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I would mark American on the Census if I could, but the Census is asking about ancestry, so I mark myself as Chinese. But like I said, I will mark myself as Hong Konger next time by writing in my preferred identity.
Most people who mark themselves as having American ancestry on the Census are white, and I'm not white, so doesn't make much sense.
did you not complete census this year? please do it asap.
"american" is not an option and you should know if you're actually taken the census. "american" is not an ethnicity, nor is "hong konger" or whatever other type of chinese you're trying to identify yourself as.
did you not complete census this year? please do it asap.
"american" is not an option and you should know if you're actually taken the census. "american" is not an ethnicity, nor is "hong konger" or whatever other type of chinese you're trying to identify yourself as.
I completed the Census in March, bit at that time I had not heard about the movement to write in yourself as a Hong Konger.
Technically Bangladeshi is just a nationality, not an ethnicity. Bangladeshis are mostly of Bengali ethnicity, and there are Bengalis in India. But don't you dare call a Bangladeshi Indian...And yes, people mark themselves as Bangladeshi on the Census, not as Indian or Bengali.
I completed the Census in March, bit at that time I had not heard about the movement to write in yourself as a Hong Konger.
Technically Bangladeshi is just a nationality, not an ethnicity. Bangladeshis are mostly of Bengali ethnicity, and there are Bengalis in India. But don't you dare call a Bangladeshi Indian...And yes, people mark themselves as Bangladeshi on the Census, not as Indian or Bengali.
look, I don't know about other asians ethnicities as there are probably many ones. All I know that "hong konger" or whatever form of chinese you want to identify yourself as, is not an ethnicity.
and if you think about it, marking yourself as "asian other: hong konger" will just lower the budget for supporting chinese american in your community/city/state, and you get marked as asian and that's it
and if you think about it, marking yourself as "asian other: hong konger" will just lower the budget for supporting chinese american in your community/city/state, and you get marked as asian and that's it
I currently live in America, and I think whether or not you Taiwanese or Hong Kongers mark themselves as ethnic Chinese on the US Census really depends on whether they were actually born in Taiwan or HK or they were born in the US with Taiwanese or HK parents.
I think if you are an American born Taiwanese or Hong Konger, you are more likely to mark yourself as Chinese on the Census. Because you understand that the Census is asking for ancestry, not nationality, that Chinese on the census means of Chinese ancestry, not necessarily Chinese nationality. You are also probably further removed from the Taiwanese and HK independence movements, and are probably more chill and apolitical with interacting with American born kids whose parents are from the Mainland, who you see as just as American as you. After all, you all identify as American first, and ethnic Chinese second. No big deal.
However, if you were born in Taiwan or Hong Kong and you immigrated to America, you would be more likely to mark yourself as Taiwanese, Hong Konger, or other Asian. As an immigrant, you are more likely to perceive the Census as asking for nationality rather than nationality. So of course you don't identify as Chinese. You believe Taiwan and HK are their own countries, so you identify as Taiwanese or Hong Konger. And, especially with Hong Kongers, you have seen hordes of lower class Mainlanders descend upon your city and ruin it with their rudeness. Unlike your kids born in America, who have far fewer encounters with Mainland Chinese, you feel incredibly different from Mainlanders.
So what do you guys think? I was born in America to HK parents, I support democracy and HK independence, but I understand that the US Census is asking about ethnicity, not nationality, so I have no problem with marking myself as Chinese. However, after hearing yesterday about the moment to write in Hong Konger instead, I will do so next Census, to support HK independence. Still, I know that when Americans ask me what Asian I am, and I say American born Chinese, they treat me as fully American and know that I have no affiliation at all with China except that my ancestors are from Guangdong province. That's what's great about America, the moment you become a US citizen, you are 100% American, and people don't suspiciously treat you as some strange evil foreigner.
I would fill it out saying I was Chinese because the general intention of the census is to find out about ethnic origins, but could see where people would want to put something like "Chinese - Hong Kong" or "Chinese - Taiwanese," to differentiate between their family origins and experiences. As I touched on before, mainlanders and HK/TW people have different experiences in large part based on when they immigrated and under what circumstances. A second- or third-generation family from Guangdong who fled to HK to escape the CCP in the 50's or 60's, or who moved from Taiwan in the 80's for economic reasons and slogged through a decade plus of low-wage labor before getting their citizenship and opening a shop, is going to have different views and needs in the community and from politicians than someone who moved from Shanghai in 2010 for university and immediately bought a BMW and a condo...
