Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Hey, let's red table that bam. We had
Speaker 1: so much to talk about with Alison Dr Jenny that
Speaker 1: we couldn't fit it into one episode. Listening to a
Speaker 1: little more of our conversation right now, Dr Jenny. A
Speaker 1: large part of the Asian American experience centers around the
Speaker 1: immigrant experience. So how can Asian Americans balance the perceived
Speaker 1: need to assimilate while also preserving their heritage. I really
Speaker 1: am interested in knowing this, and I want us to
Speaker 1: make sure that we talk about the word immigrant in
Speaker 1: this process and how people perceive the word immigrant and
Speaker 1: what that means. Yeah. So when we think about immigrant though,
Speaker 1: when in the context of how all of that matters, right,
Speaker 1: Because there are Asian Americans here who are now in
Speaker 1: their fifth, sixth, seventh generation of being here, and then
Speaker 1: there are immigrants who are just coming here as international
Speaker 1: students moving here last year. So that experience is very
Speaker 1: wide and unique, and so we can't necessarily say these
Speaker 1: individuals have similar shared experiences in terms of migration and
Speaker 1: that story. However, there are some kind of through lines
Speaker 1: that I think do transcend space and time. One of
Speaker 1: those is there is migration in the story of your
Speaker 1: family right to be an immigrant. There was a migration,
Speaker 1: be it yesterday or decades and hundreds of years ago, right,
Speaker 1: So that migration is part of your story, whether or
Speaker 1: not you know of it or not. Sometimes some of
Speaker 1: that oral history and that knowledge is lost. It is
Speaker 1: and I think being an immigrant also means that you
Speaker 1: are subjected to the narratives that the society you've moved
Speaker 1: to places on you. So that includes racism, that includes
Speaker 1: different ways of viewing you in terms of if you
Speaker 1: have an accent when you speak English, right, that is
Speaker 1: part of all of the ways in which you are
Speaker 1: being kind of assessed, you know, by society at large.
Speaker 1: So that creates bias, that creates stigma inherently. And so
Speaker 1: even if you are a sixth generation as your American,
Speaker 1: people are going to view you and think of you
Speaker 1: a certain way. And then if you came recently and
Speaker 1: you open your mouth and you speak English, they're going
Speaker 1: to view you in a certain way. And so what
Speaker 1: happens is that we start getting put in these boxes.
Speaker 1: You're this kind of immigrant, your this generation, you have
Speaker 1: this type of assimilation and not this and so we
Speaker 1: start to get put into these caricatures. Yet again, And
Speaker 1: so I think there's something really important to kind of
Speaker 1: nam is that the idea of assimilation was a coping strategy.
Speaker 1: Say that again, so right, assimilation was coping because many
Speaker 1: Asian parents and parents from all different countries around the world,
Speaker 1: they sometimes did not teach their children their native languages
Speaker 1: for fear that they could not speak English fluently without
Speaker 1: an accent. So think about what that parent had to
Speaker 1: deny of their identity to not teach their native tongue
Speaker 1: because they wanted to protect their child. That is assimilation
Speaker 1: because of fear. Because if we don't what options do
Speaker 1: we have available to us? Will we be safe? Will
Speaker 1: we find the stability that we're looking for in coming here?
Speaker 1: So I think that over these last I don't know
Speaker 1: over my lifetime, and I'm almost forty, So in the
Speaker 1: last forty years, I've seen the idea of identity shift
Speaker 1: and change. And now people are saying no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I want all of it. I want my Asian nous,
Speaker 1: I want my American nous, I want all parts of
Speaker 1: the story. Whereas when I was growing up, my story
Speaker 1: was fragmented. I had my Asian friends, and then I
Speaker 1: had my non Asian friends, and I had my Asian
Speaker 1: circles and non Asian spaces, and that was kept distinct.
Speaker 1: And now people are saying, I'm bringing my lunch and
Speaker 1: I don't care if you have issue with it, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to wear my traditional attire because this makes
Speaker 1: me feel good. And I think people are now reclaiming
Speaker 1: those parts of themselves. And so instead of assimilation, which
Speaker 1: is denying ourselves and taking on what the dominant society
Speaker 1: is nick, we're moving towards acculturation, which is I think
Speaker 1: much more of a multifaceted let me take from all
Speaker 1: parts of that experience, which is what America initially thought
Speaker 1: it was going to be this phenomenal melting pot, right
Speaker 1: because they definitely use that word in the fourth grade.
Speaker 1: And I'm just seeing it. I mean, oh, are you
Speaker 1: saying I feel like I'm seeing it now? Like she said,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm almost I'm actually forty. But I'm happy
Speaker 1: to know that you're saying it. Do you feel like
Speaker 1: you're seeing Tracy? Well, I see the intention. I love
Speaker 1: Dr Jenny. I mean, she just gave us so much wisdom,
Speaker 1: and honestly, I just should have taken more notes. I
Speaker 1: don't know what you know what, No, Cara, you don't
Speaker 1: need to take notes. You can just read. Listen to
Speaker 1: this bonus clip. You are right, I mean, you are
Speaker 1: so right. You can listen to the full episode recapping
Speaker 1: Constance Woo's episode of Red Table Talk right now the
Speaker 1: next episode of Let's Red Table that comes out Monday.
Speaker 1: A big thank you to our executive producers Jada Pinkett Smith,
Speaker 1: Ellen Racketson and Falon Jethrow. And thank you to our
Speaker 1: producer Kyla Knau and our associate producer Yolanda Chow. And finally,
Speaker 1: thank you to our sound engineer, Stephanie Aguilar