05.16.08
Posted in Community Offenders at 3:57 pm by william_lee_intern
Chinese-American students are experiencing communication gaps when they go to school, especially those school that are for Americans or others, because they are having a hard time learning the language. Chinese-American students are academically intelligent are incompetent when it comes to their communication efficiency and it really affects his/her overall improvement. This situation is not really new to Chinese-Americans.
It’s the parents’ role to teach or guide an immigrant child in growing up in order for them not to absorb only one culture, that’s either Chinese or American.
Read more…
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01.25.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment, Community Offenders, Culture, Media and Entertainment, Racism, Education, Sexuality, Editorial at 11:20 am by mark_chang
FIRST, A COUPLE EXAMPLES
In the 2006 remake of “The Pink Panther”, Kevin Kline plays a detective who, upon learning that a suspect in a high profile murder case may have been Chinese, states something to the effect of: “go to China and round up and question every Chinaman there.”
Understand:
- It’s a lighthearted comedy
- It’s not meant to be taken seriously
- It was designed to make the detective (Kline) look moronic
- It was an isolated incident (within that particular movie)
Do the points above make you feel any better about it?
In Rush Hour 3, a conversation between Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan goes something like:
Tucker: “I’m half Chinese.”
Chan: “YOU’RE half Chinese?”
<Tucker then looks down at his crotch>
Tucker: “From the waist up”
Why a martial artist would let some clown disrespect him throughout 3 consecutive films is another topic altogether.
Understand:
- It’s a lighthearted comedy
- It’s not meant to be taken seriously
- The topic wasn’t a focal point of the film
- Interracial jokes are an integral part of the Rush hour series
Again, do the points above make you feel any better about it?
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
When a blatant racist attack is launched (E.G. Sarah Silverman/Conan O’Brian, O’Shea Jackson (aka “Ice Cube”), Eddie Murphy, The Bloodhound Gang, et al) there is an obvious argument against it and a reason (for those who have a sack) to stand up to it.
However, when the degradation is subtle and in passing (as in the aforementioned examples), it is as effective (if not more so), yet more difficult to defend against as there is less proverbial meat to grab a hold of.
ARE APA FILMS OVERLY PASSIVE?
With all this Asian stereotyping, racism, etc. in the media, an APA rapper or film really has “carte blanche” to produce “no holds barred” recordings/films.
Where David Chang (creator of Ghettopoly) made his mistake was using a different medium. In other words, he couldn’t use the “defense” that “other board games degrade Asians”.
But since nothing’s been off limits against APAs (our culture, our physical features, our language, our names, our countries of origin, etc.) in film or music, shouldn’t we be justified in “returning the favor”?
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12.22.07
Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment, Community Offenders, Racism, China at 3:11 am by george_lou
So, what do you get when too many Asians put a non-Asian on a pedestal? Well the Japanese tend to do an overabundance of asskissing, but I’ll save that for another article. So let me answer the question. The truth is, when Asians put a non-Asian on a pedestal - or simply give them respect - these non-Asians will respond with the extreme opposite, disrespect.
The best examples come from Asian female/non-Asian male couples. All too often you’ll hear stories of weak-minded Asian women allowing their non-Asian boyfriends to talk smack about Asians. How many non-Asian guys with Asian girlfriends really respect our culture? My best guess is: not enough. Okay, I just had to get that off my chest. Now let’s talk about the news article here - “Spielberg urges China again to help end Darfur ‘genocide’.”
In the article, film director Steven Spielberg, who is currently serving as an artistic advisor for the Beijing olympics, decides to show a bit of disrespect. Apparently, for the second time Stevie appealed to Chinese president Hu Jintao to do something about the situation in Darfur.
I have a few words for Stevie: dont bite the hand that feeds you! They hired you so keep your mouth shut!
During these times of nonstop anti-China news coupled with purebread ethnocentrism, it’s no surprise Stevie, or most people, would jump on the anti-China bandwagon. Can you believe this man, who has been hired by China, shows his appreciation by practially saying, “Thanks for the job, but I will now put you down.”
Unfortunately, this is a subject difficult for many to grasp. So allow me to teach it: if someone hires you, you dont put them down. Why? Because it’s disrespectful. And if your boyfriend/girlfriend talks smack about our culture, ask for respect. Believe me, too many people dont know any better.
