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Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White
With Frank H. Wu
Author and Professor, Howard University School of Law
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002; 1 p.m. EST
What is the current racial make-up of the U.S.? As ethnic groups in the U.S. are evolving, traditional views of what constitutes racism and who benefits from government policies are beyond the black and white paradigm. In "Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White," author and Howard University law professor Frank Wu uses the experiences of Asian Americans to challenge traditional ideas of civil rights limited to the experiences of Blacks and Whites. He addresses public policy issues such as immigration, affirmative action, globalization and disccrimination with social experiences of different racial groups.
Wu was online Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. EST, to discuss his book and the mixed race movement
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"Yellow"
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Wu is a tenured professor and clinic director at the Howard University School of Law, in Washington, D.C. He teaches traditional courses such as civil procedure and has supervised students working on actual cases in the D.C. Superior Court. joined the faculty of in 1995.
His commentary has been distributed by The New York Times Syndicate "New America" News Service and by Knight Ridder Tribune Wire Services "Progressive Media Project." His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Chronicle of Higher Education, National Law Journal, Legal Times, Nation and Progressive magazines. He now has a column in A. Magazine, the largest Asian American interest periodical. He has written book chapters on affirmative action, immigration, and the 1996 campaign finance scandal, and is co-author of "Beyond Self-Interest: Asian Pacific Americans Toward a Community of Justice," a policy analysis of affirmative action.
He has also co-authored the textbook, "Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment (2001)."
Wu has testified against legislation that would abolish affirmative action before the United States House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee, Constitution Sub-Committee. In 1997, he was counsel of record on an amicus ("friend of court) brief on behalf of Asian American community groups in the Prop. 209 litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, Lehrer Newshour, CNN, MS-NBC, Fox, BET, BBC Radio and Voice of America. He contributes occasional commentary to the NPR "Morning Edition" program. His televised debate (C-SPAN "American Perspectives") against Dinesh D'Souza on affirmative action at Brown University in October 1997 attracted attention nationwide. He has also been a guest host of the "Asian America" PBS-syndicated television show.
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Frank H. Wu: Hello there. Thank you for your interest. I wrote Yellow to start a dialogue among equals. As a law professor, I ask questions, but I have no answers (don't worry; the book has very little law in it -- after all, I want to attract readers). My goal is to provoke you to think about these issues anew, without the unproductive terms of the past, not necessarily to persuade you to agree with me.
I'm very grateful to the graphic designer who did the shocking cover, but really the book should be entitled Gray. It is about the many complexities of these topics. I hope to ensure that Asian Americans, Latinos, Arab Americans, and the thousands of mixed race background have a role in these discussions. Yet I hope, equally importantly, that we will recognize that we ought to progress beyond black and white in figurative terms as well.
Whatever we believe, whoever we are, and whichever public policy we eventually adopt, I'd like to encourage us to strive toward a diverse democracy in which each of us has a voice, is listened to, and spoken about. This is a challenge to each of us as individuals and to all of us through the institutions we have formed, to work toward equality however elusive it may be.
So I welcome this opportunity to use cyberspace in the effort to form a new sense of community.
Washington, D.C.:
Asian immigrants have come to this country poor and unable to speak the language. Yet through focus on family, study, hard work, and education, they have become an American success story.
Doesn't the behavior and results of the Asian experience (education + hard work = success) prove that America is no longer a truly racist country and that Affirmative Action is no longer needed? I mean, if blacks followed the Asian example (an the example of the Jews before them), they would not need preferential treatment.
Frank H. Wu: Whenever I talk about Asian Americans and civil rights, I am surprised by the common response that I cannot possibly have any legitimate complaint about racial discrimination. It usually runs along the lines of, ?What does it matter to you if people call you names now and then, because you Asians are all doing fine anyway.?
Unfortunately, this widespread assumption that Asian Americans are doing spectacularly well is part of the problem itself. If persons of Asian descent are to be regarded as individuals, we all must recognize its dangers.
As tempted as I am to take what satisfaction there is in the vengeance of success, I must decline the compliment of the ?model minority myth.? Asian Americans are supposed to be smart, hard-working, polite, and rich enough to serve as the modern Horatio Alger ?up by your bootstraps? story with an Oriental face. I am skeptical of this reputation, for the simple reason that it is a racial stereotype ? a generalization on the basis of skin color. I?d like to explain why it is not merely political correctness that causes me to refuse the honor of being a credit to my race or an example for other races.
