{"type":"text","value":"However, Asian American students and their families have dealt with attacks on their identities long before the COVID-19 pandemic."},{"type":"text","value":"Calena Ang, who is a second-generation Chinese American, first encountered racial stereotypes against Asians in elementary school. Her classmates would chant, “Chinese, Japanese, Korean,” while pulling their eyes back at different angles to mock Asian facial features. When her classmates asked her how to do the chant correctly, Ang responded with confusion."},{"type":"text","value":"“I think that was one of the first moments that I realized that I was different from everyone else,” said Ang, an alumnus."},{"type":"text","value":"Ang’s father also faced discrimination when he entered the American public school system in the 1980s with little English knowledge. In one of his first classes, he was placed next to a Vietnamese student, despite the fact that he immigrated from Cambodia and did not speak Vietnamese. Ang said the teachers assumed her father and his Vietnamese peer would become friends because they both spoke Asian languages."},{"type":"text","value":"Despite their firsthand experiences with racism, Ang said her parents have a hard time understanding that attacks can be racially motivated. Media outlets tend to portray attackers with sympathy and do not show accountability for the racial motivations behind crimes, Ang added."},{"type":"text","value":"“To (my parents), hate crimes on the news are just another type of news day,” Ang said."},{"type":"text","value":"Thu-huong Nguyen-vo, an associate professor in Asian American studies and Asian languages and cultures, said the United States has a long history of racializing Asians as perpetual foreigners. Following the American Civil War, white business managers imported workers from Asia in order to avoid relying on recently freed Black laborers, Nguyen-vo said. However, Asians were only seen as a temporary labor force – not as accepted members of society."},{"type":"text","value":"Once the United States had satisfied its need for laborers, it implemented the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Nguyen-vo said. The Act prevented the entrance of Chinese workers into the country for 10 years and was one of the first major pieces of legislation to control immigration into the United States."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"To (my parents), hate crimes on the news are just another type of news day.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Even today, some immigrant parents may not speak up against racism because they feel the need to align themselves with white people and white institutions for protection, Nguyen-vo said."},{"type":"text","value":"“Some of them felt like they did not have the luxury to be aggressive against white supremacy,” Nguyen-vo said. “Or they felt that in order for them to have safety, they needed to get as close to white people as possible and imitate white people as much as possible to mitigate that kind of racism.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Growing up, alumnus Swan Ye Htut saw little Asian American representation in his school curricula despite the fact that he grew up in a predominately minority neighborhood. However, UCLA provided Ye Htut the opportunity to develop his identity as a first-generation Burmese American through his academic coursework and campuswide events, such as the Southeast Asian Admit Weekend, which welcomes newly admitted high school seniors to the UCLA campus."},{"type":"text","value":"One of Ye Htut’s main forms of engagement with the Asian American community has been with the Burmese American Student Association at UCLA. Ye Htut, along with four other students, revived BURSA in 2019 with the intent of creating a space for other Burmese American students on campus. Although Ye Htut and his peers initially imagined BURSA as a social and cultural organization, they have recently undertaken more activism to raise community awareness about the February military coup in Myanmar."},{"type":"text","value":"UCLA also provided Ang opportunities to understand and define her identity beyond the broad categorization of Asian American. As the Chinese American daughter of parents who immigrated from Vietnam and Cambodia, Ang rarely saw people like herself represented in academic research prior to entering the Asian American studies major. After studying the author Helen Zia in one of her courses, she fell in love with the Asian American studies department. Zia’s work highlights those who identify as Chinese American but immigrated from a country other than China."},{"type":"text","value":"“That was one of the first times that I felt seen,” Ang said. “I’ve never been to China, I have no family that is currently in China, but I still identify as Chinese American.”"},{"type":"text","value":"However, students and their families have not always felt safe as Asian Americans – especially with the recent rise in anti-Asian hate."},{"type":"text","value":"Nguyen-vo said the anti-Asian remarks that arose during the pandemic – such as former president Donald Trump calling COVID-19 the “kung flu” – are reflective of a long-standing white supremacy. Even prior to 2020, the rise of Asian Americans in professional fields, accompanied by a shrinking middle class and greater income inequality, made some white people feel threatened and frustrated, Nguyen-vo added. The economic turmoil of the pandemic and the national increase in anti-Asian rhetoric only emboldened white people to reclaim their power and privilege through violence, she explained."},{"type":"text","value":"Angela Li said she often worries about the safety of her father, who takes the subway every day, and her brother, who sometimes arrives home late after his jiujitsu practice. Li, an alumnus, added that she stopped using social media in the past year because it was draining to constantly see posts about anti-Asian racism."},{"type":"text","value":"“A lot of it was helplessness and just having these small thoughts in my head pile up, like, ‘Will my dad be OK?’” said Li, who is a second-generation Chinese American. “These are thoughts that didn’t occupy my mind before, but now I think about that often.”"},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photo of Angela Li.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/aapihistory/prime.appihistory.AF.d.1-83c2a9962f17505b4befa02daac8397d.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Ariana Fadel\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Because she lacks the vocabulary to talk to her parents about racism in Chinese, Li said she is also unsure if her parents have recognized certain experiences as forms of anti-Asian racism."},{"type":"text","value":"“I wouldn’t even go as far as to say (we have) different misconceptions of racism, because I’ve never had those conversations, I don’t even know how to say racism in Chinese,” Li said."