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.
This particular post focuses specifically on Latino immigrants, but I think the main points can also be applied to Asian immigrants as well.
Many opponents of immigration (legal or illegal) like to argue that immigrants (Latino, Asian, or otherwise) are less likely to think of themselves as American, are not interested in assimilating into American culture, and would rather go back to Read More →
As we all know, the debate over affirmative action is still quite intense and fraught with controversy and strong emotions on both sides. Unbeknown to most people however, is that very similar debate going on in Hawai’i about who qualifies to be Native Hawaiian and therefore gets to enjoy the various government programs that, at this point, only Native Hawaiians Read More →
Back in 1996, Chinese American Democrat Gary Locke became the first Asian American governor of Washington state and therefore, the first governor of a mainland state in American history. Now we have a second — as the Associated Press reports, Republican and Indian American Bobby Jindal has just been elected as Governor of Louisiana:
Jindal, a 36-year-old Republican, will be the Read More →
As the presidential primary season heats up, so too does the scrutiny given to every facet of each candidate’s campaign. When it comes to the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, we’ve already heard about the episode with Norman Hsu, the fugitive felon who gave to Clinton and other Democratic politicians. Now, as the Los Angeles Times reports, there may be Read More →
As a member of Generation X, I would guess that most young Asian Americans — like the students in my classes at UMass — probably think that I’m pretty much an old geezer these days. To be honest, they’re probably right.
In addition to my ever-increasing age, I actually don’t watch much TV and therefore, am not very attuned Read More →
When many Americans think of China, I am confident in guessing that they tend to see the Chinese as one united collective, mobilized and indoctrinated to all think alike, and to behave as if they were all the same. Especially in the wake of all the recent international attention and criticism directed at China for various problems, it’s probably not Read More →
The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA has just released a new study entitled “Beyond Myths: The Growth and Diversity of Asian American College Freshmen, 1971-2005” that challenges the “model minority” notion that virtually all Asian American college students enjoy universal success. Instead, it points out that there are still many cultural and socioeconomic factors that still stand in the Read More →
I wanted to point out that I have updated one of the most-read and most controversial articles on this site — Interracial Dating and Marriage. Using the most up-to-date Census Bureau data available, the new tabulations not only provide the latest statistics available, but also include numbers from three different statistical models that include different groups of Asian Americans. Read More →
Data on voting patterns consistently show that among Asian Americans, Vietnamese Americans are the most likely to vote Republican. Most scholars and observers agree that this tendency is due to their strong anti-communist ideology that is closely aligned with that of Republicans. But as the Orange County Register reports, in recent years, there has been a very interesting mix Read More →
I was alerted to a recent episode of Desperate Housewives that contains an offensive comment about medical schools in the Philippines. A video clip of the segment is below and the scene involved Teri Hatcher’s character (Susan) at a hospital, being told by her gynecologist that she might be hitting menopause. Susan replied, “Can I just check those diplomas Read More →
Through the years, some scholars in Asian American Studies have occasionally described the cultural and socioeconomic similarities between Indian Americans and Jewish Americans. But as the New York Times reports, these connections are becoming much more common and socially significant in a lot of ways:
Indian-Americans, who now number 2.4 million in this country, are turning to American Jews as role Read More →
You might have heard that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or ‘INS’) will be implementing a new and expanded test that each immigrant is required to pass in order to earn U.S. citizenship. As the New York Times reports, the new test is the first major overhaul in more than Read More →
