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CONTEMPORARY ASIAN AMERICANS INTERVIEW

Description

I decided to interview a friend of the family for this project. When my family and I

relocated to the new area, he was one of the first people we met. Paul Li Weifeng is the name of

this man. In the 1960s, he and his family came to the United States from China. After spending

time with him and hearing about the location he used to call home, he has become one of the

most influential persons.

After returning home, I chose to have the meeting in his living room, where I had spent

much of my leisure time as a child working on his projects. Paul is in his seventies. He informed

me that after he hit fifty, he stopped counting. To him, keeping track of his chronological age was

pointless since his body could do it for him. We got comfortable, I made some tea, and we got to

work.

INTERVIEW

Question : How was your childhood, and how was it growing up in China and coming here to the

United States?

Paul: Shanghai is the city where I was born. My father was a member of the Chinese

government's Democratic Party while working for the Chinese government. As a result of the

ongoing civil conflicts in China, it wasn't easy to go to China at this time. My father had to flee

the nation because of the oppressive rule of the communist party. All of the other Democratic

Party members likewise fled for their lives out of terror. My father escaped to Hong Kong.

Because my mother was a stay-at-home mom, I grew up in Shanghai with her and my two other

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siblings. My mother gathered us together and applied for exit permits from the local Communist

Party. We were only granted permission to go outside of China's borders. It was difficult since no

one would take us in, so we had to go by train to Canton, then by boat to Macao, and finally by

ship to Hong Kong. While visiting Hong Kong at the time, you didn't need a passport to enter the

country if you could speak its language.

Question : Were there challenges that you faced?

Paul : No passports were necessary, and communication was only required in Chinese, but the

most significant problem we faced was that neither of us could speak the language. For my

father, who had obtained a job in the region, he had to recruit several maids to smuggle us

through. On the other hand, my mother was noticeably absent at the time. My father had to pay

the ship's captain for her to join the rest of us in Hong Kong. We had to rely on donated food to

get by at the beginning of our lives. We ate a lot of cuisine from the United States. My father

eventually determined that moving to the United States with us would be the best option for our

family's long-term well-being. My father had a buddy who worked for a Hong Kong-based

organization that helped immigrants get to the city. For a young youngster like me, the journey

from Hong Kong to the United States was lengthy and exhilarating. It was my first trip on a

plane, and we had numerous layovers in various areas of Asia until we finally made it to the

United States.

Question : was it easier adapting to the culture of the United States, and what were some of the

challenges you faced?

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Paul: My family and I were taken aback by the American way of life. Even though I was young,

I recall how drastically different life was in the United States from that in mainland China and

Hong Kong. It was a different world, both the people and the language. We learned English from

our father, but the English we learned in the United States differed from what he taught us.

Because of the American accent, I couldn't hear or comprehend much of what people said.

Things were tough for my father for the first few years, but he eventually found work with a tiny

company start-up, and things began to improve. Living in the United States wasn't fun. I recall

being teased for being different because of how I looked and spoke. At one point, we were so

harassed by the people in our neighborhood that some even threatened us with physical assault.

Because of the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1955 to 1975, I later learned.

Question : How did you manage the kind of racism you faced here?

Paul : My family was forced to relocate to Queens' Chinatown, where we could be amongst

others who looked and associated with us. As I grew older and had a family of my own, I saw

how difficult it was to deal with the prejudice and bigotry that Asian Americans often

encountered. When there was a lot of competition from white people, I couldn't acquire or keep a

job. Nobody cared whether they were qualified since it didn't make a difference. My choices

have shaped me into the guy I am today, and I don't look back on any of them.

Question: What do you know about the history of the United States?

Paul: Racism and other forms of discrimination against members of minority groups have a long

and troubled history in the United States. Since the first Chinese immigrants came to the United

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States, there have been anti-Chinese attitudes in the country. In the mid-19th century, the first

Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States. It became apparent in the 1860s when the

Chinese were employed to construct the First Transcontinental Railroad, which led to the

formation of the federal Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 enacted by the federal government.

China's further immigration and citizenship to the United States were effectively prohibited by

this statute. As a consequence of missionaries and explorers who had visited China and returned

home with critical accounts, the United States developed anti-Chinese sentiments.

Question : What were the primary reasons for the bad blood between the Chinese and the

Americans?

Paul : The Vietnam War broke out in 1955 when the United States entered the conflict. In

addition to contributing armaments, the Chinese government assisted Vietnam in other ways. The

Chinese engagement in the battle against the United States impacted how the United States saw

the Chinese. Racism and discrimination against people of Chinese heritage in the United States

sparked anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States once again. Discrimination against Asian

Americans was rampant, particularly in the 1990s. Discrimination, bigotry, and hurdles to equal

opportunity were some of the difficulties they encountered. Discrimination and mistreatment

based on race are significant contributors to the mental health problems faced by Asian

Americans.

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS

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I learned a lot from my interview with Paul. It gave me a better understanding of the

difficulties faced by members of the Asian American community when they arrived in the United

States. Unfortunately, some of these concerns are still relevant today.

As a result, Asian Americans face racial prejudice because of the beliefs and attitudes of

individuals who lack critical thinking skills and rely on their fears to guide their actions

( Rodriguez, & Kim, 2018. ). People in the United States' perceptions of Asians and

Asian-Americans were fueled by the Asian nations that participated in the Vietnam War since

they are comparable in certain aspects.

I also learned that not everything is as it seems from the interview. Growing up, I had no

idea what Paul and his family went through to come to the United States and start a new life.

You'd think he had it all, with his happy family, well-kept yard, and white picket fence in view.

Everyone has had to work hard to get to where they are. For most people, achieving equality and

fair treatment will require them to persevere in the face of hardship.

Last but not least, I discovered that the only way to hear someone's story is to stop and

listen to them tell it. As we go through life, we have a variety of experiences. They refuse to be

bound by the mistakes of the past. Because of their ethnicity, members of the Asian American

community are subjected to racial prejudice and violence, yet they still stand up for their beliefs

( Cheref, Talavera, & Walker, 2019 ).

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References

Cheref, S., Talavera, D., & Walker, R. L. (2019). Perceived discrimination and suicide ideation:

Moderating roles of anxiety symptoms and ethnic identity among Asian American,

African American, and Hispanic emerging adults. Suicide and Life‐Threatening

Behavior , 49 (3), 665-677.

Rodriguez, N. N., & Kim, E. J. (2018). In search of mirrors: An Asian critical race theory

content analysis of Asian American picturebooks from 2007 to 2017. Journal of

Children's Literature , 44 (2), 17-30.