My future in China or America

¶ … future lie in China or America?

The series of essays pertaining to the winning essays in the Ging Hawk Club Essay Contest in 1936 illustrate different arguments and perspectives regarding the question, "Does my future lie in China or America?" The winners, Robert Dunn from Harvard University (winning essay) and Kaye Hong from University of Washington (second place), portrayed different perspectives regarding the issue. To add further debate not only on the choice of winners, but on the discussion of the issue within each winning essay, reactions from the Chinese Students' Club in Stanford University and Jane Kwong Lee provided more in-depth analysis of the issue being discussed. The texts that follow are vital points debated in these sets of essays answering and contemplating the vital question, "Does my future lie in China or America?"

Dunn's stance on the issue is, "I choose a course of life whose future lies here in America."

In arguing his position, Dunn looks into the economics, politics, and culture of both countries. Meanwhile, Hong, in contemplating the said issue, provides a qualitative approach in gauging his judgment on whether to live out his life and career in China or America. Hong's "Go Further West, Young Man" motto illustrates his belief in nationalist belief inculcated in him by his environment, despite living in the Westernized American society.

Because Dunn chose a stance that deviates from the general sentiment among Chinese-Americans (second generation Chinese), his essay elicited reactions from his fellow Chinese-Americans, as shown in the letters of the Chinese Students' Club (CSC) and Jane Kwong Lee. While Lee gives merit to both Dunn and Hong's essays, primarily because of the diversity it offered in discussing the issue of Chinese-American patriotism to either China or America, CSC discredits Dunn's essay because of its "illogical" and "fallacious" arguments. For the organization, Dunn's essay illustrates the shallowness of thinking of American-born Chinese who does not have enough knowledge about the realities happening in their native country, China.

Analyses of the Dunn, Hong, CSC, and Lee's essays reflect how even among the Chinese-American sector, there are different opinions and thoughts about the issue. As explained in the essay, it is true that the question posed by the Ging Hawk Club's essay contest is a loaded one, a question that is answered pragmatically rather than philosophically. Dunn's essay is prime example of this perspective, taking into consideration first the economic benefits/rewards that he will get once he settles down in China. Answering the question pragmatically is but the most effective way in which this value-laden question can be answered. This is illustrated in Dunn's contention that, more than expression of patriotism, one must also consider the individual's willingness to serve, employment opportunities, and more importantly, the kind of culture of a country in order to ascertain whether s/he is indeed suitable to live in that country or not.

The author cites how politics and personalistic ties pervades employment opportunities in Chinese society, where one needs to have the right 'connections' with the government or company in order to secure a job that is sometimes far below what the individual is trained or skilled for. Thus, job discrimination among the Chinese is not only rampant in America, but also in their native country China: "It is evident, then, that employment is hard to get anywhere; in America, perhaps, because of the color line; in China because jobs are scarce." Dunn makes it clear that economically, both countries pose certain disadvantages to the Chinese-American individual, but since the author is more acquainted with American culture and society, it will not be a problem for him to fit in the country's culture and get along with its people. Hence, his decision to live his life and career in America.

Dunn's essay highlights the value of individualism that is a popular value in American society. Before considering ideal values such as patriotism, nationalism, and loyalty to one's country, Dunn analyzed first the practical solution to the problem at hand. For him, he would rather do his part in serving China "by building up a good impression of the Chinese among Americans," instead of going to China and live a life of "unhappiness and social enstrangement due to conflicting cultures" of American (Dunn's personality) and Chinese societies and cultures.

Hong, on the other hand, opted to generalize, rather than fully express himself, in answering the essay question of the Ging Hawk Club. It is noticeable that the author decided to use generalities to express his views about nationalism, patriotism, and loyalty to China. Indeed, he confessed to subsisting to these generalities, saying, "[p]erhaps I've been speaking too optimistically in vague generalization..." Having said that at the end of the essay, Hong still fails to justify his contentions and arguments in his essay, leaving only readers with an idealistic notion about China being the ideal country for native- and American-born Chinese, despite the socio-economic disadvantages that it offers to potential Chinese-American immigrants.

Looking into Hong's statements in the essay, it is also noticeable that his arguments do not possess any concrete evidence defending his position, which is his consideration that he may potentially live his future in China. According to him, "[i]t is impossible for a nation to rise politically when she stands upon an economic base of quicksand that sucks her down instead of holding her up." However, this statement is preceded by the belief of the author that, "I... intend to become a good citizen of the great Republic... I shall place the welfare of the nation above my own. These two statements cannot defend Hong's argument because it is illogical, especially in the perspective of the pragmatist. Becoming a "good citizen" of a nation also entails self-satisfaction, which is not possible when a nation is stricken with social and economic conflicts and crises. Thus, because Dunn offers more practical solutions and arguments about the issue, he provides a better insight for Chinese-Americans in choosing whether to live their future lives in China or America.