First, “Rev Reggie Jackson” or “Rev Reggie White” sounds a lot cooler than Rev Nguyen. I think my name might diminish that title. Appreciate the love, though.

As for some thoughts you brought up. When people coined the term Asian American (AA), I believe they created a sub-culture that was neither ethnicity or nationality-based. More so it was a summary or melting pot of a particular cultural setting for a 2nd generation of Asian immigrant off-spring. I don’t know if I would call my father an Asian-American although he is Asian and lives in America. With this being said, there is a sub-culture identity that 2nd gen would have commonality and common interest, thought patterns, attraction, and cultural orientation.
The thought-provoking question you brought up deserves some conversation. I have NEVER been to Vietnam or have any citizenship there. Yet, I fill in the bubble “Vietnamese” on legal documents because that is my cultural upbringing. I still like PHO, and hold strong cultural ties. Texas was where I was raised (and we sometimes think it is another country, like Californians) and I have more affinity with Texas more than being American or Vietnamese. It has its own cultural biases as well.
By saying I am a Vietnamese-Texan means that it is my cultural identity. All the “patterns and traditions” that come to mind when I say Vietnamese is in me, and all the “patterns and traditions” of being a Texan is a part of me. It is more SPECIFIC to say I am Vietnamese/Texans than saying I am 2nd gen AA, because it gives you a context of specificity in region, location, culture, and context.

Now what does it say about being “Christian”? Is that a nationality? Ethnicity, or Cultural identity? I think I wait for this one because I want to know what people think — are you Christian, or AA, or Viet-Texan? Which is the dominant theme for those in the church?

Perhaps this is too technical, but Im gonna chime in as this is a blog about Asian American Christianity. One’s nationality cannot be Vietnamese-Texan, as Texas is not a nationality, and unless Rev. Nguyen is both a citizen of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam alongside with being a citizen of the United States of America, his nationality is not Vietnamese-American.

That leads to a good question. How does ethnicity and nationality play into this dialogue?