Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele has been
called an “oreo” because he’s black
and conservative. Well, I know how he feels. I’ve been called a “banana”--you know, yellow outside but white inside—because of my politics.
Even though I proudly call myself a Vietnamese-American, and feel a certain ethnic pride at the remarkable achievements of Vietnamese-Americans despite our difficult struggles, I’ve never been comfortable with identity politics. I also oppose affirmative action. The word “diversity” in political discourse makes me cringe. All of that makes me a “banana”.
The funny thing is, I was first called that by some Vietnamese-American students when I was in college. Those students grew up here (they left Vietnam in 1975 when they were little kids), and became immersed in leftist politics that’s dominant on almost all college campuses. They barely spoke Vietnamese and knew next to nothing about Vietnam. Whereas I speak, read, and write Vietnamese fluently, (I was editor of a Vietnamese-language literary magazine put out by the Vietnamese Student Association), and know quite a bit about Vietnam’s history, culture, and literature. But because I refused to engage in the group-think required by leftist identity politics, I was somehow not “Vietnamese” enough for them.
Maybe Steele and I should run on a ticket. The oreos thrown at him and the bananas at me would make a pretty tasty meal, don't you think?
