13 Comments
Eleven Warner Bros. cartoons that have been under lock and key for the past four decades due to their highly racist and stereotypical content recently surfaced on YouTube and now everyone is in a tizzy over what to do with them.
The “classic” videos include such gag/anger inducing titles such as ‘Tokio Jokio’ and ‘Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs’ and several were created (not surprisingly) as war propaganda during WWII. Many, including the NAACP, are calling for the videos to be returned to the vault while YouTube/Google are less inclined to pull the videos unless Warner Bros comes forward to claim copyright infringement.
A representative for Warner wrote in an e-mail message that “Warner Brothers has rights to the titles” in question and that “we vigorously protect all our copyrights. We do not make distinctions based on content.”
The cartoons, known as the “Censored 11,” have been unavailable to the public for 40 years. Postings no longer appear if YouTube is searched for “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs,” a parody of “Snow White” and the most famous of the cartoons. But a search for “Coal Black” does find the cartoon.
Considering the viral nature of media these days, even if YouTube were to pull ever version of the offending cartoons it’s unlikely that they’ll truly disappear…so the argument is pretty much moot. But here’s the real interesting question that I pose to all you readers…and the real issue that I believe is at the heart of this controversy. How should we (as a collective society) deal with our racial history and all the artifacts that come along with it? Do we bury the offending materials and pretend they never existed or do we inject the materials into the ongoing public dialogue about race and racism in America? Personally, I’m for an honest examination of race in this country - even if that means making these videos publicly available.
Obviously Warner Bros. wants nothing more than these videos to disappear. But beyond that, what good is yielded from ignoring the existance of these cartoons? They were apart of our country’s history and a telling clue to how horrifyingly racist this country once was and, some might argue, still is. Critics will argue that these cartoons, when taken out of context and viewed without proper guidance, may serve as fooder for and exploited by racial supremisists and other seperatist groups.
What do you think?
13 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Discrimination, Observations
1 Comment
The other night, as I was waiting to meet up with a friend of mine for a drink at the Tied House in downtown Mountain View, I dropped by Books, Inc. and was browsing the magazine section when I came across the latest issue of The New Yorker, and came across this intriguing article titled, “Letters from China: Crazy English - The national scramble to learn a new language before the Olympics.” The article profiles a motivational English teacher Li Yang, and China’s efforts to teach the Beijing Olympic volunteers English in anticipation of foreigners attending the games. Yi has become the Anthony Robbins of teaching English in China:
“He is China’s Elvis of English, perhaps the world’s only language teacher known to bring students to tears of excitement. He has built an empire out of his country’s deepening devotion to a language it once derided as the tongue of barbarians and capitalists. His philosophy, captured by one of his many slogans, is flamboyantly patriotic: “Conquer English to Make China Stronger!”… China has been in the grip of “English fever,” as the phenomenon is known in Chinese, for more than a decade. A vast national appetite has elevated English to something more than a language: it is not simply a tool but a defining measure of life’s potential…English has become an ideology, a force strong enough to remake your résumé, attract a spouse, or catapult you out of a village. Linguists estimate the number of Chinese now studying or speaking English at between two hundred million and three hundred and fifty million, a figure that’s on the order of the population of the United States. English private schools, study gadgets, and high-priced tutors vie for pieces of that market. The largest English school system, New Oriental, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.”
I remember when I was in Beijing last summer, I met a local Chinese woman who was interested in practicing her English with me. Additionally, walking around a Beijing mall, bookstore or in the subway, I certainly saw advertisements for English language schools and books on learning English.
It doesn’t surprise me that with the growth of the Chinese economy and China’s stature and influence internationally, along with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, that the popularity and importance of English as a foreign language is growing. For better or worse (especially for Americans), English is truly the international language of communications. However, French, along with English, are the two official languages of the Olympics - as the modern day Olympics was established through the efforts of a Frenchmen.
1 Comment | Posted in: Current Events, Observations
7 Comments
While catching up on the ABC series “Lost,” earlier this year, I remember an episode where Yunjin Kim’s character, Sun, is being introduced to a prospective “boyfriend/husband” , Jae Lee, and her mother is being defferential that Sun only went to “Seoul National University” and not “Harvard,” where Jae Lee went. Well, apparently according to this recent New York Times article, “Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills,” going to an “elite” university in the United States is increasingly becoming more popular:
“South Korea is not the only country sending more students to the United States, but it seems to be a special case. Some 103,000 Korean students study at American schools of all levels, more than from any other country, according to American government statistics. In higher education, only India and China, with populations more than 20 times that of South Korea’s, send more students. “Preparing to get to the best American universities has become something of a national obsession in Korea,” said Alexander Vershbow, the American ambassador to South Korea. Korean applications to Harvard alone have tripled, to 213 this spring, up from 66 in 2003, said William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions. Harvard has 37 Korean undergraduates, more than from any foreign country except Canada and Britain. Harvard, Yale and Princeton have a total of 103 Korean undergraduates; 34 graduated from Daewon or Minjok.”
Daewon and Minjok are the two private schools in Korea, and their students, that are profiled in the Times article. The schools themselves are very hard to get into, so those high school students are an elite group in themselves. The article continues to describe the heavy workload and intensity that these students bear as they pursue their (and their parents’) dreams of attending a top notch university in the U.S.
It’s this kind of thinking that I think only re-enforces the negative aspects of the “model minority” stereotype. I wonder though - is there anything inherent in Asian culture that emphasizes education over other cultures? I was having dinner with an older out-of-town white executive friend of mine who described to me his astonishment that the CEO of his company, and Indian immigrant, was going over his son’s classes that he might be taking next year as a freshman in high school. My friend said that when his kids were going to high school, it wasn’t until maybe his son’s junior year that he knew what an Advanced Placement (AP) course was. What do you think - do you think Asians over-emphasize education. Americans under-emphasize, or a little of both?
