Asian American Disability

Ability has been central to Asian American history, as the notion has importantly shaped the “model minority” trope. A success story of Asian immigrants gaining upward mobility and socio-economic power in the United States by sheer perseverance and practiced efficiency, the trope has been used as a wedge against other racialized minorities—Black Americans in particular—cast as failing to succeed.1 Because of this divide and conquer ideology, perpetuated by white supremacy and anti-Blackness, disability has been strikingly invisible in both Asian American history and historiography. Asian American literature is rife with stories of mental and physical disability, not surprisingly so given war, mass death, family separation, and diaspora fundamental to Asian American history throughout the twentieth century.2 Early statistics from medical facilities and social service agencies in the 1970s and 1980s, too, indicate high risks and rates of disability among Asian Americans, particularly more severe forms of mental illness.3 And yet, the history of Asian American disability, arguably a mirror image of the model minority trope, has been poorly substantiated by historical records and inquiries alike.4In this article, I articulate reasons for this paucity, a methodology of finding sources, and why it is necessary to tell a range of disability histories of the immigrant community that has been long mischaracterized as excessively able.5 In so doing, I aim to reveal more than what has been hidden from history: Asian American disability. Drawing on the scholarship on disability, archives, Black studies, and Asian American Pacific Islander studies, I delineate historically specific ways in which Asian American experiences of disability have been made invisible. Building on a few examples of Asian American disability histories that I have found in unexpected places, I show how ableism, as much as racism, has shaped the history of Asian immigrants in America and their archives. Making these histories more tangible is to begin to dismantle the ableism—a belief in non-disabled individuals as a social norm, against which disabled individuals always measure as inferior—that has underpinned US perpetuation of violence, war, and diaspora vis-à-vis Asians who have been deemed less able than Americans in colonial and postcolonial contexts.Writing about colonial archives, Ann Laura Stoler argues the need for “the analytic shift from the high-gloss print of history writ-large to the space of its production, the darkroom negative” of history. Embedded in historical records produced by colonial authorities, Stoler contends, experiences of those subjugated by the authorities—voices that rarely make unfiltered entry into archives—might help us “trace disturbances in the colonial order of things . . . [and its] potential dissent and current distress.”6 I wish to make a similar turn toward Asian American disability, provoked by the difficulty of locating it in virtually all kinds of archives—national, university, and community. What if the reward of finding Asian American disability in moments of archive-making is to illuminate a kind of “dissent” and “distress” produced by US state violence? Given that many Asians are in America as the result of US colonialism and the nation's involvement in the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, it is plausible that this “analytic shift” facilitates an attempt to conceptualize an Asian American archive of disability. This archive might barely seem to exist. By thinking of it as a collection of historical “negatives,” which produced and structured more readily tangible “positives” in archives, however, we might discover meaningful disturbances that erupted in the US imperial order.7My exploration of the Asian American disability archive does not reproduce or reiterate stories of major “multicultural loss” and “loss of [historical] continuity” frequently associated with Asian American immigrants.8 Derived from the loss of kinship, language, and homeland common among Asian Americans, these stories make frequent appearances in Asian American archives, making Asians in America seem psychosocially deficient. Not only has this dynamism nurtured the essentialist notion that their homeland is too disabled to become independent of US influence, as Dorothy Fujita-Rony argues, the dynamism has also obscured the “ongoing . . . US empire and militarism” that has rendered “Asian American archives themselves . . . militarized constructs” from the moments of their formation.9 As a result, archival records appear to present Asian American experiences of loss as challenges that individuals are expected, and able, to overcome, presumably thanks to the abundant opportunities for self-improvement in the United States. Seldom, if ever, are histories of Asian American disability seen as indicators of US structural failure, which requires more than reactive remedies such as medical treatment and social services. Consequently, Asians as model immigrants of America, not Asian American experiences of disability, have come to the fore.Keeping eyes toward ruptures in the ableist structure of US dominance in the Asia-Pacific, instead of individual deficiencies among Asian American immigrants waiting to be remedied in the land of opportunity, my articulation of the Asian American disability archive also relies on scholarship that points to the intersection of race and ability. Writing about Black women with disability, Meri Nana-Ama Danquah and Anna Mollow how it is women to be seen as . . . of from This difficulty is to be into the structure of as with a to is much in Danquah and articulation that is to Asians in Asian Americans have been seen as or As disabled of Asian Americans are by the social of their as if a minority have such as an as a with of the of disability among the I help us to disability that of their to have the notion that physical or mental for I not that this to I the of disability as of Asian American history in of Given the ableist by the of to immigrants with or American archives seem structured with an that not are or are about