The trouble with this seemingly positive image is its easy reversal. It is two-faced. Every trait that is praised today can be condemned tomorrow. To be smart is to be an ostracized geek, to be hard-working is to be unfair competition, to be polite is to know one?s place.
The flattery can be false, too. It is readily abused to malign other racial minorities with inappropriate comparisons that do not take into account history. The idea that Asian Americans are some sort of superminority sends a none-too-subtle message to African Americans through the rhetorical question of ?they made it, why can?t you??
Of course, the Asian immigrants and their children who have flourished deserve credit for their accomplishments. Nonetheless, as much as we all would like to believe that their lives are a testament to our great democracy, their triumph reflects as well selective immigration ? ?brain drain.? They do not come with quite the wealth some may imagine bitterly, but they do arrive here with resources, education, social networks that, though modest, are often better than what can be claimed by native-born people of color, including native-born Asian Americans.
Yet by pretending that all Asian Americans have made it, using superficial understandings of statistics on family income and other measurements, we whitewash genuine cases of egregious bigotry such as hate crimes in which racial epithets are casually used. We deny systematic disparities such as the glass ceiling that ensures Asian Americans are paid less than whites despite having the same qualifications. Asian Americans who do face poverty are not given the same sympathy as other Americans in similar situations. Their predicament is ignored or they are treated as foreigners.
Worse, inflated conceptions of the rise of Asian Americans lead to racialized resentment from everyone else. White parents grumble that Asian American youngsters are the valedictorian and the rest of the top ten at the high school graduation, as their children fear Asian American peers in college classrooms. Black leaders assert that Asian American merchants are taking over their neighborhoods, as if one group?s prosperity must come at another group?s expense.
In our culture which champions the underdog, there is nothing more secretly satisfying than to see a high flier take a fall. We feel that those who overreach deserve their punishment. Asian Americans, however, are placed in the position of overachievers not by our own hubris but by a racial narrative that forces us to accept the role of yellow peril. We are denied the opportunity to be ordinary, normal, or mainstream.
So when people tell me I?m a ?model minority,? I say ?no thanks.? I?d rather be myself.
In Yellow, I address this image in greater detail in Chapter 2.
San Francisco, Calif.:
I am a married, Caucasian male living amongst the largest Chinese population in The USA. I have been here for 14 years.
The CULTURAL differences are dramatic between Blacks and Chinese. You can argue that both groups made it through hideous times of oppression. Yet both groups have integrated into society in dramatically different ways.
The CULTURAL differences, not the stereotypical differences that many refer to as prejudices are what have brought these peoples to their respective positions in society. The positions to which I refer are mainly Education and Family. Making the decision to put aside the bitterness of the past to be a better person and to achieve more as a human than your oppressors would have ever expected. Knowing that nothing in life is free or OWED to you - White, Black,or Asian. If you wonder how I have come to this conclusion then look at the voting habits of these groups around the country.
Frank H. Wu: While I believe it is important to strive toward one's personal best, racial oppression of the past continues to have concrete effects today. Continuing racial disparities and stereotyping are a matter that is proven by social science and borne out by the day to day lives of people of color, especially African Americans. The comparison of Asian immigrants and African Americans is a persistent negative introduction of people who are neither black nor white; I try to offer more constructive means of integrating us into the discussion.
The experience of Asian immigrants is markedly different than that of African Americans on the whole. Not only has there not been slavery and Jim Crow, but contemporary images stand in stark contrast. The stereotypes of Asian Americans are: I'm a nerd, a geek; at 12, I received a computer and learned how to program; if your computer is broken, you say, "gee, would you help me fix that, you Asians are all so good with these things." The stereotypes of African Americans are: I'm a thug, a felon; at 12, I received a 9 mm and joined a gang and stood on the corner dealing dime bags; if you see me coming late at night on a deserted street, you cross to avoid danger.
Now this isn't true of every person, but it is true of the general images. Many of us carry around these images and have attitudes and take actions that reveal them, whether we realize it or not. Even if each individual action is innocent or ambiguous, the overall effect is clear.
Madagascar:
Even though I'm far away from States, I'm still interested in your debate because most of the time that is something that we face a lot in my daily life. Sometimes people don't care who you are or what you do but once they see you're black, they have spontaneuosly a bad reaction to you. I'm going to give you an concrete example: once I was on line in place for cybercafe internet. I was there first and once the person who is in charge saw another person come in, she gave her my turn so I was pissed off and I got out and the whole day I've had a very frustrating day.
