.There have been many different sources published ranging from comic books to scholarly articles on the subject of American born Chinese students. These different sources discuss not only the hardships of these students but also the benefits of embracing two different cultures. What I found most interesting in my research was how the book American Born Chinese does an excellent job in creating visual images and a story for the audience to understand the life of an American born Chinese in relatively easy way.
What is it like to be an American Born Chinese?
Usually, unless you are actually an American born Chinese, it is difficult to understand what it is like to be one. American Born Chinese is an award-winning graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang. Throughout the graphic novel, Yang vividly describes the story of Jin Wang who is a second generation child of Chinese immigrants (American born Chinese). Yang explains with not only words but also with pictures the differences in Jin Wang's life at home and his life at school. Jin Wang lives in an apartment in Chinatown of San Francisco and is in a community that is essentially solely Chinese, his friends in his apartment are also Chinese kids, the shops in Chinatown are all Chinese shops owned by Chinese people. However, Jin Wang attends a normal American school where many of the kids are White American kids. (Yang) The author Yang uses Jin Wang's story to show people how there were many obstacles for a boy with Chinese descent. The kids at Jin's school made racist jokes towards him and it is obvious that being Chinese is not ideal at this school. Because of this Jin is driven away from embracing his Chinese side. Just like in this story, many Chinese born American students grow up living through the hard conditions of being "different" from the other kids at school. I know that when I was a child even the littlest things like my American friends saying that my Chinese food smelled weird made an impact on my life. From that point on, I was driven away from bringing Chinese food to school and in a bigger sense of things, I was driven away from a part of my culture.
Min Hyoung Song writes an article that reviews American Born Chinese and takes a deeper look into the more subtle ideas that not everyone may have been able to pick out. Song focuses in on the character in the novel named Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is the epitome of Chinese stereotypes, Song carefully explains what Gene Yang is trying to show through this character Chin-Kee. First off, Chin-Kee's name is a reverence to the racial stereotype of "chink" (Song). This racial term comes from an old 19th century belief that most Chinese immigrants only came to America to work on the railroad and the hammering on the metal tracks would make a sound like "chink" (Song). Song's analysis of this character allows for the reader to understand the stereotypes and racial slurs that author Gene Yang wants to show to the world through this character Chin-Kee.
Identity
Religion and culture are two important ways in which we as humans find our identity (Yang). “My experiences growing up in both a Chinese American household and the Catholic Church define much of who I am.” (Pinti). Yang and Pinti are completely correct, growing up when I found myself struggling with identifying who I am, I looked to my culture and my faith. It is very easy to get lost trying to find your identity when you fit into so many different groups of people. In the media, Asian Americans are often stereotyped as nerds, scientists, office workers or martial artists speaking broken English—the “forever foreigner” with poor language and social skills (I Am Asian American). One might say that the media portrays Asian Americans like this for entertainment purposes no harm no foul. “The media perpetuates stereotypes and these messages sneak into the classroom,” says Dr. Nellie Tran, a social psychologist at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. Once these stereotypes get into classroom environments then children of Asian descent are negatively affected. It’s an immigrant’s dream to be successful in America and live the “American Dream”, but what happens when you’re mocked because of your success? More than any other racial minority in the United States, Asian Americans have found their status as a racial minority complicated by claims of their many apparent economic successes (Stratman). There is factual evidence that Chinese born Americans are being stereotyped for jokes and entertainment; but these people are working hard to embrace the American culture and to succeed in the American society just like everyone else.
Works Cited
1. Song, Min Hyoung. "'How good it is to be a monkey': comics, racial formation, and American Born Chinese." Mosaic: A journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature 43.1 (2010): 73+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
2. Yang, Gene Luen., and Lark Pien. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print.
3. Pinti, Daniel. "Theology And Identity In Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese." Literature & Theology 30.2 (2016): 233-247. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
4. "I Am Asian American." Teaching Tolerance. Southern Poverty Law Center, n.d. Web.
