All I Asking For Is My Body By Milton Murayama

In today’s society, most schools, both elementary and secondary, don’t discuss Asian or even Asian American History. African American, Native American and even European histories are all extensively covered in history classes. Many students have at least some knowledge of African American slavery, forced cultural assimilation of Native Americans, and the civil rights movement. From an early age, children are taught that the U.S. is a country created by immigrants; however, American history classes have shown a trend of teaching that excludes Asian Americans from the history of this country. At most, the topic of Asian American history is lightly touched, only introducing San Francisco Chinatowns or the large influx of Asian immigrants looking …show more content…
Asian immigrants who worked on Hawaiian plantations were considered inferior; they were at the bottom of the social hierarchy and served a role as cheap labor. As a result of a mixed and diverse community, pidgin English developed. However, although despite seeming as a creative solution as a means of communication, it became a social marker back then for those that are poor and lack culture. As a result, children born on plantations who had no other choice but to learn pidgin English became victims of racism. Since they could not speak “normal” English, they were not allowed to attend schools. Because overt racism, many lost their sense of individualism. The segregation of those immigrants and their children (regardless of their natural born citizenship) prevent them from climbing up the ranks and gaining political power. Consequently, they are forced to continue working as cheap labor and ultimately giving up their bodies, hence, the title, in order to survive in their heavily oppressed communities. Nevertheless, those constantly oppressed families continued to work hard for a future. They began to have dreams(despite intra- and intergenerational conflict) and …show more content…
Through stories and accounts, immigrant children can further understand the hardships their previous generations dealt with and develop an empathy. While researching the discrimination their forefathers endured, they’ll discover how difficult it was for the Chinese to create families. For example, the Page Law prevent family formation and created an even greater gender imbalance within the Chinese American community. These laws created by sinophobes led to the emergence of services for the Chinese to find connections, enjoy leisure and relax in a comfortable environment that seemed like home. Ultimately, these led to the creations of