Asian American Vignette #1
At a lunch break during a conference, a third-generation Japanese American woman who speaks with a standard American accent and a European American man eat together. He was the facilitator of a discussion group that morning - a group in which she actively participated. As they are eating lunch, he asks her, "Where are you from?” The woman replies “Toledo, Ohio.” “I mean,” he says, “Where are you really from?”
Commentary to Asian American Vignette #1
The white facilitator is probably trying to figure out which Asian country her ancestors are from. However the implication of his question is that she is not from the United States in the same way a white person is. It’s very unlikely that he would ask a European American with no accent the same question, "Where are you really from?" Sometimes Asian Americans are seen and treated like perpetual foreigners regardless of how long they and their families have been citizens of the United States. It can be hurtful and irritating to frequently receive an implied message “You’re not really American or you don’t quite belong here like we (white people) do.
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