Same Race, Different Experiences

For John Y. Hsu ’03 and Arar Han, “Asian American” is more than a vague racial category—it serves as a powerful collective identity from which diverse individual Asian American personalities spring. In Asian American X, released this past August, Hsu and Han impart the experience of being Asian American through a compilation of 35 short essays by college-aged Asian American authors from across the country.

With titles like “Thin Enough to Be Asian” and “Another American Mutt,” the essays clearly cohere around questions of ethnicity and identity in America.

But the book’s genius lies in its variety. Asian American X is not about a quintessential Asian American experience; it is about unique voices that speak to the diversity within the category.

Hsu said in a phone call that he and Han thought about the potential danger involved in endorsing the “Asian American” label, since labels often beget stereotypes.

But Hsu insists that Asian American X makes stereotyping impossible. “When you pick up this book you realize that there’s no single stereotype or image or phrase that captures what it means to be Asian American,” he said. “That’s why it’s Asian American X. ‘X’ is a variable.”

Hsu explains that the “X” also alludes to The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Generation X, the film American History X and the concept of intersection.

Hsu and Han grew up together in Cupertino, CA, where they say Asians are in the majority. They agree that, as young Asian Americans coming of age in “a suburban Asian enclave,” it was relatively easy for them to establish strong individual identities outside of their collective Asian American identity.

Hsu and Han say they began formulating the idea for their book as college sophomores, Hsu at Harvard, Han at Boston College. In March 2001, The Crimson published Justin G. Fong ’03’s op-ed piece entitled “The Invasion.” He accused Asian American Harvard students of reinforcing Asian American stereotypes.

The piece provoked heated debate among students on a number of college campuses. Han wrote a letter to The Crimson in response. She admitted that Fong’s accusations may have been too strong, but immediately recognized the necessity of his outcry. “He had hit a raw nerve in college communities that needed to be tapped, and a productive discussion had begun,” she said in a phonecall.

Hsu and Han say they found their imperative in the fury with which the Asian American community reacted to Fong’s j’accuse. “We a saw a collective yearning to be understood and heard,” Han said.

Hsu remembered having conversations with Han early on in college during which they would remark how strikingly different their college experiences were from high-school. Han said she felt as though she did not belong at Boston College and wondered why. She credited her discussions with Hsu and to an even greater degree Fong’s article with crystallizing this sentiment and inciting her to action.

“The wondering became constructive through my readings, as I used them to map my existence in the terrain of American society,” Han said. “And then I realized that I, and probably the many other Asian Americans in my generation too, had something to say about where we each belonged on the map.”

Hsu also identified the desire to understand the prerogative of other Asian Americans across the country as the creative impetus for Asian American X.

Thus began Hsu and Han’s three-year collaboration on Asian American X, modeled after the spirit of important works such as Eric Liu’s The Accidental Asian, Richard Rodriguez’s The Hunger of Memory and Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s The Bondswoman’s Narrative.

The two-person editorial team put out a call for essays during the summer after their sophomore year, which they subjected to a four-round selection process. Various faculty members, including Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy John Holdren and Assistant Professor of Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, advised them on the publication process along the way.

By the end of their junior year, Hsu and Han had sent their manuscript to a variety of publishers, and in August the book was published by the University of Michigan Press, three years after its inception.

Since sorting out her self-described identity crisis, Han, who graduated from Boston College in 2003 with a degree in Philosophy and Human Development, has been working at Harvard Business School as a research associate.

Hsu, who is currently doing non-profit and government consulting and engagement work for McKinsey, concentrated in Environmental Science and Public Policy while at Harvard and helped create the Resource Efficiency Program, as well as being a Crimson photographer.

Hsu and Han agree that the project would have been impossible had either of them attempted to undertake it individually. Han highlighted their complementary approaches as a key factor in the book’s completion, and jokingly referred to the book as a love child. Like doting parents, Hsu and Han watched their project grow and develop with a mutual interest in its success.

“We were grounded by the same desire to see this project to completion, and I think that was enough to keep the thing going,” Han said. “Don’t get me wrong: There were times when I wanted to reach through my computer screen and bop him on the head, but…at the end of the day, the book is complete with both of our efforts.”

Hsu and Han collaborated primarily through e-mail, which establishes Asian American X as a thoroughly modern enterprise, from conception to delivery. Han first became aware of Fong’s “Invasion” through a listserv, and Hsu and Han relied almost exclusively on e-mail correspondence during the compilation process.

Hsu and Han have received lots of positive feedback on the book. Hsu said that many of the essayists said they are pleased with the book, and that several professors have already added it to their syllabi. He said that young Asian Americans, their parents and non-Asian Americans alike have also responded favorably.

Hsu and Han believe the collection will appeal to many American readers because it espouses American ideals in content and form. “It’s a great way of taking a snapshot of the Asian American experience. It sort of highlights that diversity,” Hsu said.

“What the essays are actually accomplishing is the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of freedom to really understand who one is, and that has an American parallel throughout history. It’s a very American thing to chart your own identity,” Hsu said.

Hsu and Han say they hope Asian American X will spark dialogue about the issues it raises. They are currently involved in a nationwide promotional tour, and the Harvard Asian American Association is hosting a discussion about the book with John and two essayists today from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Adams Lower Common Room.