ANOTHER SIDE OF RACE RELATIONS

As an Asian-American married to a Caucasian-American and living and working in an African-American neighborhood, I often think about the role of Asians in American race relations. I wonder if God hasn’t laid on my heart a special burden to help play a special role in His reconciling work in this country. And I wonder if God isn’t calling on others like me to be involved in this way.

After all, Asians can play a special role in racial reconciliation in the US. Many of us are socio-economically and familially well-connected in Caucasian-American circles. Yet we are more able to connect with the African-American plight of being seen as “different” in mainstream circles, and with the Latino-American challenge of speaking one language at home and another outside the home.

Race issues specific to Asian-Americans are manifold, as well, from the “model minority” and “perpetual foreigner” stereotypes to the same kinds of discriminatory patterns other ethnic groups face. And like the African-American and the Latino-American, we struggle with what it means to be a minority in America, from “passing” to “assimilation vs. multi-culturalism” and particularly what it means to identify oneself as Asian-American in relation to one’s identification with one’s own particular country of origin.

“To whom more has been given, more is expected” is, I believe, not just a Biblical truth but one all people should be held to, regardless of their individual creed. And for Asian-Americans like me, who are well-educated and bi-cultural, we have been given much in the way of material and educational resources, for which we ought to be thankful. But with those resources come opportunities. To build bridges, to be a voice for other groups and not just our own, and to together form a pan-Asian identity that gives us the strength in numbers that will help all sub-groups within – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and so on.

It is a theme I have blogged on before, this concept of looking beyond the self to enrich those around. Strong family values and high quality education have been invested in us. We can hole up comfortably in our own familial and ethnic enclaves. Or we can use our voice and our access to do good in ways for which we are uniquely positioned. The latter is, I believe, the nobler and richer life. May I do God and myself proud to live so.