The Burden of Being Asian American on Campus

This article reproduced from: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/08/common-ancestry-complicated-present/495665/

Students prepare for a college entrance exam in China's Sichuan province.Claro Cortes / Reuters

JULIA WANG,  AUG 15, 2016
 
 

When my father was a graduate student at Loyola University in Chicago, two distinct things marked his day: the “L” and instant noodles. It was 1998 in a studio apartment in Rogers Park below the Red Line. Every night, the sounds of the train woke him up. Every morning, he got up after a restless night and made himself some ramen. After those three years, he never wanted to look at instant noodles again.

At that time, it was almost unheard of for Chinese students to go to the United States for undergraduate study. Instead, everyone suffered through the dreadedgaokao, the Chinese college-entrance examination. For four consecutive days in June, thousands of Chinese high schoolers sat in stuffy classrooms with no air conditioning, sweating and exerting themselves in subjects like mathematics, physics, and English to get one single score high enough to earn a coveted spot at a top university. Most students who did go abroad were graduate students, and many of them stayed in the new country.

The scene today is a little different. The majority of students in China do still take the exam. They study for years in preparation and wait for weeks afterward in anticipation of receiving a number that determines their future. Students are accepted to a college based on how highly they ranked the school and the single weighted score, which they may not even know before submitting their preferences. The convoluted and capricious ranking system may allot them a spot at their last-choice college.

Many, however, now have the option of bypassing that system, with exceptional talent or a significant amount of money. Some apply to a foreign-language school where students can apply to universities abroad instead of taking the gaokao. Others test their way into “experimental” classes at top public high schools, which are fiercely competitive but have high success rates of getting students into Western universities. Those with more disposable income can skip Chinese high school altogether and attend a private boarding school abroad, such as Andover or Exeter in New England. Students from wealthier families usually have a better chance of going abroad because they can hire tutors, take test-prep courses, and afford the high tuition of American private high schools and universities.

In recent years, the number of Chinese nationals studying abroad has increased dramatically, surpassing India, South Korea, and other countries in the number of students sent overseas. According to the Institute of International Education, China was the top sender of students to the United States in 2015, with 304,040 students—an 11 percent increase from the previous year. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), for example, has seen a sizable increase in the number of Chinese students, from 37 enrolled in the undergraduate college in 2000 to 2,898 in 2014.  

Studying in the U.S. has a big price tag. This has led to a disproportionate representation of the wealthy and elite from China on American campuses.Public universities, suffering from a loss of funding after the 2008 financial crisis, have looked to international, and particularly Chinese, students for a full-tuition boost to their budgets. Chinese nationals, like all international students, pay out-of-state tuition and fees: $46,000-$53,000 a year at UIUC. While some financial aid is available to international students, there are vastly fewer funds, and most universities are not need-blind in their admissions processes for applicants from abroad. In the 2014-2015 academic year, Chinese students’ tuition and fees alone injected $9.8 billion into the American economy.

By 2008, when my father returned to China for the first time, many of his friends in Beijing had grown quite wealthy. Some had sent their children abroad for college. One friend even bought some land and sheep and moved to New Zealand to live out his bucolic fantasies. (It didn’t last.) My father returned wondering if he made the right choice to go to the U.S., where our family lives a modest existence compared to his peers in China.

A month after my father’s visit to China, my cousin—who grew up in Beijing—came to Chicago to attend boarding school. Located in an affluent neighborhood on Lake Michigan, Lake Forest Academy has its own private woods, bike paths along a scenic river, and streets named Yale Lane and Harvard Avenue lined with mini-villas. My uncle and aunt chose the school from a selection of brochures provided by recruiters from several private American boarding schools. With grassy football fields and numerous graduates attending Ivy League universities, Lake Forest Academy stood out from the rest.

Since 1978, economic reforms have led to China’s astronomical economic growth. China’s GDP increased from less than $150 billion in 1978 to $8,227 billion in 2012. In 2015, China outnumbered the United States in its number ofbillionaires. Chinese millionaires and billionaires not only invest in American businesses, but they also send their children abroad for school, where their wealth is often displayed in exorbitant fashion. An education abroad provides a status symbol in China, where most of the students return after their studies.

As more Chinese nationals come to American campuses, it seems easier to forget that Asian Americans exist outside of this one subgroup of prominent foreigners.

Attending college abroad has now become a fundamental and expected experience of many Chinese students seeking prominent careers abroad and even in China. One of my Chinese friends told me this time abroad is called dujin, a “golden vacation” that also improves job prospects. Many of the Chinese international students I spoke to agreed that a foreign degree was worth a lot on a resume back home.

