I am an Asian American.
I am not an Amerasian or a hyphenated Asian-American.
Is the media now referring to us as Amerasians because they needed to save word space or did it just flow better in broadcasting?
Why not continue the idiocy and have new titles for all ethnic groups, Amerafricans, Amerindians, Amermexicans?
First we started off as Orientals Ä what are we, Oriental rugs? Then we went on to be called Asian-Americans, Asian Americans and now Amerasians. I find this simply appalling.
Have the Asian people not suffered enough grief already at the hands of the United States, which coincidentally prides itself on being a melting pot of all ethnicities? Hypocrisy at its worst. If that was a true statement, people would not need to differentiate between ethnicities. We would all be referred to as Americans, no hyphens or word joining.
I think the Asian Americans have been punching bags for the United States long enough. The last straw was referring to us as Amerasians.
Immediately after Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, she received no commercial endorsements. But silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan received more commercial endorsements than Yamaguchi.
The only reason Americans shied away from Yamaguchi during the Olympics was because of her Asian background.
She was a casualty, a victim, of the American and Japanese political battle. It was sad to see an American dream, a life spent training for the Olympics, washed down the drain because of her ethnicity.
It was ironic, though, because the media still referred to her as Asian American. Maybe if they had referred to her as Amerasian, camouflaging Asian a little, she might have gotten more media attention. Her only claim to fame was a limited-edition appearance on a box of Wheaties.
So the next time the American media thinks about writing Amerasians in one of their stories, they should think of the origins of the word. Asians and Americans have separate and completely different meanings for a reason. They were not meant to be squished together to form one word.
Faye Fujimoto is a reporter for the Arizona Summer Wildcat.