Asian American Dreams

Following a short introduction is an email interview with Helen Zia, author of the new book, "Asian American Dreams."

What are Asian American dreams? When I first see the title of the book by Helen, the question comes to me. I have to think about this really hard, but it seems I don't have an answer for it. This is probably something we don't pay much attention to in our daily lives.

Helen has done a great job in exploring this topic in her book from many aspects, such as the history of Asian American cultures and her personal experience as a journalist. The book is invaluable not only for Asian Americans, but also for all people who want to know and understand Asian Americans.

The following is the Q&A with Helen Zia via email.

Guide: You have a lot of discussions about races and cultures in your book. And we know one of the biggest challenges for American is how to handle problems among different races and cultures. This may become the most important issue as the population of minorities grows. What is your view about this and what is the best way to prevent any problems that may happen in the future?

Helen: In my humble opinion, the best way to bring people together and build understanding in this global society is to openly share our stories and dreams with one another. I believe that the biggest problems stem from ignorance (due to mass media depictions and limited information from school texts etc) and also from closed-mindedness. All Americans can and should demand more of the media, Hollywood, our educational institutions, but the bottom line is that it's up to each of us to speak up about who we are and to define ourselves. That's EVERYONE'S personal responsibility.

Guide: You have pointed out the media treated Asian Americans unfairly in many cases. As you said in your book, "Most disturbing to me about the media fairness issue -- the lack of voice given to the Asian American viewpoint by the very institutions entrusted to protest free speech." Do you have any solutions to this?

Helen: Yes--Asian Americans and all people need to be our own outspoken advocates and insist on fair treatment in the news as well as the rest of society. That's what the news media and our public officials claim to uphold, and we need to hold them accountable. If there is one thing to be learned from the experiences I chronicle in my book: No one else is going to do this for us.

Guide: The media fairness issue is even bigger when it comes with countries like China. We hear negative news about China from the media a lot, but little positive news. This has been played into our minds for so long, and unfortunately most people get their knowledge about China from the media--so we know the image of China. As you said, "It is unfortunate that someone who is ignorant of China and the Chinese language is writing about one-fourth of the world's population." My question is what is the impact to Chinese Americans from the negativeness about China?

Helen: Chinese Americans as well as other Asian Americans should be very concerned about the anti-China drumbeat that has been emanating from Washington and elsewhere. The inquisitions of Asian American campaign donors, the incarceration of Dr. Wen Ho Lee and the cloud of suspicion for suspected espionage that now hangs over all Americans of Chinese descent is a direct product of this continuing anti-China policy. This also spills over to all Asian Americans, as we have seen from history. For example, any donor with an Asian-sounding name was scrutinized by the FBI during the campaign finance dragnet, regardless of their ethnicity, and non-Chinese Asian scientists and engineers are also reporting a climate of fear and suspicion towards them.

If we allow this kind of racial scapegoating to happen unchallenged, and if we allow ourselves to be used as pawns in foreign policy maneuvers, the impact can only continue to spiral downward for Chinese Americans. Consider this: The racial profiling and scapegoating of Chinese Americans and Asian Americans has been escalating over the last several years -- at a time when the U.S. economy is the strongest it's ever been. Imagine the hostilities and tensions that will be exploited against us when the economy turns sour.

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