Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we talk about sports. This is a pretty long discussion, so you can find an edited version of the whole conversation after the jump.
Ernie: From the Examiner, the 10 Best Asian-American Athletes. Do you agree with this guy’s criteria?
Efren: Hmmm… He seems to have forgotten the Asian American Olympians who’ve won medals, like Bryan Clay (who won the decathlon) and Natalie Coughlin (who is one of the most dominant women swimmers in the Olympics and is part Filipina). If he’s counting pro athletes, then he’s probably correct, but come on, he should count other sports too!
Bo: Ummm….yeah, and the fact that most of those people aren’t Asian American. They are just straight up Asian. Dude had to create his own definition of Asian American to compose his list. Where is Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan? And what about Michael Chang?
Ben: Yeah… I am actually curious about figure skating and such. And Michael Chang was one of the biggest things going on when I was playing tennis back in high school. He basically was all over Chinese newspapers all the time as like the big time Asian American. Personally, I don’t count Tiger Woods. That’s a link-bait if I’ve ever seen one. Is Ichiro and Yao even naturalized? I’m not sure they are. It’s been a while, so maybe they are.
Ernie: Dude, really? He’s more Thai than he is Black! They practically took a photo of HIM to put up on the walls of Thai restaurants everywhere.
John: But people identify Tiger Woods as black, just like Obama, who is half-white.
Bo: Yeah, but Obama has self-identified himself as black through his choices and actions. Living on the south side of Chicago, member of a black church, marrying a black woman. His first book “Dreams from my Father” was all about his journey to figure out what he is and where he fits. Tiger Woods has very publicly stated that he sees himself as all – caublasian. So I think he totally counts. Plus, Tiger Woods looks exactly like my cousin with a tan.
Jun: Tigers Woods is NOT Asian… There is nothing that Tiger does that promotes the idea that he is Asian, not in interviews, in life, in anything. And no one on the list a real Asian American, except for Hines Ward. Not only that, but Hines Ward is the only on the list that embraces both sides of his ethnicity, black and Korean publicly AND enthusiastically, and is the only person on the list that I can appreciate. And Bo, Tiger Woods may look like your cousin with a tan but he acts more like a White Guy with a tan…
Efren: I think there’s always been an interesting debate over who has the right to determine how someone is perceived, the individual vs. the public, particularly if that person’s not white, in the US. I remember black people being pissed that Tiger Woods identified as mixed race and not just black — and a few ethnic studies scholars pointed out to American history and the “one drop” rule prevalent during slavery: where having one drop of a colored person’s blood meant you belonged to that race, even if otherwise that person could pass; and how that’s filtered down to black people’s perception of other people of color, and also how mixed-race people fought against that to be able to embrace all sides of their identity, and not just the one that people saw.
It’s also interesting to note how many American celebrities who are mixed-race use their non-white status to appeal to non-white audiences (and non-American audiences at that), while mainstream white American society claims them as one of their own.
Bo: I go by how people define themselves… not by some arbitrary, rigid code of action and behavior that someone else has deemed appropriate Asianness. Ironically enough, Hines Ward actually played a large role in helping kids of biracial heritage become slightly more accepted in Korean society. The amount of racism against biracial kids in Korea is astonishing. Talk about a society that has a rigid definition of authenticity.
Jun: Tiger’s action and behavior is definitely NOT arbitrary that that is the measurement of his “asianness” to me, but we can argue all day on tiger and its neither here nor there… but Hines Ward is a pretty amazing person considering the fact that he never asked to be a representative of biracial Korean kids; but he was thrown into that role after he rose to stardom overseas when he won the Super Bowl MVP award, and he embraced it. AND he had an impact. Not many people would do that.
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