by Terry Dip
If you walk around LA, you’ll see lots of Asian couples. Look closer and if you can tell the difference, you’ll see that these couples are of not only the Asian race but the same Asian ethnicity. For a city known worldwide for its cultural diversity, LA has many monoethnic Asian couples. Nothing wrong with that, but there are specific reasons for it.
Even today, it is true to a certain degree that the Asian communities of LA are segregated. Being Asian, I know Asians prefer to live with their own ethnicity. In LA, there exist a Chinatown, a Koreatown, a Little Tokyo, a Filipino Town, a Thai Town, and a myriad of others. Beyond this, certain districts are implicitly known as the territories of specific ethnic groups. Carson has an incredibly high Filipino population, and Monterey Park is primarily Chinese. Commonalities in language, culture, history, and food are the main reasons Thais stay in Thai Town, Koreans stay in Koreatown, and so on. The desire to work with your own ethnicity is also a major reason.
This comes down to many Asians having no opportunity to meet anyone outside of their ethnic group, so they end up dating Asians of their own ethnicity.
It’s, of course, a different case for the younger generation, who has the privilege to venture further into the world, to go to college, but two of the most famous universities in LA are UCLA and USC, the first of which notoriously stands for “University of Caucasians Lost among Asians” and the second of which might as well stand for “University of Students from China.” Even on college campuses, you see many monoethnic Asian couples.
The reason goes deeper than that, though. Many second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-generation Asians have a desire to be more culturally aware of who and what they are, perhaps even more so than their parents. Especially now that tourism and interest in foreign countries have surpassed pre-9/11 levels, culture is almost a commercial product. It’s cool to learn about your own culture, which can translate to joining student groups that educate the student population about your culture and dating someone from your own ethnic group so you can learn about your culture together.
Many Asian couples in LA were not born or raised in the United States either. Whether they are international students, immigrants looking to become permanent residents or citizens, or teens who came when they were already too old to assimilate effortlessly into American society, they most likely feel more comfortable being in a relationship with someone who speaks the same language, understands the same culture, and can communicate with their family.
Like attracting like is not particular to Asians, but Asians are a good example in LA because there is such a high population of many Asian ethnicities. I remember the time when a former professor of mine told me how she had met her husband. They hit it off because they grew up watching the same cartoons.
It might be as simple as that.
About the author: A graduate in Comparative Literature from UCLA, Terry has two great passions in life: writing and traveling. He does not intend to stop doing either. Ever. Maybe until he meets a woman who is either able to clip his wings or willing to fly by his side. Or maybe not. Here is a link to some of Terry’s published work.
