I have lived in Elmhurst my entire life, its the place I call home. From what I remember it was always a predominantly Asian neighborhood. I wondered if Elmhurst was always like this so I decided to ask my mom since she’s lived in Elmhurst since she was 12 years old. When I asked her about Elmhurst she told me that it wasn’t always filled with Asians. In fact, Elmhurst used to be a European neighborhood. I later learned that this effect is called white flight; this effect is when Europeans leave a certain area to a more suburban area. Once the Europeans left Elmhurst Asians started to move in. My mom told me that at first she did not notice the change. She woke up one day and realized how many Asians she saw. At first it did not seem like such a big deal but when she noticed that there were hardly any Europeans left and all she saw were Asians she realized what had occurred. It started with the Europeans leaving and the asians replacing them and then the Asians began to buy the stores and convert them into Asian stores.This was huge because before the asians arrived Elmhurst had a wide range of store, all in english. Gradually the stores stopped being American and became asian. At first it was only a few stores but now they are practically all asian with the exception of maybe five stores. One of the stores that impacted Elmhurst the most was the supermarket. The supermarket used to be an American supermarket with American products and all the signs and labels were in English. That supermarket was taken over by Asians and now all the products are Asian and all the signs and labels are in Asian writing. We’re lucky if we see some signs and labels in English.
The products are only the beginning, the ads on buildings and the businesses are also Asian. The workers and the people that attend these places are also predominantly Asian. Therefore when someone like myself, who does not speak an Asian language, walks into the business there is no one that can attend us. This situation can become frustrating because when I walk in all I see are Asian products and when I approach someone to ask for help no one speaks English. One might assume I’ve grown accustom to this but I haven’t, instead I have to work my way around it. I have to shop in places far from where I live in order to buy American products and come across workers who speak English. I feel as if the Asians do not like me because they feel that I do not belong in elmhurst. When in fact my family lived in elmhurst before they arrived. I think they make it quite obvious that they do not like me, or anyone in the neighborhood that is not Asian. For example when someone that is not Asian enters one of the Asians stores the Asians workers follow that person around the store as if they that person was going to steal from their store. The reason I bring this example up is because I have noticed that when an Asian person walked into an Asian store the workers do not stare at them or follow them around, yet if I were to walk in they would follow me. This creates tension between the worker and I because no one wants to be considered a thief especially not due to their race.
For this reason I only enter certain places in my neighborhood, to avoid feeling awkward. I find this to be very sad because I should feel welcomed in my neighborhood not like an intruder. Unfortunately I know the this situation is not going to change, not anytime soon at least. At times I feel that the Asian population will keep increasing in Elmhurst and other times I feel that there is still hope for Elmhurst, hope that it will become a more diverse community.
Although I must admit that the lack of diversity in Elmhurst has influenced my mom and I, living in Elmhurst has caused my mom and I to take in some of the Asian ideologies. For example my mom has a bamboo plant in our house and she raps a dollar bill around the plant. In the Asian culture they believe that by doing this one will never run out of money. Since we live in Elmhurst finding a bamboo plant is extremely easy and inexpensive. Another thing that my mom has in our house are seven elephants. This also follows the Asian culture; the idea is that the elephant's trunk must be pointing up which represents luck. In fact I didn’t even notice how much my mom and I had been influence by the Asian culture until I discussed it with my group. I guess I didn’t notice it because I’m so used to it, to me its a norm. I know that I wouldn’t have hand the bamboo plant or the seven elephants if I didn’t live in elmhurst. I also know that if I ever move I will probably bring these things with me because it will remind me of home, Elmhurst. I mean sometimes being the minority does bother me but other times I like it. I have been exposed to many Asian cultures by living in Elmhurst. I’ve been exposed to Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Korean, Bengali, Pakistani, and Indian culture. Although I don’t identify myself with these cultures I like to learn about them and eat their food. Living in Elmhurst has given me this opportunity, I will hands down say Elmhurst has the best Asian cuisine.
