08.02.08
Posted in Sports, Activism and Empowerment, China at 11:59 am by mark_chang
As the 2008 Olympic games draw near, you can bet the self-righteous will unite with the jackass in a China bashing frenzy. So if you’re of Chinese descent and are tired of being the proverbial “catcher” of insults, read on for some pointers that may make it easier for you to address these unpleasant situations.
First let’s go over a few general concepts.
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ADDRESS ANYONE IN A CIVILIZED MANNER, REGARDLESS OF POSITION
When it comes to the office environment, being a minority in a racial discussion puts you in the driver’s seat.
This is true even if the offenders are other minorities as no institution wants the label of being a racially unfriendly environment.
If this is a superior, there is probably someone above him or her that uncomfortable remarks can be reported to. Human Resources (HR) is an option as is an attorney, provided you’ve documented the incident(s) (names, quotes, witnesses, and preferably a voice recording).
Feel free to correct friends as well, you should not be uncomfortable making the correction, they should be uncomfortable having made the statement(s).
ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO RESPOND
No situation is off limits. The self-righteous may take a trivial reference of China (e.g. a few people going out for Chinese food) in order to chime in with their holier-than-thou opinions of backward, oppressive, and uncivilized people.
The jackass may initially establish a cameraderie with you and others in order to get you to let your guard down and then, sahh … he slips in a zinger.
Respond no matter who the onlookers are. Arguably these people aren’t your friends anyway but inarguably they will respect you more if you stand up for yourself than if you take it.
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU SAY AS LONG AS YOU SAY SOMETHING
Standing up for yourself may feel uncomfortable since youv’e been conditioned not to.
You may also not have the perfect response for a remark, that’s ok, you don’t have to “win”, you only have to try. Even simple responses such as:
- Loudly clearing your throat,
- Opening your mouth in “he didn’t say what I think he just said” astonishment,
- Surprisingly asking “Huhh?”,
- Repeating the offending statement,
- Asking the offender to “Elaborate further please”,
- Simply asking “Excuse me?” in eyebrow-raising fashion.
Can yield surprisingly effective results.
Don’t think about whether to react, just react. It is better to overreact than to under react. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss the opportunity. Rest assured there’ll be more opportunities.
CLEARLY MAINTAIN A SIMPLE POSITION
You are right and should not have to quietly accept others degrading your heritage.
Avoid “softeners” such as “kind of”, “sort of”, etc.
Don’t explain yourself (”I’m not going to explain myself to you”)
Don’t get into a debate (”I’m, not interested in getting into a debate with you”)
Don’t expect other Asians or even other Chinese to support you. In fact they may take the opposite side in order to assimilate (”Speak for yourself …”)
You are making a simple request not to have your heritage degraded.
NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY “PULL THE LEVER”, DON’T GIVE THEM A “PIECE OF CANDY”
While it’s natural to be upset that the same verbal unpleasantries aren’t hurled at other ethnicities, maintain a “3rd grade teacher” persona using an educational tone of voice as you politely provide the miscreant(s) a lesson in cultural sensitivity.
The snide remarks and insults can most often be bucketed into one of the following categories:
- Genetics (eyes, height, penis size),
- Culture (language, food, names),
- Behavior (human rights, freedom, pollution),
- and of course the term “Chinaman”.
GENETICS
“Well nobody’s perfect like you.”
“You think you’re better than Asian people?”
“You must be very impressed with yourself (string of unanswered comments).”
“What’s wrong with being Chinese?”
“You got something against Asians?”
“That sage knowledge is bound to get you laid at a party.”
CULTURE
“Not that I mean to correct you but …”
“Hey that’s my cousin (you’re talking about).”
“Should I be insulted?”
“All you had to say was … (and appropriately rephrase the miscreants’ remark(s))”
“If you don’t like it, eat somewhere else.”
“Unfortunately not everyone has an easy Anglo name.”
BEHAVIOR (THIS IS THE EASIEST TO DEFEND)
“I’m not even going to point out the irony here.”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to judge anyone.”
“Poor country (can’t afford to provide …)”
“I’m confused, Americans act concerned about the oppression of Chinese people and then kick the shit out of the Chinese people in the US
(reference restaurant delivery beatings/stabbings/shootings).”
“Which country contributes the most pollutants to the environment? Not only does China have more people on bikes and less in cars then the US
but the US can’t even sell most their cars in China because the US made cars don’t meet China’s minimum mileage requirements.”
“Is Gene Simmons the only rock star entitled to wear makeup?”
“CHINAMAN”
“Chinese man. You use an adjective to describe a person, not a noun”
“The gentleman, let’s call him the gentleman.”
