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Chinese + American = American
On this 4th of July, a reflection on losing the hyphen in my Asian American identity
It was the most underreported controversy that rocked the world of grammar in generations. In 2019, the Associated Press announced that hyphens will be dropped from identities of dual heritage.
The other punctuation symbols in the audience gave a collective sigh of relief for surviving yet another annual edition. Meanwhile, the hyphens that existed between “Asian” and “American” in the term Asian American were immediately airlifted out of the room.
Derived from ancient Greek, meaning “in one” or literally “under one,” hyphens were originally meant to connect words. However, hyphens were historically used to connote that people of color have a split identity, and thereby not fully American.
Being a “hyphenated American” was an epithet that originated in the late 19th century. Although initially directed at German Americans or Irish Americans, it became part of nativist political rhetoric that sowed distrust for immigrants and their children, especially during World War II.
Although stunned, but unsurprised, by the sudden elimination, the spectators in the audience recognized the wisdom in removing these once-respected hyphens in the context of identity. Removing the hyphen would allow people to use their country of origin to be just another way to describe the type of American they are, such as a middle-class American or a college-educated American. It also subtly opens up a space for people to feel connected to their heritage while being American.
Therefore, these hyphens that had upheld racial divisions in American identity for more than a century were air dropped into a chamber, joining the pilcrow (¶) and “interrobang” (‽) and other abandoned symbols collected over the millennia. Together, they reminisced about the world that used to celebrate them before falling into disfavor.
Like the disintegration of Blockbuster, the marker that held together the social identity I thought I was assigned was made obsolete due to modernization and restructuring to align with the sentiment of the progressive masses.
