Customer Reviews

Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites?: The Asian Ethnic Experience Today

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

as a forever foreigner born in this country, i could identify with a lot of the stuff in the book and i liked it a lot.

It would be great if she writes another book with the same debate since the make-up of Asian Americans changed quite a bit (at least the ethnic ratio). Majority of her respondents are post-WWII generation Chinese and Japanese Americans in Cali area so their experiences are kind of different from what the younger generation and Asian Americans from other ethnic origins would go through nowadays. for example, most young Asian Americans in college now are not likely identify with the psychological damages of internment.

if she comes up with another book, I'll probably buy it.

It was a very interesting read. In terms of society and personal experiences with Asians, I can say that I have normally assumed that they are foreigners. Though, now thinking back on the relationships and encounters that I have had with Asians, I now realize how incorrect that assumption was.

While the previous poster would be happy in being wrong 34% of the time, I don't see that as an option (using that example, it would say that most of us would have been content earning a D average all through grade school). They clearly missed a very key element of the book. That is, while someone may be American, the overwhelming portion of the population will make a rush judgement based on superficial characteristics (of interesting note, that 66% was down to 45.5% in 2003).

Overall, it was an interesting book, detailing how similar and different growing up "Asian-American" can be. Would have earned 5 stars had it not been dry in some spots.

This is a sound, solid study of contemporary Asian American identity. Lots to learn. Many interesting sociological findings: for instance, the way in which "ethnic" Asian identity is largely optional, and yet the "racial" aspect of being Asian is obviously not optional, and all that means for these peoples lives. The anecdotes and stories are very compelling, and one can really see how race and ethnicity are nebulous, contested, and ever-changing things.
And yet -- one of the main arguments made by the author is that no matter how long Asians have been in the USA (and Chinese immigrants came a LONG time ago!), Asian Americans are still seen as foreigners, as not "really" American. This is a compelling matter - and yet, on page 38, the author makes a rather startling admission: 66% of Asian-Am's are in fact foreign born! 66%!!! hello?! That means that MOST are indeed foreign born -- so if whites assume that Asians are not "really" from the USA, almost 7 out of 10 times, they will be correct. The same is simply not true for Italian or Irish Americans. This was a major deal to me, and the author just kept repeating and repeating how Asians are always seen as not really American. But when 66% are indeed foreign born, well.....?