| WOAA-Madison Spring Potluck Panel “Being Asian American in Wisconsin” |
A close look at “Being an Asian American in Wisconsin”
By Heidi M. Pascual
Part 1 of 2
It was another issue-focused social gathering of Asian Americans and
friends at Regina and Robert Cowell’s home on May 31, courtesy of the
Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA). After a relaxing
outdoor Qigong session led by Gina, introductions, networking, and a
sumptuous dinner consisting of many Asian dishes, we settled down to
listen to four panelists who tackled the topic “Being an Asian American
in Wisconsin.” The panelists were Saraswathy “Anu” Parthasarathy,
Ashok Bhargava, Blia Xiong, and Renee Moe. They each described
their experiences — as a working mother in a corporate setting; a
retired educator in a “political activist” role; a university student; and an
executive in a nonprofit doing human services work. Lynet Uttal,
director of Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison, facilitated the discussion. WOAA co-chairs Lakshmi Sridharan
and Sharyl Kato welcomed the members and guests in attendance,
each expressing their pleasure and excitement at the opportunity to
learn from each other’s unique experiences.
Uttal set the tone for the gathering when she admitted that she had
never called herself “Asian American” until her appointment in January
2008 as director of Asian American Studies at UW-Madison. “I’m half-
Japanese and Russian Jewish,” Uttal said, adding that she had been
figuring out ‘what she is’ her whole life. She gave a brief history about
the term “Asian American” and explained why she had objections with
it. “You probably noticed it because of the census,” she said. “The term,
actually a category of just ‘Asian,’ was a new category in 1990; before
that in 1980, they introduced ‘Asian and Pacific Islander’ as a category,
and before 1980, if you were Asian and you were taking the census, you
would check ‘Other.’ So it’s actually a new term.”
The main reason Uttal said she objects to people using the term
“Asian American” is because it’s a census- or government-created term.
“But it wasn’t only a government-created term, it was also a term that
was introduced in the 1960s by academics and political activists as an
alternative to the use of the word ‘Oriental,’ which was commonly used
until that point.” She nevertheless expressed her excitement to hear
various experiences of Asian Americans in Wisconsin, and to open up a
discussion among the attendees to basically compare notes.
The panelists
Saraswathy “Anu” Parthasarathy has been in Madison for the past
13 years. She immigrated to the U.S. when her husband got a job here.
Anu used to work at a Fortune 500 company in India, first as a
programmer, then as a manager. In Madison, she started as a
consultant and is now working in the IT field at one of the biggest
companies in Wisconsin. “For a family perspective, I have two children,
one is 24 years old, and he’s a soldier in the U.S. Army deployed in
Korea, and a nine-year old daughter who keeps us young and vibrant
and alive and kicking,” she said.
By Heidi M. Pascual
Part 1 of 2
It was another issue-focused social gathering of Asian Americans and
friends at Regina and Robert Cowell’s home on May 31, courtesy of the
Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA). After a relaxing
outdoor Qigong session led by Gina, introductions, networking, and a
sumptuous dinner consisting of many Asian dishes, we settled down to
listen to four panelists who tackled the topic “Being an Asian American
in Wisconsin.” The panelists were Saraswathy “Anu” Parthasarathy,
Ashok Bhargava, Blia Xiong, and Renee Moe. They each described
their experiences — as a working mother in a corporate setting; a
retired educator in a “political activist” role; a university student; and an
executive in a nonprofit doing human services work. Lynet Uttal,
director of Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison, facilitated the discussion. WOAA co-chairs Lakshmi Sridharan
and Sharyl Kato welcomed the members and guests in attendance,
each expressing their pleasure and excitement at the opportunity to
learn from each other’s unique experiences.
Uttal set the tone for the gathering when she admitted that she had
never called herself “Asian American” until her appointment in January
2008 as director of Asian American Studies at UW-Madison. “I’m half-
Japanese and Russian Jewish,” Uttal said, adding that she had been
figuring out ‘what she is’ her whole life. She gave a brief history about
the term “Asian American” and explained why she had objections with
it. “You probably noticed it because of the census,” she said. “The term,
actually a category of just ‘Asian,’ was a new category in 1990; before
that in 1980, they introduced ‘Asian and Pacific Islander’ as a category,
and before 1980, if you were Asian and you were taking the census, you
would check ‘Other.’ So it’s actually a new term.”
