Each May, the State Department joins the rest of the nation in celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. During this month, we celebrate the accomplishments of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) and the diverse perspectives they bring to the Department’s work and mission. This is the first DipNote in a two part series, where we asked AANHPI staff members about their heritage, how they bring their experiences to work as a diplomat, and why diversity and inclusion is important to the U.S. government and in general.
Christina (Tina) Bucton, Foreign Service Officer
How have you drawn on your heritage in your work as a diplomat?
Knowing my grandmother was on the other side of the interview window as an immigrant visa applicant at U.S. Embassy Manila about 70 years before I began my career as a consular officer gives me perspective and empathy as I apply regulations and laws in carrying out my consular duties. Understanding that not only was my family able to add our Filipino American story to the vibrant tapestry of U.S. culture, but I am able to give back by serving as a U.S. diplomat means the world to me and makes me feel extremely grateful and humble.
Tell us about yourself and your heritage.
I believe I carry my Filipina grandmother’s tenacity, drive, and fearless sense of adventure to every issue I face. I constantly think of the bravery she and my grandfather, who passed away before I was born, displayed when they left the central Philippines behind to board a ship for California, clean hotels in Los Angeles, then scrape by managing their own small town farm on the Central Coast, where I was raised. My father’s side immigrated from Mexico to California. Through my social worker mother and her sisters, and now me, my family continues this legacy of persistence and patriotism while never forgetting our roots.
Why is a culture of diversity and inclusion important to the U.S. government and the workforce in general?
Representation matters in every facet of the workforce — it makes us stronger, more agile, savvier, more effective, less prone to groupthink, and better informed, as we bring our unique experiences, shaped by sex, gender, race, socioeconomic and geographic factors, ethnicity, and other factors, to every issue we face at work. Beyond that, we must reflect the United States and our values at home and abroad by staffing the U.S. government with a cross-section of our society and showing the next generation of Americans that no matter their background, they have a place at the table.
David Arulanantham, Foreign Service Officer
Tell us about yourself and your heritage.
I grew up in California, which is home, but our family is originally from Sri Lanka. We are ethnically Tamil and trace our roots to the town of Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, the area that was at the epicenter of the country’s nearly three decade-long civil war. My father was a Sri Lankan diplomat, and as a result I was born in Baghdad, Iraq and spent my early childhood years overseas before we moved to the United States when I was seven. Because of the civil war, nearly all my relatives also left Sri Lanka in the 1980s, settling in the United States, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, starting life afresh. Despite these challenges, our large and tightly knit extended family retained a strong sense of our identity, and childhood vacations were built around trips to see one another. I was ultimately drawn to international relations and the State Department because of this background and set of experiences. I took the Foreign Service exam right before starting graduate school and joined three years later.
How have you drawn on your heritage in your work as a diplomat?
I have spent most of my 17 years in the State Department working on South and Southeast Asia, so on one level, many of the people in these parts of the world look like me or share certain cultural similarities, which allows us to connect. But my heritage has also made it easier to relate to the experiences of other communities irrespective of race or ethnicity, such as refugees or even the visa applicants I interviewed during my first tour in Canada. There have been occasions in my career where others did not anticipate meeting someone like me as a representative of the United States. To me that is a great learning moment about our country.
It sounds cliched, but one of the greatest strengths of the United States is the fact that we are a nation of immigrants. And living in California around so many different types of people — given the state’s diversity — was also a terrific education about the world. When I served as the Philippines Desk Officer, I remember landing in Manila and immediately feeling very much at home having known so many Filipino Americans growing up. My heritage has given me the ability to better understand the motivations of my interlocutors and has repeatedly informed interactions throughout my career as a diplomat.
Why is a culture of diversity and inclusion important to the U.S. government and the workforce in general?
Diversity and inclusion is first and foremost an issue of fairness. It is about giving historically underrepresented groups that have been excluded for so long their rightful seat at the table. As a country that prides itself on equality and justice, and projects these values overseas, we need to ensure our own house is in order. Despite all our struggles as a nation, people are attracted to the United States not only because of the chance to better their lives but also because of the sense that ours is a country where you can get a fair shake. And as an organization, the State Department needs to be competitive in today’s marketplace and attract the best talent. Ensuring that our system is based on equal opportunity and merit will help deliver those results. Finally, I would add that diversity and inclusion can make our foreign policy better by allowing us to relate to our counterparts more easily and bringing a broader set of perspectives to bear on our process. As one of the world’s most diverse and open nations, we are uniquely positioned to do this, and we should make the most of it.
Evelyn Ng, Foreign Service Officer, Office Management Specialist
How have you drawn on your heritage in your work as a diplomat?
I currently work as an Office Management Specialist in the Regional Security Office at Embassy Amman, Jordan. Although my work is mostly internal facing, there are opportunities for me to do external events and activities, such as representing the U.S. Embassy and sometimes being the sole U.S. citizen at an event. Those experiences have been very fascinating to me and to the attendees of the event because they never expect someone who looks like me to be the representative from the American Embassy. I once went to a high school language access event, where the students were from a more remote part of Jordan; they thought I was Japanese until I told them I was actually from the U.S. Embassy. This allowed for interesting conversations, and now the students have a more nuanced idea of what an American looks like or what an American can look like.
Additionally, growing up as an Asian-American, balancing two different cultures has taught me many important lessons in terms of always being open minded and having the ability to view one situation in multiple ways. And growing up in the diverse city that is New York City has allowed me to be able to interact and be friendly with anyone, which allows both parties to be comfortable and at ease. This has allowed for great conversations and wonderful exchanges of different ideas and thoughts.
Tell us about yourself and your heritage.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, which means I am usually a fast walker, occasionally a fast talker, and sometimes I pronounce the word “water” in a very distinct way. I am the oldest of immigrant parents from Taishan, China, which is a city in the southwest part of Guangzhou. Both sides of my family emigrated to the United States independently of each other. I am also a first-generation college student and have always been a translator for my parents and grandparents. Although my parents are both immigrants, my family has actually been in the United States since the 1870s. My great-great grandfather came to the United States as a laborer to work on the Transcontinental Railroad and later his son, my great-grandfather, served in the U.S. military and was a World War II Veteran. My heritage is interesting because although my family has been in the United States since the 1870s, the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 changed the course of my great-grandfather’s life. He left behind a wife and children in China, and they were separated for many decades. That is why I am still a child of immigrant parents despite my great-great grandfather’s arrival in the 1870s.
Why is a culture of diversity and inclusion important to the U.S. government and the workforce in general?
Diversity and inclusion is important in the U.S. government because we should have accurate and equal representation of all Americans. It is especially important in the Foreign Service because in many places, the only access people have to the United States is through Hollywood and media, which has historically been very one dimensional. In terms of the workforce, it is important to have different perspectives in the decision-making process, because that is one of the only ways we can make an equitable decision where we have a wide net of opinions and thought-processes.
This blog is part of the State Department’s Asian American Foreign Affairs Association (AAFAA) AANHPI Heritage Month outreach efforts. Established in 1981, AAFAA is an association of more than 900 Civil Service and Foreign Service employees, fellows, contractors, interns, and retirees at the U.S. Department of State with the mission to improve recruitment, outreach, and professional development of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) officers. AAFAA welcomes all employees across the Department. Please reach out to aafaa.state.gov to join and follow us on Facebook.
Elizabeth “Liz” Liu, Foreign Service Officer and President of the Asian American Foreign Affairs Association at the U.S. Department of State, coordinated the responses for this entry. We thank Tina, David, and Evelyn for contributing their time and effort to share their stories on DipNote.