Why Chinese Americans Have Trouble Building Community 

I'm Chinese, and a lot of us are conditioned to put our head down and work hard and respect authority. So as a whole, we don't have an internal drive to drive change. Change requires community.

Mainly because the Chinese community is quite diverse. For instance, what does a Cantonese speaking family from HK have anything to do with a Northern family from Beijing or a Taiwanese family? They are all technically "Han" but what does that even mean?

"You can't really control your cards in life but you can control how you play them" The eternal truth right there. And a lot of the time doing what you need to do with what you have is the best route to go, often times is the way in which you'll find what's meant for you and what will bring you the most peace. Good quote Dave

My parents came from Taiwan, and my dad, a mechanical engineer from the top university in Taiwan, was making the equivalent of $200k/year managing factories after being trained in Japan. This was in the 1980s. They then decided to immigrate to the west because of his siblings and the prospect that things would be even better. Well, here, no one took his education and experience seriously, so he became a baker and then a car mechanic. We really struggled, and my parents never pushed us to study hard. My parents became fearful of everything, from arguing with neighbours, fighting for their rights, and investing their money in stocks. I think moving and losing everything was so traumatic and disenchanting that they just never wanted to take any more risks, and building a community does require risk-taking and making yourself vulnerable to others. Today, they're retired and renting the basement of some Taiwanese family's home, and they keep telling me I need to lower my standards and relax in life. I'm 38, built a strong social network, paid off my house, can retire off 5% interest from the bank, and am very, very happy. I think loss and fear from going away from your home country can destroy hope to the point that you only want to trust and depend on yourself

I was taught to value money over people.

Because they are taught to be independent, be ambitious, cut-throat, competitive, work hard, study hard, succeed at all costs

First! My parents are Chinese immigrants who eventually opened a couple of Szechuan style dine in restaurants in NJ. We went to NYC Chinatown 2x per week since moving to NJ in 1978. My parents only played Majong with their friends and our family. Food was the thing that brought us together. I remember a lot of family cookouts growing up. We pretty much just kept to ourselves

I'm Chinese and I witness my ppl throwing each other under a bus to get ahead one too many times

We have been taught to put our head down and not cause trouble. This has to change! As for voting and having more asian political figures, We need to do a better job in raising awareness of the voting process, whats at stake, what voting power can do.

The Koreans at my Midwestern high school seemed to love each other… and they were in love with themselves! 🤪 The Chinese hated each other. Secretive and backstabbing. They hated themselves too. 😮

Everybody should learn from Koreans on building a community. They have the strongest communities.

Let me tell you as a Chinese born somewhere in Latin America. The Chinese community is weak over here, despite the community having settled here for nearly 200 years. We only work, keep our business to ourselves, we do not complain, we do not blame, we stay silent most of the times no matter if it’s uncomfortable, annoying. Bad things had happened to the community, such as thefts, kidnappings , murders, but we don’t do much about it. We just keep working, as hard to keep a living, as taught since childhood. Most second generations don’t even care about their roots, not even the language. Some mock their own heritage, self hate their own skin. It’s sad

My take on this is that Chinese American people have this tendency to one up each other as they are competitive and image conscious to have the best and be the best at something. I personally find it exhausting and it does not lead to any unity with one other. Ie, they have to have the best grades, get into the best school, have the nice house and be a doctor, lawyer or engineer. If you do not achieve these things, you are not as worthy, lol.

Bruh, Chinese people discriminate against each other depending on locality lmao. There's no hope for them man. When my dad arrived in NYC in the 90's he worked under an HK boss who treated him like he was subhuman all because he was a mainlander. On top of that in New York you have a lot of different Chinese people from your fjs to taishan to shanghai to wenzhou and they all to some extend are pretty negative about one another. On top of that, they only associate with Chinese people from their region of China. My parents do NOT have any friends who are not from their from region of China and I can say that is also the case for my extended family as well. China should just be a bunch of smaller countries because in the case of the Chinese less is definitely more. Look at Singapore or Taiwan and compare them to the Mainland it's just a huge difference in mannerisms.

I'm Viet and from my perspective and interactions with Chinese people, I agree that as a generalization Chinese people are way more open minded than their neighbors. In one sense, that is good bc it has allowed you guys to survive for thousands of years but in another sense, it also means the concept of "culture" and "community" is much more amorphous and harder to coalesce around.

Wholeheartedly agree, I was brought up in the US to not rock the boat and work in the background. I think another thing is that the Chinese people are scattered among the population, and there needs to be a critical mass of Asian voters. You can have an awesome Chinese candidate but in a general election with voters of all ethnicities, the population as a whole sees them as exotic, strange, and that'll go for others like Indians, Africans, etc. I moved to California years ago, and it took me a long time to see Chinese-American politicans in different levels of society as normal bc there are so many voters here to support and vote for them, and that's not the norm for most of the US outside of CA and NYC.

