Asian-American English teachers introduce themselves as Americans back in Korea.  However, some caucasian Americans in Iowa still call them by their backgrounds.

One of my American friends from Cornerstone Church introduced a Korean-American adoptee as Korean, but we couldn’t communicate in Korean since he was raised here, and therefore did not speak the language.

I wondered how Asian-Americans think about their identities. Do they feel discriminated when people call them Koreans or Chinese just because of their races? Or do they really consider themselves as Asians? After asking these questions to several Asian-American friends, I realized the necessity of a cultural institution for second and third generation immigrants who want to find their roots.

According to Alvin Wong, a Hosting Systems Administrator of Chinese-American nationality from California, never referred to himself as American in the U.S. More often than not, he identifies himself as Chinese. Although his nationality is American, he still speaks Cantonese fluently enough to mingle with the Chinese community and is familiar with Chinese culture. It does not matter for him even though people call him Chinese. However, Jennifer Lee, English tutor at a Korean high school, also stated that she wanted to adapt to Korean culture by working in Korea even though she does not know its culture and language since she was adopted from Korea three months after she was born.

From Introduction to Asian American Studies 105, the Asian-American course at Iowa State, adoptees feel identity crises because they are not sure about cultural identities; the nationality on their passport says American, yet they have Asian origins.

There are even slang words for Asian-Americans, like twinky and banana. Twinky is a snack which has white cream inside and yellow bread outside. Because Asian-Americans usually have Asian appearance but westernized behavior, they are usually called twinkies or bananas. These terms are used for jokes in general but it can be racially offensive, depending on the context of the situation.

The problem is that there are several Asian-Americans who want to be a part of the Asian community by finding their own roots, even though they are not familiar with the culture. It would be easy for someone like Alvin Wong, who is already familiar with Asian culture, but they might find difficulty in adapting if they are not.

There are quite a lot of adoptees in the U.S. like Jennifer Lee. According to the U.S. Department of State, there were 249,694 adoptions from Asian countries from 1999 to 2013. Many of them only speak English because their parents are Americans. Not only adoptees, but some Asian-Americans whose parents are Asians don’t know their parents’ primary language because only English is spoken in their household. These reasons make it difficult to adapt to Asian culture when they are trying to find their roots.

However, when people in Asia do not treat Asian-Americans as part of their country because of the cultural and language barrier, it’s difficult for them to be part of the Asian community as well.

Since knowing your culture and language are the most important factors when it comes to your ethnicity, Asian-Americans need to know their cultural backgrounds in order to become fully accepted into the Asian community.

It does not matter if Asian-Americans want to be treated as Americans. Caucasian Americans are also from different continents, so there is no reason for any American to be treated differently.

It is unfair that only Asian-Americans care about their origins. However, this only matters when those Asian-Americans try to find their roots and be a part of them. There are some Asian-Americans who were adopted or did not learn an Asian language from their parents who want to find their identity just as Jennifer Lee. To support this category of Asian-American, I think the U.S. government should make an organization to educate their language and culture. Unless they start when they are young, it is hard for them to adopt to Asian culture after becoming adults.