The main reason Uttal said she objects to people using the term
“Asian American” is because it’s a census- or government-created term.
“But it wasn’t only a government-created term, it was also a term that
was introduced in the 1960s by academics and political activists as an
alternative to the use of the word ‘Oriental,’ which was commonly used
until that point.” She nevertheless expressed her excitement to hear
various experiences of Asian Americans in Wisconsin, and to open up a
discussion among the attendees to basically compare notes.
The panelists
Saraswathy “Anu” Parthasarathy has been in Madison for the past
13 years. She immigrated to the U.S. when her husband got a job here.
Anu used to work at a Fortune 500 company in India, first as a
programmer, then as a manager. In Madison, she started as a
consultant and is now working in the IT field at one of the biggest
companies in Wisconsin. “For a family perspective, I have two children,
one is 24 years old, and he’s a soldier in the U.S. Army deployed in
Korea, and a nine-year old daughter who keeps us young and vibrant
and alive and kicking,” she said.
because she moved with her family to the U.S. when she was only two years old. “When you talk about the term ‘Asian American,’ I actually was surprised
because I never actually otherwise used that term,” she said emphatically. “It never meant anything to me. Growing up, I’m sure you know, all kids want to do is
fit in. I was more concerned with trying to assimilate and finding out how American I can be, rather than how Hmong I can be.” She, however, acknowledged the
difficulty of being just the former, because people see that she’s different. “Walking into a restaurant, you can feel that people see that aspect of you. It took me
a long time to overcome that.”
Renee Moe, vice president of United Way of Dane County, is half-Norwegian, half Chinese (from Taiwan). “They (her parents) met in the military so we
traveled a lot,” she said. “I was actually born in Tampa, Fla, went to Germany, then Japan, then moved to Wisconsin when my dad retired.” She was only 8 years
old when her dad retired, and the family settled in ‘rural’ Wisconsin. “I always thought of myself as Asian American,” Renee said, “Why do I feel that way? We
were the only non-White family in (my) school district… and I was the only Asian.” She recalled some of her experiences in high school, particularly when a
popular high school teacher talked about his experiences in the Vietnam War and the ‘gook women.’ “He said it once, we made eye contact, and he said it
again, and I said ‘gook women?’ I thought I was the only Asian there, he looked at me, yeah, and kept going.” Renee was re-exposed to different ethnicities and
a lot of diversity when she entered UW-Madison. It was also where she first heard of the term “biracial.” It was her work at United Way that further exposed her to
the diverse peoples in Dane County. “In terms of the human services, we particularly work around education, children, health care, housing, independence,
safety and leadership in the community.”
The Discussion
Editor’s note: Names of discussants stricken off
How can an Asian woman’s voice be heard by White male executives
“I haven’t managed it; I’m still working at it,” Speaker B admitted. “For the most part, Indians are considered to be technically very knowledgeable and highly
skilled. When I first joined the company 10 years ago, there were few Indians in the company. Now there are 150 or 200 Indians, most of them are consultants or
contractors to supplement the IT field. Out of a total of 100 managers, I’m the only non-White. No Asian, no Asian American, no Black, I’m the only non-White.”
Speaker B has been with the company for eight years. “I’ve done a lot of good work for them, and they knew I was a high achiever; and they wanted a high
achiever, so they picked me,” she said. “And the director who picked me had worked with me before, so he knew my capabilities.” She said that her company has
a diversity program, and ‘they’ talk a lot about it at management meetings. “But there are times, frankly, when I apply for jobs, I feel that maybe my resumé gets
picked just because they need to meet their performance goals, (and they pick others), including the worst candidates, not because they’re interested in what
they had already done. I feel that I have to work doubly hard to make myself noticed … It’s just frustrating.”
Bottomline: An Asian American woman is hired for her knowledge, skills, and competence.
