Abstract
This book was written by four second-generation Asian Americans who all grew up attending church. The authors come from Chinese, Indian, Pilipino, and Hmong backgrounds, whose parents immigrated to the United States. The ten chapters were broken up into three sections: Learning Our Stories, Learning Our Relationships, and Learning Our Vocations. The co-authors took turns authoring the chapters. The authors readily admit in their introduction that the term “Asian American” encompasses a vast diversity of experiences, and while they cannot address everything, they share from their own experiences “to articulate what we can about Asian American contexts” (p. 3). They also admit that while the acronym AAPI, representing Asian American and Pacific Islanders, has become increasingly popular in use, they chose to focus on the Asian American aspect because they felt they could not speak about the Pacific Islander experience. In describing the term “Asian American” and its challenges, they write, “The label ‘Asian American’ can feel like a one-size-fits-all T-shirt—we can all put it on, but it seems to fit some people better, and everyone feels a bit awkward in it” (p. 23).
The first section where the authors shared their personal stories and a brief overview of the history of Asian Americans was the most interesting and most helpful, although they skipped over the history of World War II. In the section, they also weave stories of biblical characters and the importance of their names and how those names reflected their cultural identities. They cite the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being identified in the Bible by their “dominant culture Babylonian names” instead of their less well-known Hebrew names and compare that to how many Asians often have multiple names or identities (p. 56). The first section of the book could be read by anyone looking to learn more about the experience of Asian Americans, especially those who identify as Christian. The relationships and vocations sections seemed much more geared to college students and young adults, those who are still finding their way in the world, because they discussed navigating parental relationships and romantic relationships.
Chapter 8 discusses predominantly Asian churches or multiethnic churches. When the authors write about white-majority churches, they discuss how they as Asians felt objectified in those situations. For those who come from more mainline and racially homogeneous denominations, such as the Episcopal Church, this section may be harder to identify with or relate to. As this book was published by InterVarsity Press and the authors all had connections to collegiate InterVarsity programs, this focus should not come as a surprise. The authors’ personal religious affiliations are never identified, but through the way they talk about church and their experiences, it is clear that they come from more evangelical backgrounds. There is a lot of use of masculine pronouns or imagery (such as Father) when talking about God.
It would be impossible to write a book that spoke to the entirety of the Asian American experience. However, the book could have been improved if a wider variety of authors had been included. In the Introduction, when acknowledging the diversity of the Asian American experience, they listed a variety of categories that are present under the umbrella of “Asian American”: “migration stories (immigrant, refugee, adoptee, third-culture kid, etc.), time in the United States (from very recent to many generations), race and ethnicity (mixed race, monoracial, mixed Asian ethnicities), ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious and socioeconomic background, and more” (p. 2). While the authors represent diverse ethnic backgrounds, their commonality as children of Asian immigrants shaped the stories they told in a way that was harder to relate to as a person with parents who are not immigrants. The book could have been improved if contributors who represented even more of the vast diversity of the Asian American experience were included.
If you are an Asian American young adult or work with or minister to anyone who identifies as Asian American, this may be a helpful book to read, recognizing the caveats presented here and understanding that this is just one slice of the Asian American Christian experience.