Largely gone are the days of penny pinching and ramen eating. Instead, many Chinese international students are extravagant consumers in real estate, travel, entertainment, fashion, and other industries. While not every student is ostentatiously wealthy, this new group is certainly better off than their predecessors from 20 years ago. The wealthiest and most visible of the group have attracted attention and criticism. Videos reveal wealthy Chinese students driving Ferraris and buying up mansions. High spending seems requisite for China’s nouveau riche, or fuerdai, in their transition to American college life. One particularly biting article referred to wealthy Chinese women studying in the U.S. as “cash heifers.” While in America, they buy entire season collections of Chanel, spend thousands clubbing, and bring several suitcases of luxury goods home each year.

When my cousin first arrived at Lake Forest Academy, I accompanied him to his orientation. I spoke to a few school administrators, asking them about the school. In the middle of the conversation, one counselor asked, “and how are you enjoying the U.S.?” Taken aback, I responded, “I’ve liked it for the past 10 years that I’ve lived here.” The counselor, visibly embarrassed by her assumption that I, too, had just come from China, apologized and walked away.

I wasn’t offended by the question. I’m used to ruder reminders of my Asian face, such as catcalls of “Konichiwa” or even nonsensical words. I get frequent questions about where I’m really from, to which I answer “China” because it’s the truth. Yet, people in China instinctively recognize me as huaqiao, an ethnically Chinese person living outside China.

But the administrator’s question did give me pause. It made sense that she would think the relatives of the new Chinese students were also recent arrivals. Of course, the perfect Chicago accent might have tipped her off. There are plenty of Asian American students at Lake Forest Academy. Was it the circumstance that made her assume that I was not American? What happens to the perception of Asian Americans when a campus is seen as becoming “saturated” with Chinese nationals?

To answer this question, I created a survey, which I sent to my Chinese American friends. My 111 survey respondents flooded me with stories of how they have been affected by this development, especially being mistaken for, or assumed to be, Chinese international students. My respondents did not identify much culturally with the Chinese nationals on campus. Instead, they identified more with their Asian American friends despite having different ethnic and cultural identities. However, while Chinese and Asian Americans may perceive themselves as having disparate identities from Chinese nationals on college campuses, they are not always seen as separate groups.

A friend at Columbia University said she felt a “visceral need” to distinguish herself from the Chinese students in her program, because her non-Chinese classmates did not consider her American. They made statements like “I wonder why no American girls do econ Ph.D.s,” even though she was one of several Asian American women completing the degree. Another Chinese American student at Tulane University was rejected from a project group because the others believed she was an international student who “wouldn’t pull [her] weight due to [her] ‘bad English.’” As more Chinese nationals come to American campuses, it seems easier to forget that Asian Americans exist outside of this one subgroup of prominent foreigners.

There seems to be a growing awareness of, and animus toward, Chinese nationals on campuses that has in turn impacted Asian American students. While universities and local economies have certainly reaped the economic benefits of this large population of Chinese international students, it may have come at some cost to the Asian American community’s claims to Americanness. In all the media musings about rich Chinese foreigners on campus, the Asian American community’s response to this phenomenon has remained largely unexamined.

Growing up Asian in America, I experienced a blend of cultures that continues to shape my identity not just as Chinese, but as Asian American, an identity that strengthened during my time in college when I befriended many Asian Americans. The collective history of predecessors as immigrants, be they parents or great-great-great-grandparents, resonated so deeply that it created kinship. That history is marked by exclusion, alienation, and violence, but the pan-Asian identity that emerged is also one of strength and pride.

In a book review of Erika Lee’s The Making of Asian-America, Oliver Wang, an associate professor of sociology at California State University-Long Beach, notedthe “wry paradox” of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. The act made possible the continual transformation of Asian America by constant waves of new immigrants, for whom Wang contends “‘Asian America’ has no meaning.” When asked whether they considered themselves “immigrants,” the dozen Chinese nationals I surveyed answered “no” or “unsure.”  But whether they are seen or see themselves as Asian Americans, these new arrivals are embedded in Asian America, which encompasses all people of Asian descent living in the United States. And the responses toward them affect the community as a whole.

At the University of Iowa, a racist Twitter account sparked social activism among Chinese international students. The now-deleted account, UIasianprobz, solicited pictures of Asian students “doing the crazy things they do! No racism intended.” The university administration remained silent until the Chinese students mobilized and demanded a better response to issues international students face. Working with other students, they successfully called for mental-health services, more cultural diversity and awareness in the classroom, and programs to create a more integrated campus.

Being Asian American can seem a paradox.

This incident shows that Chinese international students have the potential to be a powerful mobilizing force for the Asian American community. When I suggested that Chinese nationals in America didn’t engage in questions of race and concerns of the Asian American community, a law school friend from Beijing disagreed with my characterization. She said studying at Amherst College showed her for the first time what it means to be a minority, to see racial and class tensions. It made her realize that she wanted to work on these important issues. And she isn’t the only one. For every fuerdai taking his vacation, there is someone whose life changed thanks to a liberal-arts education, someone who became a feminist, someone who became an activist.

Their significant economic contribution on campus and in the local economy has given Chinese international students the clout to effect change and stand with the Asian American community, if they so choose. Their contributions could be crucial at a time when the Asian American community is engaged in serious soul searching, prompted by the recent debates over Peter Liang, affirmative action, and Donald Trump. Others seem to agree with me. My survey respondents largely answered that they feel positive about more Chinese students studying in the United States. It’s the conflation of all Asian students with Chinese nationals that they vehemently challenge, not the presence of Chinese international students on campus.  

Being Asian American can seem a paradox. It is at once an assertion of Americanness—of belonging to a society that has always been a little suspect of faces and names like mine—and an embrace of a heritage that traces back to a courageous journey across a vast ocean. It is a celebration, not an identification foisted on us as a grouping mechanism and a marker of foreignness. Ultimately, it’s a personal choice to define what it means to be Asian in America, to choose it as the sole identity or one of many. And for me, this identity is shaped by the new arrivals on campus.

I have had this experience many times: a chance meeting with a Chinese student followed by a warm invitation. As I sit in a karaoke bar or around a dinner table, listening to them talk in a language I’ve spoken all my life with slang that I don’t quite understand, I am learning and absorbing. It’s always a little awkward at first, but our interaction begins a process of adapting. Just as they learn what it’s like to be Asian American, I am learning to change my own conceptions of China, of an ancestral homeland that itself is rapidly changing. It’s an education for me, and a fundamental one at that.  

“Origin” Presentation 起源青少年組織成果展示會

“Origin” Presentation

                                     －Love Yourself，Love Community

起源青少年組織成果展示會

                     －愛自己，愛社會

    This Tuesday，”Origin” youths’ final report event has been successfully completed. Youth and other community members were gathered together in the CASL Grand hall to celebrate this event. We learned about Chinatown’s situation and worked together to create a better Chinatown community.

  本週二，由”起源”青少年組織舉行的成果展示會順利完幕。青少年們和來自各社區組織的嘉賓歡聚於華人諮詢服務處大禮堂，一同了解芝加哥唐人街的狀況，一同攜手共創美好社區。

    This event is solely based on the purpose of community improvement and awake people’s feeling of belonging to the community. We allow people to know about Chinatown’s situation and learn more about our community. Youths from Coalition For A Better Chinese American Community(CBCAC) form a special team called “Origin” to create a better Chinatown community. “Origin” have a special  means that the youth will be the next generation’s leaders for the Chinatown community.  

為促進華人社區發展，喚醒人們對自己社區的歸屬感。讓人們更加了解唐人街狀況，了解芝加哥華人社區。一班由華埠更好團結聯盟（CBCAC）的青少年們，組成了一支特別的行動小組——起源（ORIGIN）。寓意著青少年將會是我們下一代華人社區的主人，將會是我們創建更好華人社區的源泉和動力。

    Within the past two month, Origin youths have been working very hard to improve themselves. They hope to use their passion, enthusiam, creativity, and unique working style to express our idea and dream to the Community. We did many researches through internet to gather information about the Chinatown community. We collect information mostly about Chinatown’s history, culture, public services, environmental sanitation, Safety , and events to create a better understanding of Chicago Chinatown. We organize all the information and data to make a power point  about Chinatown’s current situation. We present the power point to different community organizations and allow them to know more about Chinatown’s current situation. The presentation talk about Chinatown’s major problems such as sanitation, Safety , and parking. In addition, the presenters came up with solutions to those problem such as building more public garbage cans, more biking patrols, more parking lot, and encourage people to use bike more.