Focus on the positive, not the negative
Speaker C suggested that instead of looking at the negative aspects of a company or office where one works, focus should be more on the positive and
forgiving people for overlooking one’s capabilities. “I think they’ll start looking at you; they’ll start listening to you; and that’s exactly what happened to me,” she
said. “I was probably the most highly qualified in the division I was in, including the division administrator who had an undergraduate degree. I had my Ph.D.,
but I was just an Asian woman, a minority woman working as an engineer. I was participating in the interviews and all that, hoping that one day, people will
open their eyes and listen to me.” She said she went straight to the department secretary and presented her credentials, and her immediate boss got angry for
her doing so. “I got nothing in terms of promotions or special assignments.” It took two years for them to forgive each other, and Mrs. C got her wish at last.
Bottomline: Asian American women should not bypass their immediate supervisors in order to get promoted.
Lack of diversity in companies
Speaker A posited that someone has to stir things up because rarely do things happen without someone doing so. “You don’t have to necessarily stir it up; but
in essence, someone’s got to be stirring it up on your behalf, in creating the questions and the problems,” he said. Some companies would not move unless the
issue is brought to court and when it is resolved, they start to fade back and slide away from their commitment, he added. He cited a local company that over
the last five to 10 years has lost a lot of people of color.
Bottomline: Some companies don’t really want to hire people of color, unless they are ‘forced’ to.
The rapid change of demographics in the Madison area has now stirred companies toward a customer-based strategy for business growth. “That’s exactly what
companies are doing,” Mrs. B said. “Because there’s a lot of competition … they realized that. Sometimes new leadership brings in a brand new vision and
mission statement which actually caters to the customers. However, I still don’t see diversity in staff.”
Generational gap
Speaker D brought up the issue of generational gaps within the work environment as well.
“As Madison has this beautiful explosion of diversity, our customer base has changed and we’re reacting internally first,” he said. “But it seems to me that there
is a sort of a generational combat that’s going on among people in the company. I just participated in a diversity initiative and I was one of only two Asian
Americans and the discussion was pretty open …” He talked of the anger and resentment coming from the younger workers, who claimed that their voices are not
heard. “There’s certainly a cultural clash but there’s a generational clash as well, and that’s equally a big issue. We tried to dialogue in that meeting but instead
of building bridges, it felt like we were just all venting.”
Speaker E explained that her elders have this idea of how people should act, and that even though they have issues that make them angry, they won’t do
anything about it. “Our older folks actually don’t think they can do anything about it,” she said. “They also fear a backlash or something happening to them or
their families. They just feel they should not cause any trouble. For the younger ones, we could do what needs to be done.”
Bottomline: Asian American youths, just like other youth groups, experience a generational gap.
WOAA challenge
Speaker F argued that it’s not just generational. “I think that’s a part of it, but I think even in this organization, we sometimes face the same issue of how do we
get further? How do you make that progress? For me, unity is strength and that it is more a matter of speaking, not in fragmented voices, because the Asians in
particular are so invisible.”
Speaker G suggested that it’s the individuals doing well that lend credibility to the group. “That’s one of the things that I found interesting in the group —
talking to other members and finding out their experiences, the kind of conversation that took place here is really individuals giving their experiences for the
benefit of the group, and then the group experiences becoming helpful.”
Speaker F agreed and stressed that we can have strong individuals in the Asian community, but if they do not have that sense of community, then it would be
very hard. “One of the things that we did is come together — multiple generations, multiple views — particularly on the Constitutional Amendment provision (on
gay marriage). That was something I didn’t think we were going to have, and we got it, so that was telling me that it can work.”
Next issue: More interesting discussions to stimulate your intellect and emotions.
because I never actually otherwise used that term,” she said emphatically. “It never meant anything to me. Growing up, I’m sure you know, all kids want to do is
fit in. I was more concerned with trying to assimilate and finding out how American I can be, rather than how Hmong I can be.” She, however, acknowledged the
difficulty of being just the former, because people see that she’s different. “Walking into a restaurant, you can feel that people see that aspect of you. It took me
a long time to overcome that.”
