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.
In the world of high-profile Asian Americans, Charles Wang used to be one of the richest and arguably most powerful of them all. He founded Computer Associates (CA) and built an empire that eventually included owning the New York Islanders professional hockey team. Unfortunately he was forced to leave the company he founded a few years ago and is Read More →
Diversity Inc. magazine has come out with its annual list of top 10 companies for Asian American workers, based on the percent Asian composition of boards of directors, its general work force, new hires, management, along with pay, rates of promotion and retention, and finally, work/life benefits and employee-resource groups. Their top 10 are:
Cummins
Ernst & Young
Novartis
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
MetLife
Coca Cola
Merrill Lynch
Bank of Read More →
I was rather surprised to learn that Seung-Hui Cho was not the first high-profile school shooter in recent American history. In fact, 15 years ago, another young Asian American student at Simon Rock College (in Massachusetts) named Wayne Lo shot and killed two people on campus and wounded four others. Newsweek magazine recently interviewed him to get his reaction Read More →
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Virginia v. Loving Supreme Court decision which struck down state restrictions against interracial marriage. Since that time of course, interracial marriage has been burgeoning, particularly among Asian Americans. As a reflection of this anniversary, various studies and articles are coming out that discuss various issues related to interracial families. As Read More →
The fallout from Seung-Hui Cho’s murderous shooting rampage at Virginia Tech is already being felt — an Asian American high school student in the Chicago area, Allan Lee, has been charged with “disorderly conduct” for submitting a creative writing assignment that his teacher found “disturbing.” The linked article above contains the actual text of his writings. Here are some excerpts:
For many Asian Americans, parent-family relationships can be a little tricky as each side tries their best to negotiate generational differences and the complex process of assimilating into American society and carving out a new life and identity for themselves in a new social environment. As the Orange County Register points out, one evolving trend is how many adult Asian Read More →
You may remember Yul Kwon was the winner of the Survivor series that initially divided teams by racial group. His victory was seen as a significant accomplishment and source of pride by many Asian Americans. Yul has since continued to demonstrate his acute understanding of his social environment, as shown in an interview he recently conducted with the Asia Read More →
A regular reader asked me to help him publicize an online survey he’s conducting for his dissertation research on Asian Americans. If you complete the survey, you are eligible to possibly win a $50 gift card or cash:
Dear Asian-Nation Visitors,
My name is Derek Iwamoto and I am a doctoral student at the Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln. I am writing to enlist Read More →
The Don Imus incident seems to having a ripple effect for the benefit of people of color in general, and as CBS News reports, for Asian Americans in one particular case, as two White radio show hosts have been suspended indefinitely after making anti-Asian and anti-Chinese remarks on the air:
The hosts of the daily morning show, WFNY-FM’s “The Dog House With Read More →
At the risk of overanalyzing the events surrounding the shootings at Virginia Tech last week, I would like to offer one last set of observations. In my previous posts, I’ve acknowledged that certainly, there are many complicated emotions and reactions to these tragic events. This also applies to Koreans and Korean Americans, for whom this event stirs up additional Read More →
Following up on my last post about Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech gunman, the evidence that’s coming out seems to suggest that among other things, he felt ridiculed for his social class background (at least in comparison to the ‘rich’ kids that he railed against in his suicide note and video) and for being quiet — but apparently not specifically Read More →
By now, I’m sure everybody has heard of the tragedy that took place yesterday, Monday April 16, at Virginia Tech University. Words cannot adequately convey the profound shock and sadness that I feel about this unthinkable human catastrophe. As an educator, a parent — as a human being — I am struggling to come to grips with the enormity Read More →
