As I'm sure you already know, one of my pet peeves is people who have no knowledge of their heritage insisting upon using it to describe themselves. Like, for example (and this is the big one), people defining themselves as African American when they've never been to Africa, have zero knowledge of any of the cultures, languages or religions - much less practicing them - and yet continue to segregate themselves from the rest of American society with that definition instead of integrating so that we all become one homogenous culture.
I would never consider myself Asian-American because the only knowledge of that culture I have is from books, movies and classes. I was not raised in the traditions nor are they second nature to me. I cannot speak any of the languages, other than a passing familiarity with Japanese which in no way, shape or form approaches any sort of fluency. Since my trip to China I've been more aware of that language and culture as well. The culture that my mother was raised in - and still lives in - is Korean, at any rate, so the knowledge I have of all other Asian cultures is really irrelevant in producing that definition of myself as an "Asian-American".
In fact, I'm more in touch with the distant tendrils of ancestry that tie me to Irish and British roots. My Polish side is also pretty dominant in some ways, so if anything I'd define myself as Irish-American or Polish-American or British-American. Never Asian-American, even though that's what genetics has linked me to the most.
You, however, have an active awareness of the Chinese culture and even have an understanding and fluency in the language. That's different. You actually are Asian-American, with an integration of your Asian heritage incorporated in with your American heritage. You should be proud to have that understanding and balance and ignore those people who have no idea what it is to actually have dual heritages, but simply claim to. Much less people who claim to adhere to a particular faith or religion but don't actually practice it. (That kind of ties into my pet peeves on religion, but I won't get into that. Not right now, at least.)
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I would never consider myself Asian-American because the only knowledge of that culture I have is from books, movies and classes. I was not raised in the traditions nor are they second nature to me. I cannot speak any of the languages, other than a passing familiarity with Japanese which in no way, shape or form approaches any sort of fluency. Since my trip to China I've been more aware of that language and culture as well. The culture that my mother was raised in - and still lives in - is Korean, at any rate, so the knowledge I have of all other Asian cultures is really irrelevant in producing that definition of myself as an "Asian-American".
In fact, I'm more in touch with the distant tendrils of ancestry that tie me to Irish and British roots. My Polish side is also pretty dominant in some ways, so if anything I'd define myself as Irish-American or Polish-American or British-American. Never Asian-American, even though that's what genetics has linked me to the most.
You, however, have an active awareness of the Chinese culture and even have an understanding and fluency in the language. That's different. You actually are Asian-American, with an integration of your Asian heritage incorporated in with your American heritage. You should be proud to have that understanding and balance and ignore those people who have no idea what it is to actually have dual heritages, but simply claim to. Much less people who claim to adhere to a particular faith or religion but don't actually practice it. (That kind of ties into my pet peeves on religion, but I won't get into that. Not right now, at least.)