Other Asian Americans have group unity.

Because Chinese are not homogeneous. Every region has their own distinct languages and customs, much like Europe.

I wouldn’t say that there is a lack of Chinese American community. I grew up in an area that didn’t have too many Chinese, but not too far from the enclaves, and my parents always had plenty of friends and family whom we met with frequently. The few Chinese people in our subdivision were also very close. I never had many Chinese classmates in school though. Of course, this was back in the day when everyone was Cantonese. Nowadays, I don’t feel a kinship with any Mainlanders. They might as well be a completely different ethnicity. Taiwanese, I am really cool with though.

My take is that Chinese Americans was the symbol of community during the railroad era, how else did Chinatown's got built, and Chinese gangs was one of the most fearsome gangs of that era? During the post WW2 era, that community was broken up by the US government, but at the same time, economic passage was also open for Chinese Americans to ascend to middle class status. Can you tell me one well to do individual that is also community minded? Not many, one truth in life I learned is that most economically successful people are the Ayn Rand type who strives to be great individually, only using community as a means to an end, not an end to itself.

And don’t forget that church is the best place to form a community. And that’s how the Koreans and Filipinos form their communities in the States. The people who insist on being atheist will likely to live without a community no matter they are Chinese or white.

Chinese parents are never involved in school board or pta

As a whole I feel Chinese are very diverse. Most are hardworking and ambitious, but I have also experienced some level of classism and xenophobia towards myself and witnessed amongst each other.

I think one thing worth noticing is that compared to all other Asian countries, China is GIGANTIC ! It's by far the biggest country inthe whole of Asia (if you don't count Russia). The country is so vast it's bigger than the whole of Europe. Being a Chinese person could literally mean the Asian version of being white. And you don't see an Irish guy instantly connect with an Italian, or a Belgian. Being a Cantonese from HK is a complete different upbringing than being from Taiwan or Shanghai, or Sichuan, or Beijing. So obviously, when going abroad, there wouldn't be a particular incentive to gather under a same umbrella, not even mentioning all the ongoing political tensions (I frankly would have a hard time seeing Taiwanese people hanging out with Beijing people, for example). Also, tight communities are possible only with scarcity. When you're part of a smaller ethnical group, like Korean or Japanese, or even tighter, like Laos or Cambodia, of course you're gonna want to find friends from your own kin and build bridges. But Chinese diaspora is so vast, there's hardly scarcity anymore, making all Chinese abroad (but especially in America, since that's where probably more than 50% of the total chinese diaspora ended), taking each other for granted. Not helping is the fact that Chinese culture (especially abroad) is built more on face, and cut throat competition between each and every families rather than collaboration (of all the Asian cultures, Chinese culture is the most competitive among people and families), where it's always the game of whose kid's accomplishing more than the others, driving so many of the Chinese families crazy and ripping their own families apart from the inside because of the parents relentlessness and the childrens resentment towards their parents. In such an environment, it's hard to see any form of community at large building itself together when nuclear families disintegrate from within. Another thing that's not helping : Chinese patriarchy ! If white women are now openly rebelling and criticizing western patriarchy, BOY would they have a field day with Chinese patriarchy ! Where EVERYTHING is catered towards men : economical power, careers, prestige, names, you name it. Where women and girls are essentially just pretty gifts to marry up into a better family to get even more prestige to the family's name. In such an environment, no wonder so many chinese girls end up becoming ABG and self hate their own culture so much they end up throwing the baby with the bathwater by rejecting their entire chinese culture/asian heritage and start white male worshipping because HOLLYWOOD, BABY ! White whashing/savioring other cultures for generations ! I like David's pizza of reason analogy. It really is a giant messy pizza with messy melting cheese interconnecting all the slices all over the place.

Thanks for talking about this. Hopefully, this will trigger more future discussions

I’m Chinese and was always told to just care about yourself

From what I’ve seen, Chinese Americans for better or for worse seem much more multigenerationally connected with family compared to other asians. I think you’re less likely to form a “community” with other people if you’re already closely knitted with your own family. Not much can occupy your time and energy more than family.

Wow I'm learning that humans are so similar yet equally as different😅 I thought that Black people didn't have a unified front and there is so much division and tribalism and we think Asians are unified and harmonious... Really shows that humans are very much alike and typically have similar experiences and problems as we're all humans but we stereotype and typecast each other unfortunately... Keep up the good work Fung bros... Love y'all's commentary💯😊

The reason is that there are different dialects and ethnicities within Chinese Americans. For example, a mainlander and a cantonese person have no bond or interest in getting to know one another.

