The Box -
All too often we are put into what I like to call "The Box". What I've experienced quite a bit in the south is that people aren't able to clearly define where I belong. I don't quite fit into any stereotype cleanly. Asians know I'm Asian, it is the rest of society here that are baffled. I've walked into rooms and made the entire room pause. Now I know I'm sexy but really, not that sexy. :) Now here is where I become politically incorrect. I suggest you avert your eyes if you don't want to read it. It is my personal belief that people are surprised that I don't have some sort of first generation accent, frankly many in the south where I live do. As if I'm supposed to speak English with an Asian inflection. I've lived in various places and I'm just one of those people whose
vernacular and speech rhythms changes by region; nothing drastic but it
changes. People are constantly surprised that I don't sound like I come
from the nail shop or dry cleaner. ( I told you to avert your eyes.) When I call home, my brother teases me that I "sound haole", after talking to him for awhile I fall into the rhythm of home. Someone once told me that it's because I am not firmly rooted in who I am. My personal belief is that it *is* rooted in my personality but for a different reason entirely. Onward!
The most common question I'm asked when I say I'm from Hawai'i is: "Are you Hawaiian?". Do I look Hawaiian? (Of course I never say this out loud.) sidebar: I'm also "fluffy", okay this is a reference to Gabriel Iglesias
and his comedy, basically I'm full figured and have kinky hair. The stereotype of Hawai'i is heavy and kinky hair. I know this question should not bother me, but it has started to after being asked too often. I realize that this question is generally asked in ignorance and there is no harm meant in it. However, it points to a vast cultural ignorance of another state; and we've been a state since 1959. So I do my best to be an ambassador and not be annoyed. It is in a way though, a box. How are we as a county still so culturally ignorant of one another? Everyone is expected to assimilate although America has no official language and no official religion. To some degree or another the majority expects everyone to assimilate to Christian values, feel free to pick your religion of choice that loosely follows these tenets; otherwise keep your heathen religion quiet. Okay, the word heathen may be going too far but not by much for some.
One does not need to go to Hawai'i to gain knowledge of the state and our unique history. Yes, a visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center would be nice but not necessary. (This is not a plug.) Just as people do not need to remain ignorant on the culture of others. I am always at a loss on why people do not realize that America is already a melting pot of other cultures and not just on St. Patrick's day. Everyone who has ever immigrated here has brought something of their culture and its made its way into the mainstream. From the foods we eat to holidays we celebrate, it is everywhere we look. And yet the majority chooses to ignore this. Why? I keep asking myself this question.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Pass
Aloha No!
The Pass -
I read an article recently about the internment camps a few months back and I didn't think to save the link at the time. It was difficult seeing the pictures seeing the pictures of "No Japs allowed" spray painted on signs and wondering how that must have made people feel. The Nisei were signing up for the Armed Forces, determined to prove how American they were, fighting for a country that did not trust us and for many outright hated us. It is a common experience we have with African Americans, a country that hated them and yet they were willing to die proving that they were American.
The internment camps were during a time of segregation. One Nisei's account was of riding a bus, a time when African American's sat at the back of the bus. So they went to the back. The bus driver told them that only coloreds sat at the back and to move towards the front but they eventually sat in the middle. There was a bit of confusion as to where to sit. She said that in retrospect she wished she sat in the back. In my mind I guess we were the yellow devil that America was at war with but somehow less evil than African Americans.
It is what I like to refer to as "The Pass", we are seen in most instances as non-threatening. To the outside world we have assimilated into American culture and are no real threat. The majority of people are not really aware of Asian Civil Liberty groups. According to the 2010 Census a snapshot for the last decade, 2000 to 2010 census numbers the "Asian alone or in combination" category shows relative to the total population numbers we have experience a significant growth of 46% expanding numbers by 11.9 million in 2000 to 17.3 million in 2010. The total population being 281,421,906 and 308,745,538 respectively.
Is it because our civil liberty groups are a little more "quiet" than other groups, make up a smaller portion of society or because we have "assimilated" so well?
