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- Jun 17, 2008
I am a first generation Chinese-American guy and I've wondered about this question for awhile. Growing up, I was always told that America's this greatmelting pot of cultures and, as I've grown older, this doesn't seem like such a great thing. While there are many different cultures that reside herein the states, it seems that with time, people seem to lose what little connection they had to their parent's cultures. It's disheartening to thinkthat one has to make a conscious effort, here in America, to stay connected to our roots.
For example, my best friend is a third generation Chinese-American guy and he can hardly speak any Chinese. His dad can't either. He does make a consciouseffort though to try to find out more about his cultural background and stuff like that. A more extreme example would be this other first generationChinese-American friend I have. She grew up in Dublin, CA, where the population is largely white Americans. She has absolutely zero ties to any of her parentsculture. She can't speak Chinese, can't use chopsticks, has no idea what part of China her parents are from, has almost no Asian friends (what doesthat say about me?
), and, to me, the worst thing is she doesn'tcare at all. While my best friend makes a conscious effort to try to maintain some sort of connection, this other friend of mine is completely content, andactually prefers, blending in with the rest of white America.
As for me, I was lucky enough to grow up in a household that promoted being bilingual. While my parents could speak English with ease, they used Chinese withme while at home. I grew up eating traditional Chinese food, as well as American foods. While we celebrated American holidays like Thanksgiving, we alsocelebrated the traditional Chinese holidays like Chinese New Years, the Moon Festival, etc. We also took trips back to China so I could see what the fatherlandis like
.
So for my fellow multi-cultural members, what do you do to stay connected to your parent's culture? I know there's something deeper than just being"white", "black", "brown", "Asian", etc.
For example, my best friend is a third generation Chinese-American guy and he can hardly speak any Chinese. His dad can't either. He does make a consciouseffort though to try to find out more about his cultural background and stuff like that. A more extreme example would be this other first generationChinese-American friend I have. She grew up in Dublin, CA, where the population is largely white Americans. She has absolutely zero ties to any of her parentsculture. She can't speak Chinese, can't use chopsticks, has no idea what part of China her parents are from, has almost no Asian friends (what doesthat say about me?
As for me, I was lucky enough to grow up in a household that promoted being bilingual. While my parents could speak English with ease, they used Chinese withme while at home. I grew up eating traditional Chinese food, as well as American foods. While we celebrated American holidays like Thanksgiving, we alsocelebrated the traditional Chinese holidays like Chinese New Years, the Moon Festival, etc. We also took trips back to China so I could see what the fatherlandis like
So for my fellow multi-cultural members, what do you do to stay connected to your parent's culture? I know there's something deeper than just being"white", "black", "brown", "Asian", etc.