As a 4thgen ABC, I grew up knowing very few ABCs or FOB Chinese, but long ago, within Chinatown, poverty and discrimination kept the community weak. Outside Chinatown, physical distance and the lack of numbers kept the Chinese community from forming. Fast forward to current times, the internet can bridge distance, but many Chinese in America are still poor and not financially secure. China is traditionally an empire with multiple sub-ethnic groups with different languages and cultures that vary from the mainstream Han society. Chinese abroad have been targeted for racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing not just in the USA but in Canada, Mexico, and as faraway places like Uganda. Within China, there has been instances of subethnic strife and discrimination, too. I remember growing up how Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese didn't get along all that well. The lack of interest within the Chinese community pushed my ethnic POV to a more cross culture Asian POV. Historically, the lack of Chinese American participating in landownership made DC Chinatown mostly a cluster of renters who had no reason to invest into the Chinese community. Today most of DC Chinatown is now Non-Chinese. Most of the ABCs have moved to Northern Virginia or Maryland. and DC Chinatown might be said to be Chinese in name only.

Ultra competitive culture

Andrew is right about the joyful thing esp I believe with the mandarin speaking people. Chinese do not have a cohesive community bc it’s so diverse. In contrast, ever notice how much Koreans laugh and smile in general. Many of them are just smiley people. They seem over the top joyful when they’re in the company of their peers.

Hmm, the Chinese diaspora around the world is decentralized but they are still very clannish and maintain strong business networks. Particularly SE Asia, where permeation of Chinese culture and tradition is done since 4-5 generations. Chinese also hire their own and don't really care that much about politics.

Can you do a while video on this concept that joy is antithetical to being Chinese? That’s a very like stunning thing to hear from and outside perspective and I’d like to understand that better.

Cause Chinese ppl low-key selfish. My own family whenever someone does something kind and I know they just want a favor in return. Even when they give you stuff, i know its just stuff they didn't want and trying to get rid of it. At least the older generation i know that just looking out for themselves over everything else.

The problem with this video is I don’t know how they measuring cultural cohesion within different Asian American groups relative to one another. How are we measuring it? Is it by how many people of a certain Asian ethnicity is being elected? Is based off geographic density? It just comes off a little hard to believe when there wasn’t any empirical or hard data backing to the idea that Chinese Americans are less community focused versus other Asian groups? Are they the most? Probably not, but I don’t think they are behind from what is normal.

The more i learn about Asian countries on east side the more it surprises me how they don get along much similar cultures & sometimes even their own kind. Im not mexican but theres a saying in MX that A Mexicans Worse Enemy Is A Mexican. We usually get along with similar cultures even though our spanish vocab isnt the same

I am Chinese American and I think we are just more out for ourselves. If we want to change, we probably can but it will be difficult and will likely take several generations.

I feel like it’s getting better with the younger generation!

Yeah I have to echo how Chinese communities are vastly different dependent on the region they are from. Certainly Cantonese, Taiwanese or say Malyasian chinese tend to have smaller and tighter communities. In the end of the day the only ties among us are business and food, with the occasional anti Asian smear or attack to unify us. I would say that the Korean and Japanese communities also have the cultural factor, being not only popular in the West but also cool and constantly producing new ideas and things to talk and like. Taiwan and Hong Kong used to do that, but not anymore. Mainland China doesn't know how to be cool or relevant, with a very insular culture.

Being in a Chinese home, right, there is no need for each other. Meanwhile, one needs to be self sufficient. You only ask for help or support only when the need is really pressing.

6:25 Excellent point by andrew an absence of religious leaders may lead to more authoritarian government.

I never noticed this but I always assumed it was because they tend to become doctors, lawyers, & engineers!!

I do noticed the Cantonese speakers have strong community and not all of them are from HongKong. But the mandarin speakers? Not so much.

I'm Korean but grew up in SF. I was always a little confused why there wasn't much going with the Chinese community, and Japanese for that matter.

The gap between the American born Chinese from Canton background and a mainland Chinese is larger than the gap between Cantonese mainlander and average mainlander

5:51 Interesting again.

So basically Chinese worship money. Sounds pretty accurate 😂

Malcolm X praised the Chinatown for its self-sufficient business model

The oneupmanship in Chinese and some broader Asian culture stems back from strong state control government that forced citizens to compete for favor and resources without much dissent. Macro level group think with micro level intraracial sabotage. It’s 😞

Chinese Americans lacks community but is more self sovereign, looking out for number one also means you are also more alone.

interesting...as a Chinese in Eu, I have a very different experience...for example, local people around here expect me to know thing from China ( food, culture even politics ) even when the last time I been there was like 5 y ago? But you be a comrade in Eu is not illegal, people still have bad prejudice about that but they allow you to be a comrade....in USA I guess it is not possible.

