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Obama Changed How I View My Identity

By Tim | Tuesday, March 3, 2009

barack hope poster1 Obama Changed How I View My Identity Yumi Wilson just published a beautiful piece on how our new president, Barack Obama changed the way she views her racial identity. Ms. Wilson is multiracial, born to African American and Japanese parents. In her article, she describes her self-realization and coming to terms with her identity:

For most of my life, I had fought to be recognized as half-black and half-Japanese, or by the “Sum of Our Parts,” as a book on the subject of multiracial identity among Asian Americans suggested. …
While trying to process what Obama’s racial identity should be or shouldn’t be, I ended up thinking differently about my own racial identity. I am not half black or half Japanese, as I thought all my life. I am not a dilution of my father’s blood, or even my mother’s. I am all black – and all Japanese. …
It was strange to admit, but Obama had changed my mind on something I thought I understood. Or at the very least, he helped me to think differently about what it means to be multiracial.

I completely applaud Ms. Wilson’s recognition of her complete racial identity, and can only hope my own daughter sees herself in such terms when she’s older. My daughter is still only three years old (very quickly approaching four), but racial identity is something she’s already had to come to terms with. She has both a Caucasian and Chinese parent, and she’s grown up living in a house with her grandmother who spoke mostly Chinese.

My daughter associates “Chinese” with Chinese restaurants, the Chinese TV my mother used to watch, and with memories of her Grandmother. Less than a year ago, if you asked her if she was Chinese, my daughter would very flatly tell you “NO”. As with anyone, she’s grown quite a bit in the last year, and today she realizes that her dad is Chinese, that some of her favorite food is Chinese, that many of her relatives are Chinese, and there are plenty of Chinese holidays to celebrate. All of this has caused a shift in her self-identity, and today if you ask her if she’s Chinese, she’ll tell you “Yes, I’m Chinese”, and she might even follow it up explaining she can’t speak or read the funny Chinese characters, but she’s still Chinese.

I know my daughter will have many more shifts in self-identity to come in her life, and I hope each one will bring her closer to self-acceptance and happiness in her life. As many on this site have blogged about, self-acceptance is something many of us have worked hard towards just growing up Asian in America.

| Posted in Discrimination, Family, Observations, Politics | 2 Comments

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“Kenneth The Page” Responds To Governor Bobby Jindal Comparison & Jindal’s 60 Minutes Profile

By John | Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Last week, President Obama delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress, declaring that “‘We Will Rebuild’ and ‘Recover’.” Traditionally, the opposition party in power is given the opportunity to respond to the President’s speech, and the Republican Party chose rising star Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, the nation’s fist Indian American governor. Jindal’s speech and his delivery were almost universally panned by both the left and the right, including quite a few commentators and guests on Fox News. But what has the blogosphere on fire has been the comparison of Jindal to Kenneth The Page on NBC’s comedy show, 30 Rock.

Mind you, if Jindal had an Indian rather than a Southern accent, would there be comparisons to Apu on the Simpsons, and there would be outrage.

Jindal’s first opportunity to introduce himself directly to the nation was an epic fail. He’s considered a potential presidential candidate for 2012 — while I doubt this speech alone will derail any potential runs for higher office, it was certainly considered a setback by many. Jindal’s PR machine conveniently timed his first 60 Minutes interview as Governor for this past Sunday to coincide with his response speech as well. I thought it was a great overview of Jindal that showcased a Indian American family’s immigrant story, though the profile seemed to reveal Jindal making a conscious effort to “whitewash” his Indian roots — and even in a direct question about keeping any Indian traditions with his wife and kids, flat-out denied; after all, he’s a born-and-bred Louisianian. Take a look and decide for yourself:

| Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, Observations, Politics | 2 Comments

Shopping With GASP!

What ethnicity is Carmen Wong Ulrich?

By Ben | Monday, March 2, 2009

carmen wong ulrich What ethnicity is Carmen Wong Ulrich? Out of curiosity, what ethnicity is Carmen Wong Ulrich?

