Thursday, March 25, 2004
On Being a Banana...
Here is an excerpt from a paper that I've written and revised a million times. It's called "On Being a Banana."
There are many things by which you can call me. You can call me Chinese. You can call me Vietnamese. You can call me Canadian. You can call me by three different names in three different languages. On different occasions, you can call me Uncultured and Ignorant of my Asian background as well. The proverbial term “banana” has been coined in the Asian community as someone who is yellow on the outside and white on the inside, meaning I am Chinese but I follow the “White” way of life. In that case, you can call me a “Twinkie” or even a lemon – for those are two things that resemble the colour scheme of a banana. One thing that you cannot call me is Ashamed.
There are many things by which you can call me. You can call me Chinese. You can call me Vietnamese. You can call me Canadian. You can call me by three different names in three different languages. On different occasions, you can call me Uncultured and Ignorant of my Asian background as well. The proverbial term “banana” has been coined in the Asian community as someone who is yellow on the outside and white on the inside, meaning I am Chinese but I follow the “White” way of life. In that case, you can call me a “Twinkie” or even a lemon – for those are two things that resemble the colour scheme of a banana. One thing that you cannot call me is Ashamed.
