On Race, Privilege, and Medicine
  • oRPM
  • ...mini-blog...
  • Contact Me!
  • Didactics and Consulting

MOCA opens in new location!

9/22/2009

2 Comments

 
Picture
Museum of Chinese in America
The Museum of Chinese in America is celebrating their grand opening of their new, bigger, grander space at 215 Centre Street in New York City's Chinatown today (NYT article).  The space is designed by Maya Lin who became famous in the early eighties when her design was selected for the Vietnam War Memorial.

So why is MoCA important? So many reasons. And I think the NYT article missed the point.

I remember I was once talking with a friend and she remarked, "You're the only Asian person I've ever heard refer to themselves as a 'person of color'."  Another time, during an inter-racial dialogue, someone said, "I feel like I've heard a lot about the 'Black experience' in the States, but not really much about the 'Asian experience.' I'm curious to hear about your experiences."

More disturbingly, once one of the dean's of my friend's medical school said, "I can't tell the difference between White students and East Asian students."  We're seen as the model minority, not underprivileged and not under-represented.  At the same time we're not always accepted as American. When the public found out that the design for the Vietnam War Memorial was created by a Chinese American, people protested that an American monument should be done by an American.  Lin was born in Ohio.  On a more personal note, I've been told on more than one occasion after criticizing the American government that I "should go back to my own country."  I was born in Connecticut.  Furthermore, I don't think my white friends who are equally vocal in their politics, have been told that nearly as much as I have.

But I don't want to be misunderstood.  I don't believe that the history of Asian folks in the United States needs to explored because it is directly a means to end racism (or even to educate about racism).  In fact, MoCA is more about collecting histories rather than any sort of activism.  The examples that I relate above illustrate the importance of understanding our own history, being in control of our own legacy.

Often when I talk about Asian identity in the context of the United States, both Asian folks and others are a little confused.  They don't totally know how to synthesize all the information they receive.  On one hand we're stereotyped as smart, overachievers.  A race of people who take what white folks invent and then do it better.  (Incidentally, this whole "model minority" stereotype incredibly damaging as it lulls people into thinking that all Asians are doing great!  The statistics for Asians in the States do not actually reflect this.  Our folks struggle too.) On the other hand, they're aware that we're not white, exactly.  The mainstream representations of us don't fit into the mold of "oppressed race" and yet we're not "white."  And so often I've heard other Asians say, "I don't really identify as Asian."

I think institutions like MoCA are fantastic because they reinforce a less stated notion: "We're not African-American. We're not White.  We're not Latino.  Our heritage is not a mix of any of those.  We're Chinese/East Asian/Asian/etc. and we have our own history."  Asian Americans have also helped build this country, we have our own patterns of immigration (albeit diverse), and most importantly: we're not in a no-man's land between black and white or privileged and not privileged.  We're Asian American.

To me, that feels very empowering.  When I claim my own identity in positive terms instead of negative terms (ex. Asian American instead of "not-white" or "not-black"), I gain a sense of self.  Suddenly, it becomes possible to imagine myself as a character with agency instead of an extra in someone else's story.  Most excitingly, it allows me to validate my humanity from within myself; invigorated, I'm ready to interact with my community in a positive way instead of sitting on the side lines wishing someone would validate me.

A short from an art class in 2005.  We were to explore our family history through photographs.

2 Comments
Eunice
9/22/2009 11:52:05 am

Thanks for this entry, Jess. It means a lot to me.

As soon as I saw the NYT article I came here to see if you'd written about it. I really agree that understanding there are uniquely Asian-American histories was very empowering for me.

There was an exhibit at the Detroit Historical museum this summer about Chinatown in Detroit (which doesn't exist anymore). I mostly remember understanding for the first time that Chinatowns formed partly as a result of exclusion and to protect your own. So I don't valorize them the way I used to anymore....although vibrant ones are still fabulous places to go.

Reply
Eunice
9/22/2009 11:52:22 am

Also- your vid rocks

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    What I've been reading:

    Double Dexter
    ​
    by Jeff Lindsay

    Picture

    about this blog

    A place where I can write my thoughts on race, on privilege, on class, on being a doctor. Part of the endless struggle to become a little bit more enlightened and feel a little less alienated.

    Agree with me. Call me out. Pass it on.

    I post once or twice a month with smaller comments on mini-blog.

    about me

    My name is Jess. In the interest of full disclosure: I'm a 30-something-year-old Chinese American and believer that the quest for social justice and equity must be an intentional and active one. I'm a Family Medicine physician. I'm queer. I'm a radical. I grew up in a mostly white suburb and my parents are white-collar workers.  And I don't eat meat, but I miss it sometimes.

    categories

    All
    Conferences
    Film
    Food
    Interracial Relationships
    Labor
    Lessons From The Motherland
    Links
    Medical
    News
    Prattle
    Race
    Rainbow
    Reading Group
    Writings
    Yellow

    archives

    March 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2014
    June 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009


    Subscribe via email!
    (no lists ever sold)

    Picture
    a radical news collective

    Featured on BlogHer.com
Copyright © 2016 by Jessica Guh