All good things don’t last long; there will always be someone to ruin it.
As the Dartmouth community was in the midst of celebrating the appointment of Jim Yong Kim, an e-mail was sent out to the entire school in “an attempt of satire”:
“Date: March 3, 2009 11:06:39 AM EST
To: [email protected]
Subject: Good MorningThis is the Generic Good Morning Message for March 3, 2009.
Yesterday came the announcement that President of the College James Wright will be replaced by Chinaman Kim Jim Yong. And a little bit of me died inside.
It was a complete supplies.
On July 1, yet another hard-working American’s job will be taken by an immigrant willing to work in substandard conditions at near-subsistent wage, saving half his money and sending the rest home to his village in the form of traveler’s checks. Unless “Jim Yong Kim” means “I love Freedom” in Chinese, I don’t want anything to do with him. Dartmouth is America, not Panda Garden Rice Village Restaurant.
Y’all get ready for an Asianification under the guise of diversity under the actual Malaysian-invasion leadership instituted under the guise of diversity. It’s a slippery slope we are on. I for one want Democracy and apple pie, not Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen. I know I sure as shit won’t ever be eating my Hop dubs bubs with chopsticks. I like to use my own two American hands.”
I was not too surprised by this e-mail. It’s really just Dartmouth being Dartmouth, where insensitivity is the game. Dartmouth is still very much a bastion of white elitism, no matter what they want you to believe. Dartmouth, and much of America, has a habit of cloaking racially offensive material under the guise of satire and comedy — they blame those who are hurt and offended for not being able to take a joke or understand the humor.
While I may not classify this as truly racist, it’s still very offensive. The material here is still used with malicious and serious intent towards Asian Americans in this country today — I guarantee you that the race jokes you find in a comedy club are nowhere near the ‘satire’ you find in this e-mail.
I have been called Chinaman on many occasions. It is the equivalent of the N-word with a history just as abusive, ignorant, and dirty. American history seems to have forgotten about its treatment of Asians in this country -— the building of the railroads, the immigration bans, the internment camps, the inequality, the ignorance. The term Chinaman has been used to describe anyone of Asian descent, regardless of country or culture. It feeds into this idea that all Asians are the same, that all Asian cultures are the same. Chinaman is a manifestation of all the American xenophobia and racism faced by early Asian immigrants.
Furthermore, there is still a perception in America that people of Asian descent are still foreign. The Asian American community as a whole is still far from being fully embraced by America. Trying to joke along these lines is difficult, controversial, and will undoubtedly end badly. It’s too soon right now to make joking references to the foreignness of Asians because this perception is still strong, alive, assumed, and believed.
What irritates me is how mainstream media rarely picks up on racism and insensitivity towards Asian Americans. Racism towards Asians is one of the last socially acceptable forms of racism in America. If Dartmouth’s new president were black, Hispanic, gay, or even female, similar “satirical” comments directed at him/her would probably be deemed newsworthy. There would be collective outrage and little doubt as to exactly how inflammatory or offensive it was.
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Recently I met some friends at a bar called Park, located in downtown Manhattan. Park is one of these trendy, well decorated bar/lounges that have sprung up all across NYC and cater mostly to a young professional/hipster crowd. Like other such places, Park contains its share of unusual artistic flourishes (a bamboo grove sits in the center of the space), overpriced drinks, and attractive people. It would be an utterly generic bar but for one thing: Park is an “Asian bar”.
By this I do not mean that Park serves Tsingtao, or that people go there to karaoke. As I have described, Park is like most other New York bars in its design and function. What makes Park different is that it caters to a mostly (but not exclusively) Asian clientele. This raises an obvious question of why Asian people choose to congregate there. I do not know the answer to this, but would like to hear other people’s thoughts. It also raises a subtle question (and this is what I am interested in exploring) of whether it is bad, in some social sense, for Asian people to congregate this way.
At first glance this question may seem ridiculous, even insulting. After all, people should be able to choose who they hang out with, and there’s nothing wrong (and many things right) about having an Asian American community. And at the end of the day there are many organizations still run primarily by and for white people (by which I don’t just mean WASPy country clubs; try going to a Foo Fighters concert), but no one is up in arms telling them to branch out more.
