Honesty

 

I am going to play to stereotype and quote Bruce Lee:

Knowledge in martial arts actually means self-knowledge… ultimately, martial arts means honestly expressing yourself. Now, it is very difficult to do. It has always been very easy for me to put on a show and be cocky, and be flooded with a cocky feeling and feel pretty cool and all that. I can make all kinds of phoney things. Blinded by it. Or I can show some really fancy movement. But to experience oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express myself honestly, now that is very hard to do.

If you replace the words “martial arts” with “heritage” or “culture” you could pretty much sum up how I feel about myself as an individual in ethnic solidarity with others of Chinese descent.

It’s too easy to hate Arizona. From Senator Gray’s indulgence in Klu Klux Klan tweets to the United Nations’ criticism of its anti-immigrant law, Arizona has certainly worked hard in recent months to earn public ire. With its latest law, Arizona is banning “ethnic studies” classes with the belief they “advocate ethnic solidarity” and “are designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group.” The LL2 blog provides a readable analysis of the wording without the anger and the jargon.

In lieu of recent months, I  am finding it hard not to believe Arizona’s new law – Chicken Little or not – is just “ethnic cleansing” instead of an effort to teach school children “to treat and value each other as individuals.”

I’m a big believer individualism – Child of the 80s – WLIR – “Dare to be different.” But I am also a big believer in cultural heritage and personal histories. I am a fan of ethnic studies programs. In fact, I believe they should be started earlier – in elementary school when cognition moves from the concrete “me-centric” world to the more abstract “we” world.

Providing ethnic studies programs earlier assists in the construction of a firm social identity and personal foundation – Social identity being the retaining of self under fierce social/peer pressures – Personal foundation being a comfort level with yourself and your decisions under those same circumstances.

I believe it is important to be able to present yourself as an individual in ethnic solidarity – meaning finding comfort among those who share the same ethnic history while maintaining those traits and characters that make you uniquely you. This is a social skill. It is taught by family and school (formally and informally). It is behavior that is modeled and then practiced. It does not occur naturally.

Becoming an individual in ethnic solidarity is about expressing yourself honestly. It is not about reacting naturally. There is a difference.

It is natural to feel resentment towards the perceived ills brought on by a cultural majority on an ethnic minority. It is natural that the cultural majority blame an ethnic minority for the social stresses of change. However, it is not honest. Honesty would reveal the conflicts are the result of material pressures rather than anything brought on by ethnic association.

Assimilation occurs. It’s survival instinct. Dominant culture absorbs favorable aspects of new culture to form a new shared paradigm. New culture adjusts to dominant culture to enjoy the benefits it has to offer. This happens with all immigrant groups – from the Irish on up to the Chinese – and onward now to the Mexicans. The hope is with each successive immigrant group we become better equipped to cope with the growing pains.

I am steadfast in my belief that the Arizona law is wrong. However, thinking honestly about it, the ban has inspired me to consider aspects of my life that I most often take for granted. Becoming an individual in ethnic solidarity is important – And is something that needs to be taught – But it is not something that can be taught only in the classroom. It is something that should be taught through home and community as well.

A-SLUM-ptions

When I posted about the Beverly Hills Unified School District expelling non-district (or “permit”) students I made assumptions. I assumed wealthy residents were seeking to expel middle and low income families from their community. My knowledge of Beverly Hills – a composite of scenes from the Slums of Beverly Hills and pictures of Rodeo Drive.

A commenter on my simultaneous post to K2Twelve told me I was wrong. My commenter from Horace Mann told me the situation was very much the opposite. My commenter told me the wealthy families were actually from outside the Beverly Hills school district. My commenter goes on to say that the Beverly Hills permit policy was being used to “dilute the number of Persian kids in Beverly Hills schools, which the then-Board majority felt drove away white, non-Persian Beverly Hills families to private schools.”

I had never thought of Beverly Hills residents as being anything but wealthy and White -  Assumption #2.

Fatemeh writes on Racialicious about a W article she read titled, “The Persian Conquest.” The title hints at the W author’s (Kevin West) feelings about the influx of Persians in Beverly Hills.

From the myriad of titles he could have chosen, he chose the aggressive one – the negative one – the descriptor of an invader – the one set in the game of Risk. As a 2nd Generation Chinese American, I am particularly sensitive to war inspired immigration descriptors like “conquer” and “invasion.” In social studies, you learn the Chinese built the railroads and the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. If you are lucky you may have a teacher who whispers about the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Internment Camps.

Despite the title, Fatemeh wants to believe Kevin’s intentions were well meaning:

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, right? In attempting to dispel stereotypes, W simply backed them up: showy images of wealth and references to media and real estate empires are uncomfortably close to the stereotypes of “rich Jews” and “Jews running the media and the banks.”

What are the intentions behind this 2007 article from the LA Times: “Diversity program at Beverly Hills High enrolls mostly Asians?” The author says the Beverly Hills diversity permits were begun in 1969 as an effort by school officials to diversify Beverly Hills school campuses -

For decades, the permit program aimed to bring in a deliberate mix of black, Latino and Asian students from outside the city limits… Today, however, the vast majority of the students enrolled with diversity permits at Beverly Hills High are high-performing Asian students… Critics say the program has shifted by default from a program aimed at increasing racial and ethnic diversity to one that simply brings smart, well-rounded students into the district.

Are the critics of a strong Asian presence in the Beverly Hill permit program (which now no longer exists) undermining the significance of “Asian” as an ethnic group embracing a multitude of cultural histories and traditions?  Are they saying all Asians are the same – all East Asian and light skinned? Are they saying that Asians are somehow “less ethnic” (and thus less deserving of public services) than Blacks and Latinos?

Are they making assumptions about Asians? As Kevin West did about Persian immigrants? As I did about Beverly Hills?

Like a baby putting every accessible object in its mouth, we taste the world around us to know what we like and what we don’t care for. We draw conclusions – make assumptions – about new experiences based on the outcomes and sensations of old experiences. We then compile our feelings about these experiences into personal systems of belief that we use to help rationalize the world around us.

Assumptions try to create a “truth” but are not the truth. Our understanding of our world should be mutable – changeable – with growth and personal development. Assumptions are a necessary evil – An evil that can only be repented by thinking more deeply about the roots of what is being assumed.