Asian pride

{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=January 2024}}

Asian pride is a term that encourages celebration of Asian ethnicity and culture, with various interpretations and origins. In international relations, it can involve advancing Pan-Asianism and critiquing the West. In the United States, it has roots in counter culture, rejecting stereotypes and empowering Asian Americans. The term gained modern use through hip hop culture, promoting a positive stance on being Asian American. The phrase "Got Rice?" emerged as a symbol of cultural identity and pride, often tied to Asian Pride. It humorously references rice as a staple food in Asian cultures. The term was adopted in T-shirt campaigns and seen as a way for Asian Americans to define their identity and counter stereotypes.

International usage

Asian pride is a broad term that can cover several topics. Within the international relations context, Asian pride can be seen within Asian politics as advancement of Pan-Asianism through heavy criticism of the West.{{cite journal |last1=Langguth |first1=Gerd |year=1996 |title=Dawn of the "Pacific Century"? |url=http://www.gerd-langguth.de/fremdsprachtext/asian_values.htm |url-status=dead |journal=German Foreign Affairs Review |volume=47 |issue=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610190612/http://www.gerd-langguth.de/fremdsprachtext/asian_values.htm |archive-date=10 June 2012 |access-date=18 December 2012}}{{cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=Rawdon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tujY4nUQdtkC&q=%22Asian+Pride%22&pg=PA119 |title=Continental Drift: Australia's Search for a Regional Identity |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |year=2003 |isbn=9780754634461 |page=119 |access-date=9 January 2013}}

While 'Asian pride' is a term often associated with international relations and the advancement of Pan-Asianism, its significance resonates within the Asian American community as well. This concept serves as a bridge between the experiences of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans in the United States. It reflects the shared journey of individuals who have migrated to the U.S. from diverse Asian countries and their descendants, who have grappled with questions of identity, belonging, and cultural pride.Lee, Erika. “A Part and Apart: Asian American and Immigration History.” Journal of American Ethnic History 34, no. 4 (2015): 28–42. https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerethnhist.34.4.0028.

For many Asian Americans,Takaki, Ronald T.. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans (Updated and Revised). United Kingdom, eBookit.com, 2012. the notion of 'Asian pride' represents a source of empowerment and cultural celebration. It emerges as a response to historical discrimination, stereotypes, and a sense of 'otherness' that many Asian Americans have faced in the United States. By embracing 'Asian pride,' individuals within the Asian American community reclaim their cultural heritage and assert their unique identities.

United States

The pan-ethnicity Asian American concept is not embraced by many Asian Americans in the United States.{{cite book |last=Wong |first=William |title=Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America |series=Maping Racisms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=evNtIyLKQZcC&q=Asian+pride&pg=PA187 |access-date=20 December 2012 |year=2001 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=9781566398305 |page=187 |quote=The Asian pride argument is not realistic in these times, at least in most cities and especially at state and national levels. For one thing, what is "Asian Pride"? There is a pan-Asian sentiment among some Asian Americans. Many Americans of Asian background, though, don't embrace the vague "Asian American" sobriquet. The identity label of choice rangers from plain old "American" to particular Asian ethnicity.}}
{{cite book|author=Joseph Tilden Rhea|title=Race Pride and the American Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nlue11bhyb4C&pg=PA39|date=1 May 2001|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-00576-1|page=39}}

=Yellow Power=

In the United States the term has older roots within the counter culture movement among Asian Americans in the 1960s.{{cite book|author=Meredith Leigh Oyen|editor=Gina Misiroglu|title=American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4KsBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|date=26 March 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47729-7|page=45|chapter=Asian Pride}} During the period there was the Black Power movement, and Asian Americans seeing the impact it had on African-American culture and overall society, rejecting being called "Oriental" and the stereotype of the "yellow peril" used the term Asian Pride, along with "yellow power", to advance empowerment of Asian Americans.{{cite book|author1=Margaret L. Andersen|author2=Howard F. Taylor|title=Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society, Updated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUcGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA603|date=22 February 2007|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-111-79905-2|page=603}}
{{cite book|author=Daryl J. Maeda|title=Rethinking the Asian American Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtWhSgAACAAJ|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-80081-5}}