So could you explain to me what I should do to face that kind of situation? Because it happens to me a lot? Thanks, I hope to get a favorable answer from you.
Frank H. Wu: As a member of a minority group everywhere in my country except among family or through the self-conscious effort to find other Asian Americans, I alternate between being conspicuous and vanishing - being stared at or looked through. Although the conditions may seem contradictory, they have in common the loss of control. In most instances, I am who others perceive me to be rather than how I perceive myself to be. Considered by the strong sense of individualism of American society, the inability to define one?s self is the greatest loss of liberty possible.
Sometimes, I have an encounter that demonstrates that people can easily be transfixed by a racial stereotype. In a casual aside, a business colleague, who I thought knew me well enough to know better, may make an earnest remark that reveals their attempt to connect with me can come only through race. Though they rarely mention their personal lives, they always will make it a point to tell me about the hit movie they saw last night or the museum exhibit they toured over the weekend if it had a vaguely Asian theme, whether Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese or whatever, because, ?It reminded me of you.? They tell me I resemble the cellist Yo-Yo Ma or their five year-old son?s friend in school. Or in a passing instant, a white boy or a black boy, whom I would credit with childhood innocence, can reenact my memory of the ordinary intolerance of days past. At an airport or riding on a subway, they will see me and suddenly strike a karate pose, chop at the air, throw a kick, and utter some sing-song gibberish, before turning around and running away.
At other times, I will have another type of encounter in the anonymous rush of contemporary life, one that confirms that people can be oblivious to folks who don?t resemble them. To present an analogy, most motorcyclists and bicyclists who ride regularly on city streets are accustomed to the situation where they will make prolonged eye contact with a driver, who then blithely proceeds to cut off the bike or turn directly in front of it. The person behind the wheel may have seen the rider, but responds only to vehicles like hers -- anything else doesn?t register. Likewise, waiting in line, I am amazed when a white man, sometimes well-dressed and distinguished-looking and sometimes not, cuts in front of me or expects to be given VIP treatment. I am galled by not only the action but also the sense of entitlement that he radiates. I want to say, ?Hello? Did you not see the rest of us back here, or did you take it for granted that you were more important?? Of course, sometimes they are momentarily distracted or generally impolite. It happens often enough, however, in cases where it is fair to surmise that race and gender are involved. When whites are disrespected by other whites, they generally are not plagued by the suspicion that it is for racial reasons. It is easier for them to write off an incident as the consequence of incivility, rather than another indication of something worse.
People of color must learn to make a quick judgment: be silent and resentful, replaying the incident in one's memory to determine what exactly happened and why; say something and however politely it is said, risk backlash and further aggravation; or make a scene and take up a cause then and there, refusing to accept yet another instance of disrespect. This is not easy.
As I tour with my book and talk about race, one of the most galling arguments I came up against runs along the lines of, ?Well, you might be offended by the word ?jap?, being asked ?where are you really from??, or being told ?my, you speak English so well?, but I have a friend who?s Oriental, and she doesn?t make a fuss about any of that at all.? The implication is that I cannot have a legitimate grievance, if somebody else chose not to complain about a similar incident. Unless we suppose that everyone who looks alike thinks alike, this reasoning makes no sense.
To begin with, I don?t remember nominating a hypothetical stranger to be the spokesperson for all Asian Americans. I doubt anybody is qualified for such a position or would dare to take on the role.
True, a few Asian Americans view people in racial terms. They are like whites who do so, except they reverse their preferences. They may see Asians as superior to everyone else or at least believe that people should be categorized based on where their ancestors came from. If they have such attitudes, they are neither better nor worse than others with the same mindset.
Asian immigrants, having been shaped by their childhood overseas, may compare the United States to their former homelands. Opportunities here may be much greater than there. It is easier for them to treat discrimination as an acceptable cost given the other sacrifices they have already made in order to come to the New World. The fact that life is superior in America measured against a country at war, impoverished and governed by a totalitarian regime doesn?t mean that we have achieved our ideals, though.
However, many Asian Americans are raised by immigrant parents who instill Asian principles of harmony. The image of Asian Americans as polite has some truth to it, for we live down to our image of being seemingly submissive. We have been told that ?the nail that sticks up will be pounded down? and counseled to conform as much as possible, rather than given the advice that ?the squeaky wheel gets the grease? and urged to protest if necessary. We know well the heckler?s jeer when we say anything controversial: ?if you don?t like it here, go back to where you came from.?