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12.17.07
Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment, Community Offenders, Racism, Education, China at 7:44 am by mark_chang
December 17 marks the anniversary of The Magnuson Act being signed into law (in 1943).
Proposed by U.S. Representative Warren G. Magnuson (Washington), it made moot the Chinese Exclusion Act allowing immigration to the United States from China for the first time since 1882
It allowed for 105 Chinese immigrants to enter the United States each year. These immigrants were to be hand picked by the U.S. government.
Coincidentally (or not?) this came at a time when the U.S. sought China as an ally in WWII.
Regardless, a number of us are thankful for the passage of The Magnuson Act.
The Chinese Exclusion Act Of 1882 is the first and only act ever to target a specific nationality unfavorably.
Exclusions were extended to other (non Chinese) Asians via The Immigration Act of 1924.
Although in either a “omitted” or “repealed” status, currently “Exclusion of Chinese” headlines Chapter 7 of Title 8 of the United States Code (http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title8/chapter7_.html).
The Canadian version of the story is The Chinese Immigration Act (or lack thereof) Of 1923 which was repealed in 1947.
Currently, there are small movements to bring back the Chinese Exclusion Act while larger U.S. movements target the boycott of Chinese made goods.
The following incidents provide some insight into the “zeitgeist” of the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act:
The Chinese Massacre Of 1871
An angry mob of Anglos and Latins (over 500 strong) ransacked LA’s Chinatown. Robbing, raping, pillaging and murdering between 18-23 (of 178 total residents) Chinese people. The corpses were hung on display in various parts of the district.
As is the norm when it comes to anti-Asian violence, no one ever spent a day in jail for the crimes (you know “technicalities”, etc. …)
The Rock Springs Massacre Of 1885 (Wyoming)
Several white miners armed with rifles went into mining rooms occupied by Chinese miners and either robbed them first then shot them or shot them first then robbed them (does it really make a difference?) resulting in 28 deaths.
None of the assailants were convicted (that’s the surprise of the century) and received a post “trial” ovation.
The cause was attributed to lower wages paid to Chinese workers (much like today where Asians, specifically Chinese receive the lowest pay for the the same work) driving down the wages of the white workers.
Chinese Massacre Cove (Oregon, 1887)
A gang white men robbed, killed and subsequently mutilated 31 Chinese men.
No one was ever convicted (another chalk mark in the “believe it or not” column).
Washington State riots:
The Tacoma riot (1885)
The Issaquah riot (1885)
The Seattle riot (1886)
Then of course there’s the infamous Anti-Chinese riot of 1880 in Denver where
2000 rioters beat and robbed Chinese residents and hung an elderly man from a lamppost.
The Australian version of anti Chinese rioting would be the Lambing Flat Riots.
With anti Asian sentiment on the rise due to increased immigration for high tech grunt work and unfounded paranoia of rampant disease and an economic takeover, the only question is whether we have learned from our past and are now in a better position to defend ourselves more effectively?
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12.12.07
Posted in Activism and Empowerment, Community Offenders, Media and Entertainment, World News at 7:23 am by george_lou
Just weeks ago, China launched into outerspace the Chang’e 1 orbiter. Its mission is to study the moon’s chemical, mineral and dust composition, as well as take pictures.
It’s a big step forward in the exploration of space.
But the joy would be short-lived. I knew some journalist would find something negative to write about. Or worse, make up a story.
Let’s take a look at this news article, “China says lunar image authentic,” written by an unnamed AP writer. Why the absence of a name?
The article goes into how Chinese-language Internet sites have questioned the authenticity of the Chang’e 1’s first picture of the moon. They claim that it’s identical to that of a U.S. lunar orbiter taken two years ago. In other words, that China copied the picture.
Apparently the writer felt compelled enough to concoct this story based on ramblings he/she heard about on Internet sites. Of course the dumbass adds that these sites are “Chinese-language” sites. In other words, that 1) even Chinese people are questioning their government’s credibility, which would 2) make this story true 3) simply because it came from their own people.
This is a classic example of how any writer can devise a negative story using information that is nothing more than hearsay. Why does he/she leave out the names of the sites? Site URLs are always written using the Latin alphabet. There is no excuse for an English language writer to leave them out. Unless, of course, it’s all bullshit.
Shame on whoever wrote the article. Anita are you responsible for this again?
