Stay up to date on Asian as well as Asian American Headlines. News compiled or reported on will be cited for full text reference. I hope to update this section often, let me know what you think and I’ll consider posting with more frequency. If you have a news clipping you think should go up here, email me. Also, I’m not sure I can create posts within this page so I’ll try to archive each post for easier access.
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Thanks to Angry Asian Man for putting this story lead together. As Asian Americans remember Vincent Chin on the anniversary of his brutal murder, I think this story is pretty indicative of how racism towards Asians lives on almost 25 years later.
For Asian adoptees, I think it’s a reminder that as we are continuously reconciling our own Asian American identity, racism in the U.S. continues to treat virtually all members of the Asian American Disapora the same based on looks.
6.21.2007
teenage girls charged in bias incident
“A few weeks ago in New Jersey, three teenage girls were charged with scrawling a racial slur on the driveway of an Asian American man and smearing his house with ketchup, eggs and white rice: 3 ‘bored’ Wanaque girls charged in bias incident. The guy came home from work to find “[Expletive] You Chinese” written in dish detergent on the driveway of his house. According to police, a cardboard food carton commonly used in Chinese take-outs was placed nearby. And the front steps and garage door were smeared with ketchup, eggs and white rice, with food also scattered around the property. Disgusting.
What did they have against this guy? Why did they perpetrate this hateful (and messy) act? When questioned, they told police they were just plain “bored.” That appears to be all the reason you need. They were charged with bias intimidation, criminal mischief and harassment. This is a hate crime, plain and simple. What kind of world do we live in where people will target an Asian guy simply because they have nothing better to do? That’s racist! The thing is, this nature of this incident sounds an awful lot like the one last week involving three teenage boys in Michigan. What is the hell is wrong with the youth of America?”
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Updated May 9, 2007
Save Our Neighborhoods March & Rally: Hundreds march to “Save Little Saigon,” but was it enough?
Category/Issue: News, Volume 34 No. 09
BY NHIEN NGUYEN
Examiner Editor
Threat of rain didn’t stop over 400 people from gathering at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School on Saturday, April 21 to protest the proposed “big box” development that would put a major shopping development on the edge of Little Saigon.
The rally-goers, who were of all ages and ethnicities, marched through Little Saigon to the Seattle Goodwill on South Dearborn Street to demand development that benefits the community. These benefits included affordable housing, living wage jobs, green space, and mitigation for traffic impact and the small businesses located in Little Saigon.
The rally brought together 20 groups, such as the Vietnamese American Economic Development Association (VAEDA), Jackson Place Community Council, Puget Sound SAGE, labor groups, among others, that organizers said don’t often have opportunities to interact together.
“It was a wonderfully diverse group united around a common message that the City must not approve the street vacation and rezone unless it benefits the community,” said neighborhood activist Jim Diers, one of the rally speakers.
For Jesse Robbins, VAEDA volunteer, the diversity of rally participants chanting “Save Little Saigon” showed that “this fight is outside just Vietnamese people.”
“[The rally] validated the existence of Little Saigon to the community,” he said. “It made Little Saigon important — Little Saigon is not Chinatown anymore.”
In response to the concerns about the danger of the project to Little Saigon’s existence, development manager Darrell Vange, said that, if anything, the project would help make Little Saigon “a more vibrant neighborhood.”
“We believe that Little Saigon will not only survive but thrive with Dearborn Street as a neighbor,” Vange said. “If they choose to, Little Saigon shopkeepers will have the opportunity to capitalize on the increased number of shoppers coming to the area.
“It is, of course, a two-way street and Dearborn Street will greatly benefit by having the vibrant Little Saigon as a neighbor.”
Dearborn Street Developers say they are willing to work with Little Saigon on such things as a Business Improvement Area and a Vietnamese Cultural Center, among other items.
Quang Nguyen, a leader in the struggle against the development, said that it may not be that all of the Vietnamese businesses agree on his stance. “But,” he said, “I think majority of them do.”
Nguyen noted the 90 Vietnamese businesses who signed a petition supporting what VAEDA and other neighborhood community groups are doing.