That said, I think there’s something to the notion of communal responsibility – I am a representative of the Asian American community, and my actions will impact perceptions not only of myself but also of my communal group. I also think there is some difference in communal responsibility between members of the dominant culture and various minority groups. One key difference between whites and all minority groups is that white people do not have to assimilate. Now technically we don’t have to assimilate either, and there’s nothing actually wrong with the idea of an Asian America that both exists within and outside of mainstream American culture.
Except, perhaps, for one thing: the Asian community seems to want it both ways. That is to say, Asians want the freedom to exclusively associate with other Asian people (and therefore not assimilate), but are also bothered by racism, glass ceilings, media stereotypes, and the like. Fair or not, these things go hand in hand. For example, I often hear complaints that Asians are portrayed in the media as geeky and uncool, and that as a result, other people stereotype and form preconceived notions of us in this light. But how quickly would those preconceived notions shatter if every time anyone walked into any bar the loudest, most fun guy who was the life of the party and had all the girls gravitating towards him was also Asian? It’s a shallow example, I know, but it gets at something important. People form their views based on what’s around them, and if what’s around them are lots of interesting and unique Asian people doing their thing, then inevitably Asians stop being viewed as a homogenized cultural blob with a set of stereotypical characteristics, and more as the individual people that we are. Unfortunately, that isn’t happening right now, not because there aren’t fun and charismatic Asian guys out there, but because they all go to Park.
Fixing the problems of racism and stereotyping requires engagement, not self segregation. This, to me, is what assimilation really means: not a way for us to adopt the broader culture and ‘act white’ (whatever that even means), but a way for the broader culture to connect to us and come to appreciate who we are as individuals. As far as I can tell, that’s the only way that perceptions begin to change, and if we as a community view that as being important then we need to put ourselves out there.
Shopping With GASP!
Quest Crew are the winners of Season 3′s America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV. The seven members of Quest are Victor Kim (22), Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval (23), Steve Terada (24), Ryanimay Conferido (25), Feng (26), Brian Hirano (26) and Hok (24). Quest Crew came up with their name after being taken in by the Quest Learning Center in Artesia, California.
Some of you may have recognized several members of Quest from the show So You Think You Can Dance. Ryan, Dominic, and Hok made the Top 20 on the show, while Steve Terada and Victor Kim could be seen during the auditions. During Week 1 of ABDC, Quest received positive comments from the judges. Quest had one of their several memorable performances during the Britney Spears Challenge, dancing to Toxic as Lil Mama and Shane Sparks both pointed out their “feminine” side.
But their performances weren’t without judge criticism: They were criticized by JC Chasez for too much posing during two of their performances and walking during their transitions. Shane Sparks had also stated after their Illusion Challenge performance that the all-female group “Beat Freakz are on your butts” and declared Beat Freakz as America’s Best Dance Crew during the Battle of the Sexes challenge. I don’t really remember if Lil Mama openly criticized Quest, but she usually just agrees with the other judges and says generic things like “Bring It/Come Harder.”
When Week 7 rolled around, Quest ended up in the bottom two along with Fly Khicks. The first performance by Quest, to the Hip Hop Decathlon, brought a standing ovation by all three judges, and their final performance, the Last Chance challenge, featured Ryan playing the piano while D-Trix does a headspin on the piano.
I gotta admit that I was rooting for Quest Crew because I was a fan of several of their members after watching So You Think You Can Dance, and they entertained through their dance moves, stories, humor, and even their haircuts with JC calling them “America’s Best Hair Crew”.
You can watch some interviews about Quest Crew, including discussions about their ethnic background, seven year old B-boy Jalen Testerman, talking about Lydia Paek who is part of the overall Quest crew (but appeared on the show with Boxcuttuhz) and what they think about Asians parents who do not support their kids dancing. They also mention about auditioning for Season 1 (which featured Jabbawockeez and Kaba Modern), but were restricted due to other contracts. Looks like not being able to compete on Season 1 worked out for them.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Company is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. I love the Alvin Ailey company — I saw them multiple times when I was in NYC (thanks to awesome student rush tickets), and when I found out they were making their yearly trek to Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall this week, and they were performing my favorite Ailey piece, Cry, I knew I had to go.
