The views and opinions expressed on this site and blog posts (excluding comments on blog posts left by others) are entirely my own and do not represent those of any employer or organization with whom I am currently or previously have been associated.
Academic Version: Applying my personal experiences and academic research as a professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies to provide a more complete understanding of political, economic, and cultural issues and current events related to American race relations, and Asia/Asian America in particular.
Plain English: Trying to put my Ph.D. to good use.
During a radio call-in program, Rep. Coble (Republican from NC) said that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was right to send Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II because “some [Japanese Americans] probably were intent on doing harm to us,” according to the Associated Press. “Just as some of these Arab Americans are probably intent on doing harm to us.” He also noted that the internment was for the Japanese Americans’ own safety.
Apparently Rep. Coble completely forgot about the bipartisan Congresional commission that issued the “Personal Justice Denied” report in 1988 which declared that the internment was never militarily necessary and that instead, occurred as a result of “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.” Also, Coble apparently doesn’t understand that if the internment was indeed for their own protection, Japanese Americans were never given a choice on whether or not they wanted the “protection.” Instead, their rights as U.S. citizens were unilaterally revoked and they were incarcerated only because they were of Japanese ancestry.
Also, if Japanese Americans were being “protected,” why was it that military guards at each prison camp had their machine guns and bayonets pointed inside, toward the Japanese American prisoners with orders to shoot any Japanese suspected of trying to “escape,” instead of outside at potential attackers? The scary thing is that Rep. Coble is also the Chair of the house Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. He has the power to direct public policy and impose his views on all of us.
Asian-Nation condemns Rep. Coble’s remarks as ignorant, insensitive, incongruent with historical facts, and far out of step with the U.S. Congress and the American people. He is unfit to serve as the chairman of a Congressional subcommittee that is charged with weighing the most consequential civil liberties issues of our time.
Asian-Nation therefore supports efforts organized and supported by the Japanese American Citizen’s League, the 80-20 Initiative, the Arab American Institute, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, several of his colleagues in Congress, and others who call for his immediate removal from the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Show your support by signing Petition#1 and Petition #2 to demand Coble’s resignation as Chair.
Update: On Feb. 10, Representative Coble issued this statement:
“In recent days, there has been considerable media attention and interest surrounding comments I made on a morning radio call-in show regarding the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the implications of this policy in today’s society. I regret that many Japanese and Arab Americans found my choice of words offensive because that was certainly not my intent.
The point that I was trying to make during the radio show was that given the circumstances in which President Roosevelt found himself at the time and the information that was available to him, he made a decision which he felt was in the best interest of national security. Today we can certainly look back and see the damage that was caused because of this decision. We all know that was in fact the wrong decision and an action that should never be repeated.
It is my sincere hope that this situation will be a reminder to us all that while we have made great strides to improve diversity, acceptance, and understanding since 1941, there is much work left to be done.”
Is this a genuine and sincere “apology?” You be the judge. At the least, thanks to the onslaught of criticism from Asian Americans, Arab Americans, and others who were outraged by his comments, Rep. Coble seems to have realized how stupid his comments were. Should he continue to be Chair of the House subcommittee overseeing homeland security?
I still say no and still support calls to have him resign. My reason: politicians need to understand that the rights of loyal, hardworking, and patriotic Americans, who happen to be non-White, must be respected. If not, we as a united community will demonstrate just what kind of power we have to demand justice.
In the February 2003 issue of Maxim, there is an article, alleged to be “humorous,” that has enraged many Asian Americans. As described by the Southern Poverty Law Center,
“The article, attempting to show how fighting can bring fitness, calls for ‘a healthy regimen of violent assaults’ and urges readers to ‘teach those pacifists a lesson about aggression.’ The three-page article includes 21 different scenes of the man hitting, kicking, choking and throwing Gandhi” (see picture on the right).
I’m so glad to see that pure stupidity and ignorance are alive and well. Not only does Maxim have the gall to depict a (White) man beating up on one of the most revered leaders in history but in doing so, it explicitly encourages its readers to commit hate crimes against not only Asian Indians, but also anyone who may remotely look like a Muslim terrorist, and by implication, all Asian Americans as well.
Of course, Maxim will claim that it was all intended as a joke and that they never meant to offend anyone, blah blah blah, the usual half-ass retort. I’m sure they’ll keep repeating this line after one of their half-witted Neanderthal readers, fueled by a six-pack or two, goes out and beats up on an Asian too.
