July 12, 2005

Dear Colleague,

     Joshua Sack and Chung-ming came back to Madison for a brief stay. We went to the Firefly Cafe for dinner, during which the topic came up about my recent trip to China--in particular, my sense of identity while in China. Before I ventured a reply, I asked Joshua about the place he identifies with the most: Is it Madison, where he was born and where he was educated up to the Bachelor's degree, or is it Bloomington, where he is now a PhD student and where he has lived for three years? Joshua gave his reply indirectly this way. His economics professor invited him to attend a basketball game between Indiana and Wisconsin. Wisconsin won by one point. The economics professor said to Joshua, "Well, I suppose you are pleased." Joshua was noncommittal. He told me that throughout the game he refrained from cheering either side. But I pressed him to confess where his true sympathy lay. He confessed that it lay with Indiana because Indiana was totally committed to basketball, whereas Wisconsin had other athletic excellences in its sight line.

     I thought of this question of identification and loyalty in regard to Sia Urroz, an Iranian-American student at Earlham College. He was driving me from the college in Indiana to the Dayton airport in Ohio. I reminded him of a famous football match between a visiting Iranian team and a local American team in Los Angeles several years back. The audience was overwhelmingly Iranian-American; some were of the first generation, but many were born and raised in Washington, Oregon, and California. The audience cheered overwhelmingly for the visiting Iranians. "What about you, Sia?" I asked. "You were born in Colorado. Which team would you have cheered?" He answered without hesitation, "The Iranian." But then added, "because they are the underdogs."

     I always turn off the TV when I watch an Olympic match between Americans and Chinese. I don't want to know where my gut feelings lie. Particularly painful was the contest between Greg Louganis, the American Olympian diver, and a young Chinese whose name I have forgotten. I wanted to cheer the Chinese boy because he was only a teenager and clearly the underdog, compared with the seasoned Louganis. On the other hand, Louganis is gay and has had a tormented childhood.

     Is the passport we carry our identity? At the Beijing airport, the Zhu family presented three sets of passports to the immigration officers, much to their amusement. A-Xing and Ouya have Chinese passports and so enjoy the protection of the Red Army. Their thirteen-year old son, Samuel, was born in Toronto and has a Canadian passport; in a crunch, he can no doubt appeal to the Queen. Their younger son, eight-year old Alex, was born in Madison. He carries an American passport and can therefore draw on the might of the Seventh Fleet. Alex is rather shy, so once or twice in China I couldn't refrain from teasing him by saying, "We Americans have to stick together!" Weird, isn't it? this question of nationality and identity in the 21st century.

Best wishes,

Yi-Fu