The Inadequacy of the Term “Asian American”
Sarath Suong has often felt like the term “Asian American” doesn’t really serve him.
A Cambodian refugee who immigrated to the US as a child, Suong prefers to identify as Southeast Asian instead.
“I was told that I am Asian American when we came here,” he says. “But I faced a lot of colorism, a lot of classism, and not a lot of understanding about who Southeast Asians are and how we fit into the Asian American context.”
Suong’s family was among tens of thousands of refugees who fled during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, eventually settling in the Boston area. When he arrived in the US, he struggled to find his footing in a country where everyone from teachers to neighbors made him feel unwelcome.