Redefine: Asian Americans

Dennis Chin is an Asian American social justice advocate who identifies as a queer individual. He sees self-definition as a continual process, one that was particularly hard for him.

"I grew up feeling that to be loved was to be white and straight. ... I was a problem because of my difference," Chin said.

Because he was expected to fill the roles that others had defined for him, he said he felt that what he wanted and what he wanted to be didn't matter.

It was only when Chin - now a program associate at New York City's Center for Community Change - moved to college that he began to connect with other Asian/Pacific Americans who shared similar experiences.

In order to create a space where students can discuss these issues of identity, the New York City Asian American Student Conference hosted its second annual event at the Kimmel Center on April 12, joining forces with several other organizations and schools. An estimated 500 students attended various workshops and panels dealing with Asian American issues. The core planning committee, composed of students from various schools, chose to structure the conference around the theme of "Redefine."

"We're building from last year's theme, 'Breaking the Silence,' and working through the dialogue. 'Asian American' is such an umbrella term," said Columbia University junior Nhu-Y Ngo, one of the program directors. "We wanted attendees to think about and redefine their definitions of what an Asian American is."

In his keynote speech, Chin addressed the difficulties of this task.

"People identify with more than just race or class or sexual orientation," Chin said. "I felt like I couldn't be fully Asian or fully queer."

He said in different situations he was expected to act in different ways, and the act of redefinition encourages a necessary restructuring of identity.

"If we don't challenge ourselves to redefine who we are, our communities will remain silent," Chin said.

Why redefine 'Asian American'?

According to Chin, the stereotypes associated with being Asian American are perpetuated by mainstream media, the government and the dominant majority. Ngo agreed.

"We've been identified as a 'model minority,' the 'perpetual foreigner' and the 'yellow peril.' In the media, Asian men are emasculated and women are exoticized," Ngo said.

Columbia sophomore Ryan Natividad said the current definition is too broad; the term "Asian American" or even "Asian/Pacific American" disregards the historical and socioeconomic factors that affect how different ethnic groups experience America.

"To be honest, being Asian American is something I can't really define for myself," Natividad said. "I'm defined by many different intersections of my identity: being Filipino, growing up in the Bronx. I'm more than just my brown skin."

Marilla Li, a Columbia junior and Ngo's codirector, said it's important to realize that definitions are not set in stone and that everything is a live debate.

"We've been framed by someone else already," Li said. "This is us taking agency over that definition."

Organization and Conflict

Activism was a buzzword among both conference leaders and attendees. Workshops and group activities encouraged students to organize and promote a greater understanding of Asian American issues within their communities.

However, nationality is a divisive factor that sometimes prevents organization. For example, at NYU there are three different Chinese clubs and a variety of others that organize around different nationalities.

Other colleges face the same problem.

"[There is] a lot of silent competition among Asian groups at Columbia. We're trying to unify student groups and reconcile with the greater Columbia community," Columbia senior Calvin Sun said.

However, Duke University junior Sungho Yoo said competition isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"It's trying to find a balance. We want everyone to keep their own [ethnic] identity," Yoo said. However, if everyone is split into groups, "it's hard to do advocacy and work with the administration."

Gallatin freshman Rachel Hsiung has seen this happening at NYU.

"Many ethnic groups hang out in cliques at NYU," she said. "I think this could be negative because it doesn't perpetuate interracial dialogue or alliances between different races."

A panel discussion addressed how South Asians are often excluded from the Asian identity. CAS sophomore Satjeet Nayar, vice president of the United Sikh Association at NYU, was the only South Asian American student leader who participated in the panel.

Empowerment

Sun said the only way to breach the divide was through cross-ethnic coalition building. Both Sun and Yoo said they joined the South Asian bhangra teams at their respective schools, hoping to mix things up a bit.

Conferences such as NYCAASC also help to encourage coalition building among students. CAS sophomore Richard Tsay said he thinks the conference successfully integrated students from different backgrounds with a shared experience.

"Typically when you think about Asian American groups, you think of nationalities - Chinese, Korean - that tend to be insular," he said. "Even though some events try to be pan-Asian, usually people break into cliques. I haven't seen that here."

At the end of his keynote speech, Chin spoke of his hopes for students after they leave the conference.

"Our work is not solely defined by the needs of the Asian American community, but by the needs of all oppressed communities," Chin said. "Community needs to be built as part of the larger movement toward progressive change."

But Nayar said there are aspects of being Asian American that will be difficult to erase.

"There's a physical representation of Asians having a certain look," she said. "Language divides us, ethnicity divides us."

However, Nayar said she believes Asian Americans can move past these differences in a way that will empower them "not to become one group, but to become united in voice."

Carol Kuruvilla is deputy Etcetera editor. E-mail her at ckuruvilla@nyunews.com.