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.
A few weeks ago, the latest radio talk show controversy erupted over racist comments by a pair or DJs on the “Jersey Guys” radio show at NJ 101.5, based in New Jersey. The DJs ridiculed a Korean American policitian seeking local office in New Jersey and as usual, mocked Asian languages and accents. In response, the New Jersey Star-Ledger Read More →
The Boston Herald has an interesting article about the efforts of residents and business owners in Boston’s Chinatown to fight back against a wave of robberies, muggings, and purse snatchings in their neighborhood:
Chinatown residents are vowing to take back the streets with security cameras on crime-plagued corners, a nightly Crime Watch patrol and police details paid for by residents and businesses. Read More →
The May 9 issue of Newsweek magazine has a feature story entitled “Does the Future Belong to China?” We’ve heard these sorts of proclamations before — that the 21st century will eventually be dominated by Asian countries and economies, most notably in the “Megatrends” series of books back in the early 1990s. But the recent emergence of China has Read More →
The Christian Science Monitor has a story about how many college students complain that they can’t understand their foreign-born instructors (many of whom are Asian-born graduate students). As the article notes, it describes the efforts of one parent in North Dakota to get legislation passed that requires stricter and more formal assessment of foreign instructors’ English fluency. But Read More →
CNN.com and others report that Microsoft Chairman and richest man in the world Bill Gates made a rare trip to the nation’s capital to lobby legislators to end current restrictions on H1-B visas that are given to temporary foreign skilled workers. In this case, Gates wants to expand his ability to hire more foreign computer programmers and engineers from countries Read More →
Here’s one from the “Here We Go Again” files: a group of minority customers has brought suit against a Denny’s restaurant for racial discrimination. This time, as reported by CBS News, it was a group of seven Arab Americans who alleged that they were verbally abused and denied service at a Denny’s restaurant near Miami, FL. As the Read More →
CNNSI.com has an article about the prospects of Tim Chang (senior quarterback at the University of Hawai’i) becoming the first Asian American quarterback in the National Football League. The article notes that although Chang has set numerous NCAA passing records, he has not received a lot of positive attention from scouts, and his ethnicity may have something to do with Read More →
April 30, 2005 will mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the end of the Viet Nam War, and the beginning of the Vietnamese American experience. There are sure to be many stories in the media over the next week or so about this commenoration. I have reprinted an article published just today by Associated Press reporter Read More →
In contrast to the escalating tensions and turmoil between China and Japan, CNN and others report that in their recent summit, the leaders of India and Pakistan have declared that the peace process is irreversible between their two nations. As the article describes,
In their statement on Monday the two said they would boost business ties and cross-border travel, set up Read More →
Salon.com has an article by MiHi Ahn about pop singer Gwen Stefani’s version of Asian fashion: an entourage of four Japanese American dancers whose jobs is to, in essence, be media props — a 21st century version of the geisha. As the author writes,
Stefani has taken the idea of Japanese street fashion and turned these women into modern-day geisha, contractually Read More →
Newsday reports that several Asian American police officers at the New York Port Authority have filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and a racially hostile work environment. As the article states,
The lawsuit said that since 1996, Asian police officers have faced racial slurs by non-Asian officers, who called them “chink,” “gook,” “slant-eye” or “fish-head.” It said non-Asian officers, including Read More →
As reported by the New York Times, over the weekend, there were a series of often violent anti-Japan protests in China over the recent approval of textbooks in Japan that once again minimized and downplayed Japan’s atrocities committed during World War II against China, South Korea, and other Asian countries. As the article notes,
