Asian American Research Journal

The term “Asian American” is a phrase with an ever-changing definition. One thing is for certain; the Asian American identity is not formed by shared culture, language, or national origin. Instead, it is formed by migration histories and racialization that groups Asian ethnicities together in the United States. With various waves of immigration to America and a general categorization of Asians, there are many people with diverse experiences that fall under this term. Through the memoir A Man of Two Faces by Vietnamese refugee and author Viet Than Nguyen and the interview I conducted with naturalized Chinese-French immigrant Nikole Hong, I examine the various factors that shaped migration and assimilation into America. The assimilation trajectories of both Hong and Nguyen diverge sharply due to the global forces that shaped their migration, the racialization they experienced before and after arrival, and the autonomy involved in their migration. Hong navigated a layered, transnational identity shaped by racialization and voluntary mobility, while Nguyen forged an identity through displacement, trauma, and a deliberation of being both “the killer and killed”. Being both the killer and killed, as Nguyen mentions in his memoir, is the effect of being both American and Vietnamese on his identity. Together, their stories reveal how childhood migration, racial hierarchy, and geopolitical history intersect to produce profoundly different Asian American identities. Although Asians are frequently racialized as a monolithic “Oriental” group, the migration histories and lived experiences of Asian subgroups define how they navigate and respond to this flattening.