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Bridges with Asia: Asian Americans in the United States:
America’s New Immigrants: Can "Fresh Blood" Lead to a Fresh Foreign Policy?
Sanford J. Ungar
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Author, Fresh Blood: The New American Immigration,
and Dean, School of Communication, American University, Washington, D.C.
In his talk on immigration, Sanford J. Ungar focused on three crucial areas that affect Asian Americans directly:
Ungar, through his research, discovered that many immigrants feel as if their lives have been severely misrepresented by current and past cultural production. As a result, immigrant stories remain untold despite the plethora of material on the subject. He then turned to the connection between U.S. immigration policy and U.S. foreign policy. He argued that foreign policy tends, largely, to direct the outcome of immigration policy. In other words, if the United States needs to promote favorable conditions with a foreign nation, it will initiate favorable policies toward immigrants from that nation. Finally, Ungar advocated the political mainstreaming of Asian American politics. He argued that in order to fully participate in the decision-making process of the United States, Asian Americans must focus their policy concerns outward, not just on Asian or Asian American issues.
Immigration and the issues surrounding it have affected Americans since the inception of this nation. It is the largest single factor in the makeup of the populace. Through research for his book, Fresh Blood, Ungar gained many insights into immigrant communities across the nation. Many of these immigrants, Ungar observed, are misrepresented by media and misunderstood by the general populace. Immigrants, to a large extent, feel that their lives must be secret. They are restricted by white society from emerging as a self-identified group and submerged under what popular white culture constructs for them. As a result, many important immigrant stories such as those of the single Korean on the staff of the Los Angeles Times, the successes and hardships of Hmong Americans in adapting to a new land, the revival of small hotels and motels by South Asians, and the tragic accounts of many Cambodian immigrants are never given voice. Representations like those emerging from the Golden Venture fiasco displace the immigrants’ everyday experiences. In the face of all this negative press,
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many forget that immigrants come to the United States because it lures them here with images of guaranteed wealth, success, and happiness. Many Americans, though, ignore this fact and feel that immigrants are invading the nation. When asked, for example, about the racial makeup of the United States, whites responded that 49.9 percent are white, 28 percent are black, 14 percent are Latino, and 8 percent are Asian. The real statistics, however, are 74 percent white, 12 percent black, 9 percent Latino, and only 3.1 percent Asian. White Americans clearly have a misconception of the American populace most likely originating from media-generated fears such as the Golden Venture scenario. |
Ungar speculated as to how this anti-immigrant sentiment emerged so quickly in the last few years. He recognized the demagoguery of such politicians as Governor Pete Wilson (California), which, however, does not fully explain the situation. He conceded that he could not understand this phenomena in light of the immigrant nature of this nation.
Ungar then elucidated the ways in which negative immigrant representations are intimately linked to federal immigrant policy. He made clear that immigration policy has never been solely a domestic issue but is intricately intertwined with U.S. foreign policy. Even the 1965 Immigration Act, which opened doors to many nonwhite immigrants, was a result of U.S. efforts to improve its international image and reinforce its apparent commitment to democracy. Congress thus passed a law that finally reversed the immigration policy set into motion by the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. The need to import technical expertise provided the domestic impetus for this legislation.
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Ungar contended that nativism is linked to narrow-minded U.S. foreign policy which is entirely too Eurocentric, as are most Americans. When defining American identity, most people in the United States never include Asian Americans. |
Likewise, Ungar asserted that America’s self-classification as a Pacific Rim nation is a hoax because U.S. foreign policy is Atlantic-centered. This European orientation fosters the assumption that nonwhites will always be considered foreign whereas people of European descent will retain their mainstream status. Being viewed as foreign excludes Asian Americans from mainstream issues, even though these issues profoundly affect people of color. A significant portion of the population is thus prevented from fully controlling its destiny, a violation of democratic priniples. The United States needs to recenter its foreign policy if it is to maintain its commitment to democratic freedom.
Just as American foreign policy needs to become less Eurocentric, Asian American public policymakers need to divert their focus from Asia. Ungar said that Asian Americans have to attain a more prominent position in relation to public policy issues in order to eradicate the discrimination that keeps them marginalized. The public policy issues with which Asian Americans get involved are too ghettoized. They must transcend their communities or homelands to become involved with mainstream issues- both domestic and foreign.
By engaging in a wide spectrum of issues, not only will Asian Americans gain greater access to the mainstream, they will avert many of the conflicts that generate interethnic tensions. In Chicago, for instance, a number of diverse communities have formed the Illinois Ethnic Community. This organization meets not only to talk about the problems common to all ethnic communities, it also finds ways for diverse communities to work together on a solution. Through such alliances, Ungar suggested that ethnic communities can move toward a culturally pluralistic model of public policymaking.
Discussion
While audience members asked many questions relating to a number of topics, some seemed particularly relevant to this discussion. When asked how Asian Americans could enter into the political mainstream, Ungar emphasized the strengthening of voter constituency. Intensive drives for voter registration and citizenship would move Asian Americans a long way toward strengthening their political voice. He also pointed out that while activism on a local level is vital, it must not focus exclusively on Asian American issues. While he made clear that Asian Americans need not ignore issues unique to them, they must simultaneously secularize their activism outward to other communities.
Finally, Ungar addressed institutional racism that excludes Asian Americans from entering mainstream politics. While he agreed that it is a barrier, he used historical examples to demonstrate that most immigrant groups have overcome similar impediments. He drew upon the economic, social, and ethnic discrimination that the Irish faced a hundred years ago. The only difference being that nonwhite immigrants are more highly identifiable. But this should not stop them from eventually attaining their goals.
Endnotes
*: Sanford J. Ungar, author of Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants (Simon & Schuster, 1995), is Dean of the School of Communication at American University in Washington, DC. A long career in print and broadcast journalism has included hosting the award-winning program "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio and posts in Washington as editor of The Atlantic, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine and a staff writer for The Washington Post. Back.
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