An Open Letter to Alexandra Wallace, Ranting UCLA Girl

By Edward | Monday, March 14, 2011 | 64 Comments

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Before I get started on this lovely open letter, for those of you who don’t know, Alexandra Wallace is a UCLA student who posted the above YouTube video yesterday about her rant on Asian students making too much noise in the library and other things. Not too long after, she became the target of a whole LOTTA angry Asians who accused her of being racist and declared that her video was hate speech. Some have posted her contact information for the whole world to see and others are demanding for her to be expelled. In the midst of this sea of anger, here is my take.

Dear Alexandra Wallace,

I want to make sure that you know right away that this is not another hate mail. By now, you have probably received a whole lotta hate mail from a whole lotta angry Asians on your campus as well as nationwide in regards to your YouTube video.

I want to let you know that I am not going to call you a bitch, whore, or slut as many of my colleagues are doing. Because that’s degrading as hell. Nor do I think you need to expelled from UCLA. Nor do I think your rant is hate speech. And do I believe that it is just for people to post your contact information up for all the world to see? Hell no.

But I DO have a few words to say.

I’ll give you this, Asian parents do come to support their kids and yes, they do come a lot during weekends to help them out. Now, I’m not quite sure if they bring their entire family members including their grandma and cousins and whatnot from Asia, but I see your point even if it’s very ignorant. I do wonder though, do you rant about this because your own family doesn’t visit you? Are you feeling jealous of the Asian students that do have their parents visiting them? Just curious..

To your other point about Asians talking on cell phones: Okay fine yes, a lot of Asian people do talk on their cell phones loudly and yes, it annoys me too.

While a lot of Asians do talk loudly on their cell phones, this issue affects ALL people, not just Asians. Therefore, it is a tad unfair that you are targeting only Asians as the only culprits. Then again, you ARE in UCLA so when you’re surrounded by Asians, then yes, you will vent about what you immediately experience. And you did mention that at the end so okay, I got you.

I do want to debunk some of these ideas you have about Asian people though.

First of all, Asians don’t go “chingchonglinglongtingtong” because come on, that’s just ridiculous. The only Asians that remotely sound like that are Chinese and hell, they don’t even sound like that. If you want a good idea what Chinese actually sounds like, check out my friends at 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors who gives a lesson in “proper” Chinese mockery. You can check it out yourself.

Now you bring up the point that you are studying political science. Okay, I want to say, good for you! But if you are indeed studying political science, then you should be aware that the concept of “Asian” isn’t just about the typical yellow Asians you think Asians are but they also encompass Southeast Asians like Filipinos and Thai folks and South Asians like Indians and Sri Lankans. Being Asian is pretty freakin’ huge. Also, when you bring up “American” manners, keep in mind that American is not the term you think it is. It does not mean white, even though mainstream media may tell you differently. The complexity of what it means to be an American is ever changing and as someone studying political science, you should also be aware of that.

You almost crossed the line when you bring up the tsunami that hit Japan but in the end, I am going to have to agree with you on that one too. The library is a place to study in peace and if tragedy does happen, you do take that outside. I think that’s common sense because after all, you want your own private space when you deal with the hard news and also respecting the other people around you. I’m going to sound like a dick to my fellow Asian Americans for saying that but it’s true. So I give you that one.

Despite what many of my colleagues are saying, I am glad that you are being honest about how these issues bug you. You are speaking your own truth and it would be wrong of me to want to shut you up because I think it’s offensive. Which, to a degree, I think it is. But I can’t give you a hard time when I myself have my own rants about white people and it would be a hypocrite for me to say that you can’t have your own rants. For a rant, I do commend that you are talking about “random Asians” but not about your friends who happen to be Asian. I respect that you don’t pull out the “chink” or the “gook” word and it is because of that I do not believe this video is racist. It’s incredibly ignorant, yes, but hate speech? No.

But darling, I do need to remind you that once something goes up on the internet, it stays up for the WHOLE WORLD to see. While you did your best to take it down, there are more than two versions out right now that will haunt the living crap out of you. I seriously don’t envy your position as a UCLA student since over 40% of the students that go to your school are Asians. By Monday morning, you are going to have to face them and sooner or later, you will reap what you sow. While I understand that you had to rant, this video will bite you in the ass and this may actually affect career opportunities because in this day and age, the very people you are mocking, these “loud Asians”, they may be your employers who will hire you. So for your own sake, you better hope that they don’t see this video.

I hope you understand this very important lesson and that is to cool down and think before you even post a blog or video up on the internet, especially if you’re filled to the brim with emotions. At least talk about it to your friends and hear what they have to say. Because that is the smart thing to do.