},{"type":"text","value":"Language barriers have limited Li’s conversations with her parents about her research on Asian American community organizing and her decision to pursue a degree in Asian American studies. However, these communication challenges have helped Li recognize that research findings and knowledge are not always accessible to people outside of academia."},{"type":"text","value":"For example, members of her community in Queens, a borough of New York City, do not need a 25-page research paper – they need affordable housing and accessible English language programs, Li explained. By returning to New York to pursue a master’s degree in American studies, Li hopes to apply her research on community organizing to create policy changes that promote equity and inclusion."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"Because she lacks the vocabulary to talk to her parents about racism in Chinese, Li said she is also unsure if her parents have recognized certain experiences as forms of anti-Asian racism.\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"“Research is not the end goal, right?” Li said. “Research should be the beginning that sets the stage for what actions to follow.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Li’s senior thesis focused on the racialization of disease and the resilience of Asian American communities in the face of discrimination. Instead of doing a traditional research paper, Li followed a more creative thesis curriculum and produced a documentary focused on student organizing in response to anti-Asian hate."},{"type":"text","value":"“Something I wanted to document was all the different ways in which we gather as communities … just taking a look at what we’ve done this year and trying to find the common threads of why we’re doing this,” Li said."},{"type":"text","value":"Like Li, other students have also drawn on their parents’ struggles with anti-Asian sentiments to inspire and inform their scholarship and advocacy."},{"type":"text","value":"Ang said she was inspired by her parents’ experience in the U.S. education system to support Asian American students pursuing higher education. Just as her father lacked the support he needed as an English language learner in the 1980s, members of the current generation of Asian American students still lack the resources they need to prepare for college, Ang said."},{"type":"text","value":"Ang eventually hopes to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree in Asian American studies and research Asian Americans’ access to higher education. However, she first plans to directly support marginalized college students by working in an Asian Pacific Islander Desi American student services center. Through this work, Ang hopes to understand how college readiness differs between various ethnic groups and individuals."},{"type":"text","value":"“I want to be able to get into the field and introduce them to the idea that college is a space for students of color,” Ang said."},{"type":"text","value":"Over the past year, Ye Htut has had the opportunity to connect his own academic knowledge about Asian immigration to the lived experiences and observations of his parents."},{"type":"text","value":"Ye Htut said that although his mother is one of the hardest workers at her job, people still talk down to her because her first language is Burmese. However, an English language barrier has prevented her from combating these racist remarks and responding to the national increase in anti-Asian violence more broadly, Ye Htut added."},{"type":"text","value":"“She tends to say, don’t make a big fuss about it, because that might just end up creating bigger problems,” Ye Htut said. “So even though she’s not OK with what happens, she cares more about the safety of my dad and of myself.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Jason Vu said he only began to broach the subject of anti-Asian racism with his family in the past year. However, he and his parents have disagreed on how to best address the rise in hate crimes. While his parents support increased law enforcement and stricter policing, he favors community organizing, such as programs that provide transportation to elderly Asian Americans."},{"type":"text","value":"“I don’t think that the answer to anti-Asian violence is to pursue an even more violent system,” Jason Vu said. “I think for me, the way to address it is through education, through building relationships.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Ye Htut said, although his mother favors accepting discrimination and moving on, both his parents still support the efforts of the younger generation to speak out against anti-Asian racism."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photo of Ye Htut.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/aapihistory/prime.aapihistory.AF.b.1-7ee5b0dab045c8af3004425ca104bac7.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Ariana Fadel\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"“My generation, a lot of other Asian Americans, don’t stand for (racism),” Ye Htut said. “I think my parents fully support that because they feel like we’re more qualified to do it because we were in higher education and they weren’t. I don’t think that’s necessarily true, but that’s the perspective that they have.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Ye Htut said he hopes to increase the presence of minorities in academia. After pursuing a doctorate in sociology, Ye Htut plans to become one of the few Burmese professors in the United States. As of 2019, only 7% of the United States Burmese population pursued a postgraduate degree, according to the Pew Research Center."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"My generation, a lot of other Asian Americans, don’t stand for (racism),” Ye Htut said. “I think my parents fully support that because they feel like we’re more qualified to do it because we were in higher education and they weren’t.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"“Just entering into these higher spaces in education, it scares me a lot, because no one else has really done it before me, but I also know that if I am able to do it I will be starting a path for others,” Ye Htut said. “I hope that with the work that I do in the future I will continue to highlight Asian American or Burmese American stories in the best way that I can.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Following graduation, Jason Vu plans to pursue a doctorate in American Studies at the University of Southern California. Through his research, he hopes to maintain his commitment to serving the Asian American community."},{"type":"text","value":"Anti-Asian racism can shape the fears and concerns of generations of families, Jason Vu said. But Asian American scholarship and representation can also have far-reaching effects."},{"type":"text","value":"“I think for us, our work doesn’t begin or end in the university,” Jason Vu said. “It is really rooted in our communities beyond this campus.”"}]}},"pageContext":{"term":"summer21","slug":"aapihistory"}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}