5. Stratman, Jacob. "“How Good It Is To Be A Monkey”: Conversion And Spiritual Formation In Gene Luen Yang’S American Born Chinese." Christianity & Literature 65.4 (2016): 490-507. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2016
Image: Chinese Laterns, CCo Public Domain, Google Images.
What is it like to be an American Born Chinese?
Usually, unless you are actually an American born Chinese, it is difficult to understand what it is like to be one. American Born Chinese is an award-winning graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang. Throughout the graphic novel, Yang vividly describes the story of Jin Wang who is a second generation child of Chinese immigrants (American born Chinese). Yang explains with not only words but also with pictures the differences in Jin Wang's life at home and his life at school. Jin Wang lives in an apartment in Chinatown of San Francisco and is in a community that is essentially solely Chinese, his friends in his apartment are also Chinese kids, the shops in Chinatown are all Chinese shops owned by Chinese people. However, Jin Wang attends a normal American school where many of the kids are White American kids. (Yang) The author Yang uses Jin Wang's story to show people how there were many obstacles for a boy with Chinese descent. The kids at Jin's school made racist jokes towards him and it is obvious that being Chinese is not ideal at this school. Because of this Jin is driven away from embracing his Chinese side. Just like in this story, many Chinese born American students grow up living through the hard conditions of being "different" from the other kids at school. I know that when I was a child even the littlest things like my American friends saying that my Chinese food smelled weird made an impact on my life. From that point on, I was driven away from bringing Chinese food to school and in a bigger sense of things, I was driven away from a part of my culture.
Min Hyoung Song writes an article that reviews American Born Chinese and takes a deeper look into the more subtle ideas that not everyone may have been able to pick out. Song focuses in on the character in the novel named Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is the epitome of Chinese stereotypes, Song carefully explains what Gene Yang is trying to show through this character Chin-Kee. First off, Chin-Kee's name is a reverence to the racial stereotype of "chink" (Song). This racial term comes from an old 19th century belief that most Chinese immigrants only came to America to work on the railroad and the hammering on the metal tracks would make a sound like "chink" (Song). Song's analysis of this character allows for the reader to understand the stereotypes and racial slurs that author Gene Yang wants to show to the world through this character Chin-Kee.
Identity
Religion and culture are two important ways in which we as humans find our identity (Yang). “My experiences growing up in both a Chinese American household and the Catholic Church define much of who I am.” (Pinti). Yang and Pinti are completely correct, growing up when I found myself struggling with identifying who I am, I looked to my culture and my faith. It is very easy to get lost trying to find your identity when you fit into so many different groups of people. In the media, Asian Americans are often stereotyped as nerds, scientists, office workers or martial artists speaking broken English—the “forever foreigner” with poor language and social skills (I Am Asian American). One might say that the media portrays Asian Americans like this for entertainment purposes no harm no foul. “The media perpetuates stereotypes and these messages sneak into the classroom,” says Dr. Nellie Tran, a social psychologist at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. Once these stereotypes get into classroom environments then children of Asian descent are negatively affected. It’s an immigrant’s dream to be successful in America and live the “American Dream”, but what happens when you’re mocked because of your success? More than any other racial minority in the United States, Asian Americans have found their status as a racial minority complicated by claims of their many apparent economic successes (Stratman). There is factual evidence that Chinese born Americans are being stereotyped for jokes and entertainment; but these people are working hard to embrace the American culture and to succeed in the American society just like everyone else.
Works Cited
1. Song, Min Hyoung. "'How good it is to be a monkey': comics, racial formation, and American Born Chinese." Mosaic: A journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature 43.1 (2010): 73+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
2. Yang, Gene Luen., and Lark Pien. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print.
3. Pinti, Daniel. "Theology And Identity In Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese." Literature & Theology 30.2 (2016): 233-247. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
4. "I Am Asian American." Teaching Tolerance. Southern Poverty Law Center, n.d. Web.
5. Stratman, Jacob. "“How Good It Is To Be A Monkey”: Conversion And Spiritual Formation In Gene Luen Yang’S American Born Chinese." Christianity & Literature 65.4 (2016): 490-507. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2016
Image: Chinese Laterns, CCo Public Domain, Google Images.