In this seminal essay, Hong blends personal experience, history, and cultural criticism to examine Asian American consciousness with beautiful prose and acute precision. She discusses the awkward space Asians inherit — not white or black enough, not having enough presence to be considered real minorities, and being used by white America as a model minority to perpetuate the oppression of black and brown communities.

MINOR FEELINGS explores various themes that center around silence. Through Confucianism, the feeling of indebtedness, or the constant gaslighting, Asian Americans are often asked to ignore racial aggressions, to "be grateful for the opportunities," and even "why don't you go back if you have complaints."

I particularly appreciate Hong's inclusion of lesser-known history and connecting that with current issues immigrants face. Like how a strict immigration policy of only admitting engineers and doctors formed the model minority myth. Or how the Korean War, and the dozens of countries America has torn apart, created millions of refugees who had little choice but to immigrate.

On the topic of pigeonholing authors of color to only write about successful immigrant stories, MINOR FEELINGS reminds me of HOW TO READ NOW (Elaine Castillo). And on the theme of not conforming to a single immigrant story and creating your own narration, MAKING A SCENE (Constance Wu) makes a fantastic companion read.

MINOR FEELINGS is yet another book with enough screenshots that these phenomenal paragraphs now live in a designated album on my phone. My favorite quote from the book is, "I'd rather be indebted than be the kind of white man who thinks the world owes him, because to live an ethical life is to be held accountable to history."