Back to the Helen Zia Chapters
I think the story that Helen Zia opened Chapter 10 with was a great way to pull readers in. Her family made it a game to yell “Asian sighting” whenever they saw an Asian American on TV because it didn’t happen very often (a “rare event” as Zia calls it. I picked this section to write about because it reminded me/tied into my wiki topic: Miss Saigon and the struggle that Asian actors endured to play characters of their own race. ”They liked to assess for us kids the looks, ethnicity, demeanor, intelligence, and other vital signs of the real Asian, which they doncuted in a manner as succinctly anbd passionately as a sports announcer. Most irksome was their habit of comparing us to the TV Asian” (253). What is the TV Asian? What characteristics does the TV Asian have that Zia’s parents admire? I think the answer lies in the example she provides where her father asks why she doesn’t try out for Miss World. I think the TV Asians represented success because they have made it through obstacles to get to where they are. Success as individuals as well as for a whole culture. It may seem like a baby step, but I think it’s a big step and change from all the racism and discrimination. Zia’s parents show that they just want their children to succeed and experience/become anything they want while representing Asians in a positive way.
