About iamasiam

IAM
There awaits that great American novel waiting yet to be written by the foolishly romantic like me.  An aspiring writer with but a quarter century of market research background under my wings, I venture cautiously into the blogosphere.  It is a first small step for my kind.

Sobering circumstances (the bad economy) and recent bullish political developments (“Yes, we can!”) have moved this researcher to tread this path.  I’ve always loved writing.  How refreshing it is to break away from the impersonality of analytic reporting and the formality of business writing style.

Of several projects I am currently working on—including, who knows, the great American novel—one subject matter close and dear is that of cross-cultural identity.  My published posts seek various optics of the Asian-American spectrum in our current landscape.

I am EC Rodriguez.  I am Asian American.

ASIAM
Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic minority.  The 2000 US Census reports 11.9 million, or 4.2 percent of the total population, identify their “race” as Asian.  Looking specifically at those who are foreign-born, the bureau reports about a quarter are from Asia.  Definitely, a significant bloc that will shape our history!

Yet, consider how diverse this group we call the Asian American community.  Perhaps the tag serves nothing more than an expedient categorization, a step above “All others”.  In its weekly series called “Remade in America” which seeks to assess the impact of recent migrants in our society, the New York Times delves into finer nuances within the major Asian groups—in terms of state of residency, level of visibility, legal status proclivity, etc.

To the unenlightened, note that unlike other ethnic groups, Asians are joined together not by skin color, nor by bone structure.  Their pilgrimage to the New World spans various timetables and carries no one driving force or motivation.  It should be obvious too that we share no common language, religion, culture, or political affiliation.  At the very least, it should be apparent to everyone that there is no unitary (Pan-Asian) cuisine! 

IAMASIAM
This blog explores the evolving identity of Asian Americans.  The foolishly romantic writer and the pragmatic researcher in me resolve that a thought, a value, and an aspiration that is uniquely Asian American will emerge—or has already emerged but is just waiting to be revealed.  I further hypothesize that this id-revelation would point to a quality that is uniquely American.

Comments

[Ruxi]

I didn't know you are having this 'writer vein"!!!

Everything I was reading today is very interesting and amazing.I hope you are just going to go on with iamasiam..