=Hip Hop culture=

A more modern usage of the term "Asian Pride" (also spelled AZN pride) in the United States is a positive stance to being Asian American.{{cite book|author=Ann Malaspina|title=The Ethnic and Group Identity Movements: Earning Recognition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYvUouktxv4C&pg=PA31|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0633-5|page=31}} The term arose from influences of hip hop culture within Asian American communities in the Western United States due to the creation of an Asian American pan-ethnicity (the concept was influenced in the late 20th century due to the influence of publications such as Yolk and Giant Robot magazines) that did not specify a specific ethnicity (such as Vietnamese, or Hmong).{{cite book |last1=DiMaggio |first1=Paul |last2=Fernández-Kelly |first2=María Patricia |title=Art in the Lives of Immigrant Communities in the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHJprl1xkmUC&q=Asian+pride&pg=PA152 |access-date=20 December 2012 |year=2010 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=9780813547572 |page=135 }}{{cite book |editor1-first=Kathleen |editor1-last=Nadeau |editor2-first= Jonathan H.X. |editor2-last=Lee |last=Nguyen |first=Jason R. |title=Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife, Volume 1 |chapter=Pan Asian Americans: "Got Rice?" |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0sEJ_0vV1QC&q=Asian+pride&pg=PA68 |access-date=20 December 2012 |year=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313350672 |page=68 }} One manifestation of this was the Got Rice? term, which spun off from the advertising campaign Got Milk?.{{cite book|author=Ann Malaspina|title=The Ethnic and Group Identity Movements: Earning Recognition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYvUouktxv4C&pg=PA31|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0633-5|page=31}} Younger Asian Americans are finding strength from their Asian identity.{{cite book |last=Chou |first=Rosalind S. |title=Asian American Sexual Politics: The Construction of Race, Gender, and Sexuality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVUvp-XcLB8C&q=Asian+pride&pg=PA182 |year=2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781442209244 |page=182 }} Another usage of the term was Greg Pak's Asian Pride Porn!, which used politically correct pornography parody to present Asian Americans in a positive light compared to their portrayal in late 20th century mainstream media.{{cite book|author1=Rachel C. Lee|author2=Sau-ling Cynthia Wong|title=Asian America..Net: Ethnicity Nationalism and Cyberspace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3Igmg6j4qwC&pg=PA274|date=9 May 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-135-44952-X|pages=274–276}}
{{cite book|author=Greg Pak|title=Robot Stories: And More Screenplays|url=https://archive.org/details/robotstoriesmore00pakg|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Immedium|isbn=978-1-59702-000-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/robotstoriesmore00pakg/page/79 79]–95}}
{{cite book|author1=Kent A. Ono|author2=Vincent Pham|title=Asian Americans and the Media|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NQ7PZhiO0sC&pg=PA76|date=20 January 2009|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-4273-4|pages=76–77}}
{{cite book|author=Celine Shimizu|title=Straitjacket Sexualities: Unbinding Asian American Manhoods in the Movies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2k_IPPI2ocMC&pg=PT212|date=9 May 2012|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8220-3|page=212}} Sometimes this arises due to being made to feel different from the prevalent culture surrounding the Asian American youth.{{cite book|author=Daniel Frio|title=Classroom Voices on Education and Race: Students Speak from Inside the Belly of the Beast|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QD3ydonG52sC&pg=PA100|year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4758-0135-4|pages=100–106}}

The term is often used with a negative connotation to describe individuals who prefer only to have Asian American relationships, a stance supported by the majority of Asian Americans, with the exclusion of potential diverse relationships.{{cite book|author=Joseph Tilden Rhea|title=Race Pride and the American Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nlue11bhyb4C&pg=PA39|date=1 May 2001|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-00576-1|page=39}} It has also been criticized as being primarily a marketing gimmick that "is wide open to model minority accusations." and allows for racial name calling.{{cite book|author1=Deborah Wong|author2=Paul DiMaggio|author3=María Patricia Fernández-Kelly|title=Art in the Lives of Immigrant Communities in the United States|chapter=GenerAsian Learn Chinese; The Asian American Youth Generation and New Class Formations|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHJprl1xkmUC&pg=PA138|year=2010|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-4757-2|page=138}}

The term has been adopted by a few Filipino American gang members in Los Angeles, who used the term to assist them in their construction of their ethnic identity.{{cite book |last=Alsaybar |first=Bangele D. |chapter=Filipino American Youth Gangs, "Party Culture," and Ethnic Identity in Los Angeles |editor1-first=Pyong Gap |editor1-last=Min |title=The Second Generation: Ethnic Identity Among Asian Americans |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haGkHhglJJoC&q=Asian+pride&pg=PA129 |year=2002 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=9780759101760 |page=129 }} It has also been used as the name of a gang in Florida{{cite news |title=Asian Pride Gang Member Gets 33 Years |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H-5RAAAAIBAJ&dq=asian-pride&pg=6555%2C168170 |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=6 November 2007 |access-date=9 January 2013}}{{cite news |title=Judge criticized for gang member's low bail in murder case |author=Jamal Thalji |author2=Kameel Stanley |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1001062.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517064829/http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1001062.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2009 |newspaper=Tampa Bay Times |date=15 May 2009 |access-date=9 January 2013}} and Colorado.{{cite news |title=27 Members Of 'Asian Pride' Gang Indicted |url=http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27-members-of-asian-pride-gang-indicted |newspaper=KMGH-TV |date=17 July 2008 |access-date=6 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135640/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27-members-of-asian-pride-gang-indicted |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}