I have not done a lot of reading thus far for Asian Ethnic Studies and have started to dip my toes into it. What I have found out thus far is that during the 60's our people were there fighting for civil rights. Which leads me back around to the question, with the war, internment camps and civil rights, how are we not seen as a threat? Please make no mistake, I don't want us to be seen as a threat, I simply wonder about what appears to be an anomaly. I realize that during the Jim Crow era because our numbers were concentrated primarily on the west coast that the majority of the laws were based there; could this be the reason that more laws were not created elsewhere? A simple perception on lack of need, we were simply not in other parts of the country in larger numbers; i.e. no threat.
Perhaps across the rest of the nation we were just too few and far between to really worry about.
The Pass -
I read an article recently about the internment camps a few months back and I didn't think to save the link at the time. It was difficult seeing the pictures seeing the pictures of "No Japs allowed" spray painted on signs and wondering how that must have made people feel. The Nisei were signing up for the Armed Forces, determined to prove how American they were, fighting for a country that did not trust us and for many outright hated us. It is a common experience we have with African Americans, a country that hated them and yet they were willing to die proving that they were American.
The internment camps were during a time of segregation. One Nisei's account was of riding a bus, a time when African American's sat at the back of the bus. So they went to the back. The bus driver told them that only coloreds sat at the back and to move towards the front but they eventually sat in the middle. There was a bit of confusion as to where to sit. She said that in retrospect she wished she sat in the back. In my mind I guess we were the yellow devil that America was at war with but somehow less evil than African Americans.
It is what I like to refer to as "The Pass", we are seen in most instances as non-threatening. To the outside world we have assimilated into American culture and are no real threat. The majority of people are not really aware of Asian Civil Liberty groups. According to the 2010 Census a snapshot for the last decade, 2000 to 2010 census numbers the "Asian alone or in combination" category shows relative to the total population numbers we have experience a significant growth of 46% expanding numbers by 11.9 million in 2000 to 17.3 million in 2010. The total population being 281,421,906 and 308,745,538 respectively.
Is it because our civil liberty groups are a little more "quiet" than other groups, make up a smaller portion of society or because we have "assimilated" so well?
I have not done a lot of reading thus far for Asian Ethnic Studies and have started to dip my toes into it. What I have found out thus far is that during the 60's our people were there fighting for civil rights. Which leads me back around to the question, with the war, internment camps and civil rights, how are we not seen as a threat? Please make no mistake, I don't want us to be seen as a threat, I simply wonder about what appears to be an anomaly. I realize that during the Jim Crow era because our numbers were concentrated primarily on the west coast that the majority of the laws were based there; could this be the reason that more laws were not created elsewhere? A simple perception on lack of need, we were simply not in other parts of the country in larger numbers; i.e. no threat.
Perhaps across the rest of the nation we were just too few and far between to really worry about.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Hawai'i, Bob Marley, Jawaiian Music, Cultural ignorance
Before I even left the island, I listened to a lot of Bob Marley. Hawai'i has a love of reggae music and has an evolution of what we call Jawaiian music. How it evolved exactly I couldn't tell you. For me, it is a lot in the laid back riddims and partially because of Hawaiian history. While I am in no way shape or form of Hawaiian blood, I grew up knowing Hawaiian history, most of us did. For me and many others, Hawaii is more than just blood, it is a culture; we live it and breathe it. I am not Hawaiian, I am local and a transplant. I will be local until the day I die no matter where I live. You cannot remove it from me.
I grew up taking hula classes, as did many of my friends. Kumu Hulas will teach you the meanings of the songs you are dancing and you will learn both hula kahiko (traditional) and hula auana (contemporary) along with the different implements used for dancing. You will also learn a bit of history, of the Gods and Goddesses of Hawai'i, a part of the land and you honor the earth and all living things. It becomes a part of you and in some strange way it does not conflict with any Christian teachings you may or may not have.
In school, you are taught about King Kamehameha, who united all the islands in a great battle. Prior to then all the islands were not united and were warring. He brought everyone together in unity. Then you learn about moving forward, the Kingdom, Captain Cooke, missionaries and eventually the imprisonment and overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and Queen Lili'uokalani by the US. While I think about what could of, should of, may have happened and while I am happy to be American, the overthrow does not sit well with me at all.
You also have the option in school to take Hawaiian language classes, which I did. I am embarrassed to say that I've lost whatever I did learn. Just as I've lost the Japanese that I learned in school. Oh I've kept the proper inflections and intonations and can read anything you put in front of me as long as they are written using the English alphabet, but as to their meaning? Nope, gone. If you don't use it, you lose it.