Most Asian Americans are like anybody else. There are perfectly good reasons why many Asian Americans fail to speak out even if they confront what may be clear-cut cases of bias by any objective measure. I sympathize with people who make the judgment call that it isn?t worth the aggravation to fight everything, especially if you are the only person in the room who looks different.
Nobody wants to look like a whiner. Even divulging that you have been an actual victim of hardcore prejudice can be difficult, because of the highly personal nature of the incidents and the awkwardness of the situation. With in-laws, friends of friends, or a supervisor at the workplace, it isn?t easy to raise volatile issues of race.
Despite our consensus that we should strive toward color-blindness, ironically individuals who point out that we still have violations of civil rights are attacked for failing to celebrate our progress. When they observe that at an exclusive country club where the law firm is having a party all the guests are virtually all white and the staff are almost all black, they are reprimanded because they?ve brought up race even though their mistake is noticing the obvious. The likely backlash directed at anyone who criticizes an off-color joke or the casual stereotype, whether it is being ostracized as a troublemaker or dismissed as ?politically correct,? creates perverse incentives to ignore such problems.
Indeed, the worse the racial predicament the harder it is to object if it remains possible to leave it be. After all, a person who already has shown they are disrespectful probably won?t take it well when I call attention to their racial presumptions no matter how nicely I try to do that.
So I wrote a book.
Arlington, Va.:
Hello Dr. Wu,
Would you please comment on Dr. Wen-Ho Lee's case? Is he a victim because of his Asian background? Happy New Year to you.
Frank H. Wu: More important than what Lee, a naturalized citizen from Taiwan, might have done is what he certainly did not do. Improper leaks by officials and sensationalized coverage by the media implied than he is ?the Chinese spy? responsible for transferring nuclear warhead plans to a Communist enemy. The case against him collapsed spectacularly. The federal judge presiding over it admonished the government and said that the prosecution shamed the nation.
The evidence of racial profiling in the case is strong.
Robert S. Vrooman, the former CIA agent who was the counterintelligence chief responsible for investigating Lee, has admitted the selective prosecution. He has stated in public speeches and press accounts that racial stereotyping rather than reasonable suspicion was what led his overzealous colleagues to focus on Lee. His sworn affidavit declares, ?I state without reservation that racial profiling was a crucial component in the FBI's identifying Dr. Lee as a suspect.?
The example of John Deutch, the former head of the CIA, confirms the double standard. Deutch confessed to breaking the same rules that Lee is accused of violating, even taking sensitive materials home with him and rendering it vulnerable by accessing the internet. Unlike Lee, he was protected by associates who engaged in a cover-up. Also in contrast to Lee, he eventually suffered the modest penalty of losing a clearance that prevents him from engaging in high-priced consulting. And he was eventually pardoned.
If it was not race that accounts for the targeting of Wen Ho Lee, then nothing does. But once we have concluded it was race, that does not necessarily make it wrong -- those of us who oppose racial profiling must explain why it is wrong. While I oppose the practice, I take seriously the arguments for its continued use. Even though it may anger my friends who agree with me, I note that most arguments against racial profiling are vulnerable because they either assume that the practice is irrational or assert that rationality is irrelevant. This approach does not seem to persuade proponents. I take people as open-minded: the right argument will win them over, assuming a debate of pro and con is the appropriate forum for addressing the issue.
I discuss Wen Ho Lee and racial profiling generally in Chapter 5 of Yellow.
I'd like to note that the book contains an error, which will be corrected. All books of this length contain some mistakes, but I regret this one. I state that Lee pled to a misdemeanor; it was a felony. As his daughter told me at a book signing, "well, it should have been nothing at all."
Washington, D.C.:
What about Asian-Americans who are disabled? Deaf Asian-Americans at Gallaudet felt alienated from other groups -since having a disability is a shame and dishonor in Asia.
Frank H. Wu: I agree disability issues are crucial.
As I wrote in Yellow:
The greatest honor I have received was the invitation to join the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University. I was humbled to be asked to become a part of the institution, the only liberal arts college for the Deaf in the nation. In 1988, the ?Deaf President Now!? Movement brought about the end of the patronizing manner in which the school had been operated. Whether it was deliberate, the dominance of hearing administrators and faculty at a school for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing suggested that they were incapable of independence and the institution was only nominally for its students. Whenever I am on the campus, I am struck by how Deafness is not disabling in the least, within the context of a Deaf community. It is I, the hearing individual, who is at a loss and able to communicate only through interpreters.