People may be surprised to see that not everyone in the dance company is African-American, and while a lot of the dances are inspired by African dance, their repertory ranges from ballet, modern dance, swing, Latin, to dance of all cultures. So why am I blogging about the Alvin Ailey company on 8Asians? Masazumi Chaya, the Associate Artistic Director of the Ailey company and the company’s second in command. Hand picked by Ailey himself to dance in his company, Chaya embodies the diversity of the Ailey company, and he has continued to be devoted to the Ailey vision — that we are all people first, and black/Asian/whatever later. Chaya celebrates his 35th anniversary with Alvin Ailey last year, as shown in the Youtube video above.
Recently named by U.S. Congress as “Cultural Ambassador to the World“, the Ailey dancers bring dance to audiences around the world, proving that dance should come from the people, and brought to the people — the founder Alvin Ailey’s vision. I think it’s great that an Asian executive is part of this vision; Ailey celebrates dance of everyone, regardless of ethnicity or color. When I first saw them, I was so struck by their performance — it’s as if dancers of every color got together to dance their joys and their sorrows. That’s exactly how it still feels like today when I see Alvin Ailey.
- For tickets for the Berkeley performances going through this weekend, click here. Great for first-timer dance audience members, but quick — they’re almost all sold out. Not in the Bay Area? Check out the rest of their U.S. tour dates & performances.
- Alvin Ailey’s most famous piece, Revelations on Dancing with the Stars last year
- A Youtube clip of my personal favorite Ailey piece, Cry, which Ailey created in dedication to his mother
- The Obama family also enjoyed last month the Alvin Ailey dancers at the Kennedy Center
The recent discussion about Dartmouth’s new president, Jim Yong Kim, sparked quite a bit of discussion on the 8asians internal mailing list, and brought back memories of my college days at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). After reading that Penn had a 23.3% Asian population compared with other schools in the Ivy League, I commented to the internal list:
Yay to Penn for having the highest percentage! This is a huge improvement over when I attended Penn when Asians made up only 10 to 11 percent in 1985 (which was up from 5 percent in 1980)
In 1985, there were much fewer shades of gray in the world, and if you were Chinese and on Penn’s campus, you were one of the two types of Asian on campus. Forgive me for using these terms, but you were either a “banana” or you were part of the Chinese clique. I didn’t self-identify either way, but I was lumped into the “banana” category, since I didn’t hang out in the Chinese clique.
My 4 closest friends in college comprised of a Latina woman, a Jewish woman, a Caucasian ROTC cadet, and a Catholic Italian man. There was no lack of diversity in my crowd. But I didn’t have a close Asian friend in college. With 11% to choose from, you’d think that would have been easy, but I was the only Asian on my dorm floor, and my closest friends came from those that lived around me.
As my social life in college progressed, the lack of “Asians” in my life began to bother me more. Here I was, an immigrant to the U.S. who spoke Chinese and English, and yet, I had no Asian friends in college. In junior year, I joined the CSA (the Chinese Student Association) at Penn. While joining wasn’t a problem, and neither was introducing myself to others in the group; what really bothered me was that everyone in the CSA hung out only with other members of the CSA. I’d see them on campus and they’d be walking around in groups together. There was no diversity in their group. No token Caucasian or African-American.
I’d wave hi at someone I knew in CSA while I was on campus with my friends, and they would avert their eyes. I began to wonder, where was the middle ground? Could you be Asian and have both Asian and non-Asian friends? In the end, I gave up on the CSA, and stuck with my close set of friends. Today, my friends from college remain my closest friends, and I’ve been able to augment my set of friends with both Asians and non-Asians, and continue to have a diverse group of friends.
After reflecting back on my college days, I have to ask if my experience was unique and if Asians still segregate themselves into two types on college campuses? If you went to college, were you able to balance a line between those two stereotypes or did you fall into one of those buckets?
If you’re a regular reader of the Asian-American blogs, surely you have read Evelina Giang’s article on Asian-American Bloggers for UCLA’s Pacific Ties magazine. It’s got the typical round-up of blogs focusing on Asian American issues: Angry Asian Man, Disgrasian, Slant Eye for the Round Eye, and The Ch!cktionary.
In a way, I feel kinda like a dumb-ass because the one quote I used the words Tila Tequila and boobies, but it is what it is. And like Slanty’s post where he included his full e-mail dialogue with the author, I’m going to include my conversation as well, because I talk a little bit about how 8Asians was formed, what I think about Asianweek going down, and the fact that I CAN say other things like boobies. (I also use the phrase “killer pandas.” I, for one, am disappointed that didn’t get in the article.)
