Chapter 1 of “Displacements
and Diasporas: Asian In The Americas”, edited by Wanni Anderson and Robert Lee,
discusses the importance of displacement in Asian American narratives through
physical, cultural, psychological, or intellectual means. Connected to the term
“displacement” is the image that it creates when one looks at what a diaspora
looks like. Asians have arrived to the United States for various reasons with
various backgrounds and resources, so what the diaspora becomes and how
displacement was implemented are very different. As these differences continue
to increase and the meaning of “home” expands, the intersectionality of multiple cultural identities increase, at the expense of the “Asian American” vision and
identity. I was very shocked to learn about the existence of the Korean
Venezuelans, Japanese Bolivians, and Cambodian Swiss. With a larger spectrum of
ethnic identities in the future, it may potentially endanger or enrich the
political and historical context of “Asian American” and Asian American
Studies.
Question: What’s stopping us
from identifying as “Asian American”? Also, is it fair to say that all Asians
belong in one diaspora or another?
Works Cited:
Anderson, Wanni W. Displacements and
Diasporas: Asians in the Americas. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers UP, 2005.
Print.
Image: http://www.onechallenge.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/homeglobe300px.jpg
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