Ultimately it's the decision of the community as to what they do, though, and I can understand that for many, this perhaps feels like it's the last way they can push back democratically against CCP control over HK and assert their identity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maomao
and if you think about it, marking yourself as "asian other: hong konger" will just lower the budget for supporting chinese american in your community/city/state, and you get marked as asian and that's it
Not necessarily. If, for example, suddenly 33% of the SF Chinese community writes in that they are Hong Konger and another 33% writes that they are Taiwanese, the result isn't going to be that the city scraps Chinese community centers or programs in Chinatown and the Sunset, because it would still be understood that they are part of the Chinese community. There probably wouldn't be much change on the ground.
I would fill it out saying I was Chinese because the general intention of the census is to find out about ethnic origins, but could see where people would want to put something like "Chinese - Hong Kong" or "Chinese - Taiwanese," to differentiate between their family origins and experiences. As I touched on before, mainlanders and HK/TW people have different experiences in large part based on when they immigrated and under what circumstances. A second- or third-generation family from Guangdong who fled to HK to escape the CCP in the 50's or 60's, or who moved from Taiwan in the 80's for economic reasons and slogged through a decade plus of low-wage labor before getting their citizenship and opening a shop, is going to have different views and needs in the community and from politicians than someone who moved from Shanghai in 2010 for university and immediately bought a BMW and a condo...
Ultimately it's the decision of the community as to what they do, though, and I can understand that for many, this perhaps feels like it's the last way they can push back democratically against CCP control over HK and assert their identity.
Not necessarily. If, for example, suddenly 33% of the SF Chinese community writes in that they are Hong Konger and another 33% writes that they are Taiwanese, the result isn't going to be that the city scraps Chinese community centers or programs in Chinatown and the Sunset, because it would still be understood that they are part of the Chinese community. There probably wouldn't be much change on the ground.
it would actually using your example, because the 33% that writes "taiwanese" would be filed under asian other as I have explained countless times. If you want to learn more, come back to live in the US in 2030 and apply for a census 2030 job. If you get the job, you would know what I said is true during your training.
it would actually using your example, because the 33% that writes "taiwanese" would be filed under asian other as I have explained countless times. If you want to learn more, come back to live in the US in 2030 and apply for a census 2030 job. If you get the job, you would know what I said is true during your training.
Well, to be honest, I can't imagine applying for a census job now or in ten years... Since I do my own business, I don't have any idea where I'd find the time to do it, nor do I have any interest in it or need the extra income. I'll leave it to the once-per-decade, seasonal professionals to handle the finer details.
This is beside the point though. In what way would ethnic Chinese who write in Taiwanese or Hong Konger be detrimental to the Chinese community? Again, do you imagine that there would be a mass drop in support for the Chinese community at large that would hurt the community? Since
A) the communities intersect socially and geographically,
B) the segments that identified as HK/TW would, worst case scenario, receive funding which would benefit their sub-community and there would be no net loss,
C) those communities would be signalling their desire to be separate from the mainland Chinese community - why try to hold on to people who don't want to be part of your community, or at least want to have a separate voice because of divergent interests?
If the US allows for groups to do this, and they end choosing to do so, it's their right...
Well, to be honest, I can't imagine applying for a census job now or in ten years... Since I do my own business, I don't have any idea where I'd find the time to do it, nor do I have any interest in it or need the extra income. I'll leave it to the once-per-decade, seasonal professionals to handle the finer details.
This is beside the point though. In what way would ethnic Chinese who write in Taiwanese or Hong Konger be detrimental to the Chinese community? Again, do you imagine that there would be a mass drop in support for the Chinese community at large that would hurt the community? Since
A) the communities intersect socially and geographically,
B) the segments that identified as HK/TW would, worst case scenario, receive funding which would benefit their sub-community and there would be no net loss,
C) those communities would be signalling their desire to be separate from the mainland Chinese community - why try to hold on to people who don't want to be part of your community, or at least want to have a separate voice because of divergent interests?
If the US allows for groups to do this, and they end choosing to do so, it's their right...
I think you misunderstood me, I don't think it does because the chinese coming from mainland vastly outnumbers the other chinese that do not come from the mainland in the last ten years.
What I was trying to point out is that the so call "hong kongers" trying to spread their propaganda using the US census ethnicity questionnaire is low and upsetting to me.
at the same time, OP brought this up having the same idea has the commercial on the radio. That's why I'm commenting on this. I'm not worrying about this being detrimental to the chinese community due to the reason above
Why do you think it's "low" that Hong Kongers have their own sense of identity?
using the US census is low. using the census for any sort of political ploy is low. who knows what the money comes from as they could have claim that this is promoting the census in cantonese and use federal money.
no one cares if whatever sense of identity they have, or whatever propaganda they want to spread on the radio, but bringing in census in any way or form is what I'm having issues with.
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