|
|
|
|
Bridges with Asia: Asian Americans in the United States:
Toward a Global Village: The Link between Asians and Asian Americans
Chancellor Chang-lin Tien
*
University of California, Berkeley
Chancellor Chang-lin Tien discussed the important role of Asian Americans as “bridges” who can connect Asians and Americans on both sides of the Pacific. Asian Americans can help break down many cultural barriers to the success of American corporations in Asia. Their cultural backgrounds assure them the trust of their Asian business counterparts while their experience makes them central to Western economic development. They also break down the cultural barriers that exist in the West. The primary cultural barrier in the United States, Tien says, is racism. He proposed that Asian Americans must support programs such as affirmative action in order to eliminate the barriers to full integration in American society.
While American economic success in Asia and anti-Asian racism in the United States might seem like separate problems calling for disparate solutions, Chancellor Chang-lin Tien insisted that they are connected by cultural barriers on both sides of the Pacific. These barriers are not just a detriment to Western economic success in Asia, they also prevent Asians from achieving social integration in the United States. Not only are the problems connected, but their solutions are as well. Asian Americans provide the political nexus between the East and the West. With their backgrounds, Asian Americans could guide the United States into the Asian economic boom and use their increasing prominence to combat anti-Asian racism in the United States.
|
The economic rise of Asia has not escaped the notice of American corporations. In fact, businesses have been trying harder than ever to penetrate and reap the rich rewards of this market. But while corporate America has overcome major obstacles to an economic relationship, such as inadequate means of transportation and poor communication technology in Asia, cultural barriers which Asian Americans are well-positioned to break down, remain. Versed in both the American mainstream culture and in an Asian “home country” tradition, Asian Americans are uniquely poised to promote understanding. |
Chancellor Tien offered himself as an example. While he is able to interact with a number of powerful Americans in a variety positions, he is equally adept in communicating with Chinese heads of state.
While Tien recognized the many successes of Asian Americans, he noted that they still face many racial barriers, which are in part a manifestation of cultural misunderstanding. Asian Americans on all levels—from the educated middle class to the poor and underprivileged—often come up against people who are unwilling to understand other cultures. He recalled that a former professor of his (before the Civil Rights era) would not call him by his name because it was “too difficult to remember.” He simply called Tien “Chinaman.” Although Tien finally confronted the professor and extracted from him a promise not to be addressed as “Chinaman,” the professor still refused to learn Tien’s name. He instead would say things like “Hey, come here.”
The greatest danger facing underprivileged Asian Americans especially the young, is their second class status. Spawned by their perceived “foreignness,” diminished status is a result of continued anti-Asian discrimination. Chancellor Tien believes that it is the responsibility of Asian American university graduates to fight this discrimination because they are best equipped to do so.
He further proposed that Americans of all backgrounds support programs such as affirmative action in order to eliminate discrimination against the Asian American middle and underclass. Affirmative action, he argued, has helped Asian American university graduates to get their foot in the door. Tien, however, also made note of the glass ceiling with which Asian American professionals must contend. Affirmative action has also promoted interracial understanding. Ethnic diversity on university campuses prepares American youth for living in a racially and culturally diverse society and deepens their awareness of global interdependence. But diversifying college campuses is only one goal. Affirmative action seeks to eliminate some of the institutional barriers that beset certain racial groups moreso than others. In other words, certain racial groups have better educational opportunities because of a multitude of factors, such as different economic status divided along racial lines. Affirmative action helps underprivileged youth get into college-giving them access to a better life.
Endnotes
*: Chang-lin Tien, Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and the first Asian American to head a major research university in the United States, has a distinguished career as a scientist and in university teaching. He has received many honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Currently he serves on the boards of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Asia Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank. Chancellor Tien continues to teach at undergraduate and graduate levels, holding the professorial title of A. Martin Berlin Chair in Mechanical Engineering. Back.
Email this citation