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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

A lot of Asians believed the myth that we were working harder than other minorities, and we accepted less than full equality for us because it was better than being treated like them. Black Americans resented Asians for getting a boost that we didn’t deserve (false), and bailing out of the fight for equality (often true, sadly). And no one got the equal rights and opportunities that we all deserved.

1970s–present

The rest, as they say, is history. Each new wave of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants has fallen for the myth and made it bigger, more elaborate, more constricting, and more insulating. And the myth keeps doing its job: giving us nearly equal social privilege, pitting us against black and Latinx people, and erasing everyone who doesn’t fit into the myth.

29

HANNAH AND I ARE WATCHING THE NEWS FROM the couch and eating kettle corn right out of the bag, which drives Mom nuts. Hannah is also shouting at the TV, which also drives Mom nuts. “Fuck you, Trey!” Hannah shouts when they show footage of him reading his statement earlier today. “You privileged prick!”

According to KRON, the Merc article about Mom, Hannah, and the McAllisters—and the McAllister family’s press conference afterward—got lots of people riled up. Experts have been arguing about whether the McAllisters’ philanthropy makes up for Robert Sr.’s racism, and if anything is owed to the Japanese Americans he cheated. They’re going in circles around whether the McAllisters’ statement was a “robust acknowledgment of responsibility” or a flimsy excuse for racism.

“I vote for flimsy excuse,” I say.

“Exactly,” agrees Hannah. Then she turns to the TV and addresses the newscasters. “Robust acknowledgment, my ass!”

Mom sticks her head out of her office, where she’s been holed up all evening. “Can you two please be quiet? I’m trying to get some work done in here. My day has been a shit show, no thanks to you, and I haven’t finished half the stuff I need to do.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” I protest.

“Anyway, you’re the one who wants to sell out to a bunch of racists,” says Hannah.

“Trey is not racist.”

“Mom. He said it was okay for his grandfather to be racist because he was sad and scared.”

“He also said that was no excuse.”

“But he implied that it was an excuse,” says Hannah.

“Look,” says Mom. “Everyone has racist relatives. That doesn’t mean that everyone should be punished for it.”

“Trey used you as proof that he’s not racist. That’s right out of the racist playbook,” I point out.