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TODAY’S BIG TOPIC:

HOW TO BELONG IN A LAND THAT CAN BE SO CRUEL

Monday, May 24, 2021

PHOTOGRAPHS BY HARUKA SAKAGUCHI

Editor’s note: Debra Adams Simmons, our History executive editor, will return next week.

By Guest Editor Elaine Teng, ESPN

Last fall, my mom celebrated her 34th anniversary of coming to the United States. While 34 is a relatively random number, it was a significant milestone because she’d officially lived in the U.S. for longer than she had in China. It mostly just made her feel old, she said, but I wondered if after all these years she felt more American than Chinese, or how her sense of belonging to either of these countries had changed.

That question of belonging is at the heart of our essay exploring how Asian Americans across generations navigate the balancing act of their identities and carve out a place for themselves in this country. Photographer Haruka Sakaguchi and I met with over a dozen families in the Atlanta area, the site of the deadliest anti-Asian hate crime in the last year. They told us stories of discrimination and deportation, of bullying and self-loathing, but also of pride and putting down roots, of growing vegetables from their homelands and teaching their kids to love themselves. (Pictured above, Chinese immigrant DD Lee and her daughter, Isabelle.)

We asked members of the same families to write about what belonging means to them and what their American Dream looks like. Our youngest respondents were seven, the oldest, 95. (Above, Eric Khong and his grandfather, Handoko Khong, who fled political violence in Indonesia.)

Their answers were varied—most in writing, a couple in pictures, some in English, others in Vietnamese, Korean, or Tagalog. They wrote about their struggles to fit in, to defy stereotypes, to be seen as American even if they don’t speak English, to be accepted as Asian even if English is all they speak. In many cases, they wrote about their dreams for their children. (Below, Ramanaresh Pathak, with his granddaughters Ishani and Kiran, wanted a better education for his family.)

After hearing their stories, I called my mom and asked her the same questions. She told me that for a long time she missed China and couldn’t wait to see family and friends over enormous, steaming meals of hot pot or dumplings. But eventually she stopped thinking of Beijing as her home. Today she doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere. She seemed sad for a moment, then added, “That doesn’t mean I’m not grateful to America. Watching the next generation succeed, to see you have opportunities you would never have in China—like interviewing me for National Geographic—that’s my success.”

See these stories here.

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TODAY IN A MINUTE

Sacred targets: Beyond the toll on people, the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence threatens some of the world’s most revered historic sites. “Few places in the world are so charged with history, politics, religion, and legend,” Andrew Lawler writes. Will there be a long-term solution to the crisis? Israeli scholar Yitzhak Reiter gives an answer commonly heard in Jerusalem. “I’m not sure—it’s complicated.”

Long time coming: Only after the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s did Japanese Americans organize en masse against the unjust incarceration they suffered—and losses of homes and livelihoods—during World War II. It wasn’t until 1988 when the United States granted $20,000 in financial redress and a presidential apology to every surviving U.S. citizen or legal resident who had been incarcerated, Erin Blakemore writes for Nat Geo.

From fear to art: Businesses boarded up their windows in fear of unrest after the police slaying of George Floyd. Now, a year after the crime, that plywood has been converted to art celebrating Floyd's life and remembering police injustice, the New York Times reports. The art is being exhibited in Minneapolis, New York, and Chicago.

Cradle of innovation: Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright brothers, once boasted more patents per capital than any other U.S. city. One trademark turned 100 yesterday, an orange cracker inspired by melted cheddar beer cheese spread over toast. You know it as the Cheez-It, Smithsonian reports.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES L. STANFIELD, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Dancing in Santiago: A few years before a crippling military coup, photographer James L. Stanfield captured this couple dancing at an Independence Day celebration in the Chilean capital. This image, part of our popular Photo of the Day feature, was first published in the October 1969 issue, in a story retracing Charles Darwin’s voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle in the 1830s. Just last week, Chileans danced again, after voting in members to overhaul the nation’s Constitution, which had been approved under military rule.

See: 10 thrilling images of Chile

THE BIG TAKEAWAY

ENSBA/RMN-GRAND PALAIS

A 2,400-year-old mystery: What exactly was the Great Plague that hastened the end of Athens’ golden age? No, the Spartans didn’t poison the wells. In five years, the plague wiped between 25 percent and 35 percent of the population—and turned traditional hierarchies upside down. “Wealthy citizens might see their livelihoods destroyed from one day to the next, while poor ones might get rich by appropriating a dead man’s assets,” Nat Geo’s History magazine reports. (Above, Pericles turns away from his son, victimized by the plague, in this 19th-century painting by François-Nicolas Chifflart.)

IN A FEW WORDS

QUOTE

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

Alice Walker

Pulitzer-winning novelist, The Color Purple

DID A FRIEND FORWARD THIS TO YOU?

On Tuesday, Robert Kunzig covers the environment. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to also get Victoria Jaggard on science, Rachael Bale on animal news, George Stone on travel, and Whitney Johnson on photography.

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT NICKELSBERG

Afghanistan’s treasures: The last time the Taliban was in power, it blew up the world’s largest statues, looted other ancient sites, and rampaged through the nation’s National Museum, smashing artifacts, including the Buddha head pictured above.
Now, with NATO forces preparing to leave, the Taliban says it will prevent sales of looted artifacts and would safeguard “all historic sites.” Many are skeptical, Nat Geo Explorer Andrew Lawler reports.

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard and Monica Williams, and Jen Tse has selected the photos. Have an idea or a link? We'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for reading, and happy trails.

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