Nguyen believes that the Vietnamese community is happy that “somebody is stepping up to fight for the neighborhood – to fight for their interests.
“The business owners are overwhelmed with running a business; other issues outside of that, they just don’t have time to do the legwork on,” Nguyen said. “Because of that, they are pretty happy that somebody is looking out for their interests.”
Robbins said that overall, the rally was effective in that it was a “dramatic and visual way to get the word out.” The rally gained the attention of several media outlets, from television, to radio, to newspapers, including Vietnamese publications.
Diers, author of “Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way,” believes that the rally did get the attention of the Mayor, City Council, and developers.
“Both sides have shown a willingness to negotiate,” Diers said. “The developer’s willingness to meet withÜthe community to discuss a possible community benefits agreement has also been a good sign.
“Now, it is important that the developer offer tangible benefits to the community so that there can be the basis for an agreement.”
Quang Nguyen knows that the most important part of the rally is the follow up. Nguyen urged people to write to the City Council saying that “they hold the developers accountable on this development.”
Rally speakers such as Diers and former Inter*Im Executive Director Bob Santos pointed out the previous developments that were blocked by community activists. Organized neighbors stoppedÜproposals for the RH Thompson Expressway in the Central Area, garbage incinerators in Southeast Seattle, the sale of Bradner Gardens to private developers, and the siting of a MacDonald’s in the International District.
Diers, who called the rally “an historic event” said, “There are two kinds of power in this world – the power of money and the power of the people. The neighborhoods have the people, and when they are active and united, they can do just about anything.”
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Updated May 2, 2007
(Thanks to the Sampan’s Adam Smith for this article)
Proposal for Non-Citizen Vote Could
Some Say Proposal Would Dilute Value of Citizenship
Apr 20, 2007
A proposal to allow green card holders in Boston the ability to vote in municipal elections could have far-reaching effects for nearly half of the city’s 45,000 Asian Americans, say local experts and office holders.
“It would be huge,” said Paul Watanabe of the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Just under half of all Asian Americans in Boston are non-citizens, according to a 2004 report — “Enabling the Asian American Electorate” — that Watanabe co-authored.
If non-citizen permanent residents were allowed to vote, Watanabe estimated that it could potentially increase the Asian American electorate in Boston by more than 20,000.
“I think it would be the most significant expansion of the franchise in the city of Boston since the passage of women’s suffrage. Its impact would be substantial,” he said.
Watanabe said he’s been advocating for such a proposal for the past decade. Similar measures have been approved by other local governments including Amherst, Cambridge, and Newton, but all are pending state approval.
Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon, who was born in Korea, said he feels it would be fair to those who pay city taxes and use city services to be able to vote in municipal election.
“This would be a good thing for city government because such a large part of the people that we serve in Boston are legal immigrants,” said Yoon, who co-sponsored Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo’s home rule petition allowing green card holders the ability to vote. “Since representation is the essence of democracy, I think city government would actually do its job better if their voices were represented.”
In 2004, more than one in four Boston residents were born outside the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Amy Mah Sangiolo, an alderman in Newton, said she believes that if the measure passes, Asian Americans would have a greater voice in issues affecting them locally in Chinatown, such as land use and development.
“It’s great,” she said of the proposal, which she said would be following the lead of Newton.
Some, however, strongly reject the idea of allowing permanent residents the ability to vote in any elections.
“We are opposed to any measure that allows people who are not citizens of the United State to participate in our democracy. That is a right and privilege of citizenship,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC, that promotes restricting immigration and stopping illegal immigration.
“It dilutes the value of citizenship. If people who have not made a full-fledged commitment to this country are entitled to the same voice in this democracy, then what really is the value of being a citizen?” said Mehlman.
But Councilor Arroyo, who co-sponsored the measure, argues that his proposal would encourage immigrants to become citizens because it would give them only a limited ability to vote. He also said that immigrants who pay taxes would acquire representation. “We’re talking about a big population that pays the taxes but does not vote. When we look at it from that perspective, it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
In addition, he said, immigrants would have to sign statements that they would pursue citizenship if they are allowed to vote in the city elections.
