Collective Identities: Interview with Generation Zero author and sociologist Sabreet Kang Rajeev, Part Two
On the American Dream and understanding the stories inside of us
In this second part covering the interview with Sikh sociologist and author of Generation Zero, Sabreet Kang Rajeev delves deeper into expressing identity and the reality of the American Dream.
Jaijongkit:
Generation Zero contains so many layers of yourself and your identity. I know a lot of it is retrospective, but how did writing the book as an adult shape your identity, or how you understand yourself?
Kang Rajeev:
Writing this book, I’m telling you, it literally took everything inside of me. I did it, and then I put it in a black box and shut it off and was like “I am never going to relive these experiences again.” Because it truly was so intense. I focused on one story at one time because that’s all I could do. Then I grouped them together as chapters and then realized why do i want them in these chapters, how do I edit this, all that stuff. I wrote the whole book in like.. seven months.
The biggest thing about writing this book so quickly was because I could essentially still be sitting on Generation Zero and it would still not be out. Because there’s just so many layers of it that are endless. But I stuck to the core of why I wanted to do this and basically wrote out certain stories. If there was a story that made me laugh, I kept it. If there was a story that made me really cry and I really didn’t want to share it, I kept it. And if there’s a story that I felt really could tie things together, I also kept that in.
It was after the revision did I put the sociology in it and infused everything else I wanted to. But I think because of that the book has been well received. It truly is an emotional journey to write it the way that I have. I don’t think I have the emotional capacity to ever do it again. But I think that’s how it had to be written.
Jaijongkit:
Do you feel more emotionally connected with yourself now?
Kang Rajeev:
I feel like I’m so emotionally connected with myself. More importantly, I understand all the details of my family’s life. And why they act a certain way that they do. I’m really at peace with everything. I’m not afraid, not ashamed to talk about these things. “Hey I was born, my dad didn’t want me! He said I should’ve been a guy!” And everyone’s like “Wow that’s so tragic, don’t you want to cry in a corner?” I’m like “Been there, done that!”
I actually think it’s a great thing now because it’s made me who I am today. It’s like the shift of perspective and really understanding that what is the whole point suffering over something someone did to you once? Why not just try to understand that person? Because there are so many stories that are left unread still.
Going back to the media, lack of representation of how I felt, all of the books I read about dads and daughters are all “My dad sucks, suck it, I’ve moved on.” And I feel like that’s coming from a place of hurt and being traumatized. The reason I have a good relationship with my dad was because I literally was like “Dad, I don’t like how you said that about me. Why? Can we talk about it?” But it’s hard having those conversations with your parents. If your parents run from it, you probably will never have that conversation with them.
Jaijongkit:
There’s a whole lot of shady stuff that happened with your parents. Do you think the same American dream could be achieved today?
Kang Rajeev:
No. There is just no way. I think the unfortunate truth about the American dream today is that there isn’t a space for labor workers. How America was and what America is right now, it has forever been changed by technology, and I think the struggles of the American dream now are very different. When you have students, families coming over on student visas, how they feel about things, their struggles are very different than an illegal immigrant who had to build the American dream.
We know from a factual standpoint that to obtain a United States citizenship, it’s incredibly hard now. It’s not one of those things where you would hear on the radio “come work for me here and I will give you a green card.” That does not happen anymore. I don’t think the American dream from a labor perspective could be achieved today. I think we’re losing a lot of talent because of that.
I think we are a knowledge based society, but there’s just a different type of understanding you feel when [all my parents ] do all day long is think, because they’re using their bodies to work. Their relationship with you is different than all you do for a living is think. I know I think for a living. And when I think for a living, some of the relationships I have might be limited because I’m actually emotionally exhausted from taxing my brain all the time. So I see that happening and what makes me very sad is that people aren’t having as authentic relationships anymore because they’re just wiped out. And then say you have two hours to spend with your family, what would you do? You’d need at least an hour to yourself to just not do anything.
Flipped, I’ve lived this experience: my dad is driving a taxi all day and what he does all day long is think about me and my mom and my brother and what he wants to teach us today and all the thoughts he had. By the time the knowledge he’s acquired is given to us, it’s clearly structured because he’s thought about it for a long time. Now, it’s a little bit different.
Jaijongkit:
Your book deals so much with identity and especially the hyphenated ones, a combination of being a woman, an Indian, a Punjabi, and an American. What advice do you have for Asian Americans, or Asian immigrants, who are struggling to understand and express their identity?
Kang Rajeev:
My favorite question! I feel like the answer to this question can only come from you. It’s such a cliche answer, but the world will always tell you what parts of your identity to keep. You are an Asian-American because you are from this continent. People try to categorize you since the minute you’re born: you get a birth certificate.
But your identity is the voice inside yourself that’s always questioning and thinking about things. Who is that? Your identity can only be created and understood by you, and only if you listen to your inner voice. We’re bombed with a whole bunch of information through the media about things you should do. But if something doesn’t resonate with you, then don’t do it. That’s not part of who you are.
I’m generation zero and that means that my parents came here with nothing. I am not first, second, third, fourth, fifth, I am generation zero. There is a great power to form your identity of your collective experiences and be who you want to be. No one in your life will tell you to be who you want to be. Just understand that you are a collection of your experiences and what parts of your experiences have shaped you to be who you are today? What values do you uphold? What parts of American culture do you really like? What parts do you hate? Listen to yourself. Give your qualities the merit they deserve and listen to your voice instead of trying to silence it.
Resources for learning more about Kang Rajeev and Generation Zero:
Follow Sabreet Kang Rajeev on social media | Twitter | Instagram
Thrive Global | The Struggles of Having a Hyphenated Identity in America
Authority Magazine | Sharing the Stories of Generation Zero Families
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