Stories

Asia in Northfield explores the multifaceted Asian population in this “All American” town. While the experiences of Asian immigrants are well documented on the coasts, the tales of those in the Midwest have been largely overlooked. A major goal of this project is to collect and present their stories.

During the summer of 2014, the research team interviewed ten community members (eight female and two male), who came from diverse ethnic backgrounds, such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian-Thai, Laotian, along with those who have worked closely with the Asian community. The semi-structured interviews mostly took place on St Olaf campus, with the exception of one that was held in a Chinese restaurant.

Their stories bear some similarities. Many struggled between learning English and holding onto their heritage language. Others experienced some  form of racism. All of them praised Northfield, despite its relatively small size, for its general acceptance of minority groups. However, there were also differences, chiefly regarding individual identity, ethnic labeling, and the idea of the “American Dream.”

To start, a selection of more prominent themes that emerged during the conversations, including American Dream, Language, Food, Northfield, the Midwest, Identity, and Racial Interaction, are showcased here to highlight their experiences. Follow-up excerpts of other topics may be chosen in the future. These “stories” are not meant to “generalize” or “finalize” all Asian American experiences. Rather, they present only personal views and opinions on respective subjects. Together, however, they become one of the threads that weaves the multicolored social fabric of Northfield, a place where all of them call “home.”

As the local Asian population continues to grow, this project hopes to begin a more comprehensive documentation of the Asian experiences in Northfield. Once again, the research team is grateful to all participants who kindly shared their tales with us. The stories belong to them, but the errors, if any, are ours.