I think Chinese people are content not to interfere when they have peace and stability and prosperity. I think Chinese people are much more likely to band together when they feel threatened. This is the reason why the Chinese civilization still exists to this day.

I agree, the Chinese people are not used to participating in politics and voting due to communism

Honestly I believe it is because we are too diverse. China is big and has hundreds of hundreds of different languages and cultures. Not once have I met someone who speaks my local mother tongue. If we were all mandarin speaking, then we might be able to talk about this topic better but we are all very different in culture and language.

There is an anarchist/dragon/natural Daoist in every chinese, suspicious of those in power. Don't ever lose that heritage.

I don't think the 'weak community' point is historically correct. It is true that China has preferred a highly centralized form of government for two millennia, but what we also see is that whenever the central authority weakens, there are decentralized community organizations that fill in the role. I.e., the Mohists, the Yellow Turbans, the White Lotus, the Red Turbans, the Taiping, the Tiandihui/Tongs/Triads, the Republican revolutionaries, and even the communists.

I even have a Job at Chinatown : I will really be trying to help out the Asian Community : I'm really not Asian ⛩️🇹🇼🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸❤️❤️

If you treat all "Chinese" as the same you already don't understand Chinese culture, you are already seeing "Chinese" through an Americanized lens of cultural understanding. American love categorizing people based on their color or origins in an extremely broad and simplistic sense. But anyone who is actually back from Asia understand that this is not the case. There are mainland Chinese, Hong Konger, Macauan, Taiwanese, Singaporean, Malaysian etc etc. While all these nations and groups indeed originated from mainland China. But if you call a Taiwanese a Chinese they'd be insulted, same for HKer, same for Malaysian.

Andrew, you should run for politics. You seem to understand things well and seem like a likable guy. 😂😊 Like the shirt too.

My Chinese friend invited me all the time to their house. Dude invite people to your house and hang out. I will give him a call.

10:46 wow andrew.. man ..wow. What are we supposed to do with that statement?

Go to China for the many happy dance circles!

14:09 andrew is insane Lol

No it’s because China is seen as a threat to America, unlike other groups. So if other groups band together, it’s activism. If Chinese band together, it’s seen as a hostile subversive force. Same thing with Iranians and other stigmatized groups.

I think that may be why white refer to Chinese as a model minority. I could be wrong.

14:54 That is a very valid point if chinese people have been accused a lot in the united states of espionage

Why no video on Bowen Yang????

seriously? nah man, i see chinese people as showing alot of solidarity, not really mainstream politics, but definitely theres a cohesive parallel society in New York. it weakens out in the suburbs, but I've lived in manhattan chinatown, brooklyn chinatown and Elmhurst (the original queens chinatown), there's alot of team and collective behavior. frankly its that political power is an alternative to economic power, and chinese Americans in NY and the tristate just made bank.

My Honest Review On Social Rebel

I’m Chinese Korean. I think Chinese people just don’t naturally huddle together as much, also Chinese don’t have as strong a drinking culture in terms of fun.

Umm plz don’t talk like this. Fuzhou community is very big in community. It’s only the hkers who don’t have a community. Unless you are getting roast pork in Chinatown. I have my own brotherhood with Taiwanese and mainlanders. And I’m a hk dispora. When you grow up in nyc you lose your prejudice. Asian community is very collective, hk culture is not The only people hosting events are mainlanders and Taiwanese. What has hkers done for the community? Even Taiwan has a overseas office for overseas Chinese. And mainland embassy hosts a lot of events. Again what has hk done for the overseas community? Including it’s own people who don’t really host anything. Hk culture is more Western. Go find brotherhood in Japan, Korea. They want to find their own people. I never been turned away by Taiwanese or mainlanders looking for brotherhood aka 兄弟. Again though there are people who make a Cantonese community by making the organization save Cantonese

I disagree that Chinese people don't feel a sense of joy upon seeing another Chinese person. Asians in general tend to be very tribal when greeting strangers, especially if they grew up in areas outside of an ethnic enclave. For instance, most Asian kids at school will ask another Asian student almost reflexively about their ethnicity because that identity can act as a potential bonding point. These types of interactions can open the floodgates to fostering community.

They are just so different from and can't fit into the narrow (wealthy white) political culture in the states.

chinese are way too diverse

Because too many want to be white adjacent.

Second ❤

This doesn't sound right. As an african i've not noticed that. So outside of you I'll say it seems the American chinese. 0:21 Wait wait political power is one thing community is different. If they are talking about community for political purposes.. I just meant chinese community has a lot of support I don't know about politics community was strong.

Third?