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Rant & Rave
I suppose it would be too much to ask if you have any Harry Potter books around?" Reflection, not
wizardry, takes rootThe librarian smiled and did a quick check. There were no copies available, but perhaps I could request a hold, she suggested.
No, I would be leaving for college soon and I was afraid the process would take too long. But it didn't feel right to leave the library without a book. I had heard from a friend about "The Accidental Asian" by Eric Liu. Liu served as President Bill Clinton's speechwriter and is a second-generation Chinese American. He began writing the book after discovering his inability to read the Chinese characters of his father's memory book.
I borrowed that book, feeling somewhat ashamed, as if I were trying to identify with a militant racist movement through borrowing that book. But I had a specific personal agenda.
I am an ABC, American-Born Chinese and a year ago my cousin from China sent me a letter, written in Chinese. Because my parents do not speak English, I was forced to learn both Mandarin and English. Still, I couldn't read the letter my cousin sent me. Trying to create a simple one-page response took hours of book reference. Mom had to help.
I only have two families in the United States, the rest residing in China or Taiwan. Losing my parents would mean being unable to communicate with my Chinese and Taiwanese relatives. A human fear of loneliness, curiosity, desire to learn more, and perhaps a need to keep a line open for my own children or relatives who may one day be unable to speak Chinese drove me to try to improve my language skills.
Then I decided to go to college on the mainland. A friend began warning about differences between Hawaii and the mainland. I started asking questions, like why was the intern at my workplace so infatuated with Asian identity? Why was a friend telling me how she wanted to learn more about her Chinese heritage? Why was my supervisor telling me stories of people coming up and doing Bruce Lee, stereotyped martial arts moves for no reason? Why is it significant that the majority of people at the college I am heading to are mostly white?
Hawaii has always been my home. It will be bad enough to encounter winter on the mainland. I will also no longer be able to enjoy something perhaps unique to Hawaii -- the ability to not consider race.
Sure, my friends and I joke about our identities and ethnicities, but any ribbing is always done in a lighthearted style similar to that of one of our high school's alumni, comedian Frank DeLima. It is like how we treat our own football team, which has never had a winning season for the last 30 years.
Although Liu's experience and views sometimes contrast with my own, certain parts do speak out , like his asking: Why do we know so little about our parent's past?
Reading someone else's similar experience is useful. It serves to highlight thoughts that bubble beneath the surface and give light to certain thoughts and viewpoints. Liu writes in his second chapter about how he has "assimilated" into the white world.
He listens to NPR, has never been a victim of blatant discrimination, speaks flawless, unaccented English, subscribes to Foreign Affairs, is not too ethnic, is not bothered by the whiteness of television casts, and is wary of minority militants.
The list goes on, of course, but I remember the ones mentioned here because they also describe me.
Eventually I will get to Harry Potter.
Sechyi Laiu is a 2000 graduate of Damien Memorial High School. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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