I must say that I love the food in Elmhurst, there is a lot of variety. Especially since I live five blocks away from the Queens Center Mall and one block away from Queens Boulevard, then along Broadway there is a lot of Asian food. I love Asian food and since my neighborhood is predominantly Asian the food is delicious. The only thing I do not like is that if I ever want to eat Latino food I have to walk to Roosevelt avenue which is about a 20 minute walk from my house. This can get frustrating at times but since there is nothing I can do to change the situation I got used to it. What gets me upset is that the Asians that live in Elmhurst only surround themselves with their own culture and refuse to give other cultures an opportunity. For example I am Latino but I try food from different cultures and listen to music in different languages. I do not see the Asians in my neighborhood try new things, they only allow themselves to be exposed to Asian culture. I understand that they take pride in their culture, we all do. What I don not understand is why they cannot be open to other cultures. If the Asians in my neighborhood were to allow other cultures into the neighborhood Elmhurst would be a much better place. I truly love Elmhurst because it is my home. My entire family that has moved to the United States started in Elmhurst, to me it is a part of my family history. I just find it extremely sad that one group of people has come to my home and taken over it and my doing so they displaced all the people that had been living there for generations.
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The products are only the beginning, the ads on buildings and the businesses are also Asian. The workers and the people that attend these places are also predominantly Asian. Therefore when someone like myself, who does not speak an Asian language, walks into the business there is no one that can attend us. This situation can become frustrating because when I walk in all I see are Asian products and when I approach someone to ask for help no one speaks English. One might assume I’ve grown accustom to this but I haven’t, instead I have to work my way around it. I have to shop in places far from where I live in order to buy American products and come across workers who speak English. I feel as if the Asians do not like me because they feel that I do not belong in elmhurst. When in fact my family lived in elmhurst before they arrived. I think they make it quite obvious that they do not like me, or anyone in the neighborhood that is not Asian. For example when someone that is not Asian enters one of the Asians stores the Asians workers follow that person around the store as if they that person was going to steal from their store. The reason I bring this example up is because I have noticed that when an Asian person walked into an Asian store the workers do not stare at them or follow them around, yet if I were to walk in they would follow me. This creates tension between the worker and I because no one wants to be considered a thief especially not due to their race.
For this reason I only enter certain places in my neighborhood, to avoid feeling awkward. I find this to be very sad because I should feel welcomed in my neighborhood not like an intruder. Unfortunately I know the this situation is not going to change, not anytime soon at least. At times I feel that the Asian population will keep increasing in Elmhurst and other times I feel that there is still hope for Elmhurst, hope that it will become a more diverse community.
Although I must admit that the lack of diversity in Elmhurst has influenced my mom and I, living in Elmhurst has caused my mom and I to take in some of the Asian ideologies. For example my mom has a bamboo plant in our house and she raps a dollar bill around the plant. In the Asian culture they believe that by doing this one will never run out of money. Since we live in Elmhurst finding a bamboo plant is extremely easy and inexpensive. Another thing that my mom has in our house are seven elephants. This also follows the Asian culture; the idea is that the elephant's trunk must be pointing up which represents luck. In fact I didn’t even notice how much my mom and I had been influence by the Asian culture until I discussed it with my group. I guess I didn’t notice it because I’m so used to it, to me its a norm. I know that I wouldn’t have hand the bamboo plant or the seven elephants if I didn’t live in elmhurst. I also know that if I ever move I will probably bring these things with me because it will remind me of home, Elmhurst. I mean sometimes being the minority does bother me but other times I like it. I have been exposed to many Asian cultures by living in Elmhurst. I’ve been exposed to Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Korean, Bengali, Pakistani, and Indian culture. Although I don’t identify myself with these cultures I like to learn about them and eat their food. Living in Elmhurst has given me this opportunity, I will hands down say Elmhurst has the best Asian cuisine.
I must say that I love the food in Elmhurst, there is a lot of variety. Especially since I live five blocks away from the Queens Center Mall and one block away from Queens Boulevard, then along Broadway there is a lot of Asian food. I love Asian food and since my neighborhood is predominantly Asian the food is delicious. The only thing I do not like is that if I ever want to eat Latino food I have to walk to Roosevelt avenue which is about a 20 minute walk from my house. This can get frustrating at times but since there is nothing I can do to change the situation I got used to it. What gets me upset is that the Asians that live in Elmhurst only surround themselves with their own culture and refuse to give other cultures an opportunity. For example I am Latino but I try food from different cultures and listen to music in different languages. I do not see the Asians in my neighborhood try new things, they only allow themselves to be exposed to Asian culture. I understand that they take pride in their culture, we all do. What I don not understand is why they cannot be open to other cultures. If the Asians in my neighborhood were to allow other cultures into the neighborhood Elmhurst would be a much better place. I truly love Elmhurst because it is my home. My entire family that has moved to the United States started in Elmhurst, to me it is a part of my family history. I just find it extremely sad that one group of people has come to my home and taken over it and my doing so they displaced all the people that had been living there for generations.
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