The Power of
Reclaiming My
Asian Name

Like many Asian Americans,
I have long spurned my
full name. A wave of racism
made me say: No more.

“This past year, we had our first big-budget cinematic Asian superhero in Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Not only was the protagonist’s name Chinese, but the name of the Chinese Canadian actor, Simu Liu, wasn’t Anglicized either. (Shang-Chi went by “Shaun” while in hiding in the United States.) In the movie, Shang-Chi’s father explains why Chinese names are important, saying, “Names are sacred. They connect us not only to ourselves, but everyone who came before.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/interactive/2022/assimilation-chinese-names-asian-racism/