ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 centers on the identities of Chinese Americans. It starts with a conversation between Joy and Eric about some shared habits among Asian American parents, such as whipping eggs with chopsticks, a practice that Eric’s mom and Joy’s mom both keep even though they have immigrated to the U.S. for a long time. Then, Joy and Eric talk about their national identities. Both of them were not sure about this when they were young. Eric is biracial. His mom is a Singaporean, and his dad is an American. Joy’s mom thinks that Joy is Chinese, specifically, a Beijinger, since her father is from Beijing. Joy feels that she is both Chinese and American; more accurately, she is Chinese American. The text of this chapter tells a story that happened at the Chicago airport. A Chinese American greeted the security officer in English, but the officer replied in a foreign language and kept asking him where he was from. The Chinese American felt frustrated since it was not the first time that he had encountered this question, and he wondered who could be regarded as an American.
