'I've walked between two worlds': What belonging means for Asian Americans

Asian American families across generations reflect on the ways they hold on to their cultures while finding a place in America.

DD Lee and daughter Isabelle

DD Lee, who moved to the U.S. from China at age 12, sits with her daughter, Isabelle, at their home in Woodstock, Georgia. DD teaches Isabelle, who is biracial, to be proud of both parts of her heritage. “I tell her: who you are is not where you came from. Sure, you’re half Chinese, half American, but that doesn’t make up who you are. Who you are is how you treat people, how you behave, are you kind.”

For most of my life, I hated my name. Before I was born, my parents, who had come to the United States from China a few years before, had chosen to call me Elaine, but my mom’s sole white friend at the time told her that it was an old-lady name. She suggested Alyssa instead.

My dad didn’t know how to spell that, so when the time came to register me, he sounded it out, figured “Alyssa” sounded like “eleven,” threw in a couple of S’s for good measure, and there I was, hours old and legally bound to this strange portmanteau, Elessa.

I still ended up going by Elaine, perhaps because my parents wanted me to use my Chinese name, Yilan.

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