Opinion from a 1.5 Filipino Librarian

books:


	• Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People Helen Zia Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Beyond black and white

This book is a great introduction or supplement to the study of Asian-American culture, and an significant edition. While it does not give an overall comprehensive history of Asian-Americans (such as Ronald Takaki's "Strangers on a Different Shore"), its strength lies in just that. Zia choses to focus on more recent events to demonstrate her points. In the latter sections, Zia devotes whole chapters to significant moments in the recent history of Asian-Americans in the US - such as the LA riots, Japanese interment camps, issues of homosexuality amonst Asian-Americans etc. It is in these chapters that one can relate and realize that the race issues in America are not just black and white. One also realizes how important it is to bring these things issues to light, because as the "model minority" both the overground culture as well as Asian-Americans themselves have quieted and muted their struggles.

Zia is brutally honest in her descriptions of racism that has occured in her past (ie. being called china doll, continuously asked where she is "really" from). Her writing is lucid and scholarly without being overbearingly academic. She has lived an exemplary life which is admirable and her contributions significant.

for more information click here

Opinion from a 1.5 Filipino Librarian

Asian American Dreams has revealed the issues and circumstances of the Asian American that are shaping the society of the United States. Award winning journalist, Helen Zia records and documents the events that were milestones of Asian Amerian history. One may ask well why? But did you know about the Vincent Chin story? He was a man killed in because he looked Japanese. His killers were slapped on the wrist by a judge who ruled that they pay a fine and serve probation. Chin's mother issued the statement that the life of her son, a human being, was reduced to the value of a used car. Or, did you ever hear the story of Filipino workes in the Alaskan canneries who lived and worked in plantation like conditions? What about the perspective of Korean grocers who bore the brunt of Black rage during the riots? This book is enlightening, eye opening, motivating, and inspiring. The book is well crafted. Zia connects the story to her readers. I will admit that I had been emotionally moved several times by reading this book.

for more information click here

Where are you from?

I remember as a young child, other kids would ask me, "Where are you from?" Even though I was a native U.S. citizen, I would answer "Korea" without even thinking about it. Their response would be a blank stare and a "Where?" They all knew China, and even Japan, but rarely Korea. I grew up thinking that I was from a place that no one knew existed. Now when people ask me, "Where are you from?" I answer "Los Angeles," and I receive the response, "You know what I mean. Really, where are you from?" This question has plagued me throughout my life. People assume I cannot simply be an American - I must be a foreigner.

What Helen Zia has done is taken this universal experience among Asian Americans and transformed it into a quest to learn what it means to be Asian and American. She examines pivotal points in Asian American history and acknowledges racism, but also examines what Asian Americans must do as a whole to become seen as "American" and not as a "gook" or a "chink." As a college student who's done a little bit of research on Asian Americans, it enlightened me on my responsibilites to make my voice heard and also educated me on the history of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement - something that didn't even exist 60 years ago.

for more information click here

A Wonderful Book

In this 356-page tome, author Helen Zia, a second generation American Chinese, Princeton gradate, and award winning journalist, details the trials and tribulations generations of Asian Americans have endured in the United States and the achievements they have accomplished in all aspects of American life, particularly in their pursuit of political representation and empowerment. Zia chronicles the history of Aisan Americans from the earliest arrivals in the 1500s through the end of the twentieth century.

The book documents such historical milestones as the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, the murder of Vincent Chin in Detroit in 1892, the founding of American Citizens for Justice in 1983, sa-i-gu, the event in which Korean grocers became the scapegoat of the LA riot in 1992, the one-day cab drivers' strike led by an Indian American in New York in 1998, the election of Gary Locke for the Governor of Washington in 1996, and the spy allegation against scientist Wen Ho Lee in 1999. Zia draws extensively on historical research and personal experiences. Having given up her medical study and dedicated herself to being a social activist and writer, Zia courageously and unapologetically exposes the evil brought on by the stereotyping of Asian American over the centuries. She offers a compelling narrative on how Asian Americans, with remarkably diverse backgrounds, have come to this new land, toiled along with other ethnic minorities, helped build America, and fought for justice and equality. She calls for "Asian Americans to make themselves visible and politically relevant".

Being a Chinese American, I am deeply appreciative of this profound realization that my people are an integral part of this country's heritage and that only by ending silence and by speaking up can any progress in political empowerment be even imagined. I used to be and still am very apolitical, but thankfully this book is serving as a wake-up call. It is typical of many Asian Americans, including myself, to consent to whatever the situation presents them, with ready acceptance of the fate they feel too powerless to change. Asians were one of the earliest immigrants in this country, yet we have lost generations of political development as a result of "positioning ourselves outside this white dominated society as well as the discriminating governmental laws and policies."

Zia's daring accounts of racial discrimination against Asian Americans and of her own involvement in the social and political arenas are made more riveting by her revelation that she is a lesbian, an announcement that filled me with initial confusion and surprise, only to be replaced by deepening respect for her. For a member of the predominately silent ethnic group to announce publicly that she also belongs to yet another much smaller and more marginalized minority group, it takes guts.

This book should be a must read for everyone in this country. I hope it will arouse the conscience of all the peoples of America, regardless of their ethnicity, in their sincere and collaborative effort in shaping the country into a land truthful to its ideal: a land of opportunity and fairness.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

This groundbreaking book traces the transformation of Asian Americans from a few small, disconnected, and largely invisible ethnic groups into a self-identified racial group that is influencing every aspect of American society. It explores the events that shocked Asian Americans into motion and shaped a new consciousness. Helen Zia, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, writes as a personal witness to the dramatic changes involving Asian Americans.

hot