Chapter 1 notes of Helen Zia's Asian American Dreams book. One of the designated chapter books for UCI's Asian American Communities course (AsianAm52).
Chapter 1: From Nothing, a Consciousness (Mainly autobiographical experiences)
● Turning/becoming American-> being accepted as American.
● “...frustrated by images that have rendered us voiceless and invisible.”
● Mistaken as Japanese, or any East Asian ethnicity, and added Pakistani to the list b/c of
romanized last name.
○ Mistake caused by converting Asian Chinese names into alphabet forms;
romanized Chinese name became identical to Pakistani one.
● In 1965, immigration policy that favored Europeans for nearly 200yrs came to an end.
○ “Immigrants to America were no longer your standard vanilla...”
● During 1960s Zia not familiar w/ term Asian American- had not been articulated yet.
● Gradually became visible, but not in the way they wished.
● Growing up in the 50s-60s, Chinese Americans made up to 0.1% of the pop.
● Parents part of a new wave of Northern Chinese that fled China due to Japanese
occupation, devastation of WW2, and rise of Chinese Communist Party.
● Before WW2, racially discriminatory laws prevented Asian men from becoming US
citizens or marrying outside their race + barred immigration of women from China,
India, and the PI ->created a generation of lonely Asian bachelors.
● Easy for Asian women to find marriageable suitors.
● Born in NJ, as a product of the WW2 Asian American Baby Boom.
● Pressure on Asianam was to fit in w/ the American kids, to conform and assimilate at a
young age.
● Father firm believer in studying hard: a “time-honored route to advancement for even the
poorest Chinese.”
● Mother grew up in Shanghai during Japanese occupation; education disrupted at 4th
grade.
○ Came to value education for her children.
● Dad wanted them to speak flawless English to be spared from “ridicule and language
barrier he faced.”-> Forbade mom from speaking Chinese; strictly monolingual
family. In my experience, it felt as if my dad was practicing his English with us; only
spoke tagalog to us if he was cursing us for breaking something, or disobeying him.
● In NJ, so unusual to see people of Asian descent that others gawked at her family “like a
freak show,” yet tidbits that dad told them - cranial capacity larger than any other race,
US belonged to us b/c we’re cousins of native americans - helped them deal with the
alienation.
● Often referred to as Orientals, Mongols, Asiatics, Heathens, etc.
● In 1950s, after Jap American families released from con camps, FBI switched
surveillance onto Chinese Americans.
● As a child, Zia didn't see Asianam speak up of indignities: dad said Chinese way of
accepting or going around an obstacle would get them nowhere.
● In Confucian order of the world, teachers up there with parents (patriarch a stand-in for
God) in commanding respect and obedience. Had no right to raise voice, never
corrected her for mispronouncing Zia.
● First time disobeyed father to speak up for college.
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