Equality describes an external relationship between separate entities: between Asians and Caucasians, husbands and wives, parents and their children. In my mother’s experience of assimilation, at least, there was never any point in discussing equality in relation to white people. It was more about scraping by, striking an impossible balance between making sure you didn’t stand out enough to get picked on and doing well enough that you weren’t automatically passed over, cast aside.
