I choose to be American, I choose to live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I choose to have Puerto Rican/Jewish neighbors, and I choose to maintain my Chinese identity.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
No matter how American I become, I'm considered part of the Chinese community by my own family.
So, you know, I always say that I'm a Mexican, but if I had to be a citizen of anywhere else, I'd be a citizen of Manhattan. I feel very much a New Yorker.
It's very important to me that people see I am an American and I was born in the States.
In America, I'm a foreigner because of my Korean heritage. In Asia, because I was born in America, I'm a foreigner. I'm always a foreigner.
Most of my life I was occupied with American television and American food. My ethnicity was my choice. It still is.
I'm still ambiguously ethnic. I could be Persian - I could be anything. But I'm Italian and Jewish, so I'm a citizen of the world; that's what I prefer.
I represent New York, I represent the Bronx, I represent the Dominican Republic. And I always have that in mind with everything that I do.
I'm not an immigrant - I was born and raised in New York. My parents are Puerto Rican, and Puerto Rico is a part of the U.S., for the people that don't know. So my whole life, I've identified as an American. There are times when I've gone to Puerto Rico, and there, I'm seen as the American cousin.
I have one identity, and that's Israeli and Jewish. I don't view myself as an American citizen.
My folks came to U.S. as immigrants, aliens, and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen, went to Hollywood and became an alien.