8 Asians

From the New York Times: “Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest wave of new immigrants to the United States, pushing the population of Asian descent to a record 18.2 million and helping to make Asians the fastest-growing racial group in the country, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.” The study also identifies Asians as  the highest earning and and best-educated racial group in the United States. This news comes [...] Continue »

Bamboo Ceilings continue to plague Asians and Asian Americans. Everyone’s got their own thoughts on why it happens, but the opinions generally reflect a very basic idea: Asians are just bad at self promotion.

From TechCrunch: “Zynga is drumming up stereotypes that simply don’t apply in this day and age. As Asian Americans who grew up in or near white suburbia, this is the exact type of mass media that made us feel like we didn’t belong,” write Anthony and Peter Ha. What on earth are they talking about? A new Farmville (remember that?) add-on called Jade Falls that takes place in exaggerated “Asian” locales. And of course, there [...] Continue »

From the White House: “With yesterday’s Senate confirmation of Miranda Du to be a U.S. District Court Judge in the District of Nevada, President Obama has doubled the number of Asian American and Pacific Islander federal judges – in just over three years.” This is an especially important development, given the historical paucity of APA federal judges, and given the research that shows that the demographic background of a judge affects decision-making.

Assemblywoman Grace Meng was endorsed by the Queens Democratic Party for the Sixth Congressional District earlier this week. An endorsement by the party, however, does not guarantee victory. Meng has drawn two opponents in the Democratic primary, which will be held on June 26. Her competitors are Assemblyman Rory Lancman and City Councilwoman Liz Crowley. At first glance, it appears that Meng has an easy path to victory. Last week, the federal courts re-drew New [...] Continue »

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said on Monday that “minority students across America face much harsher discipline than non-minorities, even within the same school” after the release of a study breaking down student racial demographics and suspension rates. The study also shows that APAs are suspended at extremely low rates. Unfortunately, Secretary Duncan’s comment implies that APAs are not minorities.

Once again, the Jeremy Lin phenomenon has unearthed a massive trove of anti Asian American racism. Unlike the unfortunate ESPN headline, this racist remark is far more blatant. One anchor is talking about the physical attributes that help Jeremy Lin become such a great basketball player, when Greg Kelly interjects by asking, “What about his eyes?” The other anchor laughs, although it’s not clear whether it’s because she thinks Kelly is funny or if she [...] Continue »

Jeremy Lin’s moment is here. On Saturday, he led the Knicks to victory against the Nets by scoring 25 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists. Lin, who hasn’t received much playing time in the NBA, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter alone and catapulted the Knicks to victory. This is especially exciting news for Lin fans. I’ve been following him ever since his senior year at Harvard, when he put up [...] Continue »

Nineteen years ago, my parents decided to move our entire family to the suburbs. As it turns out, we weren’t the only ones. A recent Washington Post article highlights the national trend of APAs moving away from urban Chinatowns and into suburban communities. Back then, I didn’t really understand why we were moving so far away. We were living in Elmhurst, Queens, and had a fairly comfortable life. We attended a local Chinese church and we [...] Continue »

On Thursday, New York City Councilman Peter Koo of Flushing, Queens announced that he’s switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. There are several reasons why he may have switched. Reports have surfaced that Koo had problems with the Queens County Republican Party. But more interestingly, some have speculated that Koo did it to increase his influence. As a Democrat, he could bring more city funds to his district. Moreover, he could serve as [...] Continue »

Currently, illegal immigrants who apply for green cards must return to their home countries in order to apply for a visa, but when they do, they are barred from re-entering the United States for three to ten years. The government grants hardship waivers if refusing them to re-enter causes extreme hardship to family members who are American citizens. But these waivers are very, very hard to come by.

Most of my friends don’t know this about me, but in college, I tried to join the Marine Corps. I haven’t told too many people about it; when I think about it now, it seems absurd. But when I was in college, I actually took the bus down to the recruiting station, spoke to an officer, and filled out a card. That was eight years ago. My attempt to join the military has since faded [...] Continue »