The man below is Alex Dang, and he has the best response ever to the question, “What kind of Asian are you?”
In this powerful 3 minute and 7 second poem, Dang addresses Asian stereotypes, the difficulty of growing up in a country that always saw him as different, and why words can hurt.
Things get very powerful around the 1.15 mark, when Dang says, “Let me tell you about derogatory terms and the origins of words, such as chink and gook…”
There you go. That’s the ‘kind of Asian’ Alex Dang is. Just another person who feels.
You can follow Alex on Facebook here.
Have you ever been asked a question like ‘what kind of Asian are you?’ or ‘where are you REALLY from?’
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where can i get the whole piece?
I had a very small taste of this, albeit not based on appearance, when we were in the US. They can identify if someone is a local or from a town two hours away by their accent, so you can imagine their reactions to a couple of Aussies, who strangely enough didn't sound like Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee. I frequently got England, New Zealand, South Africa, even Russia. One girl asked me if I spoke German. It wasn't until later I realised she had confused Australia with Austria.
While it got tiring at times, I found that talking about our culture and heritage gave me a greater appreciation for it. They would laugh at a phrase we would use, and ask, "Why would you say that? What does that even mean?" When I answered, more often than not I realised it was linked with our British history or came about due to Australian history and culture, and it was kind of nice not only realising that, but being able to educate people (some who had never left their home state). I can imagine this would get tiring long term, and that not everyone is as polite as the majority of people we met!
I do recall one incident where I was chatting to my boss about my visa, and the severe restrictions on applying for and maintaining one. She made some comment like, "Why wouldn't they just let you in, you're just like us!" Er, what?