COLUMN: Are brown people American?

From Amar Kosaraju's, "And Justice For All," Fall '97 From Amar Kosaraju's, "And Justice For All," Fall '97 When I first told my parents I was joining the Air Force, they almost lost it. My mother instantly had images of her son being a fighter pilot in the Middle East or wading some remote jungle in the world. Even though I got a scholarship to be a dentist in the Air Force, my mother still imagined every Rambo movie with her son as Stallone. At the age of five, I realized for the first time I was different from my first-grade classmates, when someone called me a "chocolate M&M.;" Being a bit of a dumb-witted kid, I think I countered his attack by calling him a "Kit-Kat." My classmate showed me why I was a chocolate M&M; and not American -- because my skin color was very brown and not white like his skin. Even though I went to an all-white school, it had never occurred to me until that point in my life I was different than anyone else. I happily lived in my blissful first-grade world of equality, filled with matchbox cars and Legos. When I became a chocolate M&M; that day, I became very aware of my skin color, culture and being considered an outsider. What is being American? Throughout my life, I have struggled to be American without really knowing what it is. The words describing Americanism are: baseball, apple pie and George Washington. To be American is to watch football on Sundays, drink beer and have barbecues during the summer. An American is someone who was born in this country and who has slowly forgotten where they originally came from. An American is a white person or black person. An American is not a brown person. When I was in high school, I played sports and was active in various clubs. I was your typical student; no different than my peers in my language or action. In college, I did community service work, joined a social fraternity and was able to easily integrate into the predominantly white student body. I was able to talk and act like everyone else, and yet, I was still different. The reality is when a person sees a brown person, they have certain expectations: they don't think here's an American, but they see a foreigner with an accent. When someone asks me "where I am from," they don't expect to hear Mohnton, Pa. -- a small town in Amish country. But they expect me to say, "I'm from India," even though I was born and raised in this country. My father and mother came here in the late '60s for the same reasons every other immigrant group had come to America -- for the opportunity to live the American Dream. It is the American Dream that has propelled people from across the world to come to this country with the idea if you work hard, you will succeed and be rewarded. As first- and second -generation Asian immigrants, we recognize our ties with our heritage and culture, but maintain our citizenship and commitment to being Americans. Unfortunately, we have to fight for and strive to have that quality of being American, while those from European decent simply have to live and exist to be considered American. During World War II, Japanese-American citizens were considered more Japanese than American and placed in detention camps while German-American citizens were simply considered American and non-threatening. Why this difference in treatment? The answer is color because Asian people are not considered American. Gary Locke, the governor of Washington, is a third-generation Chinese American. His family came to this country with practically nothing and earned their living by operating a fishing boat. His father served in World War II and was a decorated soldier. Spending the majority of his life in public service, Locke is now the first governor in the continental U.S. with an Asian heritage. He now lives in the governor's mansion which is one block away from the house he grew up in near his family's fishing boat. Is Gary Locke an American? As first- and second-generation Asians, it will take us time to make our mark in this country and add our heritage to the fabric of America. The turkey that we have at Thanksgiving will be as American as the egg rolls, sushi and tandoori chicken that we have next to it. Our kids and their kids will have people look at them as Americans and valuable members of this culture. Eventually, our definition of what is American will truly reflect the people of America. On the day of my commissioning, my parents finally accepted my decision and were actually proud of my choice. As I was taking my oath, it interesting to see all these white military people in one room with my very brown Indian parents. My mother was wearing a colorful sari, and my father was asking questions with his deep Indian accent. It was a clash of culture with my parents and the military officers representing two faces of America and yet it seemed so right. My parents who came to this country as immigrants from India with $16 and two suitcases, had now the ceremonial honor of placing lieutenant bars on me signifying my membership and rank as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. It was a great day, it just seemed so American?

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