經過將近兩個月的磨練中，『起源』青少年們不斷嘗試突破自我。希望能用青少年富有的熱情和活力，年青人的創新，和獨有的做事方式，去傳達我們的理念和夢想。我們通過互聯網，尋找一些關於芝加哥唐人街的資料和狀況。收集關於唐人街的歷史、文化、公共設施、環境衛生、社會治安等各方面去了解唐人街。並集合一些歷年事件和活動，將所有資料和數據整理，做成一個專門會講述唐人街現狀的演示文稿。並向不同的社區組織展示。在演示文稿當中，他們為唐人街的衛生，治安，停車等問題提出了相關的解決方式。例如，他們呼籲在永活街增添公共垃圾箱，增加自行車警察巡邏，興建多層停車場以及鼓勵人們多使用自行車。

    Moreover, “Origin” members have make more than 300 calls to collect different ideas and opinions from local residents in order to understand the local perspective of Chinatown. People who came from different places, age group, and different background  will provide us with a more comprehensive data to analyze. From those data we can see how the Chinese people in the Chinatown community identify themselves and what they believe as the advantage and disadvantage of Chicago Chinatown. We have seen many interesting responses and we also appreciate our youth group and local resident to take out times to talk about their experiences in Chinatown. Their storys and responses make this presentation and research more reliable. Within the Questionnaire, our youth discover that 53.3% of the Respondents will want to move out of Chintown due to the sanitation and Safety  problems. When talk about idenity isuues, 62.2% of respondents that live within Chinatown believe that they are still Chinese. While 58% of respondents that live outside of Chinatown believe they are Asian Americans. Identity problem also play a major role on whether or not Chinatown resident truly understand Chinese culture and whether or not they want to move away form Chinatown.

此外，『起源』為能清楚了解社區每個人的對華人社區的看法，”起源”少年們同時也通過以”打電話，問問題”的方式，打了超過300通以上的電話，去收集和記錄不同意見和看法。人們來自不一樣的地方，不一樣的年齡、不一樣的背景和職業，給我們最全面、最客觀的數據去分析。得出華人群體對華埠歸屬感，華人對自我身份的定位，和他們認為現今芝加哥華埠所有的優勢和劣勢是什麼，等等很多十分有趣，耐人尋味的結果在”打電話，問問題”中，也很感謝人們可以抽空和青少年們，聊聊他們在唐人街發生的故事，令到整份調查分析更加的真實。在問卷分析研究中，他們發現，居住在華埠的人群中，有53.3%的受訪者認為如果有能力，因衛生、治安等原因他們希望能夠搬離華埠。在居住在唐人街以內的受訪華人中，有62.2%的人認為他們是中國人。而居住在唐人街以外的受訪華人中，有58%的人認為他們是美籍華人。同時，身份認同也對華人對文化的理解和是否願意搬離唐人街有著影響。

    Safety has always been an issue in Chinatown. Especially when crime statistic increase within the recent years, Safety  become a more serious problem that even caught media’s attention. Residents in Chinatown are also worry about their own Safety , and the resolution to this Safety  problem require both government’s support on catching the criminals and resident’s awareness of the surrounding. In order to protect themselves residents must pay more attention to their surrounding and learn more tips about how to avoid those situation. “Origin” youths notice the problem and wish to make some videos to warn people how to protect themselve from robbery and other Safety  issues. For example, people should not keep on looking at their phone while walking and make sure to close window and place valuable items at a safe place. Those videos contain humorous part that make people laugh and at the same time teach people many lessons. We can see that the “Orgin” members have truly put efforts into this presentation.

治安一直是芝加哥華埠一個老生常談的話題了。由於近年唐人街發生了多宗搶劫事件，歹徒明目張膽的案，引起社會各方關注，住在華埠的老百姓也是人心惶惶。而要解決治安問題，除了政府各方面去積極打擊罪惡之外，當然也少不了的是人們自身防範意識。要學會保護自己，提高警惕心。”起源”少年們也發現這一點，並想到如今社交網站，視頻網站如此流行。他們希望通過製作一些小視頻，來提醒人們，如何防範身邊的罪惡，如何保護自己。例如，不要在街上做”低頭一族”；自己離開車的時候，關好門窗，放好重要財物。用幽默的方式去演繹小視頻，讓人在捧腹大笑的同時，也受益良多。幕前幕後的青少年們，也是下一番苦功啊！

    Within these two months, “Orgin” youths from not knowing each other and don’t even speak the same language to now becoming best friends. From the beginning, the youths have no idea how to improve Chinatown community. But now, all the youths work together and come up with a well performed presentation. We have received compliments from each organizations who came to see our presentation. We see all the youth’s growth and how they challenged themselves in every step. Most importantly we also see the potential and the future of our community within those youths.

