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opinion
Issue 7 • Dec. 12, 2014 • deltacollegian.net
Looking beyond Asian American stereotypes Writer wants population to go beyond preconcieved notions By Vorani Khoonsrivong deltacollegian@gmail.com
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ith recent events about racial and political uprising, I started to think about stereotypes, specifically the Southeast Asian American stereotype. Society often depicts Asian Americans as people who look and talk the same, are one or a combination of Chinese, Korean or Japanese ethnicity and are the “Model Minority.” As the “Model Minority,” Asian Americans are affluent, hard-working individuals with prestigious degrees. Here’s a newsflash: contrary to popular belief, not all Asians look alike, not all Asians are one or a combination of Chinese, Korean or Japanese ethnicity and not all Asians are doing socially and economically well. It’s a strange, yet constant issue Southeast Asian Americans face with at least once in their lifetime — and it’s an issue that’s affecting the Southeast Asian American community in a negative way. While flattering and applicable to some Southeast Asian Americans, the Model Minority theory doesn’t fully represent us as a whole. There are obstacles and struggles Southeast Asian Americans encounter on daily basis that negate the Model Minority theory. Assimilation is a prominent issue Southeast Asian Americans struggle with. The severity of how it affects the Southeast Asian American community depends on two ideas: behavioral and socioeco-
nomic assimilation. According to Asian-nation. org, behavioral assimilation occurs when the individual decides to integrate into to the social norms of the host city. For example, I am a first generation Khmu and Cambodian American. My parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s and went through different stages of assimilation but were fortunate to balance both American culture and their respective cultures. As a child, my parents exposed me to both of their ethnic cultures and American culture. Initially, I accepted Khmu, Cambodian and American culture but as I got older, I began to favor American culture. I became embarrassed by my ethnicities and viewed the customs and traditions as abnormal and barbaric. Today, I continue to struggle with acknowledging my Southeast Asian ethnicities, albeit a smaller degree. The constant struggle between accepting or denouncing one’s culture has caused a rift in the different generations of Southeast Asian Americans. While one generation accepts being Southeast Asian, another might denounce it. This generational gap causes a lack of understanding that hurts both generations. If the older generation and the newer generation are unable to have a mutual understanding of their culture with one another, it immobilizes them to move forward. Ultimately, this clash could cause the ethnicity to die out.
Many Southeast Asian American families immigrating to the United States were poor and ultimately stayed poor, settling for low-skilled jobs. If you’re from Stockton and have Southeast Asian American friends, then you know many Southeast Asian Americans reside in the same community with the same socioeconomic background. The less-affluent Southeast Asian American neighborhoods often have high crime and gang-related activity. With many of the parents working, their children are left unsupervised, exposing them to a rebellious and dangerous lifestyle. While there are resources available, many of the less-affluent Southeast Asian Americans don’t know about them. This is prevalent in the education system among Southeast Asian American students. While some students have the ability to succeed, others are unable to because of a lack of financial and parental support. In the end, I can’t speak for all Southeast Asian Americans but I can say this: I am proud to be Khmu and Cambodian American. To all my Southeast Asian Americans brothers and sisters, now’s the time for you to be proud too. It’s time for Western society to wake up and acknowledge us as a group of people that doesn’t look or sound the same, that isn’t one or a combination of East Asian ethnicities and isn’t represented by the Model Minority theory. We’re different. And that’s okay.
PILLOW TALK 101 With Jermaine Davis
Dating during the holidays Can make or break new relationship
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he most critical time in figuring out where a new relationship is headed comes during the holidays. Couples in new relationships use this time of year to get their families more acquainted and familiar. Thanksgiving can be one of those “deal or no deal” type of situations. Often times it’s the family who suggest bringing your significant other to interact, so they can get more of a feel for the person you’re spending time with, and if the two are compatible. If you can survive meeting the family after Thanksgiving, trust and believe you’ll be expected to be present come Christmas. This is when you know things might be getting serious. Now you have to consider a gift to buy or if you’ll be buying a gift at all. If this is a new relationship that’s developed over the past two months, there’s no need to go over the top with outlandish gifts. Save the big presents for later on in the relationship, assuming you make it past this year. Keep It Simple & Sweet (KISS) on the first go round. One thing you definitely want to avoid is buying an expensive gift and the relationship suddenly fizzles out before Valentine’s Day. Throughout the time that you’ve been together, if you were paying attention to detail, you’re significant other more than likely has dropped hints about their like, wants and needs. Whatever you choose to get make sure it’s something they’ll like, instead of just trying to wing it by getting something you think they might like. It’s best to be sure. Hopefully by New Year’s Eve, as a couple the two of you will have an understanding of each other and continue to build. Plan road trips, go to concerts, and attend festivals like most happy couples do. On the flipside, if you can’t manage staying together after the holidays, don’t beat yourself up about. Worst come to worst you’ve made a new friend, experienced new things and learned a valuable lesson from your experience that you can apply to the next relationship. On Dec. 31, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. will you or won’t you be wrapped in the arms of the one you love?
TO THE EDITOR
Professor offers tips for success
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few more helpful hints to study: On Issue 2 of the Sept. 26 of Collegian a few tips were mentioned as how to be a student. Here are the remaining’s of those tips. It always helps to study the material before you go to the class. You understand them better. Make sure you study the previous material too. Everything is connected, all of your lectures, all of your classes, and you need to make those connections. I ask my students to read their notes every day from beginning to the end, even the days that they do not have class with me, including weekends. I was getting my Master in Murray State University in Kentucky and I took
a course called “Virology.” Three units and four lecture exams and nothing else, no quizzes no lab, no papers, nothing. I got 62 out of 100 in my first exam. That is a D. Keep in mind in graduate school you must maintain a 3.0 average. I said to myself “OK, I will redeem myself and do better in the next exam.” I did better, I got 63. I got nervous so I went to the professor and asked him what I was doing wrong. He said: “Amir do you read your notes every night from beginning to the end, every night.” From that day not only I did as my professor asked me to but I also read the text book and added information from text into my lecture notes. I rewrote
my lecture notes. I redeemed myself and pass the course with a B. This method of studying worked for me and with this method I was able to graduate from Murray State and University of Tennessee. So, to wrap it up for you guys take these few steps and you can go to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley and any school you want and get any degree you want. It is not hard to do it just needs tender, loving, care, TLC: 1. Read your lecture notes every night from beginning to the end, even the days that you do not have that class. 2. Rewrite your lecture notes with nice hand writing and fortify them with materials from text book. 2. Pay attention to the lecture that is the short cut to your education, i.e. you study less at night.
3. If your professor do not make up questions for you at the beginning of the lecture you make up some essay questions for yourself and write the answers to the questions and make sure you know the answers before the exam. 4. After lecture write what you remember and then compare your answers to lecture notes, what you missed is in the exam. I will tell you later how to prepare yourself for group studies and a few other tips that can get you to Harvard and Yale. Until then good luck, even though you don’t need any luck, because you are good at what you are doing (studying).
— Amir Assadi-Radi Delta College Professor