 "Photo: Lai-Yan Tang")
Not too long ago, Arar Han was a philosophy and human development major in the Lynch School of Education. Now, at age 23, with what she calls "a hope and a dream," she is a co-editor of Asian-American X, a compilation of autobiographical essays written by Asian-American college students around the country, expressing their identities within the Asian-American community. Han, who was born in Korea and came to the United States in 1986, began to see the importance of having such a nationwide dialogue when she was studying at Boston College.
"Race issues are something that I have been thinking about ever since I arrived at BC, because my contextual environment changed so much," Han explained.
"My high school in Cupertino, Calif. was half Asian-American, and going to a place that was overwhelmingly Irish and Catholic was a big surprise, and I began thinking about where I belong, where I connect, and where the divisions of commonality were."
While at BC, she was a student of LSOE Dean John Cawthorne, and he says that she vocalized her opinions about race relations from the very beginning of her college career, when she was in one of his freshman classes. "Arar was in my Family, School, and Society course, and that is where I realized how bright and committed she was," Cawthorne said. "She raised issues in class that were 'explosive on race, class, community, and never took the easy answer when doing so."
Han, who currently is a case writer at the Harvard Business School, entered the working world immediately after her graduation but continued to reflect upon these issues of race.
"In the midst of my own questions about race, there was an article in the Harvard Crimson that really stirred things up in the Asian-American community, when a sixth-generation Chinese-American man accused Asian-Americans of perpetuating their own stereotypes," Han said.
Han responded to the Crimson article, and then, with a friend from high school, John Hsu, they began conversing about this statement and came to concur on the thought that the widespread community of Asian-Americans across the United States should be able to discuss their identity in a critical way.
They began to collect essays from college students nationwide, and after acquiring 170, Han and Hsu began to conduct market research and write to publishers. The University of Michigan Press signed on to print the book and since its August 2004 publishing, the book has already gained prestige both in the Asian-American community and in the academic world.
"We know that it's been gaining respect, because it will be taught at four different universities, including BC," Han explained.
When beginning to think of this project, Han approached both Cawthorne and BC psychology professor Ramsay Liem, who each advised her along the way.
"I especially like the way many of the writers struggle with experiences, people and feelings that involve other racial and ethnic groups - European Americans, African-Americans, and other AHANA groups," said Liem.
"The essays show us that we are all implicated in each other's experience as members of racial and ethnic groups, and when there is inequality and injustice, that means we are all part of the problem, and, therefore, responsible for finding solutions," said Liem
Liem added that he is planning on teaching this book in future sections of his Psychology 354 class.
Issues of diversity have become hotly debated and prevalent across campus, as the student body becomes increasingly diverse with each new wave of students that come to campus each year. Han hopes that books like Asian American X will aid in increasing dialogue, awareness, and let voices be heard from the Asian-American community.
"This book could play a part in making the experience of Asian-Americans more visible to our community, which is extremely important," Liem said.
"It still hasn't hit home that this is a major accomplishment," Han said.
"My life did change with the editing process, because I was exposed to many different people with many different identities, through that explanation, I was able to reflect upon my own identity."
Regarding how Han and Hsu chose the name of their book, Asian American X, Han explained that they wanted a name broad enough to cover the main themes included in the book. When considering the fact that "x" is the unknown variable, in addition to Malcolm X and the movie American History X, they took these allusions and pieced them together to get their name.
In channeling the thoughts, beliefs, and arguments of Asian-American students across the country through Asian American X, Han has done much more than respond to an article that she strongly disagreed with.
She has created a message, sent to Asian-Americans and to the ethnically diverse United States, that all cultures should have a voice, and no single culture or race should be stereotyped and generalized, but rather each should be understood through the individuals that are a part of these communities.
As issues of diversity continue to be topics of debate on campuses across the country, Han's book is one tool that will stage a voice within the discussion and colloquium on race relations as the points of college students are illustrated in Asian American X.
"The disequilibrium that I had upon my arrival at BC, in facing a change of cultural context, that tension has been resolved through this book, and right now, what I'm enjoying is traveling around and meeting all sorts of different people who have been impacted by the book," said Han.
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