To the Editor:
I found most of Tamar Jacoby’s piece [“In Asian America,” July-August] insightful and interesting, but as a recent graduate of Yale College I must protest her remark that “scarcely an Asian student at Yale has been able to withstand the lure of ethnic involvement.” Although I had rather unpleasant experiences with the leadership of some of the school’s ethnic groups, I felt very little pressure from either my peers or the administration to affiliate myself with them. Nor did many of my Asian-American friends—including those who studied East Asian culture—have an interest in these groups.
Even on a campus as liberal as Yale, the prevalent attitude toward the tribal drum-thumping highlighted by Tamar Jacoby is one of general indifference. The so-called ethnic leaders have always had to deal with the embarrassing fact that as much as they agitate for more courses with Asian-American themes, the turnout tends to be disappointing.
Tamar Jacoby seems to have committed the understandable error of taking the views of the most visible Asian-Americans on campus as representative of the rank and file. But few Asian-American students at Yale are true believers in the most extreme forms of ethnic balkanization. Like their counterparts elsewhere in the country, they deal with questions of identity in the balanced manner emphasized by Tamar Jacoby in the conclusion of her fine piece.
Wayne Hsieh
Charlottesville, Virginia
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To the Editor:
With her recent article on Asian-Americans, Tamar Jacoby has broadened her insightful investigations into the country’s racial and ethnic groups. I would add one point to her hope that “these latest newcomers might yet provide a model for other groups”—namely, the concept of a citizen’s duty. After all, the “American” half of hyphenated Americans implies obligations as well as rights.
The ultimate test of such duty, of course, is service in time of war. Though Tamar Jacoby notes “the World War II-era internment of tens of thousands of innocent Japanese suspected of dual loyalty,” she does not mention—perhaps because it is so well known—the distinguished military service of many other Japanese-Americans. But their example was crucial: at a time when some in the relocation centers were openly demonstrating on behalf of Emperor Hirohito, these patriotic Japanese-Americans helped win over a more than skeptical public and provided their entire group with the opportunity to live as equal fellow citizens.
Ken Masugi
Claremont Institute
Claremont, California
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To the Editor:
Congratulations to Tamar Jacoby for her excellent article, one of the best on Asian-Americans I have read in a number of years. I would add only two points.
First, although the handful of Asian-American ethnic activists whom she interviewed receive considerable attention in the mainstream media, a far more significant phenomenon is the impact that socially conservative Asian-Americans are having on America’s mainline Protestant churches. For example, Korean pastors strongly opposed to gay marriage and other liberal policies are currently attempting to gain leadership positions in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and to reverse the denomination’s cultural tide. At the same time, the Christian-fellowship circles at most Ivy League universities are now heavily Asian-American. Such trends receive little attention because religious issues are far from the thoughts of most journalists.
Second, although some of the rhetoric of Asian activists regarding the Wen Ho Lee affair and the campaign-finance scandals is exaggerated, their basic complaint about unfair racial targeting has considerable merit. Lee was cleared long ago of the original espionage charge, and the only remaining charge against him—the mishandling of restricted but nonsecret data—was quite minor compared with the self-admitted practices of John Deutch, the former CIA director. Yet Lee was held for an extended period of time without bail in solitary confinement, while so far Deutch has been left to live in honorable retirement.
Similarly, the Clinton administration’s “Asian-money scandal” became the focus of media coverage and Republican rhetoric during the 1996 campaign even though the amounts involved were relatively small and the Asian donors had sought nothing more than the government access and favors sought by other givers. It seems likely that the Republicans’ continual emphasis on “Asian money” and “Buddhist-temple fundraisers” has to do with the demonstrated impact of such phrases in polling and focus groups, an impact derived from ethnic suspicion.
During the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s, a disproportionate share of America’s Communist leaders and spies were of Jewish origin. Nonetheless, all but the most irresponsible anti-Communists did what they could to ensure that America’s Jewish community at large was not unfairly tainted with the charge of disloyalty. Americans in general should remember this history as they consider the sometimes uncomfortable position of groups that have immigrated to the country more recently.
