By Eugene Chung
Split Shot
Spring 2002
I am not a dish, a rug, or a cheap restaurant that offers take-out teriyaki
chicken at $2.99 a pound. Why do people define me as an Oriental? For me to be
considered an Oriental, there needs to be an Orient. I know it may be a picky
thing, but how do you expect to feel when they are referred to as the same type
of unit used to describe a certain kind of rug? Being a Korean-American, I have
heard some of the most ridiculous things, such as Asian stereotypes and personal
comments about me, living in the country filled with adults and children
supposedly brimmed to the brain with quality education.
Some of the things I have a bone to pick are the widespread Asian-American
stereotypes stemming from the lack of common sense. First of all, “Asian” is
not a language exclusively known to people who are native to that massive
continent next to Europe. I have even heard someone ask me if I speak “American.”
I didn’t know “American” is a language now. “Ignorance can be a
dangerous thing” (Hsieh). Maybe those people need to be locked up for their
own good. Also, I hate the fact that I have to check the box that says “Pacific
Islander” in the column that asks for your race on every standardized test and
survey that I take. I’m not some kind of castaway trying to last in a show
called “Survivor.” What also gets me mad is when every Asian in a movie is
portrayed as a helpless convenience store clerk getting robbed or as a martial
arts expert that can twist someone’s neck like a bottle cap. If all Asians
really are owners of a small store in the middle of a ghetto, why do people ask
me if all Asians are rich? It’s not as if God hands every person colored
yellow a million dollars as soon as we are out of our mother’s womb. If only
it were that simple.
Aside from the typical stereotypes, I have heard some absurd assumptions
about me as a Korean-American. First on the list, when I tell people that I am
Korean, the next thing they always ask is if I am from North Korea or South
Korea. That, to me, is a funny question considering the fact that I have never
even met a North Korean in my life. Maybe that little thing called communism
they have in North Korea has something to do with it. What really gets to me is
the reality that people are so ignorant that they ask me if I speak “Koreanese.”
I usually then mutter something to that fool in the language in which he is too
ignorant to know the proper name. Next, every American has probably seen the
famous movie “The Karate Kid.” The well-known scene where the instructor,
Mr. Miyagi, is sitting in a room catching flies with a pair of chopsticks seems
to pop up in people’s minds whenever they see me. I tell them that I can,
along with dodging bullets, killing demon-possessed vampires, and saving the
world from a giant meteor. I’m so glad to have the supernatural powers that
only Asians possess.
While Asians may be a fascinating source of entertainment to ignorant people,
I prefer to think of Asians as a group of people who happen to have the same
skin color but with a variety of different habits, tendencies, and mindsets. The
stereotypes that need to be shattered from people’s heads have been around for
a long time and probably won’t be erased from their memory anytime soon. “Ignorance
is only a bliss to those that are too lazy to fix their problem” (Lee). People
must not look at Asians or anyone else with a preconceived notion that they know
what that person is because of their race. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the most
important thing of all. I hate sushi.
Chung is a student at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia.
