- It can have a very, not necessarily oppressive
but kind of weighty presence on you.
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- My relationship with the word Asian can sometimes
be a little complicated.
- Being Asian informs most of my identity.
- Sometimes I will identity as Asian,
but then other Indian people don't identify as Asian.
- Why are you considered Asian,
you're in the Pacific Islander, wouldn't you
be considered more Hawaiian?
And I'm like, not really.
- I have this awareness that it's the first thing
that people notice about me.
- People associate Asian with East Asian.
- Filipinos aren't so much dismissed,
they're just overlooked just because
they're not as popular within, at least
the American culture.
- If you think about it, the world population,
60% of it is technically Asians.
And we don't speak of any ethnic group at large
on such a continental scale.
- Asia as a term refers to a continent
of like 40 to 50 different countries
all with really, really different history,
culture, language, religion.
- But the term Asian has utility.
It's just within that there is so much diversity
that needs to be acknowledged.
And especially when you extent that to Pacific Islanders.
- People will say things like, oh that's so Asian.
Or why are you being so Asian?
Or like stop being so Asian.
And I'm like, I'm just trying to eat my lunch here,
like I don't understand why my lunch makes,
like says that I'm being so Asian.
- Even when I did my hair this morning,
I was like, oh, every time I put my hair in a bun,
do I look too Asian?
But, what does that even mean, because I am Asian.
- In high school I had to deal a lot with the stereotype
of being Asian and smart.
Other people would say, oh, you just did well
because you're Asian.
- Yes, I am Asian, and I'm proud of it,
but my first identifying feature should not be
like, oh, that guy's Asian so therefore
he's this, this, and this.
- It's the way they're saying the word,
and it's not the word itself.
- The biggest source of pride for me
is whenever I see fellow Asians
and Asian-Americans making their voices heard.
- I have incorporated my love of India
into the work that I do.
- My mom has a signature Filipino like lumpia egg rolls.
I'd always bring them, and that was my way
of kind of like, introducing people to Filipino culture.
- I think, I feel like the reason that
I am always staunchly proud of being an Pacific Islander
specifically is to kind of raise awareness
just on a personal level.
- Your identity informs everything that you do,
and that's something to be celebrated,
and it something to be excited about.
- No matter what, you're able to identify
as Asian, and you're able to understand someone's journey.
- If were able to see Asian and Asian-American
as like a group, and as a conversation,
we can use something like that
as a way to collectively rise up.
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