Ron Unz
Palo Alto, California
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To the Editor:
Tamar Jacoby quotes Sid Agrawal, “an Indian-American engineer-turned-entrepreneur,” as saying, “California is so cosmopolitan, you don’t have to think about ethnicity here. It just doesn’t matter—to anyone.” I think Agrawal’s attitude is quite characteristic of the Indian-Americans in Silicon Valley, who have succeeded beyond expectations in information technology and related sectors. Their very success has meant that the glass ceiling that exists in other industries has not been a hurdle. Indeed, today it is almost mandatory for any start-up in Silicon Valley to have Indian software-professionals and managers in order to attract funding.
The attitude in the Bay Area, therefore, is somewhat different from that of the Indian-American community in other parts of California and the United States, where assimilation can be a problem even for the second generation, those who are born here. Still, Tamar Jacoby’s view that the community is learning to tackle both its Asian and American identities at the same time appears, on the whole, quite valid.
R.M. Abbyankar
Consul General of India
San Francisco, California
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Tamar Jacoby writes:
I hope Wayne Hsieh is right and I am wrong about the way the climate on a campus such as Yale’s nudges young Asian-Americans toward tribalism. But even after his encouraging testimony, I cannot say I am convinced. I met too many students who had been prodded in that direction, if not by explicit peer pressure then simply by the emphasis on identity politics in the air at so many colleges—and, whatever Mr. Hsieh may surmise, I did not interview only ethnic activists during my visits to New Haven. A good many Yalies—Asians, Latinos, blacks, and others—who stop short of joining ethnic organizations are still, in my view, unduly preoccupied with what makes them different from peers who do not happen to look like them or have a similar-sounding “foreign” surname.
Mr. Hsieh himself makes clear just how difficult the climate can be. Nothing I came across matched the chilling experience he alludes to—his own “unpleasant” encounters with leaders of Yale Asian groups. But ultimately, though a little ahead of his peers, Mr. Hsieh also makes my larger point: for all the bullying, he sounds as if he is succeeding admirably in balancing his ethnic loyalty with a larger, more universalist vision. That is just what I found again and again among Asians old enough to see beyond their campus experience—not an absence of pressure, or an absence of group spirit, but, on the whole, a healthy ability to put ethnic issues in some perspective.
I am grateful to Ken Masugi for reminding us all of the distinguished military service rendered, even during World War II, by many Japanese-Americans. It is an example from outside my time frame—my piece was a portrait of post-1965 Asian immigrants—but it makes a similar point: a picture of Asian immigrants embracing America.
So in a sense does Ron Unz’s description of the way Asian-Americans are rising to positions of influence in mainline American churches and college Christian fellowships. I came across a lot of that in my reporting, and only considerations of space kept me from mentioning it. I also share Mr. Unz’s intuition that there may be something to Asian complaints about ethnic targeting, both in the Wen Ho Lee case and in the 1996 campaign-finance scandal. The jury is still out on the Lee case, but Mr. Unz is surely right: there is little that is more reprehensible than people who make political hay—and racial generalizations—out of the misdeeds of a few individuals who happen to belong to ethnic minorities.
As for R.M. Abbyankar’s implied suggestion that I may have presented an overly rosy picture of how Indian immigrants are faring in this country, all I can say is that other immigrant groups—and native-born Americans, for that matter—should only be having so much trouble. Assimilation is almost always a difficult, emotionally wrenching process, and I am sure there are some Indians who are having a tough time of it But the statistical profile of the Indian community—its income, educational attainment, entrepreneurship, and family cohesion—is something to behold, and not just in Silicon Valley, where enterprising Indians have created companies with a total net worth of several hundred billion dollars. It is a record to envy and emulate, and also a glorious example of how immigration and immigrant assimilation are good for all Americans.
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