5/11 Lowe and Kurup

         Lowe’s article “Heterogeneity, Hybridity, and Multiplicity” stresses the importance of how we perceive “Asian American identity.” Instead of viewing it as something that is fixed as if its practices can only originate from history, we must take into account how these cultural practices will inevitably evolve over time. I particularly liked Stuart Hall’s quote about this matter: “Cultural identity is a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being.’ It belongs to the future as much as to the past…Like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation.” In order for a culture to successfully thrive, I feel that we must allow room for it change as society progresses. Lowe also touches upon another insight about the social construct of Asians being considered a homogeneous group. Today, it is so common for people to assume that all Asians look the same, come from the same background, and follow all the stereotypes. It’s disappointing to not be viewed in terms of heterogeneity.

            In Kurup’s “Assimilation,” it gives us more of an insight on the actual stories of immigrants. Most of the time, when people hear about a person being an “immigrant,” the only detail they consider is that they’re originally from a different country and that’s all, without thinking about class-struggles or the reality of assimilation.. However, Kurup offers us multiple narrations about the experiences of immigrants assimilating in the United States. It is not safe to assume that these people do not struggle when arriving to the U.S. from a different country. It is difficult for them to figure out what being “American” is after being brought up differently in another part of the world.