=Got Rice?=

The phrase "Got Rice?" is a term and an image artwork that was coined by Asian American youth, Jonny Ngo, in the 1990s shortly after the original "Got Milk?" advertising campaign for the California Milk Board in 1993.{{cite book|author1=Jonathan H. X. Lee|author2=Kathleen M. Nadeau|title=Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BrfLWdeISoC&pg=PA67|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35066-5|page=67}} The phrase has since come to be used as a symbol for the cohesiveness of Asian American cultural identity and cultural pride, especially on the Internet. It's usually mentioned close to the Asian Pride slogan.

The humor is derived from the fact that rice is a staple food in many Asian cultures. The slogan can thus be viewed as an Asian American cultural response to American media and advertising.

There is also a parody song called "Got Rice?", often referred as AZN Pride, which samples 2Pac's "Changes".{{cite book|author1=Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu|author2=Mimi Thi Nguyen|title=Alien Encounters: Popular Culture in Asian America|url=https://archive.org/details/alienencountersp00mimi|url-access=registration|date=27 March 2007|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-8983-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/alienencountersp00mimi/page/66 66]–67}} The song dates back to at least 2000, and has been described as being in the raptivist genre;{{cite book|author1=Heike Raphael-Hernandez|author2=Shannon Steen|title=AfroAsian Encounters: Culture, History, Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvqgBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151|date=1 November 2006|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-7690-2|page=151}} it is also noted as an example of Asian Americans, specifically Chinese Americans, adoption and adaption of Hip Hop culture.{{cite book|author=Jonathan H. X. Lee|title=Chinese Americans: The History and Culture of a People: The History and Culture of a People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pcLQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA340|date=12 November 2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-550-3|page=340}} It has also been referred to as "satirically pro-Asian", for its use of the AZN terminology which is not fully embraced by all Asian Americans.{{cite book|author1=Paul DiMaggio|author2=Patricia Fernandez-Kelly|title=Art in the Lives of Immigrant Communities in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mK147fnLIrAC&pg=PA137|date=13 October 2010|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-5041-1|page=137-138}} The Fung Brothers released a modification of the song in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://blog.angryasianman.com/2010/09/ode-to-san-gabriel-valley-eats.html |title=An Ode to San Gabriel Valley Easts |date=29 September 2010 |website=Angry Asian Man |publisher=Blogger |access-date=1 March 2010}}

==T-shirt campaign==

While the phrase itself presumably began as Asian American slang, the first notable usage is the T-shirt campaign first started by the Asian American magazine Yolk.{{cite news

| author= Olivia Barker

| title= Eastern Influences Become Icons of Popular Culture

| url= http://www.modelminority.com/article8.html

| publisher= USA Today

| date= March 22, 2001

| access-date= August 29, 2018

| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090206204256/http://www.modelminority.com/article8.html

| archive-date= February 6, 2009

| url-status= dead

}}

Soon, other Asian American organizations began promoting the phrase and selling similar T-shirt designs. The organizations and their proponents intended for the T-shirts to be a fun way of promoting Asian American cultural heritage:

"Political identi-tees don’t all have to be so in-your-face. The Japanese American National Museum in L.A.’s Little Tokyo offers an array of kinder, gentler tees commemorating aspects of Japanese-American heritage both fun and serious. Among the most popular designs, a line of adult and baby tees feature the rallying cry of the lactose liberation movement, "Got Rice?"

{{cite news

|author=S. D. Ikeda

|url=http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/arts_culture_media/archives/ikeda_asian_tshirts1_archived.asp

|title=Identi-tees: Stereotypes, Abercrombie & the Chest as a Battlefield

|publisher=IMDiversity.com

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316102912/http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/arts_culture_media/archives/ikeda_asian_tshirts1_archived.asp

|archive-date=2006-03-16

}}

Many in the Asian American community viewed the design as evidence of significant progress for the viability of Asian American culture and identity; whereas before identity may have been enforced on Asians via stereotypes from the dominant society, the "Got Rice?" shirts were an attempt by Asian Americans to define their identity and to take back those symbols used to stereotype them.Heike Berner. (2003) Home Is Where the Heart Is? Identity and Belonging in Asian American Literature. Ph.D. Dissertation, Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

References

Lee, Erika. “A Part and Apart: Asian American and Immigration History.” Journal of American Ethnic History 34, no. 4 (2015): 28–42. https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerethnhist.34.4.0028.