So are you Chinese or Japanese? It’s funny, Asians have been in the United States for over a century, yet if you asked Joe Schmo off the street, all Asians are Chinese or Japanese. Asians all look Chinese, everything they say sounds Chinese, and well, and when you refer to Asian people, you mean Chinese or Japanese right? For you old enough to remember the first season of King of the Hill (1997), despite the long dry humor, one scene highlights this social phenomenon. In episode 7, Hank and his neighborhood red necks Bill, Dale, and Boomhower meet their new neighbor, a Laotian named Khan. In one of the show’s funniest scenes ever, the Arlingtonites are perplexed that there are Asians other than Chinese or Japanese in the world. For those of you that still have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ve dug up the clip for your viewing pleasure.

Hank: So are you Chinese or Japanese?
Khan: I live in California last 20 year…but first come from Laos.
Hank: Huh?
Khan: Laos, we Laotian…
Bill: The ocean? What ocean?
Khan: We are LAOTIAN! From Laos, stupid! It’s a landlocked country in southeast Asia. It’s between Vietnam and Thailand, okay? Population 4.7 million.

[Hank, Dale, Boomhower, and Bill sitting around the picnic table take a long befuddled stare at Khan...]

Hank: So are you Chinese or Japanese?

As hilarious as Hank Hill and Khan Souphanousinphone encounter was, their meeting does reveal the lack of knowledge and understanding of the many different Asian cultures in America. Over the course of the 20th century, Asian immigrants have come in droves. Waves of Chinese immigrants first arrived towards the end of the falling Qing dynasty, Japanese came after the Meiji Restoration shook up Japan, even more Chinese would come over after the Chinese Exclusion Act was lifted, Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees arrived towards the end of the 20th century, and that’s without even getting into Koreans, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Mien, Laos, Hmong, and other Asian immigrants. I could go on, but you get my point.

Despite the varying degree of different and vastly different Asians each with their own unique cultural backgrounds and history, we are simply Asian Americans. Defined as the model minority, many Asian-Americans have been shrouded behind the mystery of the Orient and lore of great martial arts masters like Bruce Lee. A few pop cultural icons have somehow encapsulated all the variety and differences amongst Asian cultures into one tidy package, Asian Americans.

Well that certainly pays little justice to a continent with a rich recorded history stretching well over five millennia (yes 5000 years). So here I am, and my blog, I am here to provide my 21st century social commentary and opinion and you are all welcome to follow along and who knows, you may just learn a thing or two from my rants.

Okay…so much for being serious, let’s just end this post with Russell Peter’s delicate portrayal of Asians.

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