A question: how do you portray a positive image of an Asian American? Will they be successful yet symbolize our assimilation and loss of cultural identity on their rise to the top? Will they be themselves, pushing ethnic identity into a convenient time slot... weekends, perhaps? Will they preach and rant about the injustices of the world towards their own kind; will they be able to exist in our society while they cling to everything from their motherland (culture, customs, items, mentalities, etc.)? How can we expect anyone to want the responsibility of representing a whole group of people that, save skin pigmentation and genetic structure, have none of the same values as yourself?

How dare we presume that we can create a representation, an identity that will be approved by our charges and found attractive to those from other cultures?

A solution, and a very modest one at that: total cultural assimilation. But, in order to have true cultural assimilation, or in this case infusion, you have to look past the immediate decades and century. I'm talking genetic infusion; America is open to interracial couples, so take advantage of that. Spread the gene pool into every corner of this country's genetic map. The population of this country has already begun browning, so why not contribute to the growing population of people marking "other" on their census forms?

Given time and isolation, this would create a finely blended mixture of all our ethnicities. This way, there will be no need to represent culture, just the self.

A solution guaranteed to work for half a generation... until people realize that they need some identity that distinguishes them from the rest of the flock.

What fools are we.