to This structure has not only perpetuated US also obscured experiences of the with the Asian American disability archive that I might be it is to that immigrants with the United States and to with both and is to what of experiences might in the of Asian American archives. this of archives of of the of making a of by Asian American literature in a with Asian American an history that is not to Asian American disability, I aim tell an story and to the of its in order to archives and their to other historical and a of the archives and literature in the I in the a of and historical records that the I records to disability, which appear a of historical I a of a in historical of Asian Americans who from forms of mental the history that less as a historical of its to disability. as I finding in this is a toward the model minority trope, as as archives and archival in us to the of disability among Asian immigrants as a result, than a of US and its to US I to state the disability does among Asian has been with of Asian Americans, both those who and the In the for which historical records are Asian American literature the a of historical records of or by which that these a what we about Asian Americans or of disability in their America in the by is a in the American from of than the to with A few to the United in with which to in Asian American stories of disability of the the is not and does not as a so given the of the in the United States the of the disability in the as In the United disabled made disability a to tell stories of and of disability in Asian American literature into the of the World the of the as a and in and to the for the the of is so with with a that of its it racism, of or become experiences of a with eyes toward more we in stories of from moments of the for in a Korean to be to other to all and the of This story of of the of the a from in of a family death, a the of and into and the from what as and experiences and social of the from the experiences are shaped by of and family in the United my of these stories are about “multicultural loss” or “loss of [historical] continuity” that Asian Americans as psychosocially in need of to become be and are by the and their And yet, the these and with I their to which the of physical and mental as and in of disability. What is more than a to the of their by a of the family with or it be or to show we a medical or social on it is to how their these immigrants have if and need for also be to we also what structural deficiencies have disturbances and what have been by immigrant with those that of to immigrants as with disability, Asian American literature is an of if not an of or or stories of disability are much more in historical I have been the to disturbances in or that make a appear not or in an ableist I to the in my for historical records on Asian American to Asian immigrants to the United States on the the US to in Asians been or from the and only about to immigrants Asian deemed a that image as a of Asian Americans state of this is found in the the in to the Asian American in the United the statistics of mental and not as a the with making the of among Asian Americans invisible. As and among the Asian Americans deemed not to medical made are more than to as as the have made it for to records of Asian American disability Asian American individuals with disability. to show in archives on the which I that to Asian American not Asians to in the disability in Asian American archives In the state and to that Asians are and the of with disability be of from and the reveal of how these to need mental these are about of Asian immigrants of this making it of their in the Asian American throughout the 1970s to agencies and facilities more to community Asian community with as as social agencies that to immigrant records have made it to the disability. I have the of these both the and the and in the of of disability such as and who the of I my medical facilities by of social agencies such as the American American for the and Asian Pacific Islander on the 1970s and these for or to help Asian American experiences of disability. these facilities not have the to records of their many of these records to and the and Given how the of Asian American or of social it as of to their records only a and archival in to not only that Asian American literature for what is from the archives, also that records are of historical ways of to history and story in a be of for archival “positives” that not exist. This is not to the history of Asian American disability, it is from histories of other of archival records and might be more women or white in the of the twentieth for that come from of and as as with disability, a as the Asian American disability has been less to be than disability among other of such as and Americans Asian Americans historically have less with medical and social be the have been a of US history all And yet, the of Asian Americans with disability who their in historical has made their experiences particularly to in and records of the Asian American This that not only state archives, also and community archives might only about Asian American disability. the their and Asian Americans to has not been Writing about the Vietnam and in how “the of is by the of from Americans who from This is the of that Asian American community to not many In this it a for to for and family in which experiences of disability might not be as such are this of archival have the history and the as by it has become to in history literature is in historical from more historical history and story from to a and And yet, are also to that the history to archives, a of we a kind of history or historical that the the Asian American stories of disability in this many of are if not individual be reveal family and community of I a of finding in Asian American stories moments of for which not in archives. is a for archival “negatives,” which in turn illuminate in the ableist structure of US Asian American literature frequently with disability in and I family in my archival stories are particularly of disability in I for history records of Asian American women by women community I how these made invisible in and I my methodology more than in all my historical I have a of history I tell on my of by things I from Asian American archives. it is to my into archives. This is not only for to how might be in with and how and of This is also for us to that and into and those that from so as to tell histories that might have been if not Asians be or and as much as And yet, as it if Asian Americans have only in long been to be of less than the American Asian American are not more or less able than if we and archival their with have been of US history, the nation's for its to its how the history of a and of historical is by attempt to the by a that are the who strikingly that a . . . to for the of the in that those with disability be made invisible to those a and and with to to archival for archives of that not seem to have a history. only a for that be only by American literature has in this a of that on against the notion that has that and Not moments of in Asian American literature to the of these moments a toward disability. In of the central an American who a strikingly physical is to by many are about is to it is as to in a to be the only not to the does not the of the the A of the of is for which does not the community As points the and is to the who themselves to be by and into the of an In this the by be the in Asian American about and and to their is by a of which many stories of disability with of the a disability. a to the and by the in the in the and to the this risks to be from history and become also to as a that is hidden in the of the the and the in of this of to notion of it is also that the in the story is about the In both Asian American history and American are of the history of Americans and Korean Americans who the by has been This is in in which a the of mass the other it is a of and it to need to for a of all the all in a in this from the by I for archival that to of such on I an that I an history from an Asian American of the many Asian American from this in the of in and to as a by the US of in and to from both and to homeland in and into which for many and to with with a of the or medical however, to by by who present throughout the used not make many of my a and into the that too is the of the in only to not about experiences in the medical treatment many as if it with the and of the treatment not that difficulty with and a on to of As I more from and less from I to to I thinking of of Asian American literature in which of disability as the with of and my attempt the I which to a of the I a in that much has shaped experiences of by both the and the have been an for the to about I for how has been a model minority who a of to the trope. as a in a who by a US medical in high given the United States. also family from to by been from to frequently a US in in and in a in a seem to reiterate the story of immigrants from I the and if of as a this a toward the of by both and In to my about to about the that on how both and their how things that this more than made a the a with for this in a for and as a as not by by this my also with in of I that the to the United States. my eyes and made a toward with is to . . . are have been for This the my made and into the By long from the and I I not that by or that toward history of disability. I only that the which moments of the of disability in an Asian American I also that this made of my to that as by Asian American As and imperial disability has not it on in a family an with the other who been and this historical their a of the is about physical that might have been by less physical more to rarely or of disability not be it is to that such a histories of disability in archives In we be to have to us a to In archives, however, the of disability be by the I to this the the in in the that agencies that Asian In the for a the which in individuals In the 1980s, the American or in to in social for the American by to and to women and agencies have about Asian Americans who not with medical with I finding few about disability in the I for with its a history from by an Asian American stories of in Asian American which reveal disability, to the history with a to in a as a as a in with the to this of as a for a to make this story . . . a all the be and by to with which or or an to the such as and are also to a in and the to which in race and to and against a and an In this or that as an Asian American in for the frequently for help . . . I This kind of I to to or instead of only on the not to of their to if this a to aim to about with disability that I a I to be what be the of what a articulate so I that of a in the the or of disability. I on the finding that not a not a A of for social have an archival that to major it not the of the that I how I of with who things for in this that many of the from the the other that the by the that is . . . of a family of that has of the as has . . . what it and have for What to or disability. is to as I who not have been so to that a finding or to disability is to to about the yet, is more to be as a not only of the social agencies also of the throughout if a or toward . . . in in an help and the as Asian American who of and a . . . from . . . and the in from the to a that not to of to the medical this stories of Asian Americans as come to the in both the and of Asian American archives, the for those who for histories of of archives these histories as not an American success wish to stories of in of disability, as to the image of Asian Americans by “multicultural As as these might kind of by the of historical records about disability and to as of By this specific kind of in we might begin to histories of Asian American and as archival “positives” need not to as we discover American of long history of by for from that the is who to also to into as a social for Americans in thanks to to for into with and too, be as of Asian American history. also be a in the history for who has become an only By these stories of disability that have been and the we begin to ruptures in US I turn from the literature and archives to the archival and I my attempt to of or more by that of historical records that I on are the statistics about Asian Americans who from mental or physical which to be in in the 1970s and 1980s, by Asian social and with who Asian American in the and of not only the in the statistics of among also the of the as a Asian Americans are model archival an history, that I with the statistics might not seem to the or disability. of the of I the history not only to tell an also to how thinking about the the Asian Americans Asians in used state mental a to than and to than Asian Americans to however, more to be with more severe mental that Asian American a of of the forms of mental of the to white As as the the found that Asian Americans of the of only of the mental service In Americans only of the of the mental service Asian Americans to a mental than to the of their Asian Americans to from other who on this about how these of Asian Americans into As the notion of Asians in America a that made of US facilities or to their of associated with mental disability throughout the of the twentieth the about how against Asian American might be from the that the of Asian Americans mental facilities make their appear and to mental to the model minority trope. Asian American also about the of the statistics of the Asians to only severe of as mental forms of as on a and Asians a high for severe to medical or social these mental it is not to their to the history of Asian American disability more have been of the of in ableist mental is hidden of Asian American disability also become invisible in historical presumably of Asian American not to make it historical records by Asian American a for to a not to to their Asian Americans with disability. the the only us a how the high of among Asian American among immigrants from be to both experiences and of of severe not of of American and the of the US in this to it for the image of Asians to become a of “multicultural loss” that and Asian on the that Asian American more than the in the with medical facilities and social that in are to This in to an of mental among women by Asians in America this from the that Asian Americans are to it the from race to making it to of the model minority trope, that it is on notion of in this the among specific forms of that among Asian and American we make of the in the statistics the model minority I to a of to for historical As the need for from moments of by archival we this on the of Asian Americans with mental that appear in we might the Asian Americans with forms of mental who not come medical or social a of the archival that Asian American about disability. we have of Asian Americans with mental we this to to archival to Asian American archives and reiterate as seen both and disability to This is of the be by not of disability in records of Asian also that archival the of disability a as of the and the that disability in archival and as a instead of a with disability historical in the of their disability are to come to medical or social the of less than a in all archives, which help us and the found in the and a this with the of Asian American disability, have an it is to that immigrants and from a US as a to to their or physical from a by the US is not their of or that their it is a by US medical and the notion of among Asian Because disability is the of be by a of social produced by the model minority these are not the only reasons the ableist trope of Asian Americans to As argues, for the a need for disabled to be so that the be This need in the United a major for the of a of disabled and In this “the present to the of and Not only is a of disability disability also into the in the and “the of history and of it is to state that has been or historical space for Asian American disability and that the of space has historically specific an archive for Asian American disability, requires that we archives and archival to kinds of historical we have historical to to Asian Americans with who not archival we begin to that a I the of family history is in the Asian United the that a of and treatment for it archival we if social or medical for of mental in to physical and made a of that always and always And always in . . . I used to a of . . . I the I the of . . . I I as and of of disability to the many and of a to about the for the . . . my and I a long And that the . . . it I that we have Because that a of and all the on we in this this not to a of disability. we if story is of the hidden history of disability that we might seem a historical to Asian American experiences of disability. if we moments of that frequently Asian American disability in both archives and we reasons in history to story as a history of disability. about disability that might have an to the of I a Because I to on . . . I made a that I have to with . . . I to tell I not to not come to it not to articulate the of the history, A in historical of disability has and be making disability into the disability be its archival not disability it has not become In this it is to that archives, structure toward many records on Asian American disability, which toward notion that the of mental given indicate or of mental disability, is and is also in America, individuals Americans, the more archives are to those who wish to what Asian immigrants in to the model minority trope might be to Asian American literature for the disability archive to come of the of the archive we to that we that it does not make a and has a to archival that a history for Asian Americans with disability, and that America as an is a trope that for By historical in with the power of we begin to make a of Asian American archives and history

Genealogy · Political science · Asian American and Pacific Histories · Canadian Identity and History · History · Latin American and Latino Studies

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• The Good Immigrants

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• Contagious Divides

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  Open Access•Freda K Cheung, L R Snowden•Community Mental Health Journal•1990

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