Beyond Essentialist Understandings of Asianness in Multicultural Liturgy

By Joe Cheah

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n a recent webinar interview (March 1, 2023) about my book, Anti-Asian Racism: Myths, Stereotypes, and Catholic Social Teaching, Lynn Campbell, Director of the Office of Catholic Social Justice Ministry of the Archdiocese of Hartford, threw a curve ball at me by asking a rather complex question about pastoral sensitivity in multicultural liturgy celebrated in Asian American communities. She inquired, “Do ethnic parishes reinforce the stereotype of the ‘Perpetual Foreigner’? If so, how can parishioners get the benefit of worshiping in a way that is culturally meaningful, without inadvertently reinforcing this stereotype?”

My immediate response to the first question about the perpetual foreigner was “yes and no” or a both-and approach. Here we have to distinguish between ethnic parishes of immigrant communities and multicultural liturgies celebrated in non-ethnic parishes. In multicultural celebrations at non-ethnic parishes, Asian Americans are often expected to outwardly display our Asian culture by putting on ethnic costumes, bringing ethnic foods, and performing ethnic dances. 

By contrast, ethnic parishes of Asian immigrant communities in the U.S., like Euro-American immigrant parishes in the late Victorian era, celebrate liturgies in ways that help them to preserve their respective cultures and traditions. This sort of celebration is especially meaningful for Asian immigrant communities. It affirms the cultural identity of an immigrant group and provides ethnic reinforcement in passing down their cultural heritage to the next generation. It is also good for Asian Americans in that it celebrates the Asianness of our Asian American identity. 

The celebration of Asianness in ethnic parishes and multicultural liturgy in non-ethnic parishes is necessary and important not only for Asian immigrants but also for Asian ethnics: those who are born in the U.S. or whose families have been here for many generations. Asian ethnics need to be reminded that the Asianness of their identity is something that is given to them. They did not choose to be Asians. Often, some of the most important aspects of our identity and relationships are not those we choose, but rather those with which we are born and given to us. 

So, there is a place for multicultural celebrations that put Asian cultures on display; but, if we exclusively celebrate this form of liturgy, we run the risk of feeding into the stereotype that Asian Americans are forever foreigners. In other words, multicultural liturgy that puts Asian cultures on display not only celebrates an essentialist understanding of the diversity of cultures of Asian America, but also perpetuates the forever foreigner stereotype. It does this by relegating people of Asian ancestry to the margins of American society, by highlighting our racial and cultural foreignness. This is especially true in our racialized society where Asian Americans are often seen as foreigners living in the United States. We, therefore, need to balance the celebration of our Asianness with our Americanness. Otherwise, what we’re celebrating is a “where are you really from” liturgy that re-affirms biases and prejudices many people have of Asian Americans. 

Real Asian American multicultural liturgy must celebrate the lives of Asian Americans as we actually experience our lives in the United States. Having said this, we have to recognize that it may be difficult to find an Asian American multicultural liturgy in part because “Asian American” is a political category. Liturgy tends to focus on a particular ethnic group and not a political category. It is rare to find Asian Americans of various ethnicities come under one roof for the purpose of celebrating a multi-ethnic liturgy. If one goes to an older Asian American community, like Chinatown, one may find Chinese American liturgy; but one would be hard-pressed to find an Asian American liturgy. If one goes to a recent immigrant community’s celebration, like the Karen celebration of the Karen New Year at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, one will find a Karen Mass celebrated by a Karen priest, followed by a Karen celebration that showcases their culture and ethnicity, and the maintenance of their culture for the next generation. 

This sort of celebration where one’s culture is put on display and one’s ethnic identity is the central focus of the liturgy is typical for all first-generation immigrant communities. It is a normal celebration of an immigrant community which has yet to fully incorporate into their adopted country. The next generation may not find this kind of celebration as relevant to them and, indeed, the prevalence of ethnic celebration will vary depending on how long a particular ethnic group has been in the U.S. This doesn’t mean an incorporation of Americanness into ethnic celebration is unimportant. Even within the first generation, many can identify with the themes of foreignness, marginality, liminality, and other racialized quintessential Asian American experiences. 

These racialized quintessential experiences with which almost every Asian American can identify with is what I mean by the "Americanness"of our experience. Incorporation of our experience of Americanness can be done in song and dances, but it should also be a part of homilies or sermons and reflections. Education is essential to understanding people from different social locations. 

The experience of not belonging simply because of the way God has created us is foreign to those whose Americanness would never be called into question. A teaching moment in a multicultural liturgy at non-ethnic parishes or congregations is to offer an opportunity to listen to those whose social location is positioned at the margins of American society. The primary audience of our preaching and teaching at these non-ethnic congregations is not necessarily Asian immigrants or Asian Americans but those whose social location has shielded them from being considered the Other. 

The Christian sacred scripture is replete with stories of strangers in our midst. Those who are located in a less privileged social location have much to teach us about our own life experiences. It is only by relating with those whose social and cultural locations are different from ours, and who experience the world differently from the way we do, that we will come to see the values and pitfalls of our own social location. This requires a change of behavior and cultivating virtues of empathy and forgiveness. In other words, it requires us to become better Christians. Isn’t that the purpose of our gathering as a community in worship? We need to celebrate multicultural liturgy that goes beyond superficial and essentialist understandings of our Asianness by including our Americanness. We can still eat samosas and egg rolls after Mass or multicultural service. But we will do it in recognition that the people who serve these ethnic dishes are not foreigners but Americans of Asian ancestry.

Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

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Joe Cheah is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. His areas of research are in the fields of race and religion, Buddhist Studies, Asian American theological studies, and World Christianity. He is the author of three books, many book chapters and journal articles. His recent book, Anti-Asian Racism: Myths, Stereotypes, and Catholic Social Teaching was released in December, 2022. He is a recipient of two awards from the State of Connecticut for his work with Asian Pacific American communities. He is also a co-sponsor of an orphanage in Kyauktan, Myanmar (Burma).