“But we are not a nation of taxpayers,” said Mehlman. “It is a nation of citizen people who have made a higher level of commitment.” He said that having immigrants sign statements that they would apply for citizenship would be meaningless because they would not likely be binding.
“If you come here legally and have a green card, it isn’t all that onerous to become a citizen of the United States. There’s a five-year waiting period in which you are required to show that you are somebody of high character, stay out of trouble and do all the things you are supposed to do, and at the end of the five years, you can apply to become a citizen. Then you are free to participate not only in local elections but in any election you want to vote in.”
He added: “They understood that when they came here that there were certain conditions. Coming to the United States as a legal immigrant — it’s a conditional bargain.”
It’s still unclear how the measure will go over in the Boston City Council. Even if approved by the council, the bill would require final approval by the state’s Legislature.
Yoon called the proposal “a major uphill battle.”
“It would only come into effect if the entire state Legislature agreed with our proposal. So this is the beginning of a long-term effort,” he said.
After Arroyo co-filed the measure to allow permanent U.S. residents the ability to vote in city elections, Salvatore LaMattina, another city councilor, proposed that the city should determine whether it is working hard enough to promote citizenship.
LaMattina opposes Arroyo’s plan and said that “we need to promote citizenship, if you want to empower new immigrants that come to this country, you empower them by letting them become citizens.”
Still, Arroyo said last week that he has five of the needed seven councilors in support of the proposal. Councilors Charles Yancey, Chuck Turner, and Michael Ross have so far publicly endorsed the proposal, in addition to Yoon and Arroyo.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has not yet decided, said his spokesperson.
At-large councilor Michael Flaherty said: “I’m keeping an open mind,” and that he wants to learn more about the matter before taking a position.
Arroyo hopes to hold a hearing on the proposal by June.
-M. Thang contributed to this story.
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Updated April 12, 2007
(Excerpts taken from New American Media’s article entitled, “Korean Cab Driver Self Immolates to Protest Free Trade Agreement” By Christine Ahn-Full text available by clicking this link)
“On April 1, as trade negotiators from the United States and South Korea were finalizing a trade agreement, 54-year-old taxicab driver Heo Seowook poured 1.5 liters of gasoline on his body and set himself on fire outside the Hyatt Hotel in Seoul. His body engulfed in flames, he screamed, “Stop the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations!”
Heo’s sacrifice didn’t stop negotiators from signing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Korus FTA).”
In his will, Heo wrote, “Although the government is always giving lip service to participatory democracy, in fact that never happened when it unilaterally decided to expand the Pyongtaek U.S military base and to launch the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiation. Do not ridicule the dignified people anymore.”
“But this generic and abstract appeal breaks down as soon as we get into the specifics of how corporate interests will use the FTA in ways that will dramatically influence the lives of ordinary Americans and Koreans. The agreement will eliminate major industries and jobs in both countries while emboldening the rights of corporations to undermine public laws meant to protect ordinary workers, farmers and the disadvantaged.
Take, for example, access to medicine. South Korea has a universal healthcare system that reimburses people for medicine on a “preferred drug list,” largely generics and lower priced drugs. Wendy Cutler, the chief U.S. negotiator, has argued that this system “would end up discriminating against and limiting the access of Korean patients and doctors to the most innovative drugs in the world.”
In other words, a governmental policy that tries to manage spiraling pharmaceutical costs in order to provide access to medicine to as many people as possible is considered a barrier to trade.”
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As North Korea slowly steps down from its Nuclear Program aided by the U.S.’s decision to return somewhere near $20 million worth of frozen assets, Ethiopa has been given permission to purchase arms from North Korea.
Apparently as Ethiopa continues to help the U.S. fight the Islamic militia which has occupied Somalia.
“The value of the shipment is unclear, but Ethiopia purchased $20 million worth of arms from North Korea in 2001, according to American estimates, a pattern that officials said had continued. The United States gives Ethiopia millions of dollars of foreign aid and some nonlethal military equipment.”
