ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author addresses at how Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans use ethnic symbols differently, and how these symbols are utilized through a variety of institutions. Asian Americans also begin to realize that the maintenance of culture through language and traditions is a form of resistance, a stand against cultural domination which threatens to destroy identities. Elements of ethnicity are significant as symbols in the maintenance of boundaries. When a family or community gathers together for rituals, matters of ethnicity, religion, and other key features of identity become more obvious, as normally private values are proclaimed more publicly. Different ethnic communities in the United States revitalize holidays and life cycle events in different social contexts. Rituals remain as signs of ethnic identity, when other traditions have faded, partly because of their ability to symbolize complicated meanings.
