Author Archives: Jeff

About Jeff

Jeff lives in Silicon Valley, and attempts to juggle marriage, fatherhood, computer systems research, running, and writing.

Learning to Love Asian Men by Leaving the US

“So, before moving to Korea, why did I not realize the potential in Asian men?  Because for the first 21 years of my life, the United States had deceived me.” With so much focus on how men fetishize Asian women, … Continue reading

Posted in Dating, Discrimination, Lifestyles | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Manny Pacquiao at Seventeen

Manny Pacquiao might be currently be the world’s most famous Filipino, but before he could train with well known trainers like Freddie Roach (shown here to the left), he was an unknown skinny 17 year old who had run away … Continue reading

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Abercrombie & Fitch Sales Decline: How Disrespecting Diversity can be Bad for Business

After managing to alienate significant numbers of Asians, Asian Americans, Muslims, African Americans, Hispanics,  overweight, and disabled people, Abercrombie & Fitch has found – surprise – that declining sales forced it into a quarterly loss.  In an attempt to regain … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Discrimination, Fashion | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Dealing with Diversity: Gap responds to the Racist Defacement of an Ad

Arsalan Iftikhar, senior editor at The Islamic Monthly, posted a picture of this defaced Gap advertisement on his twitter account.  This ad featured Sikh-American designer Waris Ahluwalia and model/filmmaker Quentin Jones.  What, if anything, would the Gap do?

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Remembering Asian American Veterans: Stories from the Library of Congress Veterans History Project

“I could not believe I was coming home to the same reception I received twenty-three years before, following World War II. This time I was not the enemy, but I was there saving lives, perhaps their loved ones.” Carolyn Hisako … Continue reading

Posted in Discrimination, History | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Jon M. Chu Makes Airline Safety Videos Actually Interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtyfiPIHsIg As someone who flies almost every month, I usually tune out the safety talk, with the aim of being asleep before the airplane takes off. This flight safety video that Jon Chu made for Virgin America is one that … Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Asian Americans in College Sports

When I was an undergraduate, I remember meeting a few Asian American (a grand total of four) at my school who competed in collegiate sports like cross country, volleyball, and field hockey.  While I was researching Asian American cross country … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Sports | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Cross Country: An Ideal Asian American Youth Sport?

While I have seen many heavily Asian American teams at high school cross country meets, one thing that I have recently began to notice is that increasingly, some of the winners are Asian Americans.   After seeing this interview with runner … Continue reading

Posted in Family, Lifestyles, Sports | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Chinese Buyers Purchasing “Bargain” Million Dollar Bay Area Homes

When this article about Asian buyers making cash offers on million plus dollar Bay Area homes circulated on the internal 8asians mailing list, one of our writers lamented that  Chinese investors making cash offers were frustrating her home purchase efforts, … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Local, Real Estate, San Francisco Bay Area | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Pacific Islander Students struggle under the AAPI umbrella

The umbrella term AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) is a broad one that catches many under the model minority stereotype that comes with it, even while some, like many Pacific Islanders, are struggling for success.  Pacific Islanders (PI), those people … Continue reading

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Asian American Subsistence Fishing in Southern California

On a business trip to Southern California, I visited the Daughter, and together we saw this sign about contaminated fish on the Manhattan Beach Pier.  It caught my eye that you shouldn’t eat barracuda (you can catch barracuda off of … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Environment, Food & Drink, Health, Local, Southern California | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Where White means Mediocre: High-Skilled Asian Immigrant Enclaves

“Are you taking AP [Advanced Placement] courses?” “Oh no, I’m white.” – Conversation overhead by a teacher in Cupertino. Stanford sociologist Tomás Jiménez has been studying immigrants and the communities they live in, and he recently published what he found … Continue reading

Posted in Discrimination, Education, San Francisco Bay Area | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments