8/2/2019 Chinese Groceries Continued

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Tese bits o her Chinese iden-tity, though not as drastic as or genera-tions beore her, still made her eel di-erent in Mississippi, she said. Te overtracism o segregated schools had alreadypassed by the time her parents were inschool, but Chow said she still elt out oplace.

I did not eel totally accepted,she said. No one really treated me dier-ent. It was just my eeling.

Ten at Ole Miss, she wentthrough the sorority recruitment process,

which is oered at the beginning o eachschool year. However, it was only on thesecond recruitment that Chow was ac-cepted into the Chi Omega sorority.

When the topic is broached, shewaves her hand and shakes her head say-ing shed rather not talk about it.

Ryan Kwan elt similarly when inmiddle and high school. He went to theOur Lady o Lourdes and WashingtonSchool in Greenville. Whites and blacksdominated both schools; there were veryew Asians.

It can be dicult being the onlyminority. Depression, being made un oall the time, Kwan said. Its an experi-

ence nobody should go through, but itmakes you stronger.Unlike Chow, Kwan grew up

working in a grocery store, going homeaer school to help. Te c ulture Kwangrew up in was dierent rom the kidsaround him, who were ree aer schoolto participate in extracurricular activitiesand who didnt work cash registers onweekends.

But unlike generations beorehim, Kwan does not plan on going backto the grocery store aer he fnishes atDelta State University. Te grocery storeused to be handed down through theamily, usually to the oldest son. ButKwans parents do not want either o their

two sons to carry on the amily business.Not one percent o me wants

my children to run the store, said imKwan, his ather. Tree o Kwans relativeshave died while watching their stores.

Te Chinese grocery storesare usually in the poorer areas o townand are requently the targets o armed

robbers.Instead, Kwan would just like his

sons to fnd something they enjoy.I hope they do what they want

to do, he said. Bec ome able to sustaintheir liestyle.

Kwans hands-o approach is un-like the older C hinese. In the past, manyDelta Chinese children were very en-couraged to go into felds like engineer-ing or pharmacy.

An article written or a ma-jor Chinese reunion in 1987 by Sung

Gay Chow, called Te Way We Were,recorded the memories o many DeltaChinese who went to college in the 1950sthrough the 1970s.

Te article quotes BelordChong, who attended Mississippi Statein the 1950s, as saying that althoughhe wanted to study business, his atherwanted him to major in engineering.

Just to please him. I went aheadand did it, Chong said. He later talked to

his ather and switched to business.David Au was recorded with

a similar story. He wanted to major inChristian education and music at Berke-ley College.

I had everything lined up. I wasall set to go and my ather laid his handdown, Au said. He said, Why dont youbecome a pharmacist like William Gee?

Au switched to Ole Miss but nev-er fnished his pharmacy degree. Later inlie, he became an industrial engineer.

Ryan Kwan is studying graphic

design. And although his ather wantshim to move past the grocery store lieeventually, Kwan still works every dayin the store, c ommuting rom home toclasses at Delta State.

He has been working there sincehe was 10, giving up his paychecks as hisdues or room and board. Te attitude isa carry-over rom the older immigrantsrom China.

Te ather explained that when

Danny and Cindy Mar are rst-generation Chinese. Tey have two sons, but unlikeprevious generations, they dont have them work in the store; they just study.

Ryan Kwan was the minority in school and remembers being picked on. Ience nobody should go through.

Te younger brother, Sean, is a reshman at Delta State University. Afer gdoesnt want to leave Mississippi.

her, she said she would be fne with a jobin Mississippi. Many beore her movedaway rom Mississippi or jobs or evencollege. In the 1950s and 1960s, e veninto the 1970s, race relations were stillquestionable. A lot o the Chinese movedaway to escape it.

But Leung said most o her

riends have been white growing up. Shesaid she eels just as American as anyone.When people ask me my na-

tionality, I say, Im American, she said.Ten I take a step back and say, Oh, Imalso Chinese.

At home, her mother wouldsometimes cook Chinese ood; theywould occasionally celebrate Chinese

New Year. But it was never said. Without the past barrgated schools or churches, tbe little to remind Leung sh

Tere isnt even thebeing able to date or marry Chinese race, she said.

YOUNG GEN

the immigrants frst came over, every onein the amily chipped in to work. Morerecent immigrants are dierent, he said.

Tey believe in having a goodcareer as a bond or the amily, Kwansaid.

ony and Monica Li have ownedand operated Wongs Foodland inClarksdale since 1995. Tey are recentimmigrants and ocus more on help-ing their children study or careers thanon making sure they work in the amilystore.

None o the children worked inthe grocery store growing up, and theamily lives in a house separate rom thegrocery building. Working would havetaken away rom the childrens studies,Monica said.

Te Chinese came here or edu-cation, she said.

Maintaining a Chinese identityhas not been a priority or their amily,unlike the much older immigrants whocame rom the old country. Instead theyocus on education and helping theirchildren become as American as pos-sible.

Its curious, they always ask,

Mom, am I American or Chinese?Monica said. You are American, you areborn here.

o help assimilate, the am-ily eats American ood; they celebratethe American holidays more than theChinese, and practice American customswhen it comes to the household.

When the Li couple retires, theydont expect to move in with one o theirchildren, as is custom in China.

I know the American style, shesaid. We still have our own privacy.

Madeline Leungs parents dontexpect to move in with her either oncethey retire. Tey owned a grocery storewhen Leung was a little girl, but now she

just barely remembers the store rom herchildhood.

Instead, she said she remembersliving in a single-amily house and goingto the local schools.

Now she is a senior at theUniversity o Mississippi, majoring inart. In contrast to the generations beore