Inauguration response

By: Huong and Cera

Jeff Yang’s article, “Could Obama be the First Asian American President?” brought up some interesting points about Obama’s relation to the Asian American demographic. He says that Obama fits certain “tropes” that are largely related to the Asian American community. For example, he has family members who are Asian, he grew in Hawaii (which is the only state that has an Asian American majority), and he wrote in his book, “Dreams of my Father” in which he relays anecdotes of feeling like an outsider and having to come to terms with being an outsider.

We believe that where this is an interesting argument, it seems to not hold up under closer scrutiny. The “tropes” of Asian America that Yang says President Obama fits into can be said to be common to all minorities in America. Any person who is not part of the majority will at some point feel like an outsider and the need to come to terms with their personal identity. By becoming the first president from a minority group, he is in a sense representing all minority groups and so is by de facto the first “Asian American” president. Furthermore, the tropes that Yang mentioned as being “Asian American” such as hard working, an emphasis on education, and high academic expectations could be seen as stereotypical since these are qualities that can apply to people of any race. Yang seems to be trying to shove Obama into the “Asian American” mold.

Labeling Obama as the first Asian American president, or even the first African American president, is counterproductive because it emphasizes a division between Americans. In his inaugural speech, Obama briefly mentions the progress of minority groups within the American society but his main focus seemed to be unity and moving forward together as a nation.

One way that the inaugural ceremony portrayed unity within American society was in the performance of “Air” and “Simple Gifts” arranged by John Williams. The performance featured Yo-Yo Ma, a cellist of Asian descent, Anthony McGill, a clarinetist of African descent, Gabriela Montero, a pianist of Hispanic descent, and Itzhak Perlman, a violinist of Jewish descent. We found that the performance was very moving and beautiful since it was a modern arrangement of two classical pieces. There is no doubt that each performer is virtuosic and their individual sounds blended well together. However we thought that this particular grouping of musicians was slightly contrived as to feature the four most prominent minority groups in the United States, plus women. The presence of Yo Yo Ma brings up an interesting blending of east and west. He is known for playing classical western music but he is of eastern descent so him performing at the inauguration suggest the idea that no one is limited by their heritage or racial identity. The presence of musicians from minority groups conveys that Obama is racially conscious.

In addition, Aretha Franklin was chosen to sing “My Country ‘tis of Thee”, a traditional American song. Instead of singing the tune in the traditional manner in which most people are accustomed, she sang it in her signature, blues – jazz style. Interestingly, these musical forms are most closely related to the African American population and were prominent during the civil rights era. 60 years ago, she would not have even been considered to be part of the inaugural event but yesterday, she was a main feature. Therefore, this shows how far America has come in integrating minority groups.

Yesterday marked a historic occasion in American history. While yang would argue that an Asian American president took office, the majority of Americans would associate Obama with the African American demographic. Yang brings up and interesting idea that was along the lines of what Toni Morrison said about President Clinton being the first Black president but we believe that over emphasizing the division between racial groups in America only prevents unity.