So if it wasn’t clear enough before, the U.S. only allows those to arm themselves if they pledge allegiance to the fight terrorism with the U.S. Well not much else I can say here, the article speaks for itself. Check out the full article in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/world/africa/08ethiopia.html?hp
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Thanks to Sunfire Newswire and New American Media for these articles and links on the latest updates on this story
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/04/04/18388717.php
Similar links: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=4337ab7dbf0532b438034a1b8f481db5
http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=c3567052b2eb09d14682477b52cdeda5
In 1971, after I returned from Peace Corps Kenya, I taught English as a Second Language to Chinatown adult immigrants. After working all day, my students started studying at 6 p.m., and after class walked or took the bus home. Today Chinatown residents and workers continue to rely on City College classes during the evening, afternoon and morning, seven days a week, to learn English, prepare for citizenship, and acquire job skills.
City College has struggled to meet the pressing needs of its students because it lacks a permanent Chinatown facility.
Over three decades, City College has lost access to 30 community sites to hold classes because community organizations needed the space for their programs. Responsive to this loss, three times, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly have approved bond funds to build a permanent facility in Chinatown.
Like other projects benefiting Chinatown, outside special interests are putting up barriers to deny Chinatown residents and workers, who typically earn less than $11,000 a year, what they deserve and need.
For the past half year, Justice Investors, the owners of the Hilton Hotel-Financial District, and their paid lobbyists have waged a mean-spirited campaign of deception to confuse and mislead the Chinatown community and general public about the proposed City College facility on the corner of Kearny and Washington Streets, across from the hotel.
This campaign of deception has purposely made up unsubstantiated, wild-eyed allegations that City College is going to build a “massive high-rise” that will negatively impact Chinatown parking, traffic and Portsmouth Square Park. To create the illusion of legitimacy to their campaign, these paid lobbyists have traipsed out State Senator Leland Yee as a “community leader,” rallying Chinatown against this “high-rise.”
What this campaign of deception does not disclose is that, according to public records, Hilton Hotel owners and their paid lobbyists and families have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Yee’s political campaigns. Knowing that Justice Investors and their lobbyists are capable of contributing more, Yee has easily, and not surprisingly, kowtowed to Hilton Hotel’s interests, at the expense of immigrant educational needs. Pure and simple, Hilton does not want any building to block its hotel window views.
Hilton’s campaign of deception also fails to disclose that this so-called “massive high-rise” will not cast a significant shadow on Portsmouth park.
For a very limited period of time during the summer and no later than 7:45 a.m., the proposed Chinatown City College facility will shadow a narrow sliver of the northwest corner of the park. In contrast, the 31-story Hilton Hotel, 15 stories taller than the proposed City College building, casts a significantly larger shadow, much later into the morning and for many more days each year, on park users as they exercise and sit. Hilton Hotel, who’s calling the kettle black?
Its shameless campaign has sought to scare Chinatown businesses to believe that 6,000 “new” students will descend on the proposed facility during the same couple of hours every day, exacerbating traffic and parking congestion. Truth be told, these 6,000 students are already in Chinatown, dispersed in their classroom attendance throughout the entire day, on any given day of the week.
90 percent of all Chinatown City College students either walk or take public transportation to get to their classes. City College has always welcomed immigrant students, who may live in another neighborhood but work in or near Chinatown and find it more convenient to access bilingual classes and services, right before or after work.
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April 4, 2007
Asian-Americans face discrimination
By: Christy Johnson
Posted: 4/4/07
Minorities in the United States, and even at BGSU, have faced ridicule, resentment and cruelty which can not be justified.
The Asian American population in America is no exception, which was brought to light at the event, “Beyond Crouched Tigers and Hidden Dragons, Asian Americans in Academic Culture” held in room 201A in the Union.
At the event, presenters Errol Lam, library faculty and past professor of Asian American studies, and Perry Dal-nim Miller, graduate assistant in American culture studies, explained the ways that American ideologies have categorized Asian Americans as quiet, hypomasculine or hyperfemine and passive others.
When people try to understand stereotypes and why they hold onto those stereotypes, they must first look back at the oppressive nature that people in power placed upon those which they conquered.
The way that Asian Americans are perceived in American culture has been constructed by the media, government propaganda and unjustified fear.
Female Asians may be seen as hyperfemine, which means a person would be passive, and advertantly sexual. While male Asians may be seen as hypomasculine, which means a person would be feminine in nature and not as masculine as other males in society, Dal-nim Miller said.