Which circles back around to Bob Marley, much of his music for me touches a chord deep down inside somewhere that has to do with our history. So I delved into his history and Jamaica's history. Why he wrote what he did. It brought me to read about his religion, Rastafarian and Haile Selassie I for whom they believed to be the return of the Messiah. It also lead me to read about Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X. At the time, living in Hawai'i, I had no real point of reference for these historical figures because there is no real racism, not to the degree that it is here. These books were like a floating historical novel a history that has long since passed.
The thing that I've learned here on the mainland is that many MANY people are ignorant to the history of Hawai'i and in general ignorant about other cultures, sometimes even their own. Why is this?
How is it that people do not even realize that American culture is a big giant stew made up of so many cultural heritages. I haven't quite figured that one out yet. Are people just walking around in their own little bubbles of ignorance and don't bother to look up?
Hawai'i recognizes that local culture is a giant pot of stew made up of all our heritages. We embrace it, and love it. It is part of what makes us local, we've embraced it so much we don't even think about it any longer. At least I don't. I came here looking for manapua and couldn't find any so I had to make it. Finding a recipe was another matter. In Hawai'i it is manapua, the REAL name for it is bau and is Chinese in origin. It took me a whole week to figure this out. Arrrggggh. I walked around the house for an entire hour saying "bau bau bau bau bau" trying to figure out how you get from "bau" to "manapua". You tell me if you figure it out or know. And yes I make fabulous manapua now. :P
I have to go now. :) Peace and blessings.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Blogging - Wow.
Cliche, BUT I never thought I'd be here, putting my thoughts on the web for all to see, like a public diary. Oh well, onwards.
Ah yes as for my moniker, born and raised in Hawai'i along with so many generations that have come before me. And now, I'm a transplant. The only one in my family that is. Oh wow lau lau can you say culture shock? :P I've been here for over a decade and sometimes I STILL cannot believe the stuff that people do here. AND there is no Aloha Shoyu where I live. The last time I came home I mailed like 6 gallons and the people at the post office looked at me like I was crazy until they saw the address on the box and said OOoooHHH and I said YeeaahhhHHh so gimme a break. Okay okay I'm done monku'ing about dat kine stuff.
People here are a trip when you live in an ocean of mainland people. I've been thinking about it more and more lately. I don't think it's just because I miss home. I watch the news and watch how people treat each other here. You're going to have to be patient if you start reading this because the first few posts are going to be me sharing and really just MONKU MONKU MONKU'ing. I'm just being honest. At the end though I guess I'm looking for a productive, open and honest forum on how to move things forward from where we are.
I guess you kind of take it for granted when the minorities make up the majority. You never think about it. Localz Rule and we didn't have any plans on letting the mainland impede upon our culture. We all grew up knowing something about everybody else, that's just the way it is.
What I'm trying to say is that the rose colored glasses have COME OFF. I don't look at people the same way any more and it breaks my heart. When I left home when meeting new people I always just saw a person. You know, there are nice people, icky people, etc. You don't really see in color. Almost everybody at home is brown, hapa or so many different things you can't tell anyway. We're all just LOCAL, does it matter? I don't see people that way on the mainland so much any more. I've had so many experiences here on the mainland that my perception has changed. So much that I've started doing a lot more reading about history and its societal effects on the mainland
I've lived in a lot of places and I'm a friendly person. Making friends is not a problem for me. The west coast was cool, not a lot of local people but folks were cool. A lot of different people from everywhere, very laid back. Then I moved to the midwest. I wish someone would have told me before I went. Here is one example - I lived about an hour outside of town. On the weekends I used to go to town to go to the club, on the way back one night I stopped at one of the smaller towns to get something to drink. You know, it was right off the highway, well lit, didn't appear to be a danger to a woman alone. I go inside and there is an old white lady and 3 old white men standing at the cash register. I get the drink from the cooler, walk to the cash register, pay and they are all just standing there staring at me so I smile. The old lady throws the change at me. Yes, I said throw. I just stood there and looked at her while the men chuckled. I didn't know what to do, I was in shock. So I picked up the loose change and left, wondering what happened the rest of the way home. I went to work on the following Monday and told my friends what happened. They said, "oh we should have told you but we thought you'd be okay". Okay? They explained to me that this town used to be a major Klan town and bad things happened there in the past. So I went online that night to go look it up. The "they thought I'd be okay part" was because I'm not black. So they told me don't ever stop there if you can help it. WHAT?!? I know. That's right, Yonsei. It was my first experience with racism. Ugly, and in your face. It is palpable, not just the act of throwing loose change, but the way that people look at you.