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12.11.07
Posted in Sports, Chinatown, Interviews, Activism and Empowerment, Community Offenders, Media and Entertainment, Racism at 3:14 pm by mark_chang
In the lead up to a potential bout, in is the norm for boxers not only travel to watch their potential future opponents but also to engage in some trash talk as well when interviewed.
Recently Edison Miranda traveled to Canada to watch Jean Pascal in a bout, after which he provided the usual interview filled with bravado (published on www.fightnews.com/). Only this time I was shocked to hear his racially disrespectful closing statement, which was the aforementioned: “You are nothing more than a Chinatown boxer.” (translation: “You are a pussy”) which read less as an insult to Pascal and more as an insult to us.
The only thing Miranda did was exercise his right to freedom of speech. Maybe we should do the same (freedom of speech works both ways) and contact any stations televising his upcoming bouts (or any Warrior’s boxing events for that matter) indicating that we intend to boycott the sponsors.
The next Miranda bout is on January 11, 2008 and ESPN2 (contact page: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/espntv) intends to televise both Pascal and Miranda the same night. Maybe a nice note (or nastygram, your choice) to boycott the sponsors of the program would be worthwhile.
Miranda is promoted by Warriors Boxing, the Executive Director of which is Leon Margules (leon@warriorsboxing.com), may want to send him a nice note as well.
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12.07.07
Posted in Activism and Empowerment, Community Offenders, Media and Entertainment, Racism, Crime at 6:41 am by george_lou
If I had all the time in the world, I would find all the Hollywood movies with characters in yellowface. What is yellowface? It is the act of non-Asian characters wearing makeup to obtain East Asian facial characteristics. Needless to say, these characters engage in ultra offensive portrayals of how they think Asians behave in real life. Do you know where these stereotypes - funny accent, slanted eyes, buck teeth, etc. - of us started?
Listing these types of movies would bring light to Hollywood’s racist side - the side I wish more Asians were aware of. Unfortunately I dont have much time these days.
Enter Philip W. Chung of Asianweek. Thank god this man has put together the most up-to-date list of yellowface movies. In the article, “The 25 Most Infamous Yellow Face Film Performances,” Chung ranks the twenty-five most offensive Hollywood movies. Keep in mind it’s only the top twenty-five. There are so many more.
Think yellowface movies are just historical footnotes? Nope. Three of them were released this year!
Here’s several famous culprits that stand out in yellowface history:
Eddie Murphy
Ricardo Montalban
Tony Randall
Katharine Hepburn
John Wayne
Rob Schneider
Mickey Rooney
Nicolas Cage
Do any Asians feel comfortable seeing these roles? I would hate to pay for a movie only to see such racist crap.
So what are we to do? BOYCOTT anything and everything that’s offensive to any Asian.
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10.24.07
Posted in Uncategorized, Community Offenders at 2:43 pm by george_lou
Yes, Mark Wahlberg as in the actor Mark Wahlberg. Did you know that back in the day, Marky was a total bad boy? Lets take a look at the heinous hate crime he committed. This guy must be related to Ronald Ebens who killed Vincent Chin.
- Back in 1988 Wahlberg approached Thanh Lam, a Vietnamese man, calling him “Vietnam fucking shit.” He then proceeded to hit Lam over the head with a large wooden stick. Thanh Lam was knocked to the ground unconscious.
- Later that same day, Hoa Trinh, another Vietnamese male, was punched in the eye by Wahlberg. He later lost the eye.
- After Walhberg was arrested, he made numerous unsolicited racial statements about “gooks” and “slant-eyed gooks.”
He was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and was released after 45 days. Where is the justice in that? Did he use Johnnie Cochran? Hitting a man in the head with a large stick CAN KILL.
Ladies and gentlemen, of any and all races, why do you continue to support this hateful man? Do everyone a favor and boycott his movies. That is the very least you can do.
Think about it: these two victims could have been any beloved family member of mine. And they could have been any beloved family member of yours.
Feel free to express your opinions on other boards: Rottentomatoes.com and IMDB.com.
Never Forget.
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05.08.07
Posted in Community Offenders at 1:21 pm by telly_wong
Note to marketers courting Asian American dollars:
This (Daniel Dae Kim in a recent Gap ad), good.
