I came across a poem recently that I thought would be perfect to post on here. It is by Joann Miyamoto, an American-born Japanese American. Although I’m not Japanese-American I think her poem really speaks to issues that many racialized peoples living in Canada and the U.S. face and have faced – myself included.
Untitled – Joann Miyamoto
When I was young
Kids used to ask me
what are you?
I’d tell them what my mom told me
I’m an American
chin chin Chinaman
You’re a Jap!
Flashing hot inside
I’d go home
my mom would say
don’t worry
he that walks alone
walks faster
people kept asking me
what are you?
And I would always answer
I’m am American
they’d say
no, what nationality
but there was always
someone asking me
what are you?
Now I answer
I’m an Asian
and they say
why do you want to separate yourselves
now I say
I’m Japanese
and they say
don’t you know this is the greatest country in the world
now I say in America
I’m part of the third world people
and they say
if you don’t like it here
why don’t you go back.
Printed in Roots: An Asian American Reader.
Edited by Amy Tachiki, Eddie Wong & Franklin Odo.
1971. p98-99.
I can relate all too well to this poem and it makes me wonder, when will non-whites ever be considered full citizens. Is that even a possibility? Will we always be seen as aliens, foreigners and undesirables?
