9
Ui
Sanaam
Unify Through Shared Goals
By
Neelam Patel,
Sangam
President
Asian Americans, at times, are quick
to find distinctions to separate themselves
from each other. Specifically, in the South
Asian community, recent immigrants will
socialize and organize in groups based on
the region of origin in South Asia. For
example, Sangam recently received a list
ing of all the names of South Asian orga
nizations in Georgia. There were count
less numbers of groups based on a lan
guage or a specific state in India or Paki
stan. In fact, even specific regions within
a particular state had claims to a separate
organization.
As each state or region in South Asia
enjoys its own language, foods, and cus
toms, immigrants will naturally feel most
comfortable relating mutually with oth
ers from the same region. By organizing
into region-specific groups, our parents
are creating a niche in the U.S., a place
they now call home. It is exactly through
this separation into region-specific groups
that they are able to maintain their own
cultural pride, allowing it to seep into the
minds of their children, who then are con
fident and motivated, in turn, to organize
as young adults. It is at this point that we,
as Asian American college students, can
begin making our mark in U.S. history by
establishing friendships and substantial
coalitions which cross regional and na
tional boundaries.
Even as a native of New Jersey, whose
state university is at times referred to in
jest as “Bombay University,” I only es
tablished relations with individuals from
the southern regions of India when I
reached UNC. Until coming to college, I
only had close contact with North Indi
ans like myself despite the Indian organi
zations to which my parents belonged and
the Indian programs for which my sisters
Childhood stories about
entertaining South Asian
guests, about seeing
America for the first time,
or about going on long
family trips to landmark
temples are all resound
ingly and comfortingly
similar. Our shared
experiences quickly be
come a first stepping
stone towards establish
ing alliances.
and I worked. At UNC, I also have come
to befriend Pakistani American students,
who represent yet another community
from which I had been separated until
now.
As South Asians, we have a lot to
share, including some degree of real iden
tification with that region. Also, we share
seemingly universal South Asian Ameri
can experiences, whether one was raised
in Fayetteville, North Carolina, or in up
state New York. Childhood stories about
entertaining South Asian guests, about
seeing America for the first time, or about
going on long family trips to landmark
temples are all resoundingly and comfort
Korean American Students Association
Wanted: More Inclusive ASA
By Grace Lee,
KASA Social
Co-Chair
ingly similar. Our shared experiences
quickly become a first stepping stone to
wards establishing alliances.
The South Asian American experience
is not terribly different from that of other
Asian students in general. The experience
of leading a dualistic lifestyle with two
sets of languages, foods, and ways of
thinking exists in the overall Asian Ameri
can experience. We share the challenges
of cultural ignorance and stereotypes. As
a minority group, we are quickly grow
ing. Between the years 1990 and 2030, it
is predicted that the number of Asians in
the U.S. will have increased from 6.9 mil
lion to 19.9 million (source: Leon F. Bou-
vier and Anthony J. Agresta, “The Future
Asian Population of the U.S.”). In the
meantime, we must realize, at the least,
that there is a need to increase awareness
of Asian American issues through educa
tional and institutional programs to keep
America at pace with the changing nature
of America. Asian Americans as a whole
have the unique opportunity to unify based
on these shared goals and experiences,
which form a strong platform from which
to establish needed alliances. I commend
our parents, who have successfully cre
ated alliances with one another, region-
based or not, in order to formidably meet
tlje challenges of living in a land foreign
to them. Taking advantage of the cultural
pride we inherit from their efforts, it is now
our turn to unite in order to face our chal
lenges as Asian Americans.
Recently, it has been brought to my at
tention that there are some people who are
becoming disillusioned about a certain or
ganization on campus. They are concerned
that this organization is not succeeding in
accomplishing all of its goals, specifically
the goal of
“Unifying
Our Diver
sity.” Of
course, the
organization
of which I
am speaking
is the Asian
Students
Association.
The
members of
ASA have
been ac
tively trying
to bring
more public
attention to
their organi
zation. Two
of the
organization’s
most publi
cized events, the Atlantic Coast Asian
American Student Union (ACAASU) Con
ference and “Journey Into Asia,” have both
been commendable attempts at trying to
bring the Asian culture into the spotlight.
While focusing on creating a better relation
ship with non-Asian cultures, the minority
groups themselves have forgotten to explore
each other’s cultures.
Since ASA is an umbrella organization
for all the Asian ethnic groups— such as
the Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese,
Vietnamese, and Indians— the organization
ASA itself is not a true
representation of all of the
different ethnic Asian
groups. Obviously, it is
not succeeding in being
an association which
includes ALL Asians;
therefore, the Asian Stu
dents Association should
maybe consider a name
change in the future...
perhaps, to the Taiwanese
Students Association.
should be the pioneers for a type of coali
tion which includes members of all of these
ethnicities. The problem that arises now is
that ASA does not have a membership
which includes people from all of the dif
ferent Asian countries. Instead, the major
ity of the members of the organization are
either Chinese or Taiwanese. One has to
ask why ASA only has a limited and seem
ingly homogeneous group of members.
At the begirming of the school year, ASA
always starts off with a plethora of incom
ing potential members. The problem for tiiis
organization is keeping the members. This
year, the membership list contained an
amazing ninety-some people, but at the last
meeting, the number of members who were
present only reached thirty-something. Of
course, one can say that it is not the fault of
ASA that so few people return to the meet
ings, but the lack of attendance can not be
blamed solely on laziness and uninterest.
When an organization wants to maintain its
members, it must succeed in fulfilling two
main criteria. First, it must be capable of
inspiring the potential members in a pur
pose, which in this case is improving rela
tions between Asians and all races. The sec
ond criteria seems to be the one with which
ASA has the most problem— making
people, other than Chinese or Taiwanese,
feel welcome.
A number of people with whom I have
spoken have mentioned that the present
members haye not made them feel like they
were included. They pointed out the prob
lem of cliques present in ASA and the lack
of acceptance by members of the main or
popular clique. Cliques exist in many as
pects of society, but it should hot have such
an overbearing presence that it prevents an
organization from working as a cohesive
force. The problem seems to be obvious to
the ones being excluded, but the ones guilty
of excluding people seem to be oblivious
to the problem. Without active willingness
of the executive members of AS A to change
the status quo, the problems will remain.
Many still want to take part in ASA because
they still support the overall purpose of the
organization. Unfortunately, many mem
bers do end up leaving by the end of the
first semester. ASA itself is not a true rep
resentation of all of the different ethnic
AsiM groups. Obviously, it is not succeed
ing in being an association which includes
ALL Asians; therefore, the Asian Students
Association should maybe consider a name
change in the future... perhaps, to the Tai
wanese Students Association.
The best possible situation one can
imagine for all the minority groups on cam
pus is if all of them could become more in
tegrated in each other’s organizations. An
idea which has come up is the formation of
a coalition which would include concerned
members of ASA, the Korean American
Students Association, the Black Students
Movement, the Vietnamese Students Asso
ciation, and Sangam. The individuals in
terested would meet at least once a mondi
to discuss ways of opening the lines of com
munication among themselves. It seems as
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UNITY?: KASA
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