People of Color

I find the argument of whether or not Asian Americans are people of color is simply amusing. I understand that today's debate meant that one side had to be against the argument, but I know there are people out there that would actually agree that they are not of color.

From what I understand, the popular argument would be that as a model minority, Asian Americans are nearly white, making them 'Honorary Whites'. That's secondary to the social White groups, not equal to. If you still have to compare Asian Americans to a racial standard, especially by a non-color group, then that would still make them non-white. And the racial term of 'White' has been changing like it's counterpart of being 'Black'. Immigrants of European descent were not considered white, they were called the "White Negroes" and were equally discriminated against as well as other minorities.

Back to the whole 'model minority' argument, that term was used for Chinese and Japanese immigrants against Blacks. Not necessarily priding them because they've finally assimilated into White American culture, but because they just worked for cheaper and better than former slaves. Though it is believed that Asians are able to surpass other racial groups in the workforce, no one really explains why they haven't destroyed the 'glass ceiling effect'. The term isn't limited to minority groups, but also of the "weaker sex", women. It's against the law to discriminate against someone based on race or gender, but there are ways to go around that with your fingers twisted behind your back. The 'glass ceiling effect' describes the idea someone that is trying to succeed to a higher paying position, but cannot because that is controlled by the already existing bosses.

The further points of this group's position were that Asians are now either equal or of higher status than White Americans. Some may see this as racial clumping, but they stated that it was a panethnic identity. A panethnic identity doesn't mean that one may generalize for the group, nothing is completely equal. We addressed the term 'panethnicity' when the Yellow Power Movement started, branching from the Black Power Movement. People of similar ethnic backgrounds formed a new type of community based on similar issues of racial oppression and marginality, not through celebration of being the stronger race than another.

Another argument that kind of irked me was about 2nd and 3rd generation Asian Americans. This group stated that even later generations are now proving to be "more White" rather than "non-White" mostly based on the statistics of how many languages the sample of people spoke. They said that it's becoming more apparent that 2nd and 3rd generation Asians are losing their sense of culture and language, therefore becoming more assimilated into American culture. No culture = increasing chance of being White? No, it just means that their parents would probably have to try harder to force their ethnic background back on them. I'm kidding. Their argument just made it seem that if one needs to be eligible to be "White", then they need to abandon all types of ethnic cultures. I asked them about the 2nd and 3rd generations that still are rich in their heritage and American culture. No answer, they just talked around the bush.

I'm not saying this stance was completely invalid, because I may be able to agree with some, but there were a lot that I did not. This was not really a rant either, I guess it was practice for my final next Tuesday for AAS 60C.