“By the way that term isn’t used anymore … “Chinaman”, it’s considered a racial slur.”
A few generic responses:
- “Oh boy i cant wait to hear this.” (a preventative measure)
- “Your conversational skills are what I like best about you.” (Upon initial insult by a repeat offender)
- “So what are you trying to say?”
- “Oh, no offense taken.”
- “I’m not so sure I’m enjoying this conversation.”
- “That’s not nice.” / “That wasn’t necessary”
- “That was low dude.”
- “I don’t know what that means (please explain further).”
- “Got us a comedian here.”
- “I didn’t think that was very funny.”
- “Should I have found that funny?” (when they look at you expecting you to laugh)
- “Take a step back bro.”
- “I don’t appreciate …”
- “Uh, not something I’d expect to hear in the workplace.”
- “I’ll attribute that to youth.” (young person blurting out something offensive)
LET’S WALK THROUGH A SCENARIO
You enter the coffee room in your office to get your morning cup and you run into a few of the boys.
One guy blurts out: “Hey did you hear the Chinese are putting underage kids on their gymnastics team, them Chinese are always trying to get away with something.”
Your response could be: “You know I read about that on Yahoo and just couldn’t help but thinking “Why is something like this on the front page?”. Does anyone even care about these silly sports like gymnastics? Let’s face it, if this were a country like Spain, for example, this “news” would be a couple sentences on the back page.”
The offender argues back: “Yeah but they’re trying to cheat, you gotta be sixteen to compete, that’s the rule.”
You could respond with: “Has it been proven that these gymnasts are under the age limit or just alleged? We all know that the U.S. has ample resources to prove wrongdoing, so what’s the latest?”
The offender reaches: “Man it’s communism, you don’t know what’s going on over there.”
You could conclude with: “China is technically a socialist republic. But to change gears for a second, I seem to remember when the U.S. lost it’s first Olympic basketball game, everybody said (of the winning team): “They act as if they beat our best”. And the American professionals started playing in the years thereafter. So does that mean that if the U.S. celebrates a gold medal in gymnastics that China could also say: “They (the Americans) act as if they beat out best.”?
Other ideas, please share them with the community
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05.20.08
Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment, Community Alerts at 9:31 am by jj_de_la_cruz
Dear Friends:
This is an appeal on behalf of our surviving Filipino WWII veterans. Out of the more than 400,000 listed after WWII, only about 20,000 remain. Time is of the essence as they are in their mid-80s and their numbers are dwindling. In a few years they will all be gone. For the first time ever, the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill has passed Committee levels of both Houses and has passed the US Senate. The House will act on S1315 TOMORROW, May 21.
S.1315 was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 24, and it contains a range of benefits for U.S. veterans, as well as benefits for our surviving Filipino WWII veterans. We must all ask Speaker Pelosi to move S.1315 towards approval and we should contact our U.S. Representatives to support the House version of S.1315 and to ensure that the benefits to Filipino WWII veterans are not amended or removed.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NEXT:
- CALL SPEAKER PELOSI NOW!!
The contact phone is 202-225-0100. Or email her directly here: http://speaker.house.gov/contact/. Tell her: I AM [your name], A VOTER FROM [your home state]. I ASK THAT YOU LEAD THE HOUSE TO PASS S.1315, THE VETERANS’ BENEFITS ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007, AND DO NOT AMEND OR REMOVE THE BENEFITS IN IT FOR THE FILIPINO WWII VETERANS.
- CALL ON YOUR US REPRESENTATIVES, OR TELEPHONE, FAX, OR EMAIL THEM, NOW!!
The contact information for your Congressman is on http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/. Or email your message using the process below. Tell them: I AM [your name], A VOTER FROM [your hometown/city], [your home state]. I ASK THAT YOU SUPPORT S.1315 AND DO NOT AMEND/REMOVE THE BENEFITS FOR THE FILIPINO WWII VETERANS.
I just sent an email to my representative by following along with the very SIMPLE steps below. You should do the same NOW. Do each step as you read it now:
- Open your web browser and go to http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/
- Enter your zip code and click on GO. You will go to a new page with the list of your elected officials.
- On the bottom of the leftmost column, click on the name of your U.S. Representative.
- You will go to a new page with your Representative’ s photo and contact information. Click on SEND MESSAGE in blue under the photo.
- You will go to a new page where you will type in and send your message.
- In the subject box, enter: SUPPORT S1315 AND DO NOT AMEND FILIPINO VETERANS BENEFITS.
- Click on the arrow on the Issue Area and select VETERANS AFFAIRS at the very end of the list
- In the message box, enter: I AM A VOTER FROM [your home town/city], [your home state]. I ASK THAT YOU SUPPORT S.1315 AND DO NOT AMEND THE BENEFITS IN IT FOR FILIPINO WW2 VETERANS.