You know that saying "the other side of the tracks"? It is FOR REAL. Can you believe it? I drove into town one weekend, just driving. It was a poor part of town and really, everybody on one side of the tracks was white and everybody on the other side was black. I saw white people looking at black people like they were DIRT and calling people names when they were ALL BROKE. What the HECK? How are you going to call people racist names and think that you are better than someone else when you don't have anything yourself? I just went home and cried. It was like something out of a bad movie. But it did get me thinking.
Okay, that's enough for today.
Ah yes as for my moniker, born and raised in Hawai'i along with so many generations that have come before me. And now, I'm a transplant. The only one in my family that is. Oh wow lau lau can you say culture shock? :P I've been here for over a decade and sometimes I STILL cannot believe the stuff that people do here. AND there is no Aloha Shoyu where I live. The last time I came home I mailed like 6 gallons and the people at the post office looked at me like I was crazy until they saw the address on the box and said OOoooHHH and I said YeeaahhhHHh so gimme a break. Okay okay I'm done monku'ing about dat kine stuff.
People here are a trip when you live in an ocean of mainland people. I've been thinking about it more and more lately. I don't think it's just because I miss home. I watch the news and watch how people treat each other here. You're going to have to be patient if you start reading this because the first few posts are going to be me sharing and really just MONKU MONKU MONKU'ing. I'm just being honest. At the end though I guess I'm looking for a productive, open and honest forum on how to move things forward from where we are.
I guess you kind of take it for granted when the minorities make up the majority. You never think about it. Localz Rule and we didn't have any plans on letting the mainland impede upon our culture. We all grew up knowing something about everybody else, that's just the way it is.
What I'm trying to say is that the rose colored glasses have COME OFF. I don't look at people the same way any more and it breaks my heart. When I left home when meeting new people I always just saw a person. You know, there are nice people, icky people, etc. You don't really see in color. Almost everybody at home is brown, hapa or so many different things you can't tell anyway. We're all just LOCAL, does it matter? I don't see people that way on the mainland so much any more. I've had so many experiences here on the mainland that my perception has changed. So much that I've started doing a lot more reading about history and its societal effects on the mainland
I've lived in a lot of places and I'm a friendly person. Making friends is not a problem for me. The west coast was cool, not a lot of local people but folks were cool. A lot of different people from everywhere, very laid back. Then I moved to the midwest. I wish someone would have told me before I went. Here is one example - I lived about an hour outside of town. On the weekends I used to go to town to go to the club, on the way back one night I stopped at one of the smaller towns to get something to drink. You know, it was right off the highway, well lit, didn't appear to be a danger to a woman alone. I go inside and there is an old white lady and 3 old white men standing at the cash register. I get the drink from the cooler, walk to the cash register, pay and they are all just standing there staring at me so I smile. The old lady throws the change at me. Yes, I said throw. I just stood there and looked at her while the men chuckled. I didn't know what to do, I was in shock. So I picked up the loose change and left, wondering what happened the rest of the way home. I went to work on the following Monday and told my friends what happened. They said, "oh we should have told you but we thought you'd be okay". Okay? They explained to me that this town used to be a major Klan town and bad things happened there in the past. So I went online that night to go look it up. The "they thought I'd be okay part" was because I'm not black. So they told me don't ever stop there if you can help it. WHAT?!? I know. That's right, Yonsei. It was my first experience with racism. Ugly, and in your face. It is palpable, not just the act of throwing loose change, but the way that people look at you.
You know that saying "the other side of the tracks"? It is FOR REAL. Can you believe it? I drove into town one weekend, just driving. It was a poor part of town and really, everybody on one side of the tracks was white and everybody on the other side was black. I saw white people looking at black people like they were DIRT and calling people names when they were ALL BROKE. What the HECK? How are you going to call people racist names and think that you are better than someone else when you don't have anything yourself? I just went home and cried. It was like something out of a bad movie. But it did get me thinking.
Okay, that's enough for today.
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