The full Q&A, after the jump. Continue Reading »
Following closely on the heels of the news that the Chinese bronzes from the old Summer Palace were to be auctioned and not returned to China, comes the news of another controversial auction. This time the auction contains Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses, sandals, pocket watch, bowl and plate. In a story that’s unfolding with remarkably similar details, the owner, James Otis, has offered to return these items in exchange for “wider commitment to improve the lives of India’s people”.
As with Pierre Berge’s demands in the Chinese bronzes case, this has brought about outrage from the Indian community, demanding the return to India of Gandhi’s personal effects. Unlike, the Chinese bronzes which were looted from China, Gandhi gave these personal effects to various friends and relatives, who eventually sold them and they wound up legally with James Otis, the current owner, so there’s no legal precedence for a court case. India has already said they may be bidders at the auction to acquire the glasses back. The items are estimated to worth around $42,000, but are expected to fetch more at auction.
Although the individuals who own these treasures are willing to trade them for concessions from each government, the likelihood than any sovereign government would adhere to the demands of a single person is extremely unlikely (and equated to blackmail by some). I also heard on the radio this morning, that Gandhi’s great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi, has already called James Otis’ demands ridiculous. Already knowing the outcome of the Chinese story, it will be interesting to see the outcome of this auction story.
(Flickr photo credit: snickclunk, via cbs5.com)
As a graduate of the UCLA Asian American Studies Department, I am usually pretty interested in events that are sponsored by my former department at my alma mater. The upcoming “Imagined Futures” conference definitely piques my interest not just because of my UCLA ties, but also because they are bringing some very interesting speakers together for this free(!) event.
Presented by the Aratani Endowed Chair, UCLA, and the Japanese American National Museum, “Imagined Futures” is a one day conference for up and coming Asian Pacific American artists on May 2, 2009 from 1pm – 5pm. (Pre-register online). To tackle questions like, “What does the future hold of Japanese American and Asian Pacific American communities?” and “What is the role of the young artist in defining our community’s future?” the organizers have brought together a distinguished panel of speakers and workshop facilitators.
And I’ll just say it: George Takei is going to be there! I love George Takei! And a few of my friends are actually presenting workshops (Which one to attend?! Such a dilemma! Okay, let me get a hold of myself.)
Ahem.
Conference Program
The one day conference takes place at the Japanese American National Museumin Little Tokyo from 1-5pm. After a keynote address, participants will learn from established artists in two hour workshops. The workshops will be followed by closing remarks and a reception.
1-2pm: Welcome
- Special Opening Performance by UCLA’s NSU Modern
- Opening Remarks by Prof. Lane Hirabayashi, Koji Sakai, and Emily Morishima
Keynote Speakers
- Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot
- George Takei, Actor
2-4pm: Workshops
- Filmmaking with director/writer/producer Quentin Lee
- Anime/Comics with the author of the biweekly column “Asian Pop” for the San Francisco Chronicle, Jeff Yang
- Blogs/New Media with Phil Yu of Angry Asian Man
- Spoken Word/Hip Hop with LA hip-hop sensation Shin-B
- Fiction with award winning writer, Naomi Hirahara
- The Art and Business of Clothes with Ryan Suda of Blacklava
4-5pm: Closing Light Reception
Anyway, I already pre-registered online… will you be there?
(Some Workshop Descriptions below)
Continue Reading »
Dartmouth College announced on Monday that Jim Yong Kim would be the school’s 17th president and the first Asian American to head an Ivy League institution.
Kim’s qualifications are beyond perfect.
After graduating from Brown University in 1982 with a major in human biology, he went on to earn a medical degree and a doctorate in anthropology from Harvard University. Kim has headed the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department, been chair of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, won a 2003 MacArthur “genius grant”, and was listed as one of the 100 most influential people by Time Magazine in 2006 for his work in saving the world.
As a current Dartmouth student, I applaud the school’s efforts to take a newer, more modern path. Kim’s background in medicine departs heavily from that of presidents past. His appointment has been met with a resounding approval from the community.