- Type in your name in the Name box.
- Complete Part 2 with your contact information. This is important. It will show to the US Representative that you are indeed from his voting district.
- Make sure the REMEMBER ME box is checked.
- Click the SEND MESSAGE in blue in the bottom. You will get an acknowledgement page that your message has been sent.
- When you have sent your message, help each of your family and friends of voting age to do the same thing.
- Add the web page to your list of FAVORITES so you can use it for follow-up messages later.
- That is it. If you haven’t been following along, go back to step 1, and DO IT RIGHT NOW!
(This is an adaptation of the NaFFAA call to action email.)
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05.07.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 5:30 pm by william_lee_intern
Fil-Ams, some coming all the way from New York
and Pennsylvania, hear out ABC executives who
explained the network’s internship program that
could open more on-cam and behind-the-scenes
opportunities in areas ranging from script writing to
directing to financial management.
|
A top executive of a television company ABC is creating out a program to reach out to the Filipino-American community, but the issue about the “Desperate Housewives” is just the hindrance.
As the meeting between ABC and NAFFAA (National Federation of Filipino-American Association) going on, they are particularly talking abut the main objective of the said program it is allowing them to deal with the problems of stereotyping and racism.
“We do a lot of outreach in the course of the year,” Mendez tells ABS-CBN’s Balitang America during the outreach program at the Capitol Hilton here…
Continue reading the article…
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05.06.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 5:09 pm by admin
Annual Asian Heritage Awards a True Exercise in Diversity
May 06, 2008
SAN DIEGO—(U.S. ASIAN WIRE)— Fourteen different Asian ethnicities are represented in the Fifth Annual Asian Heritage Awards to take place Saturday, May 10, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego.
Categories include business enterprise, entrepreneurship, health/medicine, science/technology/research, cultural preservation, performing arts, art/philosophy/literature, legal affairs/government, education, media/film, community service and humanitarian outreach. In addition, a youth leadership award and a $1,000 scholarship will go to a deserving high school student of Asian descent who has demonstrated leadership skills, community service and academic achievement.
The Asian Pacific Islander community of Los Angeles and San Diego provided the nominations in each category.
Anyone may vote by completing the email ballot on the www.asiamediainc.com website or by clipping the ballot from the April 18 edition of ASIA, The Journal of Culture & Commerce, in Los Angeles or San Diego and mailing it to Asian Heritage Awards, 5857B Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego Ca. 92120. Deadline for voting is midnight April 30, 2008.
The following ethnicities are represented by the individuals or organizations nominated this year: Chinese, Hawaiian, Cambodian, Filipino, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indonesian, Thai, Pacific Islander, Indian and Pakistani. This is the largest slate of nominees since the awards began in May 2004 in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.
The event this year is a formal gala featuring the music of Grammy performing cellist Tina Guo, award-winning song stylist Lindsey Yung and her band, San Diego Taiko and Off the Deep End, performing with Tina Guo.
The highlight of the evening will be the award of special recognition honors to California Sen. Leland Yee for his work on behalf of the state’s children and working families.
The evening begins with networking and cocktails at 6:30 p.m., followed by a formal gourmet dinner at 7:30 p.m. hosted by Channel 8 anchor and reporter Marcella Lee and “Asia Talk Radio” hosts Patrick Flores and Dr. Tammy Lin.
The Manchester Grand Hyatt is at 1 Market Place, San Diego Ca. 92101
The ticket price of $79 includes the opportunity to win a round-trip ticket to Thailand.
Tickets may be purchased through the website or through the mail at ASIA, 5857B Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego, Ca. 92120. Sponsorships are available by contacting Cyrus Rapinan at 619-521-8008 or by emailing editorial@asiamediainc.com
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04.29.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 11:30 am by william_lee_intern
A Hiphop concert featuring Kiwi and the Blue Scholars will be held on Friday May 2, 2008, at 7 pm at The Sacramento State University Ballroom. This is a project of UC Davis’s Students Organizing for Change and the Muslim Student Association in cooperation with Sacramento State University.
Geologic aka Prometheus Brown of Seattle’s Blue Scholars and San Francisco’s Kiwi, formerly of Native Guns, both Filipino-Americans will be the emcees. They will be working to promote people power awareness that addresses the human rights crisis and government corruption in the Philippines.
Bayan-USA, an alliance of progressive Filipino American organizations advocating for social justice and democracy in the Philippines, will be the main concert beneficiary. The local students will also be donating parts of the concert’s profit to DQ student organization. DQ University, the only Native American college in the state was closed due to previous school administration’s corruption. Hence, the school also lost it’s accreditation leaving the students suffering injustice.
