This website is to share what it is like growing-up Asian-American. I don't intend to represent the whole Asian American population, but to hopefully give a general perspective. I was born and raised in St. Paul to parents that immigrated here all the way from the Philippines in 1972 (exact year?).
I started to have an interest on my Asian American "world" identity during high school when several Asian Americans told me about the Asian Club. I then stayed after school to hangout with some of the Asian Americans, where I began to realize the many common traits we shared.
Then at UMM, I began to explore more by joining the Asian Student Association. Check out the "Photo Gallery" down below to see pictures on my involvement with ASA during my college years from 1995-1999. Learning other Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst my peers encouraged me to search more of my own. This is when I started to have a desire to learn more about my Filipino culture.
Asian American is a very generalize, which doesn't really describe much of this racial group label. There is more to the person then this racial identiy. But, we in America have to classify groups to somewhat have a general idea of the different groups represented in our diverse nation.
Within this group are many different Asian ethnic nations, which different cultures. Within each nation there is different ethnic tribes. It boils down to the individual, which here is my specific story.
This college focus website is to give a general information of the Asian American perspective.
"Annually, the Asian Student Association (ASA) at the University of Minnesota, Morris provides activities for the campus and community to celebrate Asian heritage and culture. Asian Awareness Week begins Monday, April 12, 2010, and continues through Saturday, April 17, 2010. This year’s focus is “Then and Now.” ASA invites the campus and community to participate.
"As liberal arts students, we celebrate and learn about different cultures,” says Josephine Corley ’12, St. Louis, Missouri, communications, media, and rhetoric major and ASA member. “Asian Awareness Week supports that campus vision. It celebrates an important aspect of history that shapes America, and it celebrates the international community, too. And, it’s fun!”
On Monday, April 12, ASA will sponsor a silent auction and a craft/garage sale in Oyate Hall from noon until 6 p.m. ASA will auction items and sponsor garage sale for students, faculty, staff, and student groups to participate and sell items. The event continues in Louie’s Lower Level from Tuesday until Thursday. Sign up at the table in the Student Center or by e-mail. Limited spaces available.
On Tuesday, April 13, gather in the Multi-Ethnic Lounge for an evening of storytelling and folklore beginning at 8 p.m. ASA members will read folk tales from various Asian cultures, and participants are welcome to share folk tales, too.
On Wednesday, April 14, Game Night at the Regional Fitness Center (RFC) will feature “Kabaddi,” an Indian version of tag. Bring shoes for this fun running game at 7:30 p.m.
On Thursday, April 15, ASA will co-sponsor with CAC Films a free screening and discussion of Pavilion of Women (see youtube.com trailer), a movie based on the Pearl S. Buck novel at 7 p.m. in the Cow Palace, Imholte 109.
On Friday, April 16, don’t miss the Karaoke Luau Dance from 9 p.m. until midnight in Louie’s Lower Level. Sing Karaoke or just dance. Music and words will be provided. The event features a “mocktail bar.” The first 50 participants receive one free mocktail. Admission is only $1.
On Saturday, April 17, Asian Awareness Week closes with the Taste of Asia Dinner at 6 p.m. in Oyate Hall. ASA members will cook various dishes from different Asian countries including: sushi with imitation crab; Hmong-style eggrolls with pork or vermicelli salad; cream cheese wontons; pineapple stir fry with chicken or tofu; noodle stir fry with beef or tofu; Indian curry with chicken or tofu; fried rice with or without chicken; fruit salad; water, coconut juice, soybean drink, hot green and jasmine tea. Dinner entertainment will include dancing. Admission is $3 for children 12 and under; $5 for UMM students; and $8 for general admission. Tickets will be sold at the ASA table in the Student Center or contact the ASA.
For more information, please contact ASA at ummasa@morris.umn.edu"
-ASA Taste of Asia:
{2008}
Other notables that ASA has come to share their "gifts" and "talents" at UMM are:
"DAY Project hosts the first Hmong American Cultural Show in Warren, Michigan, after a young teenage boy name Chonburi Xiong was shot and killed by white Warren police officers"
Below are some historical "hate crimes" that I've kept track over the years here including the most recent one:
-Fall of 1996: "PFM Incident"-An Asian American female was harassed at PFM: Food Service by some guys debating about Native American Indian Tuition Waiver and other "minority" issues
-Fall of 2002: "Gook at Old #1"-I personally was present when an Asian-American college student was with a group of international students celebrating a particular student's birthday. We were entering the bar and the folks just stared at us with unpleasant looks. This particular "victim" was called "gook". We left as there wasn't much of a party. As we were leaving, several young adult "Caucasian" Americans started singing "God Bless America" profundly with ridicule (I have experienced this several times as presumed passive way of "hate" towards foreigners")
-date unknown: Cambodian American walking through town and was called names by high school teenagers
From : ASA
Sent : Wednesday, March 17, 2004 7:29 AM
Subject : Hate Crime towards Asian Students at UMM
To All of You,
We ASA members would like to inform you of the hate crime that has occurred
towards Asian students on Monday, the kick-off day of the Asian Awareness Week.
Some people put remarks like “All Ching Chong people are short and all Ching
Chong men have small dicks; “ Ching Chong Ping Pong” on ASA flyers in the
student center.
As members of ASA, we are greatly disappointed and hurt by these remarks. We
don’t think this is an individual act but we believe this is just another
incident to show that UMM is far from being a place of inclusiveness and racial
diversity tolerance.
We, as a group, have resolved that we will take the following actions:
1) Urge intensive police investigation on who committed the crime
2) Send out informative flyers on reality of UMM campus climate
3) Make buttons against Hate Crime
4) Do sign-up sheets for support of students of color
5) Ask for support from other student organizations such as UR, KUMM and the top
of UMM administrations
6) Do an open forum against Hate-Crime, in alliance with Equality and other
student organizations
We will need your help to implement these actions and we would deeply appreciate
if this can be addressed to the entire campus.
PERSONAL ACTION
-participate in local community education opportunities. I joined this program for a couple of years while I was a student with Morris Community Education, where we went to schools and shared about our cultural background. Yes, we did get "offensive" questions, but from little kids-one needs to understand their enviromntal cultural up-bringing. We can make a difference one person at a time, and when they are young-that's the best time to do so!
-pray for your enemies (see persecutions to get a beyond Morris small world-view perspective)
-share your stories of racism, so people who never encounter this will have a better understanding and idea what this experience is like
*went to a AAJA conference at St. Paul's Concordia College around 1999/2000 with some folks from UMM's ASA. We were invited by a UMM Alumn contact-Carlos Gallego
Thank you for visiting UMMAlpha! Please feel free to e-mail me (Sal) at ummalpha@yahoo.com on any comments, suggestions (e.g. any new websites),complaints, or anytype of feedback to improve this website.
