From “AAPI” (“Asian Pacific Islander”), to “APIDA” (“Asian Pacific Islander and Desi American”), “APISA” (“Asian Pacific Islander and South Asian”), and now the Biden presidential campaign put out the acronym “AANHPI” (”Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander). The terminology surrounding Asian identification has been in a constant state of change. Having labels put upon any group can lead to a rift in the way that people personally identify themselves and can start to create a struggle between that and what other people want you to be.
Students at USC had different opinions about this topic and expressed distinct thoughts about how they identify themselves.
“I think that all of the changes when it comes to the actual abbreviation just increases the work that’s put on the community itself to educate other people about what is apparently right or what is apparently wrong,” said Sreenidhi Boopathi, a USC senior, who identifies as Tamil under the Indian identity. “There’s so many different types of Asian and it’s just that up until now I feel like people have just conflicted the Asian identity with the East Asian identity, leading to the additions and adding ‘PI’ and adding ‘SA’ and etc.”
The Asian identity is much more than just one region or one ethnicity. But, it becomes difficult for people to remember that when the term essentially lumps everyone from every Asian country into one small abbreviation.
“In the Asian community, I think we’re all trying to figure out what’s the best way to label things and we don’t even have a consensus, so when someone else that’s not even part of the community is just trying to say ‘oh well no, we can just say this or say this,’ and then its constantly changing, you just never know what to think,” said Midori Jenkins, a USC graduate student, who identifies as both Japanese and Black. “I think it makes the conversation really difficult because it’s always going to be an outward label.”
With all the different versions of these terms and the constant change in the abbreviations, it’s hard to really know if these terms are encompassing of all our identities.
“I think it’s important to be inclusive, but at the same time you’re trying to be inclusive, you’re being exclusive,” said Jenkins. “I just feel almost conflicted about what can be considered inclusive versus exclusive and how do we even define these terms in a respectful way.”
The broader terminology, in a way, may help us create a sort of sense of community or unity amongst all Asian identities. But, at the same time, it makes self-identification more vague for ourselves and may even create a rift between each other.
“If anything I think that the broader the terminology, the more it actually creates a divide between people of Asian identities themselves,” said Boopathi.
“I would see all these different kinds, different variations and I would just register them all as one thing,” added Avana Wang, a USC junior, who identifies as Chinese. “It just feels more vague to me because I feel like it doesn’t encapsulate a lot of different regions and people.”
The struggles that have continued to arise from these broad labels may all go back to the fact that many of them were not originally introduced by the community that they were made to serve.
The term “Asian American” can be traced back to a grassroots movement in 1968 where two University of California Berkeley graduate students were trying to find a name for their new student activist organization.
“Asian American” and then later “Asian and Pacific Islander,” were terms that were introduced to be used in the U.S. Census to better group individuals through these “government classifications.”
“It’s just that we are almost kind of viewing the Asian identity through a white lens by using the terms that have been prescribed upon us by these majority peoples or like majority groups,” said Boopathi. “And I think that has led to a lack of solidarity within the Asian identities themselves.”
Jenkins echoes her agreement to Boopathi’s opinion on Asian identity being viewed through a white perspective.
“I 100% do feel like labels do almost come from a white perspective of like we need to group people in order to better understand them,” said Jenkins. “Trying to group people culturally or racially makes it easier for people to I guess figure out the similarities.”
Wang furthers this opinion by adding on her concerns for categorizing and grouping Asian identities.
“In a way, just the way that you’re asked to categorize yourself, given these things that organizations or the government comes up with is, I guess in itself could be seen as categorized through a white lens,” says Wang. “The way that race and ethnicity is such a prominent thing in America, it’s made a thing through these categorizations.”
These categorizations lead people to believe that they’re stuck in the ways they represent themselves. So, how can this be changed?
“I honestly really love the idea of just identifying people from where they come from because I think there’s something really special about each individual culture,” said Jenkins.
“I would definitely honor a specific person’s preference,” said Boopathi.”But if I was in charge of labeling the entire thing, I would just say Asian and then it’s up to other people to realize that it’s not speaking to one specific identity.”
Wang agrees as she encourages people to abandon the broader terms and stick to the specifics.
“It allows people to identify more specifically and maybe identify as something that they feel more like themselves if it’s more specific rather than this whole big terminology,” said Wang.
This is an issue that goes well beyond having to check off boxes on a form. As tough as it may be, it’s one that goes back to how you personally feel and identify.
“Be sure to not change what you truly identify as in your head because you don’t fit in the boxes,” said Wang. “Because they are either just not thoroughly made or thought through for everyone. It’s not that you don’t fit, it’s just that it’s not there yet.”
“I think just being willing to share that experience and attaching that as part of your identity and not letting that outward label define you,” said Jenkins. “You have to really advocate and be the person to define yourself and you don’t necessarily have to tell everyone, but being kind of secure in that and knowing that people who care about you will respect your identity and when you meet people just be very forthcoming.”