Synopsis of Interview with Kelly Au

Chicago is an extremely multi-cultural city that has one of the nation’s highest percentages of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Chicago falls slightly behind cities like San Francisco and New York in its numbers of Chinese and Chinese American citizens, but it still manages to have an outstanding 68,021 Chinese and Chinese American population. Therefore, Chinese influence is felt all throughout the city. It is vivid in commerce, rich in history, and blooming with the future.

Chicago’s Chinatown was created out of a growing need and a desire for Chinese immigrants, coming in from the west coast, to create a niche where they could feel safe and at home. Their culture became imbedded in the South Loop around the 1950’s and ‘60’s as they fled discrimination in the West as ex-railroad workers and initiated new lives in the Midwest.

These new lives that people were in constant search for would generate monetary wealth which would allow them to look after their families and take care of their community; thus they became rich in spirit as well. This is still a common goal for many Chinese Americans. Such an example is that of the Au family.

My friend Kelly Au is an outstanding student, a loyal friend, funny, and an intimidating judo opponent. She is well rounded and is not afraid to step out of the norm. Many first generation Chinese Americans, those whose parents are Chinese-born, but had children in the United States, are sometimes confined to false stereotypes that the media has generated which hampers their individual growth; which consists of finding their place within the Chinese and American communities.

Chinese communities are a product of their culture that dates back to thousands of years ago when Confucianism set the stepping stones of a successful kingdom through the establishment of filial piety. Filial piety made the king the caring father of the nation; therefore, respect and love was expected towards him. The household followed the same rules of patriarchal dominion and veneration. Thus a structured family life has always been practiced by Chinese families.

In the United States, there is no such thing a structured family framework. Things differ from culture to culture and in some cases they tend to blend together. This fusion creates some confusion. Once Chinese American kids grow into teenagers and begin to question their being and their place in the world, they allow themselves fall victim to the confusion generated by media-enforced stereotypes.

These stereotypes Kelly Au explains depict Chinese American teens as nerdy and antisocial. She also confesses that strict family values which enforce great devotion to education could be the root of the nerdy stereotypes but that it is just part of being a typical Chinese kid. As for the antisocial remarks, Kelly believes that a lot of Chinese American teens feel comfortable around each other because they do not have to explain themselves and their culture, because they all share the same background. Kelly further explained by setting an example of when I asked her to go out with me and a small group of friends to a teen dance club. I remembered clearly she was not allowed to go, but could not understand why. She went on to explain that her parents did not deem it appropriate for their sixteen year old daughter to be out at night dancing; hence, a cultural difference that I, a Mexican, can somewhat relate to, but still needed some explanation.

After a long discussion with Kelly, I became more aware of cultural differences that make it a challenge to stay true to your Chinese culture and ethnicity while also trying to be a regular American teen. At the same time, I am in awe of what Kelly has been able to accomplish. Kelly is not hampered by any stereotypes of what a Chinese American is or should be. She is only worried about discovering who she is, what her place in the international community is, and about making her parents proud in gratitude for their efforts for coming to America and giving her such a gifted life. She understands her culture and cherishes it while still exploring the American lifestyle and taking in benefits from it.