This kind of stupidity in the name of “humor” is getting really old. It’s so sad to see that even in this so-called enlightened and multicultural society how many people just simply don’t get it.
On January 22, 2003 members of two Asian American fraternities from San Jose State University and U.C. Santa Cruz — Pi Alpha Phi and Lambda Phi Epsilon — settled an earlier dispute at a pool hall with a bloody brawl in a suburban park near SJSU. In the end, four students were stabbed and one died on his 23rd birthday. Both frats have subsequently been banned from SJSU as a result.
Nice going, guys. Real nice. Model minority? More like model gang members. Here we have two groups of Asian Americans who were supposed to be in an organization that promotes cultural diversity, inter-Asian unity, and community service. Instead, these boneheads are killing each other and make not only themselves look like complete morons but also make many of us embarassed to be identified with them as Asian Americans. As the details unfold, it appears that both sides initially agreed not to bring any weapons but also decided to recruit some “friends” who weren’t in their frats to back them up. Apparently, one those “friends” on the Pi Alpha side was the one who stabbed Alam Kim to death.
Although it appears that none of the frat members on either side actually did the killing, this is an incredible act of stupidity nonetheless. Is there someone or something to blame here? The Greek system for making these Asian Americans feel like they have to defend the “honor” of their frat and of their “brothers” at all costs, including gang violence and murder, even if their antagonists are other Asian Americans? A misplaced feeling that rather than the prejudice and discrimination out there in the larger society are their biggest threats, they scapegoat their most immediate rivals as the ones to blame for their problems? An unconscious inferiority complex in which young Asian American men think they need to be violent to show that they’re just as masculine as Whites, Blacks, or Latinos? Youthful bravado, reinforced by a mob mentality? Simple insanity on the part of each person who took part in this fiasco? My guess is, all of the above.
As many of us within the Asian American community and communities of color in general have suspected all along, President Bush has publicly stated his opposition to the University of Michigan’s affirmative action program, which is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In this program, UMichigan assigns certain points to different criteria that if they add up to 100 points, assures the applicant of admission. For example, getting a perfect SAT score is worth 20 points, having a 4.0 GPA is worth 60 points, and in this case, being an underrepresented minority group member (Black or Hispanic/Latino) earns the applicant 20 points.
As I’ve stated already, I wholeheartedly support affirmative action. I feel that it provides access to underrepresented group members who otherwise may not have access to certain opportunities, because of the institutional and historical mechanism of racism and discrimination. I’m not going to get into a long discussion about the merits of affirmative action here, but I will say that I think this is just the beginning of the Bush administration’s plan to demolish affirmative action and most civil rights legislation that are currently on the books.
As Bush and his ‘enforcer’ John Ashcroft have already demonstrated with their attack on individual liberties, privacy, and due process under the law, this administration priorities are to serve conservative and corporate interests, plain and simple. The political and social interests of most racial/ethnic minorities will always lose in this battle, as long as Bush remains in power.
AsianWeek Magazine recently released a commentary on Shaquille O’Neal’s comments about Yao Ming (the Houston Rockets’ rookie center from China), which many have called hostile and racist.
In these comments, Shaq frequently said things like, “Tell Yao Ming, ‘ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh”‘ and also included several mock “kung fu” moves. CNNSI has Shaq’s response to these criticisms in which, not surprisingly, Shaq claims that he was just trying to be funny, didn’t intend to offend anyone, and that Asian Americans are overreacting because we don’t have a sense of humor. CBS News has an article on how many Asian Americans feel about his ‘apology.’
He may not have been trying to offend us but it doesn’t excuse the fact that many Asian Americans found his comments to be very insensitive and hurtful. I think that it’s very sad that such a public figure who is adored by so many Asian American fans can be so ignorant about how his taunts and slurs were going to be interpreted. Asian Americans are trying to work more closely with Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos and to repair the misunderstandings and hostilities that afflicted our communities in past years. At a time when we as communities of color can achieve common goals, especially as the Bush administration is so set to work against us, something like this unfortunately shows just how far we still have to go to respect and understand each other.