See more details…
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04.24.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 11:33 pm by admin
This is update #2 to this recent race-hate beating in New York City’s Chinatown
100 Centre Street
Room 405, Part A
NY, NY 10013
May 7 - all day
This is a pre-trial hearing.
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Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment at 9:27 pm by jj_de_la_cruz
Statement by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
Washington, D.C. April 24 - At around noon today, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1315 by a vote of 96-1. The omnibus bill includes a provision which restores U.S. veterans status and pension benefits to Filipino World War II veterans.
Today’s historic vote came about after the senate struck down an amendment introduced by Richard Burr, ranking minority leader of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. By a vote of 56 to 41, senators rejected Burr’s proposal that would have denied pension benefits to Filipino veterans in the Philippines. Burr needed 49 votes for his amendment to pass. Six Republicans joined the Democrats in rejecting what was widely viewed as a highly discriminatory act against Filipino veterans.
The bill now moves to the House for debate and a floor vote. If it passes intact, it will then go to President Bush for his signature.
“This is a great day for our veterans,” says NaFFAA National Chair Alma Kern. “It has restored our faith in the American justice system. Our veterans have waited more than 60 years, and now they are closer than ever to regaining their honor and dignity.”
Kern calls on the Filipino American community to call members of the House of Representatives and urge them to support the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. “We have to see this campaign through to the finish,” she adds. “It’s up to us to make this happen.”
In December 2006, NaFFAA and the Philippine Embassy co-hosted a meeting of advocates for the Filipino Veterans equity that resulted in the formation of NAFVE, the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity. In the last two years, activists from NAFVE, which includes NaFFAA, and the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV) lobbied long and hard to get Congress to act on this bill. “I’m very hearted by our community’s response, flooding the various offices in Congress with e-mails, phone calls and visits. We couldn’t have done this without your support,” Kern says.
She also thanked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Daniel Akaka, Daniel Inouye, Ted Stevens for their consistent championing of Filipino veterans equity.
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Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment at 11:51 am by jj_de_la_cruz
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate began debating on whether to give pension benefits to Filipino veterans of World War II. If you are a person of common sense, you’d be wondering, what the heck is there to debate about? These men fought valiantly alongside U.S. forces, and haven’t received a dime of what was promised them!
Well according to the New York Times:
Republicans argued that the pension benefit was too big given the average annual income in the Philippines is $2,864. They argued that would give Filipino World War Two veterans a better benefit than the average U.S. veteran given the lower cost of living in the Philippines.
Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, planned to offer an amendment that would limit pension benefits to Filipino veterans living in the United States and use the $221 million savings to enhance benefits for U.S. veterans.
“I believe it is time for us to stand up for our guys versus that select group (for whom) there was never a promise made,” Burr said during Senate debate.
Senator Burr, imagine how much more we’d be paying the veterans had this bill included the BACK PAY they deserve! And that’s not even to mention the thousands of Filipino veterans who will never receive any compensation because they died before justice was ever served!
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04.23.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 7:53 pm by admin
ASPIRE (www.girlsaspire.org) is excited to announce its 2008 Asian American Women in Leadership Conference, on Saturday April 26 at Harvard University in Boston, MA. We have an exciting roster of Asian American women from across the nation taking part in our annual event, including our keynote speakers SuChin Pak of MTV News, and Kyung H. Moon, Vice Chairman of Heidrick and Struggles. For more information about the conference, including a speaker agenda, please visit us at www.girlsaspire.org/conference.
We would also like to invite you to attend our 2008 Fundraiser, on Friday April 25 at Mohr and McPherson in Boston, MA, featuring singer/sognwriter Cynthia Lin (www.cynthialin.com). Please note that this event is 21+. For more information about the fundraiser, please visit us at www.girlsaspire.org/conference/fundraiser.html.
For ticket prices (including combination tickets), student discounts, or to register, please visit us at www.girlsaspire.org/conference/register.html.
Please feel free to forward this on to anyone you think may be interested. We hope you’ll join us for our annual event!
Best,
Jennifer Chow
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Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 7:35 pm by admin
Check out this op-ed written by Lee Fang regarding the Asian American studies program at the University of Maryland. It is in reference to this press release
- As Asian-American students at this university, we are deeply concerned about the proposed version of the Strategic Plan. The current draft does not clearly outline the current state of diversity, nor does it recommend any specific plans on how to improve or expand minority recruitment and retention to create a more representative student body. Though the Strategic Plan vaguely mentions diversity as a “value” and “strength” of the university, we believe diversity must be further emphasized as an integral component to build a truly inclusive curriculum and educational environment.
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