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Asuka Kondoh and Ricky Sun on So You Think You Can Dance

By Ernie | Tuesday, June 2, 2009

For those of you kinda over American Idol — and really, after eight seasons, who isn’t — there’s So You Think You Can Dance. This year’s auditions included some Asian American latin ballroom dancers: Irvine’s Asuka Kondoh and Glendale’s Ricky Sun, both of whom who tried out last year but didn’t make the finals. But their audition this markedly better; the judges love Asuka’s TV-friendly sexiness, but Ricky’s performance is a lot sharper than previous — and judging from YouTube commenters — is the stronger technical dancer. And with the extra camera time before their performance, that can only mean one thing: at least one of the two will be one the final Top 20 contestants. (Knock on wood.)

And for the people out there not content with seeing an Asian person dance on national TV unless it’s hip-hop, you can always watch this YouTube performance of locker Katie Lee from last year’s SYTYCD Canada, at least to tide you until the next season of America’s Next Dance Crew. (Okay, this clip is six months old; I’m from California, this is new to me.)

Update: The latest episode has been broadcast, and Asuka is one of the Top 20 contestants for the public to vote on every week; Ricky was eliminated in the final round leading up to the broadcast.

| Posted in Entertainment | 6 Comments

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Immigrants with Accents Still Being Treated with Disrespect

By Jee | Tuesday, June 2, 2009

2353426397 ec8cb9e243 Immigrants with Accents Still Being Treated with Disrespect Last month, I went by my local cable office to drop off my cable box after canceling my cable service. I was almost at the window when an elderly Asian man asked me in English, “Do you speak Korean?” I replied that I did. He proceeded to ask me for help in Korean. He was there because his cable box wasn’t working but I guess the employee at the window was unable to understand him and vice versa. From what I could tell, and what the elderly man told me, the employee patronized and looked down on the man because there was a communication barrier.

Language barriers are common place when you live in areas populated by immigrants, and prevents people from getting proper health care or speaking out against deplorable living situations. I have often had to help my parents deal with certain issues similar to this, even though they speak English because they don’t like the experience of being looked down because of their inability to speak fluid, accent-free English.

After I helped the elderly man get the service he needed from the cable company, I drove away sad for those who came to America for the hope of a better life, yet are faced with challenges daily. Many may assert that those who immigrate here need to learn English since they are living in America. And while that is a truthful expectation, it may not be realistic or as easily gained for those who moved here in their adult life. Even my parents, who speak fluent English, are patronized and ridiculed because they don’t speak accent-free.

I don’t think it would have hurt the employee to be a bit more patient and kind to the elderly man who was struggling to get the help he needed; the man spoke English. He just couldn’t do it without an accent, which caused the employee to dismiss him and be rude. My heart still goes out to the elderly man — mainly because his sad face of desperation still flashes before my eyes — who speaks and understands English, but has a hard time being understood because of heavy accent. He’ll have to face that daily in his life, and I hope that the other people he comes in contact with are a lot more gracious than the employee at my former cable company.

(Flickr photo credit: davitydave)

| Posted in Discrimination, Observations | 23 Comments

Shopping With GASP!

The Bamboo Ceiling

By Tim | Monday, June 1, 2009

bambooceiling The Bamboo Ceiling I’ve written in the past about the glass ceiling for Asians in corporate America, but until I found this recent article on Asian scientists, I didn’t realize there was a specific term for the ceiling when referring to Asians, specifically the Bamboo Ceiling.

The article I found was specifically referring to the inability of Asians scientists to move up into the management roles in academia and federal research institutes. Apparently Asians have as tough a time there as they do in the corporate world.

This article also introduced another new term I had not heard of before when referencing the inability to move up in an organization, sticky floors.

Here are some of the problems found by the recent study:

Problems raised by this Asian American community boiled down to three categories: employment, lack of support, and failure to file complaints.