North Korea is threatening half the world with its nuclear weapons. First, North Korea admits that it has been working on building nuclear weapons, then it kicks out all U.N. inspectors, and then it says that it will no longer abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty that it signed earlier, in which it pledged not to sell any or help other countries develop nuclear weapons. All the while, its leaders spit out hostile rhetoric toward the U.S. and threaten, in no uncertain terms, to unleash its entire cache of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons against the U.S., South Korea, and even Japan, if provoked.
This is a complicated issue for sure. Cynics point out that North Korea is merely using the U.S.’s preoccupation with Iraq to blackmail the U.S. into giving it more energy and food aid. Similarly, many in the Bush administration enjoy pointing out Kim’s antagonistic rhetoric as further examples of just how deranged he is. Others point out that the U.S.’s policies against North Korea since the end of the Korean War has left Kim Jong Il little choice but to take a hostile and aggressive stance toward the west in order to ensure North Korea’s survival.
As a recent episode of ABC News Nightline so acutely pointed out, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan all know that North Korea is capable of such madness. If provoked, North Korea will certainly retaliate like there’s no tomorrow by unleashing its entire chemical, biological, and nuclear arsenal and turning cities like Seoul, Tokyo, and perhaps even Honolulu into seas of fire, poison, and death. Deaths could easily top one million and may even approach five million. It will be nothing less than a human catastrophe of epic proportions.
If this scenario becomes reality, North Korea knows that eventually it will lose and that the U.S. and its allies will bomb them into oblivion, then invade, and ultimately take over the country. That’s exactly why North Korea is willing to take out as many people as possible before that happens. I don’t know what’s the best way to defuse this situation and to get both sides to back down, but I think it’s clear that the international community needs to play a strong role in mediating this potential crisis and that we should not leave it up to the oppressive and totalitarian regimes on either side — Kim Jong Il or George W. Bush.
Missed Opportunity: How “Blue Crush” Continues the Tradition of Cultural Theft, by Jeff Park.
What comes as no surprise is that “Blue Crush” is a surfing movie that is based in Hawaii, has a female blonde, blue-eyed lead, her love interest is a White quarterback, and the villains are island boys, here a hodge podge of “other” ethnicities – just not White. And of course the White star is a leading exponent of surfing as far as this movie goes. It’s no surprise, and nothing new. The hit film “The Fast and the Furious” also stole an Asian cultural phenomenon – import racing – dropped in White leads into the story, and made up an Asian gang as the villains.
What should not go unmentioned here is that “Blue Crush” was produced by Brian Grazer, who also did the Oscar winning “A Beautiful Mind.” In that movie, he also showed a knack for cultural ignorance by casting Jennifer Connelly as John Nash’s wife, a native Salvadoran. Connelly’s star would later shine as she picked up the “Best Supporting Actress” Oscar, a major slap in the face to the many hundreds if not thousands of struggling and able Latina actresses. Talk about insult as well as a missed opportunity.
So an insult and missed opportunity it is again with “Blue Crush.” In a state that is overwhelmingly populated with Asian/Pacific Islanders, we see instead an Asian woman who is the nagging boss of the lead and her two friends (one of whom is a mixed Asian/White, the other Latina), Asians as bell hops, Pacific islanders dancing the hula at the obligatory and trite luau scene, and, of course, as the aforementioned villains.
Think about it: If White producers made a movie about hip-hop and denuded it of Blacks, then installed Whites as leading lights of hip hop, and relegated Blacks to inconsequential side roles, what do you think would happen? Chances are that the public would get an earful from any number of spokespeople on behalf of Blacks.
With the way the political climate is, White producers wouldn’t dare displace and “dis” Blacks. However, White producers such as Brian Grazer evidently feel okay with culturally looting Asian Pacifics and installing White leads as the heroes/heroines while demonizing Asians. Worse, they may even play the part of the “good White liberal” by maintaining their “commitment to diversity” by dint of just having made the movie at all. If, like me, you scratch your head at that kind of rhetoric, just file it under “that sounds like it makes sense, but it doesn’t.” It’s next to the “Miss Saigon” file.
But there are plenty of other fingers left for pointing. For instance, Asians feed right into this mess with their complacency and lack of a strong voice that says “You wouldn’t do this to Blacks, so why are you discriminating here against Asian Pacifics???” Until Asian Pacifics learn to stand up and demand to be heard, they can’t expect things to change, because the mirror of reflection and shame isn’t being held up. They aren’t holding it up. So, the one-two punch: “The Fast and the Furious,” and now “Blue Crush.” As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
About Jeff Park
Jeff Park is the co-president of the Media Image Coalition (MIC), a program of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations that advocates fair representations and hiring practices for all under-represented groups in mass media, particularly film and television.