7 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Observations
5 Comments
Filipino Veterans have been neglected for nearly 60 years since World War II. And the US Senate finally passes a bill boosting veteran benefits, including those for Filipino Veterans.
Supporters of the controversial provision said it would overturn a 60-year-old law and give 18,000 Filipino veterans of World War II who live abroad a roughly US$300-a-month pension.
Sadly, it’s a bit too late for the majority of Filipino Veterans who have passed on.
I was five when I learned of my grandfather’s story during World War II. A local San Francisco Bay Area news reporter, Wendy Tokuda, came to interview my grandfather about his experience. It was during this television interview that I learned of my grandfather’s bravery. My grandfather enlisted when he was 18 to fight against the Japanese in World War II. He was a cook in the Navy, because at that time most minorities were given these types of jobs. But it wasn’t the job that became so interesting for the news reporter. It was what the Navy asked my grandfather to do. In 1945, they ordered him and a number of other soldiers to stand on the bow of their ship and look at the water. They were told to look at the ocean along the horizon. A few minutes later, a bright light flashed and a mushroom cloud formed. The navy conducted tests on my grandfather to study the affects of nuclear blasts and radiation on their soldiers.
I understood why my grandfather wore thick glass-bottled lenses. I understood why he had trouble seeing his later years in life. But I never understood why he was still so proud to have served in the Navy, after what the military and government had done. To his last dying day he was proud to be a Filipino Veteran. He looked upon his duty with honor, without remorse or regret.
The bill’s passing is honorable, and it’s welcomed. But for most it’s a bit too late. But even if it came many years after, I’m sure if my grandfather was here today, he would still stand and salute and would have been ever so proud to have served.
5 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Politics
4 Comments
Harold and Kumar - Escape From Guantanamo Bay opens tomorrow, Friday, April 25th. The original, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, opened almost 4 years ago on July 30, 2004. I remember reluctantly going to see this movie with my brother, who was interested in seeing the film.Personally, from the trailers, I thought this movie was going to be really bad - but much to my surprise, I found it hilarious.
Although the original only did about $18 million in the theaters, the DVD became a cult classic which grossed over $60 million over time, and led to the production of the sequel.
I saw Harold and Kumar 2 during this year’s San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival. I won’t spoil it for you, but definitely let me know what you thought of the movie if you catch it.
4 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Movies
7 Comments
Getting rice for free has always been a given in nearly all the Asian restaurants I’ve been to (except, of course, for the ones that cater more towards white people who had the gall to charge, and meant that I would never go back).
Now, it looks like that’s going to fall by the wayside now that there’s a global shortage of rice and other foods with imported Asian rice prices shooting up by 300%, and Asian countries limiting rice imports in order to feed their own populations. The impact in American cities is already being felt, as noted in a San Jose Mercury News article, as local Costco stores are beginning to ration the number of 50 pound bags of imported Asian rice customers can buy. Domestically grown rice, obviously, isn’t as affected, which explains why it hasn’t affected other groups as hard.
Considering that there are really high rates of diabetes, coronary artery disease, and other food-related chronic diseases in Filipino Americans, this might actually be a blessing in disguise and force people to limit their rice (and calorie) intake. Unless, of course, we start turning to domestically grown rice because it’s cheaper.
7 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Food & Drink, WTF
The Chicago Sun-Times reports on “The spin on Chinese laundries,” profiling John Jung, professor emeritus at California State University Long Beach:
“In China, women traditionally did the laundry. But as Chinese men immigrated, they were only allowed to own laundries and, later, restaurants.”
Jung grew up in Macon, Georgia, where his father owned the local laundry and was the only Chinese family in town. Jung recently published “Southern Fried Rice: Life in a Chinese Laundry in the Deep South” and “Chinese Laundries: Tickets to Survival on Gold Mountain.” The article reminded me of a recent book I read, “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” and how the Chinese in America in the
Jung was recently in Chicago speaking at the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago in conjunction with the exhibit “From the Great Wall to the Great Lakes.” The exhibit looks looks at occupations open to Chinese immigrants in the first half of the 20th century - which you can imagine, were quite limited. Chinese-Americans and Asian-Americans have certainly come a long way from those days!
6 Comments
When I saw this “lucky Dragon” phone. I about dropped my jaw. First three words that came out were: “Are you serious?”
In hindsight, I probably should have gone with “Are you silly-us?” but all jokes aside, this mobile phone was just too outrageous. And anyone that bought this phone based on the fact that it did have anything to do with feng shui would have another thing coming.
The problem I had with this device, is that the designer was trying to tie a Chinese practice, with a technological device and throw in some Chinese cultural items (like the “8″ charm) in there to boot just to make it look fantastic. Except the fact that I don’t see how a bling dragon was actually going to make the phone sit flat, and how it would exactly “activate good chi every time you make or receive a phone call.” Maybe I was on vacation the day the industry was taught how to activate good chi through a cellular device.
In any case, the red phone itself seemed pretty basic, but I’ll take Crave’s word for it since I haven’t actually touched one. Perhaps it’s not a bad idea that it’s only being released as an exclusive item in Malaysia. Maybe it’s just me, but all this red wouldn’t really make me smell any green.
Photo Credit: (Crave Asia)
6 Comments | Posted in: Lifestyles, Technology, WTF
Blog RSS Blog Comments RSS
