“American Born Chinese” (2006) by Gene Luen Yang is a graphic novel about a Chinese American boy who magically becomes white.
The story is told through three storylines, each with its own main character:
1. Jin Yang, the Chinese American boy in question. He is about 13 and goes to a white school. He falls in love with a white girl. He curls his hair to gain her attention. He is told by others in so many words that he is not her kind, meaning not white. But then one night he turns white….
2. The Monkey King wants to be a god and go to their parties. But no matter how many amazing powers he gains, the gods still laugh at him.
3. Cousin Chin-Kee visits his white cousin Danny in America every year, completely destroying his social life – so much so that Danny has to keep changing schools. Chin-Kee is an out-and-out Chinese stereotype, painfully so: he has two big front teeth, slit eyes, speaks in broken English with every single r and l mixed up and dresses like it’s 1899. At school he knows all the answers. He is good at martial arts. He is constantly laughed at – HAHAHAHAHAHAHA appears in most of his frames – but he is always smiling. He is meant to be an utter racist stereotype.
The three storylines become one by the end of the book.
When Jin was a little boy in Chinatown playing with his transformer, a toy robot that can turn into a truck and back again, an old woman warned him:
It’s easy to become anything you wish, so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul.
Later, when the Monkey King was attempting to become a god by beating up the other gods, Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the maker and knower of all, shows up. He tells the Monkey King that he made him a monkey because that is what he meant for him to be. When the Monkey King tells him he can be whatever he wants to be, Tze-Yo-Tzuh buries him under a huge pile of rocks.
The Monkey King remained there caught under the rocks for 500 years. He could have left any time if he had let go of his amazing powers. Something he did not understand till one day a wise monk told him:
To find your true identity within the will of Tze-Yo-Tzuh, that is the highest of all freedoms.
The Monkey King’s wanting to be a god, his fighting the will of Tze-Yo-Tzuh, was the root of all his unhappiness.
Jin’s wanting to be white, likewise, is the root of his unhappiness.
When Jin becomes white life becomes unbearable. His soul is divided into a white half that he is not ashamed of, but which makes him something of a self-centred jerk, and a Chinese half, which he is extremely ashamed of and is constantly afraid will make him an outcast if he does not hide it somehow.
He does not find peace till he finds his true identity and his soul becomes whole.
See also:
I skimmed through this for a class in an info-sci program. Being a casual comic/graphic novel reader, I thought it was a decent read.
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The quote from the old lady rings too true. I’ve seen a few people do that and it always bothered me how they seem to do it was such ease.
Spotted a typo.
“white half that he is not ashamed of…”
Hope the italics work.
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Thanks for the correction!
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Assumption: souls have racial idenity. Personally, I find this a very disturbing concept
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hello dr jekyll and mr hyde
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Becoming white involved throwing away his tradition and roots as a person of Chinese descent. It was an act of disconnection, plugging out, alienation from and disowning of his own parents. That’s why it bothered him so much and he didn’t feel “whole”.
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This looks like an interesting read. One thing I don’t like though, is how the author makes it seem as if you can find your self-identity w/in a race.
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[Mammoth post alert. They don’t start out that way, they grow…]
One of the problems with understanding of “race” is that it can mean different things to different people. For example, it would appear that “whiteness” was constructed in denial of the distinct ethno-racial origin of various European groups. Sure, Europeans have things in common due to their similar envinronment and long history of interaction but “whiteness”, at least in America, involved assimilation and homogenization towards a WASP ideal. IOW, the forces that many non-whites resist (because their divergent “looks” would preclude full acceptance as white anyway) are the forces European ethno-racial groups had already surrendered to (to various extents). This is where the concept of “becoming white” comes from. (Note that while whiteness may be, in a sense, forced, it is REAL and was employed for a reason.)
On the other hand, [IN]HERITage is a very tenacious thing because it is passed down from parents. That accounts for broad differences in appearance (genetics) and tradition (culture) between people with different ancestral origins. It is why African Americans, for example, may have different ways of speaking, dancing, musical expression and worshipping (even in a Christian context) due to aspects of transmitted ancestral culture that survived even through slavery. The same is actually true for white people where an Italian background, for example, may influence their family cuisine or religious denomination. I consider this completely natural, harmless, and a part of human experience and IDENTITY.
Though many whites wear their “whiteness” for PRAGMATIC reasons they’ll often identify with their ethno-racial backgrounds (“I’m Italian, Irish”) for MEANING. However, most understand “race” as the former, ie “whiteness” which is something many do not derive any meaning from except in understanding its opposition to those who are not. So when others hold on to racial identity some whites may see it as a negative thing by analogy with the isolating condition of “whiteness”. However, when non-whites speak of race (I’m Chinese-American, African-American — note that these need to be hyphenated) they are referring primarily to their ethno-racial origin and its meaning in terms of their ancestral experience and bio-cultural heritage. Within the American context, it is the non-white equivalent of “I’m Italian”.
In a sense white supremacy hurts everyone but for whites there can be some psychic and material gain (gains which become less relevant with equality which may account for the “equality as loss” ethic). For PoC there is no gain at all only unremitting loss. Furthermore, if they give up their actual racial identities the only thing they’ll have is the vacuous distinction of being non-white.
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ah, the tragic mulatto revisited …
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Abagond:
I’ve noticed that a lot of japanese animation and comics have white male and female characters in them, Why? Do asians have a complex about their short stature? Is it about asian men not measuring up to other men? Is it about asian women not liking asian men, therefore, asian men obsess over whitewomen from europe and america? Not trying to step on toes, just asking obvious questions that need to be asked.
Tyrone
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I really, really, really love your blog. As an Asian Canadian (third-generation), I truly appreciate your ability to capture elements of my experience as well as illuminating me on the experiences of other Coloured folk. Your knack for history and writing is truly remarkable.
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@ Clydetheglide:
Please post on the right thread or I will continue to delete your comments where they are off-thread.
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Ha-Ha, they did a short youtube video inspired by the first idea on this book.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8qGhiMy2LI)
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Interesting interview with the author
(http://www.nbcnews.com/video/life-stories-gene-luen-yang-720331331990)
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