On a recent episode of the view, Rosie O’Donnell made a racial slur regarding Asian people.
She was disrespectful in her tone as well as her word choice, said Dal-nim Miller. O’Donnell later gave an apology on the air, in which she claimed that while she was sorry, people should not be surprised if something like this came out of her mouth in the future.
If O’Donnell knew those slurs were offensive, and yet continued to say that she might in the future say something offensive, her apology is an empty one, said Dal-nim Miller.
“When we watched the part on Rosie O’Donnell, the way she used ‘ching-chong,’ that made me think of my own stereotypes and why I have them,” said junior Mickey Sparrow.
Understanding personal stereotypes as well as the history of ideology can help individuals to not only embrace culture, but understand the importance of getting lost cultures’ histories exposed to the public.
History has been written in a way in which the people in power have control over what future generations will read. That leaves a huge chunk of lost information of those people who have been conquered and oppressed, Lam said.
People may be reluctant to talk about race because they do not know what to say, but it is by talking and coming together that changes can start occurring.
One thing Lam urged audience members to do was to unify. He backed Carlos Adams, an instructor in the ethnic studies department, with his idea for an Ethnic Student Center, and reminded those in attendance of the importance of forums, panels and communication among all people.
The event was put on as part of the Center for Multicultural and Academic Initiatives Monthly Lecture Series, in conjunction with the Committee to Advance Racial Equality, Asian Communities United, the Caribbean Association and Transcendence. http://media.www.bgnews.com/media/storage/paper883/news/2007/04/04/Campus/AsianAmericans.Face.Discrimination-2821831.shtml
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March 29, 2007
On March 25, Hillary Clinton held a round-table discussion with leading journalists from Asian American media sources who were excluded from a press conference in late February. The original event excluded several journalists on the false assumption that they were “foreign” media, and were not allowed entrance although several Chinese reporters were admitted prior.
Clinton apologized for her misunderstanding, and also backpedaled by promising that in the future there would always be room for the Asian American media.
“The Asian Pacific Islander community is important to me personally,” she said at the roundtable meeting. The Asian-American media “will always have someone to get information from” in the Clinton campaign, the senator said.
Although this sort of “misunderstanding” may be understood now, her latest blunder innaugurates a campaign and precampaign that has been largely unresponsive to people of color and immigrants. Last year at an immigrant rights demonstration in New York City, Clinton misspoke when she thanked immigrants for cleaning “our” hotel rooms etc. etc.
For more information, and for a full transcript and coverage of this issue click here
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March 28, 2007
Interpretted from New American Media’s article
Full transcript may be viewed HERE
Recently, the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe issued a public apology for the forced prostitution of over 200,000 Asian women by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
The public apology has been a long time coming, but has been received with harsh criticism from the Asian American community. While the public apology does show a willingness to critically reflect on historical tragedies, many think that it is more of a political gesture catered to Western audiences and less sincere than mainstream media make it out to be.
Californian World Journal editor Kai Ping Liu stated, “Japan’s imperial forces killed more than 35 million Chinese over the course of eight years, atrocities that should never be forgotten.” New American Media interpreted from his words that he does not believe the apology goes far enough to even scratch the surface of this historical atrocity.
Korean Times editor Tae Soo Jeong closely echoes this response when he was quoted saying, “Abe’s actions seem to be a gesture towards the West to avoid bad press there more than a sincere apology to Japan’s neighbors.” Additional commentators say reparations should be made as payment.
While Chinese and Korean women tend to be the most commonly affiliated victims, more research has produced information that Filipina women were also violently and sexually abused by the Japanese Military.
“Peter Schurmann, a student at the Univ. of California, Berkeley in Asian Studies, says the issue goes beyond Asia and World War II. “As conflicts erupt in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Africa, women are at the front lines of the violence. They are abused by opposing sides, inciting further hatred.” Schurmann says Japan must play a part in advocating for women’s rights today if it wants to show its sincerity.”
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I love how in the “teenage girls charged in bias incident” article, their insult to the guy didn’t even make grammatical sense. Lovely.