Furthermore, the disability rights movement may be the future of the civil rights movement. The disability rights movement, which had its great success with passage of the American With Disabilities Act in 1990, has improved the civil rights movement in many respects. Disability rights activists point out that anyone of us may, and if she is fortunate to lead a long life is likely to, join their ranks: it only takes an accident or the natural consequences of aging to make us realize that the ramp, the curb cut, and the handrails are there for our benefit, too. They also have argued persuasively that it is not the physical aspects of a disability that are disabling, but the social constructions of prejudice and patronizing attitudes that are disabling. The best example are people who are disfigured, who are widely assumed to be in some sense disabled and are pitied for their condition, even though they are not likely to be in any manner incapable and it is the very pity that creates any stigma. But even those who are handicapped to some extent by nature often find what is debilitating to a far greater extent is culture. Even though most of us no longer believe that the disabled deserve their condition, many of us continue to feel that they the disabled more deserving if they are superheroes striving to overcome their bodies ? our goal is to cure them, so that they are more like us. In insisting that dignity should be denied a person because of difference, the disability rights movement rejects the idea that civil rights are bestowed as charity.
Finally, I believe it is crucial for those of us who are both liberal and support cultural diversity to consider the problem the two present together. The question highlights the problem: some distinctively illiberal positions are seemingly justified by cultural traditions. In addition to Asian attitudes on disability, I'd add: gender inequality; lack of tolerance of homosexuality; birth order hierarchy. The list could go on.
Of course, Asian Asians and Asian Americans who hold these views are neither better nor worse than Europeans or white Americans who share similar views. The problem is this: if one is strictly liberal in a classical sense and not also sympathetic of minority cultures, one simply rejects any anti-liberal claim regardless of its origins; this also may lead to (but need not do so) lack of awareness of the cultural basis of liberalism itself as well as to antipathy toward other cultures. The other problem is this: if one rejects liberal and embraces multiculturalism, it becomes clear that multiculturalism is not only an excuse for but also a source of all manner of reactionary and repressive views and practices; it isn't apparent why anyone with liberal tendencies, then, would assume that multiculturalism is inherently progressive -- it is, rather, inherently traditional.
Shepherdstown, W. Va.:
Hello Frank, do you think the racism in this country is equal to that of other countries or is the U.S. unique in the sense that everyone is aware of black/white issues but on the underground much of all groups are selectivly racist towards every other group? This is a broad and negative generalization but growing up in D.C., it's hard to argue that everyone here is universally color blind or that it's just white people who are rasict towards everyone else.
P.S. I never heard of you before but your bio is very impressive. I don't own a t.v. so and am sure there are many gnarly people like yourself to which I'm ignorant.
Rock on with your bad self!
Frank H. Wu: I am tremendously proud to be an American. Our nation has great ideals. Our nation is unique in many of those ideals. No nation, however, always lives up to its principals. The greatness of the New World and this democratic experiment is that we understand -- or I hope we do -- that we are not perfect and ought to be improving. Gunnar Myrdal called his massive study, "An American Dilemma" not to refer to what was then called "the Negro problem" but to focus attention on this gap, between what we believe and what we do.
In this respect, whether we are better or worse depends. Many other societies still proclaim openly enough that they believe it matters what color your skin is (or, in a less inflammatory but indistinguishable phrasing, where your ancestors come from). That is, you can and should ask, "what village/province/country" did you (meaning your ancestors) come from, and you can and would be foolish not to infer that from this bit of data you know if you can trust the person, or how they will behave, etc. We say we don't do that. But we do. So we have the better ideals (in my opinion as an American through and through), but we don't fulfill them (according to virtually every objective study). It's the difference between being openly chauvinistic and being somewhat hypocritical.
Diversity is like democracy itself: a process, not an outcome. The goal is to participate in the process, not to end it.
Oshkosh, Wisc.:
The Asians that I have met have all been really quiet, polite, and reserved. Is it wrong of me to think that these are good qualities?
Frank H. Wu: Whenever anybody says, "you Asians are all so polite," I want to do something very rude to them. Let me explain why. It isn't that I'm just an arrogant American.
It's rather that while "polite" sounds good, it's actually ambiguous. To be polite is also to be submissive, deferential, to "know your place." I'm not making this up: the image of politeness is coupled to, and I suggest inextricable form, these other less complimentary interpretations.