This (Hot Pockets Oriental mascot “Master ReDai”), baaaaaad…
Long Beach, California-based marketing agency interTrend has released some key findings about Asian American consumer behavior from their third annual Consumer Research Study. The study surveyed 1,380 Asian Americans nationwide and came up with the following factoids:
–Nearly 90% of Asian Americans are online
–80% of Asian Americans consume ethnic media
–1/3 shop at department stores 1 to 3 times a week
–Toyota and Honda are the preferred auto brands
–Asian Americans have the highest product ownership rate for auto insurance
Overall, interTrend believes that their findings “demonstrate that Asian Americans are highly receptive to culturally relevant messaging and targeted marketing.” In other words, marketing campaigns like the current crop of Hot Pockets ads (which feature a stereotypical Chinese kung fu master who sounds like a talking fortune cookie) are probably not the best way to get 14 million Asian Americans interested in eating your line of nasty microwaveable sandwiches, Nestle.
According the interTrend, this year Asian Americans have an estimated buying power of $454 billion. Obviously, there’s a lot of cool cash to be made by companies who are savvy enough to take advantage of this growing market.
On the flip side, there’s also tons of cabbage to be lost if a company, say, sponsors radio shows that like to regularly hurl racist insults at our community.
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04.17.07
Posted in Community Offenders at 3:19 am by telly_wong
Ice Cube
Rapper/Actor
Ice Cube (left) keeps it real with Tommy the Clown
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“Every time I wanna go get a fuckin’ brew/I gotta go down to the store with the two Oriental one-penny countin’ motherfuckers.”
In March 2006, FX premiered Black. White., a reality series that examined the touchy subject of black-white race relations in America by spray painting a black family, white and a white family, black. Although the show’s gimmick was absolutely ridiculous, its intention –a plea for racial tolerance — was honorable. How incredibly hypocritical was it then that the program was executive produced by none other than Ice Cube (birth name: O’Shea Jackson) who, in 1991, released the album Death Certificate, which featured the unabashedly hateful and racist track “Black Korea”.
On the 46-second rant/song, the one-time Color Me Badd music video director airs out his grievances about patronizing Korean-owned (or Asian-owned for that matter since he doesn’t make the distinction) businesses: “Every time I wanna go get a fuckin’ brew/I gotta go down to the store with the two Oriental one-penny countin’ motherfuckers” — and those are only the first two lines.
Ice in a moment of introspection before
doing his Chinese guy impression
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The sneering rapper’s sentiments grow even harsher and downright violent as he begins to spout threats like, “So don’t follow me up and down your market/Or your little chop suey ass’ll be a target”.
And if Mr. Cube’s lyrical venom isn’t enough, interspersed through the song is dialogue from the controversial Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing (that features stereotypical Korean storeowner characters), which includes such witty zingers as “Look you little Chinese motherfucker!” By the end of “Black Korea”, the star of such box-office blunders as xXx: State of the Union and Torque leaves us with a stern warning, “So pay respect to the black fist/or we’ll burn your store right down to a crisp!”
Ice cube acting all hard ‘n shit
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Great credentials from a guy who, these days, is trying to pass himself off as a family comedy actor, huh?
Following Death Certificate’s release, the Asian American backlash against “Black Korea” received limited media play and the album went on to sell over two million copies. Although Asian community leaders feared the song might incite violence against Asian small business owners, the general public gave this argument little attention and credence. The Ice eventually made a half-assed apology, but only after the Korean American Grocers Association stopped selling St. Ides, the brand of malt liquor he endorsed. Company execs pressured him into apologizing and the black community got one more brand of cheap booze back on the shelf. Here is a commercial featuring the Are We There Yet? star extolling the virtues of St. Ides). Gee, what a role model that Ice Cube is.
Ice places an order at Kim’s Deli
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Exactly six months after the release of Death Certificate, the fears of “Black Korea” critics were sadly realized when the Los Angeles riots broke out, resulting in nearly 2,000 Korean-owned businesses being looted, robbed and destroyed. When the dust settled, it was estimated that more than half of the estimated $1 billion in damages caused by the riots were incurred by Korean-owned businesses.
Now, you must be saying to yourself, after all these years and that whole Black. White. show, Ice Cube musta learned something about racism and the dangers of stereotyping others, right? Well, no, not really. In the September 2006 issue of FHM, Ice said he didn’t regret any of the controversial statements on Death Certificate and when responding to the offense Koreans took to “Black Korea”, he defiantly replied, “If it’s still a problem, it’s their problem.”
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