Asian American X

"…Knowing that running away didn't solve a single thing."  Young enough to consider "running away" but old enough to assess long-term consequences of actions?  Raises the question: to what extent did the experiences of immigrants accelerate certain aspects of maturation?

I'm not sure oil, water, and alcohol is a good analogy, as water isn't the intersection of oil and alcohol.  Unless the point is trying to be made that the "water people" are their own unique grouping, sharing little qualities with their parents and the younger modern white american generation.

Can the first generation immigrants be blamed in part for their children's failure to assimilate as a result of them attempting to impose their values on them which were incompatible with "modern America?"

Did rejection by white Americans effect the tendency of immigrants to make strong efforts to maintain their traditional cultural values?

"They have two kids by the time they're eighteen…."  Doesn't that qualify as statutory rape?  SERIOUS lack of assimilation.

So what exactly ARE the cascading consequences of ticking a box on an official document indicating your ethnicity as "Asian American?"  The system cannot simply record you as "white" because you want to be or see yourself as sharing most qualities with.  If ethnicity was determined exclusively by phenotype and not family history, then that can be considered a flaw in the system, and Matthew's concern is only valid if that was actually the case OR if he was denied certain benefits associated with being classified as "white."

I can't tell to what extent Matthew's mother exhibited discriminatory behavior.  She rebuked asian men for being sexist but then went on to make a racist joke that Korean housewives are little and submissive, and that they're rude (knocking her over in the market?!?)

Why did he demonstrate Tae Kwon Doe if he didn't like being associated with Asian culture?!?!?!

"While I may have to extent naively admired their relative openness…." But they weren't any more open than other people.  Open to different things, yes, but closed to other, "normal" things.  Can that be admired?