Renee Moe, vice president of United Way of Dane County, is half-Norwegian, half Chinese (from Taiwan). “They (her parents) met in the military so we
traveled a lot,” she said. “I was actually born in Tampa, Fla, went to Germany, then Japan, then moved to Wisconsin when my dad retired.” She was only 8 years
old when her dad retired, and the family settled in ‘rural’ Wisconsin. “I always thought of myself as Asian American,” Renee said, “Why do I feel that way? We
were the only non-White family in (my) school district… and I was the only Asian.” She recalled some of her experiences in high school, particularly when a
popular high school teacher talked about his experiences in the Vietnam War and the ‘gook women.’ “He said it once, we made eye contact, and he said it
again, and I said ‘gook women?’ I thought I was the only Asian there, he looked at me, yeah, and kept going.” Renee was re-exposed to different ethnicities and
a lot of diversity when she entered UW-Madison. It was also where she first heard of the term “biracial.” It was her work at United Way that further exposed her to
the diverse peoples in Dane County. “In terms of the human services, we particularly work around education, children, health care, housing, independence,
safety and leadership in the community.”
The Discussion
Editor’s note: Names of discussants stricken off
How can an Asian woman’s voice be heard by White male executives
“I haven’t managed it; I’m still working at it,” Speaker B admitted. “For the most part, Indians are considered to be technically very knowledgeable and highly
skilled. When I first joined the company 10 years ago, there were few Indians in the company. Now there are 150 or 200 Indians, most of them are consultants or
contractors to supplement the IT field. Out of a total of 100 managers, I’m the only non-White. No Asian, no Asian American, no Black, I’m the only non-White.”
Speaker B has been with the company for eight years. “I’ve done a lot of good work for them, and they knew I was a high achiever; and they wanted a high
achiever, so they picked me,” she said. “And the director who picked me had worked with me before, so he knew my capabilities.” She said that her company has
a diversity program, and ‘they’ talk a lot about it at management meetings. “But there are times, frankly, when I apply for jobs, I feel that maybe my resumé gets
picked just because they need to meet their performance goals, (and they pick others), including the worst candidates, not because they’re interested in what
they had already done. I feel that I have to work doubly hard to make myself noticed … It’s just frustrating.”
Bottomline: An Asian American woman is hired for her knowledge, skills, and competence.
Focus on the positive, not the negative
Speaker C suggested that instead of looking at the negative aspects of a company or office where one works, focus should be more on the positive and
forgiving people for overlooking one’s capabilities. “I think they’ll start looking at you; they’ll start listening to you; and that’s exactly what happened to me,” she
said. “I was probably the most highly qualified in the division I was in, including the division administrator who had an undergraduate degree. I had my Ph.D.,
but I was just an Asian woman, a minority woman working as an engineer. I was participating in the interviews and all that, hoping that one day, people will
open their eyes and listen to me.” She said she went straight to the department secretary and presented her credentials, and her immediate boss got angry for
her doing so. “I got nothing in terms of promotions or special assignments.” It took two years for them to forgive each other, and Mrs. C got her wish at last.
Bottomline: Asian American women should not bypass their immediate supervisors in order to get promoted.
Lack of diversity in companies
Speaker A posited that someone has to stir things up because rarely do things happen without someone doing so. “You don’t have to necessarily stir it up; but
in essence, someone’s got to be stirring it up on your behalf, in creating the questions and the problems,” he said. Some companies would not move unless the
issue is brought to court and when it is resolved, they start to fade back and slide away from their commitment, he added. He cited a local company that over
the last five to 10 years has lost a lot of people of color.
Bottomline: Some companies don’t really want to hire people of color, unless they are ‘forced’ to.
The rapid change of demographics in the Madison area has now stirred companies toward a customer-based strategy for business growth. “That’s exactly what
companies are doing,” Mrs. B said. “Because there’s a lot of competition … they realized that. Sometimes new leadership brings in a brand new vision and
mission statement which actually caters to the customers. However, I still don’t see diversity in staff.”
Generational gap
Speaker D brought up the issue of generational gaps within the work environment as well.
