Eric Shinseki Token Asian American for Obama's Cabinet

In the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, to many Americans, their next door neighbors though fellow American flag-waving citizens, born in the United States now suspiciously looked like the enemy. With their glossy black hair and slanty eyes, the Shinsekis along with other "Japs" or "Nips" were now a threat to national security. So it is of huge symbolic historical significance 67 years later for Obama to pick for the post of Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki, honoring an Asian American of Japanese descent, a four star general and 38-year military veteran born in Hawaii.

Eric Shinseki More Than the Token Asian

On the caucasian cabinet nominees, I don't recall a big deal being made of the specific countries of origin for their ancestors. Obama's ascent while symbolic as the first black President of the United States is also about authenticity and character. As a highly decorated and well respected military veteran, Eric Shinseki is more than a token appointment to ensure racial diversity within the White House. This decision is monumental, well thought out and timed by Obama's administration. Both Obama and Shinseki pave the way for a future where any person of color no longer has to be defined by their ethnicity as the "first of" anything.

Where Are You From?

As someone of Japanese descent, that's yonsei or 4^th generation Japanese-Canadian, I look forward to the possibility of a future where I don't always have to explain myself. I currently live in Washington, D.C. and when people frequently ask me where I'm from, I often forget what I look like and Canada rolls off my tongue. I don't mean to be obtuse, but sometimes I find the prying annoying. "No" they belligerently demand "where are your parents from?" "Canada" I state simply. But the interrogation presses on like some sort of "Who's on first" routine. "Your grandparents?" "Canada" "Your great grandparents?" Again I answer "Canada" but by then the jig is up and I'm more curious to see what politically correct way people can come up with to ask me my ethnicity.

De-Hyphenated Identity

Often times, the people who come right out and ask me are other immigrants - taxi drivers, convenience store clerks, dry cleaners, etc. It's as if they need to upgrade their racial profiling internal database. The inevitable follow-up questions play out like ethnic 20 questions "Korean", "Vietnamese", "Chinese" for some reason "Japanese" rarely spontaneously comes up. Then I wonder suspiciously if it's a bad way to answer as Japan was pretty brutal during the war and I hope the cost of my dry cleaning or gas will not be more expensive. But usually people are more curious than vindictive. In fact, I sometimes get the under the table "asian discount", a free mandarin orange or some other little perk as if having an immigrant background bonds us together. I suppose overall my preference is to have a de-hyphenated identity while celebrating the unique character of the country my ancestors left behind with all the promise of the country I am born.

Internment of Japanese Canadians & Americans

My other hope with this appointment of Eric Shinseki on the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is that as people research the history of that day, that it may shed new awareness on the internment of Japanese Americans & Canadians. Over 110,000 Japanese Americans & people of Japanese descent mostly on the West coast were forced to give up their property and homes and be sent to war relocation camps. In Canada, more than 22,000 people of Japanese descent many who were Canadian were forced to give up their fishing boats, cars, houses and possessions and sent away from the coast to internment camps. Many people are not even aware this ever occurred and many like my mother and father, their parents, sisters and brothers and other family and friends persevered despite this initial hardship. Because Hawaii's population of Japanese was so high, only those considered at high risk were interned but the stigma of any one racial group being singled out still stings today.

Lest We Forget

Despite whatever paranoia terrorists may try to inflict, we are a stronger, more diverse, interesting nation when we stand together and stick up for one another regardless of color, gender or other defining attribute. So it is with great pride that Eric Shinseki's appointment goes beyond ethnic boundaries and speaks to the perseverance of all immigrants who come to America in pursuit of a better life for generations to come. Both Obama, Shinseki and countless others do a nation, their ancestors and future generations proud.

Sources:

"Obama Picks Shinseki to Lead Veteran Affairs", Philip Rucker, Washington Post, December 7, 2008