Current Scenario
In 2020 and 2021, there had been a recent explosion of ‘visible’ racism against Asian-Americans by the black and white people.
To provide a brief background, the Asian-American people in North America were treated as perpetual foreigners, and this has been reinforced with stereotypes and propaganda for over a century.
But I am not focusing on the historical or the cultural aspect of the source of recent ‘visible’ racism. Instead, I will focus on the overarching issue the USA has in labeling its people.
What is “Ethic-American”
Let’s repeat the first sentence of this article with a more consistent labeling…
“In 2020 and 2021, there had been a recent explosion of ‘visible’ racism against Asian-Americans by the African-American and European-Americans.”
You can notice that I replaced the word Black with “African-American” and white with “European-American”.
The usage of the word African-American should be a surprise to nobody and is regularly used as the ‘official’ terminology.
However, the usage of “European-American” (or “Euro-American” for short) seems odd… In fact it almost makes me feel like I have a radical viewpoint for even using the term “European-American”, but if you think about the situation for more than a minute and consider the labels, you will come to the ultimate conclusion that the usage of “European-American” is only fair if the terms such as “Asian-American” or “African-American” is used.
Consequences of Mislabeling
The usage of the term “Asian” implies that the people of that ethnic origin are from a foreign continent even if the person’s entire culture and identity may be American in origin (and is not found in, or belong in Asia).
It is quite saddening, because just by the surface level existence, Asian-Americans are associated with the Covid-19 disease and are harassed, hit, or even murdered. This dehumanization and alienation of Americans sad, but it has also been found with the African-American community.
It makes you wonder if White people used an equalizing and fair label of Euro-American would open up opportunities to view everyone as an Ethic-American, originating from different place but having made America as our home now, together as neighbors.
There is a quote I love, which is “Greater than the sum of its parts”. It’s almost counterintuitive, but I believe that together we are stronger than we are apart, and as fellow Neo-Americans (or New-Americans), we should not divide ourselves through hate and dehumanization but should unite through empathy and the shared understanding that we have left our Ethnic originating continents to found a new home, family, and life in the North American continent.
Side note
You might have noticed that I used the term Neo-American to describe the Asian-American, African-American, and Euro-American people.
Why did I use the word Neo-American?
I believe the terms “Native Americans” or “Indians” (which is the official term used by the US and Canadian governments in the laws), are not good enough of labels to accurate represent the people who were in the Americas for over 10,000 years (8,000 years before the great Pyramids were built, and around the same time the British isles were populated for the first time).
“I’m a Native” or “I’m a Native of ___” is a term that is thrown around so much by the Euro-Americans that the term “Native American” seems to have lost its meaning. In addition, many Original-Americans refuse to use that word entirely.
For obvious reasons, the term “Indian” is inaccurate.
The Canadian labeling of “First Nations” is decent, but I personally believe that to demonstrate the frank nature of their identity, the label “Original-American would fit them best”.
Of course, the labels “Neo-American” and Original-American” are more up for debate. The label “European-American” or “Euro-American” should absolutely be used regularly, it would only humanize everyone to a deeper level.
