Week 1 Blog Entry - Denationalization Reconsidered - Jimmy Tran

Jimmy Tran

Caroline Kieu Linh Valverde

ASA114

26 September 2015

Week 1 Blog Entry – Denationalization Reconsidered – Jimmy Tran

       Denationalization Reconsidered by Sau – ling Wong emphasizes on displacement and ties to homeland. The article talks about the easing of cultural nationalist concerns, a growing permeability between “Asian” and “Asian American” and a diasporic perspective that emphasizes on Asian Americans. The demographics in the Asian American population is changing a lot due to the concept of diaspora. Diaspora is the dispersion of any people from their original homeland. This is an important concept to understand because it shapes the status of Asian Americans as ethnic minorities within the United States. In class, we talked about how Asian Americans in the U.S. rather refer to themselves as their ethnicity rather than labeling themselves as Asian Americans. Me personally, I never looked at it this way. I once felt that once a person of any ethnicity or race becomes certified to be an American citizen, they should respectably be considered American regardless of their background. This draws back to individuals tying back to their homeland because they feel a sense of security with their own identity.

How does the concept of diaspora shape Asian Americans into how they function as individuals in the U.S?