In a recent viral video clip, a man named Vince Dao skillfully debunks the trendy but vacuous, race-obsessed gibberish of fellow panelists participating in a discussion where “Asian Americans Debate Model Minority and Asian Hate.” It’s depressing to see young people accept (or claim to accept) the idea that our immutable characteristics shape our destiny. But it is worth watching Dao offer a solid defense of Bourgeois ethics.
Dao tells the group that “assimilation is not just a great thing, it’s a necessary thing. No society can hold together where people have nothing in common, they don’t speak the same language, they don’t practice the same things.” He argues that in other parts of the world, wars have been fought over differences in race, culture, and religion for thousands of years. Yet, Americans have largely avoided these conflicts because of a shared idealism. “I don’t think it’s going to be possible for Americans to survive as a stable functioning society if people don’t, to some degree, say, well here’s what we are commonly going to agree upon.”
Of course, he’s right. Upon hearing this, the dumbest, and most obnoxious, panelist then compares assimilation to “erasure.” Someone might explain to her that having purple hair and blaming everything on “white supremacy” has about as much to do with her ancestral roots as McDonald’s or Marxism.
Then again, talking about “Asian” immigrants as a single group is a bit misleading. Filipinos do not share the same cultural values or history as the Japanese,