I'd rather be an individual, and if I can't be accpected as an individual, I'd just as soon be accepted as no different than the next person, who's likely to be white. Why? Because if I'm expected to be bowing, shuffling, and obedient, and I turn out to be assertive, bold, and original, some may react negatively due to the influence of race.
Consider gender (and images of Asians, as many have noted, are often cast in gender terms; we are effeminate). Women, expected to be polite, who behave not one bit differently than men, especially women in non-traditional supervisory roles, are described in extraordinarily negative terms.
There's polite; then there's polite.
Montgomery Village, Md.:
Why is it when we talk about college admissions and affirmative action, we never talk about racial preferences and quota's?
Seems to me, colleges already hand out way to many preferences without any basis on merit. Seems like alumni parents, large donations, and contacts is the basis of merit for some students admited to some of our most prestigious universities. Should racial minorities and economically disadvantaged whites be subject to this merit system as well in the form of racial and economic class preferences and affirmative action?
Thanks.
Frank H. Wu: An excellent point. We have all sorts of preferences, ranging from those for legacies in college admissions to nepotism in the employment context.
I discuss these in Chapter 4 of Yellow.
Montgomery Village, Md.:
Your new book is named "Yellow". In our society we sometimes use skin color to refer to racial/ethnic groups of people (i.e. White--Caucasians, Black---African Americans, Yellow--Asian Americans). How does "Yellow" include other Asian Americans that are "Brown" (i.e. Brown--Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans) Seems like mainstream society only views Asian Americans to be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or others that may look like these groups (i.e. Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, etc.)
Frank H. Wu: Point well taken. I discuss people of many backgrounds. The book actually is not about Asian Americans. It's about race. Every argument I make I make with reference to the unique case of African Americans. I have tried to add Asian Americans while explaining that doing so can and should in no way detract from understanding and addressing persistant racial disparities affecting primarily African Americans.
As for South Asians, I discuss many South Asian examples (hate crimes perpetrated by "dot-busters", etc.) Yet this is complicated: in Great Britain, the classification of South Asians as blacks has made a different type of bridge-building work possible. It shows, too, how race can be both socially constructed rather than biologically fixed -- though nonetheless powerful for its fictional nature. I also recommend Vijay Prashad's "The Karma of Brown Folk," a witty collection of essays to which my book could be regarded as a companion volume.
But read it yourself and decide whether I've been fair in this respect.
Arlington, Va.:
Frank, you almost certainly wouldn't remember me, a lower profile student, but you and I were classmates at Michigan Law, and I'd like to say that all of us of the class of '91, even if some of us don't necessarily agree with you all the time, are very proud of what you've accomplished. Now, the substantive question: you may address this in your book, but it seems to me that the concept of "whiteness" has been rather elastic in American history. 150 or 160 years ago, Irish and even German immigrants were not considered "white" by the population at large, and as recently as 80 years ago Italian and Slavic immigrants to this country were not viewed as "white" either, yet nobody today would say that. Do you not think it is very likely that in another 50 years or so Latinos and Asians are just as likely to be brought under the 'white' umbrella, regardless of already high intermarriage rates? And if this becomes so, does or will that make the Hispanic and Asian experience in this country ultimately of limited value in exploring the situation of African-Americans? Thanks.
Frank H. Wu: Greetings, classmate. I hope you would no more agree with me now than 10 years ago: I am still only asking questions without answers. The passing of Asian Americans into honorary whiteness is double-edged. While it may be good for Asian Americans (or at least some individuals), it will be bad for society as a whole. For, after all, if we pass, are we not both acknowledging that there is a hierarchy and making ourselves complicit in it?
Mt. Lebanon, Pa.:
I don't know your book or you, then again that's likely why you're online today. Does your book lay out the data, analysis, and conclusions on this most interesting topic -much like The Bell Curve, save for some of its erroneous conclusions- or is it just another whining, emotional, venom-gushing, noodle-doodle work that spews a lot of angst but discloses no real information we can chew on and work with? Most social tones that reach the general public fall into the latter category - I'm hoping it's the former. Thanks much.
Frank H. Wu: As I wrote each chapter, I thought about two different groups of people. I found that trying to speak to both groups with the same message is incredibly difficult, verging on the impossible. As with any meaningful writing, every word counts. It must all be considered, and the subtlety of the tone is as crucial as the substance of the message.
