Does the “hyphen” stand for “Asian (hyphen) American?
No! We do not hyphenate Asian American, or any other ethnic minority. The hyphen has been a source of great controversy in Asian America and many people have fought hard to get it removed. We chose the title Hyphen for a lot of reasons. For one, it symbolizes the controversy of ethnic identity and representation in America –the issues that have galvanized the community in the past, and asks an silent question: what will we be fighting for in the future? Secondly, we liked the idea of a hyphen as a connector. We’d like our magazine to serve as a bridge between the diverse populations included in the term “Asian American” and also Asian America and the rest of the word. We’d also like to be a link between people and organizations and ideas.