“As Madison has this beautiful explosion of diversity, our customer base has changed and we’re reacting internally first,” he said. “But it seems to me that there
is a sort of a generational combat that’s going on among people in the company. I just participated in a diversity initiative and I was one of only two Asian
Americans and the discussion was pretty open …” He talked of the anger and resentment coming from the younger workers, who claimed that their voices are not
heard. “There’s certainly a cultural clash but there’s a generational clash as well, and that’s equally a big issue. We tried to dialogue in that meeting but instead
of building bridges, it felt like we were just all venting.”
Speaker E explained that her elders have this idea of how people should act, and that even though they have issues that make them angry, they won’t do
anything about it. “Our older folks actually don’t think they can do anything about it,” she said. “They also fear a backlash or something happening to them or
their families. They just feel they should not cause any trouble. For the younger ones, we could do what needs to be done.”
Bottomline: Asian American youths, just like other youth groups, experience a generational gap.
WOAA challenge
Speaker F argued that it’s not just generational. “I think that’s a part of it, but I think even in this organization, we sometimes face the same issue of how do we
get further? How do you make that progress? For me, unity is strength and that it is more a matter of speaking, not in fragmented voices, because the Asians in
particular are so invisible.”
Speaker G suggested that it’s the individuals doing well that lend credibility to the group. “That’s one of the things that I found interesting in the group —
talking to other members and finding out their experiences, the kind of conversation that took place here is really individuals giving their experiences for the
benefit of the group, and then the group experiences becoming helpful.”
Speaker F agreed and stressed that we can have strong individuals in the Asian community, but if they do not have that sense of community, then it would be
very hard. “One of the things that we did is come together — multiple generations, multiple views — particularly on the Constitutional Amendment provision (on
gay marriage). That was something I didn’t think we were going to have, and we got it, so that was telling me that it can work.”
Next issue: More interesting discussions to stimulate your intellect and emotions.
Ashok Bhargava arrived in Wisconsin in 1966 to study,
and while he called himself a “reluctant immigrant” initially,
he gradually learned to like it here and decided to stay. “I’ve
been here for almost 42 years in August,” Ashok introduced
himself. “I spent most of my adult life here, got married here,
had kids here, and my kids are in Fitchburg and Minneapolis. I’
ve had a long relationship with WOAA.”
He explained about how he helped start the Association of
Indians in America (AIA) in the late ‘70s, when he felt Indians
at the time were “ready” to organize. Ashok also observed that
Asian Americans in Wisconsin seemed to experience the slow
process of political involvement. He talked of how he joined
the Governor’s Council on Asian Affairs in the ‘80s, even when
Indians were not yet considered “Asians,” and how some Asian
American women got involved in the fundraiser for Russ
Feingold in the ‘90s. He then said that Indians have been
grappling with the term “Asian American” for more than 30
years. (Bhargava is a retired economics professor at UW-
Whitewater.)
Blia Xiong, a Hmong student, will be a junior this coming
fall at UW-Madison. While she was born in a Thai refugee
camp, Blia admitted she couldn’t remember anything
and while he called himself a “reluctant immigrant” initially,
he gradually learned to like it here and decided to stay. “I’ve
been here for almost 42 years in August,” Ashok introduced
himself. “I spent most of my adult life here, got married here,
had kids here, and my kids are in Fitchburg and Minneapolis. I’
ve had a long relationship with WOAA.”
He explained about how he helped start the Association of
Indians in America (AIA) in the late ‘70s, when he felt Indians
at the time were “ready” to organize. Ashok also observed that
Asian Americans in Wisconsin seemed to experience the slow
process of political involvement. He talked of how he joined
the Governor’s Council on Asian Affairs in the ‘80s, even when
Indians were not yet considered “Asians,” and how some Asian
American women got involved in the fundraiser for Russ
Feingold in the ‘90s. He then said that Indians have been
grappling with the term “Asian American” for more than 30
years. (Bhargava is a retired economics professor at UW-
Whitewater.)
Blia Xiong, a Hmong student, will be a junior this coming
fall at UW-Madison. While she was born in a Thai refugee
camp, Blia admitted she couldn’t remember anything
| (From top) Saraswathy “Anu” Parthasarathy, Ashok Bhargava, Sharyl Kato, Gina Cowell leads a Qigong session |
| (From top) Blia Xiong, Renee Moe, Lynet Uttal, Lakshmi Sridharan |