On the one hand, there is a group I identified with one of my best friends, a fellow from Chicago, who is white and Catholic. He?s a very successful lawyer in Washington, D.C. He?s thoughtful and considerate, but he doesn?t have to think about issues of race, and he didn?t grow up in real contact with many Asian Americans, or, for that matter, African Americans. He wonders, sincerely and without malice, why race is important and why I can?t ?get over it.? I also thought about my nephew, who shot the dust jacket photo, and is about my age. He has a winning personality, and when you meet him you instantly like the guy. When we first me, he read something I?d written about the future of Asian Americans for A. Magazine, an Asian American interest periodical I wrote for on a regular basis, and ? as someone who is white and married to someone who is Asian American ? he asked, ?where do I fit into this??
On the other hand, there is a group I identified with the mother of a colleague of mine from Howard, an older African American woman. I?ve never actually met her, but she?s read my work and she?s liked it. She?s from a different era, with a set of experiences I?ve only read about. Her life has been shaped by race, whether she likes it or not. There also are my students, most of them black and many of them African American (though many also African, Caribbean, Canadian and self-identifying as black in complex manners). In their papers, a few of them have reported having friends who hate all whites or all Asian Americans. They have struggled both to sympathize with that viewpoint and repudiate it. Many of them have sought to come to an institution where they feel comfortable or at least free of an oppressiveness of prejudice that ? I believe them ? is concrete.
How much I succeeded I leave up to you.
Somewhere, USA:
Dr. Wu,
I grew up in predominately white schools and neighborhoods. My boyfriend is white as are two of my best friends (although I have plenty of friends of all cultures --- this is Bethesda after all).
However, recently, I'm starting to feel like I need to do something to help the Asian American community. I see my parents unwilling to accept my friends, because they aren't Chinese, and how many random aquaintences assume that I'm quiet and demure just because I'm Chinese (which can't be further from the truth). What can I do to break down these walls and sterotypes? I've tried joining groups like the OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans), but I find that most groups like this, lack a focus. They are more interested in creating a cliche, then helping the political and social situation.
What can I do to help?
Frank H. Wu: Yellow is all about bridge building. Asian Americans need it as much as anyone else, for there are plenty of Asian Americans who harbor nasty racial attitudes.
You can do plenty. Everyone can become better informed and support groups that work on civil rights causes. But we also can join groups and if they are not active enough we can take leadership roles.
Someone once said, "half of success is just showing up." I'd say the other half is just speaking up.
Tallahassee, Fla.:
Ok, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I have a hard time telling Asians apart. Am I racist?
Frank H. Wu: No, of course not. Just treat each individual on the terms they'd like to be treated; the presumption should be that they're individuals unless they indicate some other form of identity. There's no reason you should be trying to generalize and guess at an individual's ethnicity.
I'm downright embarassed that some Asians do this and teach others an amateur typology that simply reinforces racial classifications. They are trying to be playful, but it is quite damaging. It is not the same as but it is related to those Nazi-era charts depicting the details of facial shape and offering tips on making distinctions. Or the World War II era magazine articles on "How to Tell Our Friends from the Japs" that gave absurd hints on the physical differences between Chinese and Japanese.
Washington, D.C.:
Hi Frank,
Two things--
First, weren't you in the Writing Sems? You look awfully familiar.
Second, although I haven't read your book I agree with the points you are making today. I am white but have a number of Asian friends, and I have seen people on the street say incredibly rude things to them. "Go back to Vietnam." "Go back to Hong Kong." My friends shrug it off but I don't see how this form of racism is any less virulent.
Also, being Jewish and having encountered the "good" stereotype, I agree that it is equally pernicious. People who say that all Jewish doctors are good are the same people who say we are cheap.
Frank H. Wu: Yes and yes.
The perpetual foreigner syndrome is Chapter 3 of the book.
Frank H. Wu: Well, our time together is up. Perhaps I will see you as I do my national book tour.
Meanwhile, I leave you with this thought:
As simply stated as possible: race is complex. There are some people who think racism is historical or fictional or insignificant. I?m trying to persuade them that racism is contemporary, real and significant. But there are some people who think racism explains everything unfortunate in society or in their lives. I?m trying to persuade them that racism isn?t in the hearts of all people and may not be the exclusive cause of every problem.
What is most important is keeping our diverse democracy both diverse and democratic. Dialogue is at the heart of that project.
All the best.
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