“We found that most federal agencies didn’t even look at Asian American numbers—they’ve become the forgotten minority,” says Gazal Modhera, chair of the EEOC’s Work Group.
…
While Asian Americans represented 23 percent of those holding tenure-track positions [at the NIH], they were only 12 percent of those at the tenure or senior scientist level. In the higher administrative positions the numbers further tapered off, with only 6 percent holding lab chief positions. Currently out of the 27 scientific director positions there is only one Asian American scientific director. There are no Asian Americans running any of the 27 Institutes, although one recently retired.

The study found Asians themselves to be part of the blame, by failing to file complaints when discrimination does occur in the work place.

From the article again:

Despite the plethora of stories that were heard, official complaints remain few. A December 2005 EEOC Gallup Poll revealed that, although Asian Americans had the highest reports of discrimination (31 percent) of all the minority groups, only 3 percent of official charges were filed by them.

This article is a good reminder that as Asians we need to remember to stand up for our beliefs and our rights, since no other group is looking out for us.

One final note, the term Bamboo Ceiling is not new, as Jane Hyun used it in her book Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians in 2005. So, I’m the one behind the times and need to catch up on new fangled terms like sticky floors.

| Posted in Business, Current Events, Discrimination | 15 Comments

KFC vs. KGC: WTF???

By John | Monday, June 1, 2009

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has been promoting their new offering, Kentucky Grilled Chicken, with the tagline, UNTHINK what you thought about KFC – Taste the unfried side of KFC.

Joz and I both noticed that KFC is running a new, “multicultural” KGC commercial which features white, African American and Asian American actors. I had been channel surfing and upon catching the tail end of this commercial, I immediately re-wound the DVR just to make sure what I saw was what I saw. My initial reaction was “WTF.” Why are the Asian American actors wearing kamikaze headbands with what looks to me to be Japanese martial arts-type wardrobe, and speaking with foreign-sounding accents — while all the other actors and actresses came across as average Americans? What the hell is KFC trying to convey with those two Asian Americans? It’s stupid commercials like this that reinforce the idea that Asian Americans know martial arts (more than once as a kid I recall being asked if I knew karate, etc…) or that Asian Americans are “foreigners” (I’ve also been told that my English is excellent – which it should be since I was born-and-raised in the United States). Does reinforcing some Asian stereotype have anything to do in promoting fried chicken versus grilled chicken?

The Asian characters in the commercial haven’t been in other previous KFC commercials, so there is no rational context as to why these Asian Americans are dressed the way they are. In the context of this commercial, how would African Americans feel if there was a gang banger or basketball player representing them (or even more ridiculous, traditional African wardrobe?). The only white stereotype I see possibly is the two “preppy” twenty-or-thirty-something guys wearing sports jackets … and I think I’m stretching when I say that. BTW – Almost everyone in this commercial, as well as other KFC commercials, are dancing ridiculously to the tune of the commercials’ theme music, to convey the excitement to KFC now offering grilled chicken.

Joz’s commentary:
Wow, first the Oprah/Kentucky Grilled Chicken coupon fiasco, and now this! KFC is screwing up royally with their promotions for KGC. Regarding the KGC commercial with the two Asian guys dressed with kamikaze* headbands… Everyone else in the commercial is dressed all normally, but why are the Asian guys the only ones dressed all stupid and fighting about chicken while speaking in dumb accents?

John, thanks for uploading the video… If people start saying “What’s wrong with this?! Asians DO sometimes wear Kamikaze headbands and argue about chicken,” I will punch them in the neck.

Maybe these guys are actually fighting about KFG?!

* Ok, I know they are not really kamikaze headbands and I definitely know they are not in martial arts clothes. I can tell they are supposed to be Japanese cooks. But these guys make no sense and are totally out of context. (Moye says the headband is called “hachimaki.” I still say that most Americans know those things as the headbands worn by kamikaze pilots. Or by Daniel-san in Karate Kid.)

| Posted in Business, Current Events, Discrimination, Food & Drink | 91 Comments