I’m Asian and American, Not Asian-American

A Reflection on Mixed Identity

Tokyo, circa 1999 (Family photograph)

For me, the sentence “I’m Asian and American” is true in the simplest sense: I am from Asia and I am also from America. Despite being Asian and American, I am not Asian-American.

The phrase “Asian-American” may bring to mind the image of families from across Asia journeying to the United States in search of…