Gish Jen on what a younger generation of Asian-Americans demands.
 | By Jyoti Thottam Deputy Op-Ed Editor |
Gish Jen published her first novel, "Typical American," in 1991, and its success added her name to what was, at the time, an extremely short list of widely read Asian-American writers. The novel tells the story of a family that was, in some ways, like her own: They came to the United States from China in the 1940s, and the protagonists in the story embraced the American ideal of hard work and material success with manic devotion. |
Alongside a glowing review, The New York Times Book Review published an interview with the debut author: "Ms. Jen, who is 35 years old, once lived in Yonkers, where her family was called names and pelted with stones. But the experience, she said, did not define her childhood, and she refuses to emphasize it." |
That same anecdote reappears 30 years later in Gish's essay for Times Opinion, in which she reflects on how her parents' generation confronted hostility. "My mother, who immigrated to America in the 1940s, assumed my siblings and I would never really be accepted as American," she writes. "My parents' response to my brother's being beaten up, as he was just about every day in Yonkers, N.Y., was to sign him up for karate lessons. The world was like a forest full of bears. There was no forest ranger. You had to defend yourself." |
But something has changed, Gish writes. A younger generation of Asian-Americans now expects and demands that America live up to its promise, and their energy is animating the forceful response to the surge of anti-Asian violence and last week's rampage in the Atlanta area. In recent days, some of them have helped our readers try to make sense of this unthinkable crime: May Jeong reflected on the women she met while reporting on the massage industry. Claudine Ko wrote about what she called the "invisible" Asian-America. And Jennifer Hope Choi wrote about class among Korean immigrants in Georgia. |
In her essay, Gish places herself in between these two generations, and she finds hope: "Will Americans finally see these problems as everyone's problem? And, most important, will they ask what needs to change?" |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com |
Contact Us
If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other issues, visit our Help Page or contact The Times. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment