Friday, June 12, 2009 marks the “conclusion” of the fourth trial for the murder of South Asian youth, Reena Virk. Reena was fourteen years old when she was killed in 1997 by a gang of white youth in Victoria, British Columbia. Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski are the only members of the entire group of teens tried over the past twelve years in relation to Virk’s murder that were successfully convicted of second-degree murder. Found in combination with the final drowning of the girl’s body were several other potentially fatal injuries inflicted by the group, including attempts to set the girl’s hair on fire.
What makes this a hate-crime?
It is the targeting of Reena’s South Asianness in how her murder’s tortured her that makes it so. Yet, the media repeatedly casted the reason Virk was targeted as the fact she was an outcast, “dark-skinned”, a little overweight, just wanting to fit in. “The implicit message was that had she been white and had she been thin, she would have fit in, and there would have been no reason for her to be killed,” as anti-racist scholar Yasmin Jiwani highlights.
Not surprisingly, that Virk was South Asian is rarely mentioned in related media. While Ellard and Glowatski had allegedly made fun of Reena’s “hairy back” and burned a cigarette into her forehead where a South Asian woman may wear a bindi, racism was not even examined as a motivating factor for the violence. As a side note, at one point in one of the various attempts to bring justice over the four trials, it surfaced that Glowatski joked and prided himself when explaining the blood on his shirt to a witness as evidence he had killed a Native man.
After several appeals, it has taken four trials to date to convict Ellard of second-degree murder. In 2003, she served 18 months of a life sentence before she was let out on bail. She ended up on trial again when she was charged with assault causing bodily harm of a 58-year-old woman. The woman’s race is never mentioned in media reports of the crime.
August 3, 2006 marks the third time Ellard was convicted in relation to Reena. The fourth and latest decision by Canada’s Supreme Court comes after Ellard’s third conviction was overturned in 2008 by the B.C. Court of Appeal. Friday’s conviction again misses to cite the murder as a hate-crime and instead recognizes Ellard as guilty only of second-degree murder.
Man, what’s a sweet, thin, white girl gotta do to be put away for good these days?
Subscribe to our mailing list
Get the day's stories from 8Asians.com, delivered to your inbox every evening at 6:00pm PST.
This has been making the rounds (including shout-outs from Ashton Kutcher on Twitter), but I love it so much I’ve watched it three times and still feed the need to share it.
Made by Bang-yao Liu, a Taiwanese student at Savannah College of Art and Design as his senior project, it took 3 months of planning, 4 days of shooting, and over 6000 post-it notes. Wanna go behind the scenes? See the equally fascinating “Making of” video below!
UPDATE: Coming soon! An exclusive 8Asians “8 Questions” interview with Bang-yao Liu!
Shopping With GASP!
I could have just as easily titled this piece, “Is it racism if nobody complains?”. Douglas Maughan, British Airways (BA) pilot claims there’s been a culture of casual racism at BA for some time now against Asians. He published his thoughts in the staff newsletter, and was later abused for making his observations on the matter known. Maughan refers to the company culture as “institutional racism“, but I personally call it the “old boys club“. And it doesn’t just affect Asians, it affects almost any race, culture, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Maughan took a stand and I applaud him for it, but not enough of us do so in our daily lives.
A former partner of mine, used to work with a very racist individual. While my partner was Caucasian, I was of course gay and Asian. His workplace was a typical one, with office politics and water cooler humor. The individual in question liked to tell jokes that were offensive to about every minority imaginable. No one else in the office dared to confront him, as he was fairly highly placed in the organization, but my other half would make up something appropriate as a response to the man’s joke. For example if the joke were about an African-American, his response would be something like, “Oh that’s a good one, I’ll have to tell it to my wife Lakeisha”. Personally, I thought his responses were almost as bad as the jokes that were being told, but at the very least, he was trying to alert every one else in the room that those types of jokes weren’t acceptable.
I realize many of us make jokes as a response to offensive comments, like my partner because we aren’t comfortable with confronting the racism directly. But I’m sure if you didn’t know my partner, you might have mistaken his response as an insulting one. And there might have been someone present who might have taken just as much offense to his response as to the joke.
Maughan took a stand, and as a result was sent anonymous condemning messages and phone calls, which made his job extremely difficult. He’s fighting back by suing for discrimination, but his ordeal probably makes many of us who would have said something just as uneasy about speaking up the next time we hear an offensive remark or joke. That’s the unfortunate part of this story, and a reminder to the rest of us to speak up the next time we hear something offensive, as there’s many more who won’t.
(Photo by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
Opening today in select theatres in Toronto and Vancouver is the Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film Departures, a Japanese film about a cellist turned undertaker.
When the orchestra he plays in disbands, Daigo moves with his wife back to his hometown. After answering an ad for what he thinks is a travel agency, he eventually accepts the work performing “Nokanshi” – an encoffining ceremony where the body is cleansed and prepared in an elegant and compassionate manner in front of the relatives. Even though Daigo enjoys his work, his wife and others feel differently.
One of the themes explored is how society deals with death and how those who find themselves working in the industry deal with people who would rather not associate with them. My dad owned a shop that finished casket handles before they were put on the coffins – so while he was never in direct contact with the deceased, the film kind of personally resonates with me. I was proud of my dad and had no qualms in letting people know what he did – course kids were like, “Your dad deals with dead people!” Even a friend who I saw at the film’s preview screening looked at me shocked when I told him what my father did.
Nevertheless, Daigo trudges ahead despite who those disassociate with him based on his occupation to find a deeper meaning of life and death.
Directed by Yojiro Takita, one of the Japan’s most accomplished directors puts his subtle comedic flavour. It’s a quiet, quirky film that is by no means a downer. It’s entertaining and light enough without losing its spirit (no pun intended).
So I had heard a while ago that Thomas Beatie — a celebrity transman — is a mixie much like myself. He too has a white mama, an Asian daddy, and originally, an Asian surname. He too was born with all the plumbing to make and be pregnant with a baby. He too made the decision to get folks to recognize him as male. So I get the whole need to change your gender thing. However, I’m not sure why he changed his name to something rid of all associations to his Filipino heritage. I too had the option to change my name to rid myself of my Asian ethnic associations, however, I didn’t based on the fact that so often trans folks of colour are told they are doing a white thing by being trans. As if the gender binaries of male and female were a universal thing, common and rigidly adhered to in every culture.
I wanted to keep my Asian association when renaming myself, to let people know that just because I’m trans doesn’t mean I’m white. There is a rich history of third gender or other wise non-male and non-female specific people within many cultures, including pre-Spanish Philippines. The rich history includes these societies valuing these people specifically because they are outside the norm of gender. Often times, folks like this would be held in high regard, chosen for positions of spiritual power and authority. However, rigid reforms in gender occurring in the white west, coupled with the need to topple indigenous authority figures influenced European colonizers to seek out and destroy these people. Violent and strategic colonization means that history validating Thomas’s and my trans experience as Asian genderf*ckers now is hard to come by. Transphobia is rampant in former colonized places, as a legacy of colonialism.
And now, because of this erased history, it is our very Asianness that is often used against us to make transphobic and racist comments: “Oh it must be hard with your Baachan more so than on your mom’s side,” “Hey, we don’t do that kind of freaky shit, we’re Asian.” Which makes me sad. Maybe it doesn’t make Thomas as sad as me, what with now two little ones to worry about, not to mention his book tour and the other burdens that fame and fortune bring.
Various New Mexico news sources are reporting the deaths of a hiker and helicopter pilot who lost their lives in a chopper crash. Megumi Yamamoto and her boyfriend were hiking on Tuesday when they became separated and lost. A call to 911 led to a large ground search and the launch of the helicopter. Her boyfriend made it to safety but spent the night helping search and rescue teams.
Overnight, it was reported that Megumi was picked up by the helicopter, but the chopper disappeared shortly after the pick up. In the morning, Blackhawk choppers were sent to search for the helicopter; they soon found the wreckage of the crash with the bodies of the hiker and the pilot.
State police have confirmed that hiker Megumi Yamamoto and pilot Sgt. Andy Tingwall have been found dead. Officials said earlier Thursday that they feared university student Yamamoto did not survive the crash Tuesday night. The chopper had just rescued Yamamoto, who had been on a hiking trip, when it hit the side of a mountain. The third person aboard, state police officer Wesley Cox, managed to reach safety Wednesday. [full story]
The survivor, Wesley Cox, walked more than a mile to safety with a crushed leg and a broken back. Yamamoto, a University of New Mexico physics doctoral student from Tokyo, was confirmed dead earlier Thursday after rescuers reached the bodies.
There’s something so sad about this story, knowing that Megumi was rescued, only to be killed shortly in a helicopter crash a few minutes later. Condolences to the loved ones of both victims.
*not the Megumi Yamamoto of anime fame
Photo courtesy: KRQE.com
- 4th Annual Talent 1 Media Film Festival – The Film Festival will feature workshops and films all day at the Japan America Cultural Center, Little Tokyo Downtown LA. (6/13, Los Angeles: More info here.)
- East West Eats: An Evening with the Bay Area’s Best Chefs – The Asian American Journalists Association is holding a fundraiser for student journalism scholarships by serving food from the best restaurants in San Francisco and cooking demonstrations by Martin Yan. (6/14, San Francisco: More info here.)
- APAture Happy Hour – Kearny Street Workshop is now accepting submissions in all disciplines for APAture 2009; artists can drop off their submissions and grab some food and drink,. (6/17, San Francisco: More info here.)
(Want to promote your Asian American event? Add your event to our social network; events added may be blogged about on 8Asians.)
Ernie had previously blogged about Asian American doctor AND actor Ken Jeong when he first appeared in the comedy hit Knocked Up; Ken has been making the rounds lately and was most recently on Jimmy Kimmel Live promoting The Hangover, where he plays an angry gay crime boss.
Over this past weekend, I got an email from my high school friend Gordon — who isn’t Asian — who saw The Hangover and wrote: “I think 8Asians needs to call for a community boycott of The Hangover, which had the worst Asian stereotyping in years. It was uncomfortable to watch.” I sent that comment out to our internal 8Asians email list and someone who saw the film replied:
“I saw the movie last night, but I didn’t really find it offensive because they didn’t really make any outright Asian jokes, especially since he was pretty funny in it. He plays a gay Chinese gangster in Vegas, so he has an accent in it, but they certainly didn’t play up anything else about it. It could have been a lot worse.”
AngryAsianMan.com picks up on this on-going “controversy” and provides a nice roundup of Ken’s character “Mr. Chow” and his offensive stereotypical portrayal of Asians and gays. The movie has been getting pretty fantastic reviews so far, so I’m definitely inclined to see the movie.
The Los Angeles Times recently had a nice profile on Ken, who has put his medical career on hold to pursue his career in acting, similar to the doctor who put his medical career on hold to do MacRumors.com full-time. Ken’s wife is a doctor as well, so I guess if the acting gig doesn’t work out in the short-term, his wife can support the family in the mean time.
Had I known that I could have been a doctor AND actor, maybe I would have gone to medical school (And, you know, be able to act.)
“I WANT A COTILLION!!”
If The Daughter is anything, she definitely is NOT subtle. What’s a cotillion, also known as a debut? For Filipinos, it’s a coming out party for girls, similar to a quinceanera but for eighteen year old girls. These affairs can be extremely elaborate, with choreographed dances, a big reception, formal wear and relatives coming from long distances. They can cost as much as a wedding. Gene Cajayon made one of my favorite Asian-American movies called The Debut about the events during the day of one such cotillion. But in this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, Cajayon says he is not a fan of the debut as held in the US:
“It comes from the Spanish Eurocentric point of view and there sometimes isn’t anything indigenously Filipino in the ball.”
He also adds that Filipino-American parents are sometimes pressured into having them even if they can’t afford them.
This dad in particular rejects the idea of a debut as I think about impending college costs, but The Daughter will say things like “I’m your only daughter!” or “D. is having one and her family doesn’t have a lot of money.” I’m not sure where she got this idea of a debut in her head as she has never been to one, but it’s probably a combination of going to her classmates’ quinceaneras and the pernicious influence of MTV’s My Supersweet 16 (how I hate that show!) I’m curious, do other Asian cultures have these kind of events?
Something new to me is a Mantillion: the male equivalent of a debut or a cotillion for the more metrosexual kind of Filipino guy. With any luck, Number One Son and Number Two Son won’t get any ideas.
(Flickr photo credit: ‘El Photo)
LOLcats is, in simple terms, a website that has pictures of cats with funny captions. If you haven’t seen the site, go now because seeing it is better than any explanation.
The owner of the site, Ben Huh, spoke at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop last night. It was a reminder that even a deceptively simple concept such as “zany pictures of cats” needs the right infrastructure and a million factors in the right place in order to grow and have a foothold in the wide, woolly web.
LOLcats began when someone received a picture of a grey kitty looking up in a tutu, with the words “I can has cheezburger?” He thought it was so funny that he bought the domain name icanhascheezburger.com, put the picture on it, and sent it to all his friends. His friends started emailing him pictures to add to the site. LOLcats was born.
Or was it? It might have died there, like a million funny things your friends do or say- but one of those friends happened to be Ben Huh. He bought the site a few months later and grew it into the site it is today. LOLcats is often cited as an example of a “meme,” a term borrowed from linguistics that is now used to refer to a catchy idea that spreads through the internet.
If there was one central or recurring idea during the talk, it was that a meme is user-driven. Huh made this distinction and adjusted people’s views several times. Are you afraid of AOL or some large, powerful company taking your idea? No, because these things never start from the top-down. They are driven from the bottom-up by users and fans. How do you promote a blog? You don’t, you create value and that builds your personal credibility and keeps people coming back. People who know you, “power users” and avid fans tell people about the blog. How do you kill a meme? You try to control it and say what it is or what it can and cannot be. You have to let your users tell you what it is and what they want it to be.
Huh notes that he doesn’t take the pictures, write the captions, or even choose which ones make it onto the site (a voting system does that). He simply created a place where a community could form and where people enjoy it and have fun. Concisely, his goal is “to entertain people for five minutes a day.”
LOLcats has been written up on 8asians and referenced in countless articles. The book based on the website has been on the New York Times bestseller list. But a quick poll of my own friends revealed none who had heard of it. As popular as it currently is, LOLcats has room to grow and continue.
You know what channel you don’t see a lot of Asian Americans on? The Food Network. For all the Chinese restaurants, pho houses, sushi bars and Korean BBQ joints that Americans love eat at, there hasn’t been a regular Asian-American host on the New York based food channel since Ming Tsai moved to PBS and the channel changed focus from chef hosts to talking heads with catch phrases like “BAM” and “EVOO.”
Enter Debbie Lee, a Korean American contestant on the Food Network’s reality competition show, The Next Food Network Star. Citing her food as “Korean with a Soulful Edge,” Debbie grew up eating southern food but has “gone through a learning curve,” learning to make Korean food from a Grandmother that doesn’t speak English. Like guest blogger Kimberly who grew up in the South, both struggled with their self-identity in a region of the US where growing up Asian can be more of a challenge.
Now, let’s hope the food matches her stories. We know that kalbi taco’s can be delicious; let’s hope kimchee fried chicken is just as good.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Add this guy to the list of people to watch! Moshe Kai Cavalin, the only son of an Israeli father and a Taiwanese mother, is graduating from East L.A. College with an Astrophysics degree, and 4.0 GPA (naturally!). That’s not all. Aside from all his academic achievements, Moshe is an award-winning martial artist, and he plays the piano, too.
Although it would seem like he fits the Model Minority stereotype to a T, I’d argue that it’s still very rare to find someone so accomplished at such a young age, with such a great personality and outlook on life. (Also, he says he’s not into video games, which is the opposite of 95% of all the Asian guys I know.)
I’m glad I’m not 11 years old anymore, because I’m sure my Mom would be comparing me to him and I would be feeling like a loser for only being in the sixth grade.
Congratulations and happy graduation, Moshe!
(Photo Courtesy: MSNBC)
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Cherry Blossom Favor Candles
- Michelle Kwan Inducted Into Figure Skating Hall of Fame
- 7500 Teaser Trailer Reveals My Worst Nightmare
- Some Skin Whitening Creams Can Be Hazardous To Your Health
- I am Bruce Lee Documentary Trailer & Why We Should Remember His Legacy
- Sukiyaki Western Django
- NPR Interviews Fred Korematsu’s Daughter On His Civil Rights Work & Celebrating Fred Korematsu Day
Recent Comments
- : @TinaTsai @JosephLee1 Tina, I think you have to be careful about setting up absolutes like 5% or 95% on drilling. I think that the right... – How Standardized Tests Stunt the Intellectual Growth of Asian American Students
- : Did... did the overhead luggage compartment just eat Jamie Chung? – 7500 Teaser Trailer Reveals My Worst Nightmare
- : I'm such a scardey cat. I couldn't even watch the entire trailer. Someone tell me when it's over, ok? – 7500 Teaser Trailer Reveals My Worst Nightmare
- : Who better to be the Founding Father of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), than someone of mixed racial heritage? Who more likely to teach non-Asians in... – I am Bruce Lee Documentary Trailer & Why We Should Remember His Legacy
- : One person says in that video clip that Bruce Lee was "the superhero of the Asian community." Funny, but back before he was rich &... – I am Bruce Lee Documentary Trailer & Why We Should Remember His Legacy
APA Events
Feb 9: (Los Angeles, CA) East West Players presents THREE YEAR SWIM CLUB
Feb 9: (Los Angeles, CA) OR (Orphan Relief): China Care Bruin’s 4th Annual Awareness Night
Feb 10: (Los Angeles, CA) CAUSE: Women in Power Annual Luncheon
Feb 15: (Seattle, WA) Pork Filled Players Enter The Year of the Dragon Spam*O*Rama
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