就是在這短短兩個月中，”起源”青少們從一開始互不相識，來自不同的成長地方，不同背景和語言，到最後變成摯友；從一開始對於如何改善我們中國城毫無頭緒，到最後能做出如此驚艷的成績，每一樣東西都條條是道，有明確的目標。有一個如此完美的成果展示會，並獲得來自各個社區組織的讚賞。我們不僅僅看到他們的成長，看到他們挑戰自我，看到屬於年輕人的活力。我們也看到了，我們華人社區的未來的潛力和希望。

Not just the youths can improve our Chinatown community. Actually, every single one of us could make it better. The “Origin” team can grow bigger with everyone’s support just like a tree that can keep on growing to provide protection and prosperity to our community. Together, we can make our community better.

其實不僅僅只有青少年們可以是，是改善中國城的起源和活力。我們每一個人都可以，”起源”這支隊伍可以越來越大，好像一棵大樹一樣，不斷成長，一直充滿活力，為我們的社區造福，一同攜手創建美好社區。

Love Yourself, Love Community.

愛自己，愛社區。

JOIN US 02.27 1PM---Turning Experience into Vision: Lessons Learned from Peter Liang Case

With all the news surrounding the case of Peter Liang, a Chinese American rookie cop in New York City who has been recently found guilty of manslaughter and misconduct on Feb 11, CBCAC wanted to connect recent events to the vision of the future. Along with other rallies in other cities, there has been a rally in Chicago on Feb 20 with over 4000 people in attendance. This Saturday, we plan to revisit the conversation - whether you are in support or against Peter Liang's verdict - there are lessons to be learned about building Asian American power, especially with the upcoming elections. Please join us in a town hall called "Turning Experience Into Vision: Lessons Learned from Peter Liang's Case" scheduled for THIS SATURDAY, Feb 27, at the Chinatown Library for 1 PM. Please join us!

創造歷史的2.20游行

2月20日，芝加哥華裔歷史性的團結了超過4000人聲援華裔警察Peter Liang。這是第一次芝加哥華裔社區組織如此龐大的公民行動，彰顯了芝加哥華裔不斷增强的公民參與意識。從這次游行活動的糾察隊長周堅剛獲悉，他們團隊組織這次創歷史的游行衹花了一星期的時候，就從注冊機構，游行路綫備案，活動宣傳到游行細節落實等等全部處理好，并吸引了大批華裔參與者。可見，這次游行活動非常成功，也表明了芝加哥華裔是熱心參與政治，參與社區發展的，積極的公民群體。

從這次華人公民行動我們可以感受到

• 華裔社區領袖有能力在短時間内凝聚華人群體
• 芝加哥華裔群體有著越來越强烈的社區參與意識
• 華裔群體愈發地的團結和關注社區

從2.20游行經驗到華裔社區遠景

• 游行之後，我們將如何保持這股社區參與的能量繼續推動華裔社區的發展?
• 有怎麽樣的經驗我們可以從這次的游行組織者身上學到的？
• 今後我們應該沿著怎樣的道路去努力提高華裔的社會地位？

華埠更好團結聯盟連同華埠其他主要機構，將於2016年2月27日星期六  1PM 在中國城圖書館舉辦討論會，我們邀請了游行組織者以及華裔社區領袖來分享他們組織游行的經驗以及日後華裔社區發展的道路。

Greater Chinatown Candidate Forum

The Greater Chinatown Candidate Forum for Second District State Representative race 2016.

Thank you to the 100+ attendees who came out and listened to Second District Candidate Forum held at Pui Tak Center on February 15 at 5:30 PM. We held this forum, along with our community partners in Greater Chinatown, to educate and inform the voting public about the local primary race that is on March 15. Candidate forums have been a tradition in Chinatown for over 20 years whenever there was a contested state representative race in the district. Both candidates, Alex Acevedo and Theresa Mah, were invited to share their stances and vision for the district. Despite our best efforts to get both candidates to attend, Candidate Acevedo was unable to attend.

Professor Robert Bruhl, a political science professor at UIC, moderated the forum.  Danwei Zhang and Ken Li translated the forum in Cantonese on stage and Mandarin over headsets, respectively. Candidate Mah answered a wide range of questions from the state budget, education, community safety and diversity in the Second District.

In the News

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• Chinatown Forum Airs Issues in State Representative Race

• SingTao

• World Journal

• Epoch Times