We came to this land in search of a dream
But we were told we didn't belong
We fled the oppression of poverty
Just to end up in the belly of the beast

Identity Hatred / your erased away x4

We slowly stop speaking our culture
We slowly lose our native tongue
Our children forget our history
Left behind in the land of the east

Identity Hatred/ your erased away x4

This is not a separatist or nationalist song / It's about keeping our cultural spirit alive / We must
understand when people wish to study their culture and speak their own language / The door
should be open to anyone who wishes to learn about other cultures / And we must fight against
the prejudice of The "English speaking only" attitude

Some change their names / Are you so ashamed of your identity / That you hid for so long /
Assimilation / Sell your culture for the dream of the west / Hatred if your own identity / Hatred of
your own people / Our Asian history books are dusted / Our culture is slowly being erased

Identity Hatred/ your erased away x4

(The song Identity Hatred is relevant to a lot of Asian Americans. I have also been a victim of this too. In the early days when I first came to America I was getting sucked into Western culture. If you notice many Asians start to change their names to ones like John, Dave, Tim, Nancy, etc. instead of using their original birth given names like Chang, Won, Kim, etc. then you are witnessing identity hatred. A lot of times we change our names because people keep miss
pronouncing the names or make fun of the way they sound; what happens is that we end up feeling ashamed about it. What makes me very sad is that some people change their whole last name to a Western English name. People have the right to do what ever they want with their life style but I believe that it is very sad to kill our birth given name. Also, after living in America for a long time, I sometimes forget that I am Asian. This happens to many Asian Americans. Once we are here for a long time we think that we are white. As time goes by we slowly stop speaking our language and slowly stop knowing about our culture. I think that all culture and languages are beautiful and people should not let them die out. When I was living in Ventura for 6 months I joined a local Asian American Club that met at Ventura College. There was also the Black Student Union and the Mecha Club (Mexicano Students). Now a lot of white students think that these are separatist groups. Sometimes I do not under stand why people get scared when people of color get together. The reason I joined the Asian American Club was because I wanted to speak Korean to other Korean friends so I wouldn't forget my language, as well as to study about my own history. But our club was not for Asians only. The door was open to anyone who was interested no matter what race they were. All other cultural groups should have the door open to everyone regardless of what race they are so people can learn. Like I said before all cultures are beautiful and people should not forget where they are from.)