The 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics inspired and united the country behind such American athletes as Apolo Ohno and Michelle Kwan, as the U.S. team earned almost three times as many medals as they’ve ever won in a single Winter Olympics. But as usual, the games couldn’t escape controversy. From my perspective, the two incidents that affected Asian Americans the most didn’t even occur in competition. Rather it was the reaction of others to these incidents that raised my ire.
Let’s first talk about the Ohno incident in which he tangled with his archrival Kim Dong-Sung of South Korea in the 1,000 meter final race. After crossing the finish line second to Kim, Ohno was awarded the gold medal after the judges disqualified Kim for illegally blocking Ohno. Predictably, South Koreans were outraged and that was not surprising. The problem was how Jay Leno of the Tonight Show tried to joke about it: “Kim was so angry that he went home, kicked his dog, and then ate him.”
This unfortunate attempt at humor immediately angered many Asian Americans and rightly so. As Karen Narasaki of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition explained it, context is everything. It’s true that some South Koreans eat dog meat just like it’s true that some African Americans eat watermelons and fried chicken.
But Leno wouldn’t dare make a joke about the latter but thinks it’s fine to offend Asian Americans. To Leno’s credit, although he didn’t officially “apologize,” he later expressed regret about his comments. But the question remains, why do public personalities continue think it’s no big deal to insult and offend Asian Americans when, if they said the same thing about Blacks, they would probably lose their jobs in an instant?
The second incident involved Michelle Kwan’s quest for her first hold medal, finally settling for third after Sarah Hughes won the gold. Again, the controversy wasn’t with any of the actual participants but with those reporting it. For the second Olympics in a row, a media outlet printed a headline that read, “American beats out Kwan for the gold,” the implication being that Michelle Kwan was not ‘American.’ In the Nagano games of 1998, MSNBC was the culprit and this time, it was the Seattle Times.
Again to their credit, the Times, like MSNBC before them, apologized for their hasty and unfortunate choice of words. But again, it’s yet another example of how Asian Americans are continually stereotyped as being perpetual foreigners. What more do we have to do to show people that we’re American too?!?
Words cannot adequately describe the suffering and devastation that occurred on September 11, 2001. Hijacked jetliners crash into the two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. I personally feel very sad about the senseless loss of life and my sincere thoughts, condolences, and metta go out to all those who are affected by this tremendous tragedy.
As the investigation progresses, it looks more likely that extremist terrorist groups, almost certainly linked to Osama bin Laden, are to blame. That may be true and if that is the case, as much as anyone else, I support efforts to bring those who are responsible to justice in a democratic and civilized manner. Nonetheless, in addition to grieving for the victims of this attack, I cannot help but also feel a sinking feeling in my stomach about how some people are already reacting to these events.
Specifically, there is already hostility, vandalism, and acts of physical violence being directed to Arab Americans and anyone else who is perceived as being Arab or Muslim. Unfortunately, Asian Americans are also being targeted in these ignorant and misguided acts of “backlash.” As tragic proof, two Asian American gas station owners have already been shot to death by someone who apparently mistook them for being Arab. There have also been numerous incidents of other Asian Americans being physically attacked as well.
In the strongest terms possible, I urge us as a nation not to repeat the mistakes of the Japanese American “internment” after Pearl Harbor and condemn and scapegoat an entire racial/ethnic/religious group for the alleged acts of a few. In the heat of this moment and our angry feelings for retaliation, let us not resort to fear, ignorance, and prejudice and discriminate against those who are innocent, had absolutely nothing to do with these events, and are grieving for the victims just as we are, merely because they are somehow “associated” with the suspected culprits.
All of us as Americans need to take a stand against this hatred. Prejudice and discrimination continue when ordinary citizens like us silently accept the consequences of racism perpetrated against others. Let us remember that the United States is supposed to be “One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Let us as a nation all rise to the occasion, in every sense of that term.
After an unsuccessful campaign to win the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004, Beijing was awarded the games for 2008. At issue was China’s human rights record. Almost everyone agrees (except for the Chinese themselves, of course) that China does not have the cleanest, most sparkling human rights record in the world.