It feels comforting to be represented at Dartmouth. While there is a vocal and active Asian American student community, there are only a handful of Asian American professors and administrators. I also think this is a positive step away from a racist comic strip that ran in the campus daily not long ago and the community’s uninspired response. Dartmouth prides itself on its community atmosphere, but there is mild self-segregation that is not uncommon at other schools. While Kim’s appointment will definitely not solve these problems, hopefully in the long run it will serve to mitigate these issues.
Dartmouth is located in the boonies of New Hampshire—two hours north of Boston in a four-block long town called Hanover. All of Dartmouth stereotypes are more or less true. It is the smallest and arguably least well-known Ivy. Kim’s appointment definitely boosts the school’s image up from that of a conservative WASP party school to a progressive and diversity-friendly party institution.
Currently, Asian Americans make up about 5% of the total population in the United States. Of that, about 50% of single-race Asians 25 and older have at least a Bachelor’s degree. It is only 28% for all Americans over 25.
Across the Ivies, the percentages of Asian American students in undergraduate are as follows:
- Brown- 14%
- Columbia – 22%
- Cornell – 18%
- Dartmouth – 12%
- Harvard – 16%
- University of Pennsylvania (”PENN”) – 23.3%
- Princeton – 15%
- Yale – 14%
Our “model minority” stigma has been a blessing and a curse. There has been evidence of discrimination in the college admissions process. It’s a touchy subject.
In 2006, the Wall Street Journal published an article that exposed a bias against Asian Americans in college admissions.
“Asian American students have higher average SAT scores than any other government-monitored ethnic group, and selective colleges routinely reject them in favor of African American, Hispanic and even white applicants with lower scores in order to have more diverse campuses and make up for past discrimination.”
When the University of California system eliminated affirmative action in 1996, Asian American enrollment boomed, at the expense of African and Hispanic Americans populations, whose percentages saw a decline. Admissions preferences in elite institutions was also the subject of a Princeton University study which concluded that there would be a dramatic increase of Asian Americans in elite universities if race were no longer considered in college admissions.
And of course, how can we forget the guy who sued Princeton?
The appointment of an Asian American to such a lofty position is a major step for American academia. Kim, however, is not the first Asian American to be the head of a major American university. That honor belongs to Chang-lin Tien, eighth Chancellor of UC Berkeley. And last year, Rhode Island School of Design chose John Maeda as its newest leader.
Anyhow, this has been great publicity for the school. Maybe it will lead to fewer people confusing us with Darth Vader’s mouth.
Thanks to John, whose links I stole.
Source: Gary Reyes / The San Jose Mercury News. Hundreds of supporters for the recall of Madison Nguyen, San Jose City Council member, gather in San Jose on March 3, 2009 during election night.
This past Tuesday, San Jose held a special recall election of San Jose’s City Council member Madison Nguyen. With most voters having voted absentee ballot, Nguyen successfully defeated the recall efforts:
“In a hard-fought display of political tenacity, San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen on Tuesday was beating back a fervent recall attempt that saw her pitted against the same Vietnamese community that vaulted her into office more than three years ago. The stunning result emerged not long after the polls closed at 8 p.m., when the results of nearly 10,000 votes cast in the weeks before Election Day were released. Voters by a wide margin were favoring keeping Nguyen in office. Those early votes made up the overwhelming majority of ballots cast in the election, with unrelentingly rainy skies Tuesday appearing to keep many voters inside — despite the last-dash push by Nguyen’s foes and supporters alike to bring people to the polls.”
As I have blogged before, I personally don’t have a strong opinion on how effective of a city council member Madison Nguyen has been, especially since I don’t live in San Jose or the district she represents. But I am generally against recall elections unless an elected official has violated the law, so I’m glad that Nguyen beat back her detractors. Let the voters judge and re-elect Nguyen or vote her out in the next scheduled election, which I’m assuming is this Fall.
I’m hoping that everyone here is a fan of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords and they agree with me that the highlight of the new season is Bret singing Korean karaoke with the perfect background video. The premise of his musical interlude was based on his band partner, Jemaine, being forced to don an Art Garfunkel costume every time he wanted to sleep with his new girlfriend. Yeah…it’s really funny when you watch the episode.
I love it when American pop culture makes fun of the same stuff my friends and I joke about. It makes me feel special. Like we’re all in this together. You know, this thing called life. And it’s one big joke.
Can someone tell me how accurate his accent is?
Thanks to MRod for finding the clip!
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