I don’t want to end this letter with a downer so I will depart with a gift to you. Enjoy and I wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely,
Edward Hong

Categories:

DiscriminationLifestylesObservationsSouthern California

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

jgifpeg

@bohemianeddy @izzy That lag is exactly what I was referring to. Simply because Asian is SUPPOSED to refer to the entire Asian continent, that does not mean that the majority of people in America think of all of Asia when the word Asian is used. I actually mentioned it in what I had previously wrote and mentioned the example of the terms Indian and Native American.
boomerang

fact: majority of criminals in the united states are caucasian

this doesn’t make a white person or a asian person look better or worse, there are criminals, and there are you and me, it’s just a cute girl being a lit bitchy and made a silly video, she learnt from it and we can all have a bit of laugh, i found the “chingchonglinglongtingtong” she did very funny, I laughed hard when i watched steve martin doing “i want to buy a hamburger” in the pink penther, the french wasn’t upset

why not thank Alexandra for her contribution towards better understanding?

there was no political influence, no financial advantage involved, it’s all in the open air, it raised a lot of interests, everyone was free to discuss, isn’t that the exact opportunity we hope to have for better understand in the the democratic world?

i think this is fun and we should encourage alexandra to make more video, obviously not the same one as it would be boring, folks, you think it’s easy to make a video that people would watch, i challenge you to make one and you can love or hate me in your video (permission given, this is the easy part) and make it popular (not so easy anymore lol)

so hands up if you like to see: 1-alex going to chinatown or 2-alex refused to go chinatown or 3-alex learns to speak madarin 4-more chingchonglinglong from alex or 5-alex talks on the phone in the library to get a thrill 6-alex made the library a better place or 7-your suggestion

To alex: do it, pick something you are passionate about, or something random, keep up the momentum

To the rest: do it again, do you prefer a cold war? i prefer free discussions, believe me it would only lead to better understanding

more funny video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rbMHLDY1pA&feature=related ; -randomly cute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7luMp6lb9M ; -american eat more chinese food since

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qez0HC8fGJo ; -i want to buy a humburger
gbaughma

I would imagine that she, if nothing else, will be surrounded by folks loudly saying “Chingchonglinglongtingtong” around her for a LONG time. If nothing else but to annoy her.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@gbaughma donate to Japan and get this awesome shirt?

http://www.ohhhchingchonglinglongtingtong.bigcartel.com/
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cvlove_14

I was so offended and not even Asian but my husband is. And all my friends are. And they are my family it do believe that it is still considered hate speech. But I agree with the fact that a library is a place too be quite but what she did was wrong but she will have too live this for rest of her life I hope she learned her lesson but you can only lead a horse too water..buy Edward! I loved your statement and you are I think the only one reaching out in a civil manner thanks!
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boomerang

“the problem is…” lol… I love this!… ok back to reality, problems between you guys and alexandra are exactly what someone wanted. Who? look no further, check out the following discussion found in another forum.

Regardless of this info, I’ve seen enough examples of this sort in real life. John was not proud of her, john made her, quite possibly through instilling fear, lie-filled sweet talks lol and twisted interpretation of religion. ‘Racist’ is too big of a title for alex …like hitler something …lol …drop it, we are living in a time of social media, it’s powerful enough to bring in generation change. Alex has some skill, John is so yesterday …lol

———-

“(Jackie 1 week ago) I personally know Alexandra Wallace’s father, John Wallace of Fair Oaks, Sacramento. I would have to say, the apple does not fall too far from the tree. I do feel sorry for her, if she grew up with racist parents and have always been taught that way, how else would she know better? It is a shame that UCLA is link to this individual. I can only hope that Alexandra Wallace, now knows how ignorant she is and that her family’s racist ways in Fair Oaks, Sacramento will not be tolerated in the greater AMERICA. 16 people liked this. Like Reply

(Jane 1 week ago in reply to Jackie) ‘I had guessed as much. Thank you for confirming it. 10 people liked this. Like Reply MBrigitte 1 week ago in reply to Jackie’

An article in the Sacramento Bee today printed a comment from John’s Facebook page that he made 2 days before Allie uploaded the video: “She’s asking for domain suggestions for ‘Asians on their cellphones in the library!’ She’s shooting videos as I write.” He obviously was not mortified, and actually seemed to be proud of her.”
boomerang

@KimberlyBriscoe i am with you kimberly i don’t know Allie personally, but i know girls whose lame dad is not afraid of putting his daughters in embarrassing positions to support his own hobby and twisted thoughts, just like using one of the tools in the tool box he posses.

A little psychology: Allie is possibly perceived more mature than she is by the asian community, something to do with the caucasian look and way she talks …lol …it’s become a little like a competition of absurdity in words. Allie’s mama may have raised her as a sweet girl, but daddy’s yesterday thinking failed her big time
LizMurphy

I’m sorry; I meant how much do you want to bet that this woman’s (the blonde woman) boobs are fake?
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