Groups such as Amnesty International have repeatedly criticized China for restricting freedoms of expression and religion and for unfair trials and overly harsh sentences that overwhelmingly include execution. They argue that giving China the 2008 Olympics only rewards China for these human rights abuses.
On the other hand, many others feel that the only effective way to encourage China to improve on its human rights practices is through increased interaction and exposure to structures and elements of democracy, rather than isolating them. These supporters, including George W. Bush’s administration, feel that engaging China in a friendly and respectful dialogue is the key to improving relations and trying to influence China’s human rights record.
It was rather ironic that a few days after China was awarded the 2008 Olympics, they tried and convicted three Chinese American scholars on charges of spying for Taiwan. Many argue that these charges were entirely fabricated and were used as excuses to silence these scholars, who were also accused of criticizing China’s policies.
Two of the scholars were sentenced to be deported while the third was sentenced to ten years in prison. Fortunately, diplomatic efforts succeeded in the release of this third scholar so she could be deported back to the U.S. rather than being imprisoned in China.
The way I see it, I definitely agree that China needs to seriously improve its human rights record. But perhaps surprisingly, I also generally agree that the best way to influence them is not by isolating them, but by engaging them in a respectful and professional way. In this respect, China is not different from other “controversial” nations such as Viet Nam, Cuba, or North Korea.
For that matter, these nations are also like regular human beings. That is, people generally want to be shown respect and be treated in a professional manner. Even if they are accused of perpetrating injustices, hostile reactions will only make that person (or country) even more defensive and likely make the situation even worse.
Of course, there needs to be some accountability. The trick is knowing when to increase the pressure after other less hostile efforts don’t produce any results. I don’t pretend to know the answers. I just hope that awarding China the 2008 Olympics is a step in the right direction.
The movie Pearl Harbor gets a warm reception from the public but a cool one from critics. When the movie first came out and before I actually saw it, I initially reiterated the criticisms that many Asian American organizations had about it. These included that there were virtually no Japanese American or Asian American characters in the movie, despite the fact that at the time, one-third of Hawai’i’s population was Asian American, including many who helped to fight the attackers and who helped care for injured. Most important, I was wary that it might lead to even more hostility and hatred toward the Japanese American community and by default (again based on the stereotype that all Asians are the same), all Asian Americans.
Now, after finally seeing the movie and after the events of 9/11, I see the movie in a slightly different light. I still stand by those initial criticisms. However, I do not think that the portrayals of Japanese characters was as bad or harmful as I had feared. They could have been portrayed with a little more depth but overall, it could have been a lot worse.
But the more important interpretation of Pearl Harbor may be its portrayal of how Americans came together and fought together against a common enemy. Of course that kind of sentiment can go too far, such as arbitrarily imprisoning thousands of Japanese Americans. But when done right, national unity can be a very moving and powerful force.
I just hope that we have learned the lessons of those events 60 years ago so that while we work together to fight a common enemy, we prevent the same kinds of excesses and injustices against innocent Americans of all backgrounds today.
A national opinion survey among 1,216 respondents, commissioned by the Chinese American organization Committee of 100 in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, finds that:
46% of all respondents feel that Chinese Americans passing information on to the Chinese government is a problem.
33% feel that Chinese Americans are more loyal to China than to the U.S.
25% would disapprove of marriage to a Chinese American.
23% of Americans said they are uncomfortable with the idea of voting for an Asian American candidate for president, compared to 15% for an African American, 14% for a woman and 11% for a Jew.
Although the survey also finds that there are still positive perceptions of Chinese Americans, 68% of all respondents had at least somewhat negative views of Chinese Americans as a whole. Those holding the most negative views tended to be less educated, more poor than average, and living in the South. “It makes you wonder how not only Chinese Americans, but Asian Americans, can shake this legacy of somehow being less than 100% Americans,” said UCLA political scientist Don T. Nakanishi, director of the Asian American Studies Center.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is that this survey was conducted before the spy plane incident with China. Undoubtedly, these negative perceptions are even higher now. Like Prof. Nakanishi noted, it is sad that so many Americans still hold on to these two stereotypes of Asian Americans — that we’re all foreigner (implying that we are not loyal Americans) and that we’re all the same (so that hostility and antagonism directed at one or a few people gets generalized onto our entire community).