From what I can tell, the pretty television and online journalist is likely of Latin America descent due to some of the publications that she contributes to such as Latina, and The LatinConnect. But where exactly does the “Wong” come from? Nothing I can find on this CNBC host of “On the Money” seems to say anything about her personal life. And since I watch CNBC all the time, I can’t help but wonder what’s up with the Wong?

So I ask you readers… Where in the world is Carmen Wong Ulrich (from)?

| Posted in Observations | 36 Comments

Japanese Americans Explore the Power of Ethnic Networks in Silicon Valley

By John | Monday, March 2, 2009

n panel 600x333 Japanese Americans Explore the Power of Ethnic Networks in Silicon Valley

As one might imagine, there are a lot of Asians and Asian Americans living in Silicon Valley, especially those with Chinese, Taiwan or Indian backgrounds. And we love to network in all sorts of ways: ORIENTED.COM, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association (HYSTA), the Asian America Multi-Technology Association(AAMA), Monte Jade Science & Technology Association and the Chinese Software Professionals Association (CSPA), just to name a few.

However, I have not bumped into too many ethnically Japanese people in Silicon Valley, relative to other ethnicities; I was interested to come across an article regarding a newly formed Japanese American networking organization – the N! Leadership Network:

“… a new management networking group for Japanese American and Japanese nationals in the business world. The group was founded recently by Michael Kanazawa, CEO of the Dissero Partners consulting firm, who hopes to boost more Japanese Americans into leadership roles. Kanazawa says that N! “relates to the mathematical term, N-factorial, which relates to all of the combinations possible between groups.” … Kanazawa hopes to expand N!’s group of 50 people beyond California, to create a high-quality business network and eventually influence U.S.-Japan business ties. “Our intent is not to create a large-scale networking group,” he said, “but rather a deeply connected group of people who have quality interactions.”

An interesting comment was made by one of the N! Leadership Network members: “a Japanese upbringing is diametrically opposed to being an entrepreneur. Japanese culture is about fitting in. In contrast, a hard-charging entrepreneur must break from the pack, take a hard look at himself and ‘do things differently.’”

There is a Japanese saying which says that “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” There are a lot Asian “cultural” traits that are somewhat diametrically opposed to what are perceived as traits that make a successful professional in Silicon Valley — modesty being one of them — and I think this is only reinforced by the fact that although Asian Americans represent 30 percent of technology professionals in Silicon Valley, only around 12% of managerial positions are held by Asian Americans compared with 80% held by Whites. Best of luck to N! Leadership Network in expanding and promoting a high quality business network and influencing U.S.-Japan business ties.

(Photo credit: VentureBeat)

| Posted in Observations | 5 Comments

A Pale Shade of Yellow

By Ernie | Monday, March 2, 2009

If you’re reading this blog post and you’re Asian American/Canadian, there is a very good chance you are from the Bay Area, Southern California, New York City or Toronto — cities with a high density of Asians. It’s easy to forget that there are other parts of the country, and for the select amount of Asian Americans that grow up in, say, the Midwest or the Deep South, it’s a very different experience than the experience living on the coasts.

Take, for example, Patricia Pham of Joplin, Missouri who produced a short segment for Current TV talking about the difficulties she experienced with alienation, adolescent issues, and identity conflicts from both white and Asian people. As to the name of the pod, called A Pale Shade of Yellow:

I tried hard to be white, and there were people who hated me to trying to be too white. And then I tried to be yellow again and there were people who hated me for being too yellow, so I tried to be a paler shade of yellow to please everyone, and there were people who hated me for being a little too white; and so I tried to darken up a bit and there were people who hated me for that too.

So all I’m left with is something in the middle; not yellow nor white, not one thing or another. Just something halfway in-between.

It’s the teenagers dilemma and a sociologists wet dream and troll fodder for the usage of the phrase “trying to be white” — but when you’re growing up as a teenager in Joplin, Missouri, you don’t necessarily care whether you’re too white or too Asian; you basically want to be accepted. And that’s what hit me like a ton of bricks about this video.

| Posted in Discrimination, Observations | 18 Comments