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.
Here are some more links out that have come my way relating to Asians or Asian Americans. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents:
Scouting Position for San Diego Padres: On behalf of the San Diego Padres, I would appreciate your consideration in relation to a potential opportunity for you or one of your colleagues/students. In 2009, the Padres will enter their 40th season in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) National League, and I invite you to entertain the possibility of joining our team.
In an effort to be successful in one of professional sport’s toughest divisions, and in an effort to build a franchise with global appeal, the Padres are making a concentrated effort to expand operations throughout the Pacific, with a specific focus on Eastern Asia. Towards these goals, the Padres are committed to acquiring the best skills from throughout the world, both on and off the field, and recognize that your experiences in
the region could be valuable to the organization.
At present we are looking for energetic, self motivated individuals, with good communications skills, and some experience in the game of baseball, who could assist us in evaluating and procuring talented players from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and potentially China. If you are interested, or know someone who might be suitable, please forward an expression of interest and resume to the following email address.
Kind Regards,
Trevor Schumm
Pacific Rim Coordinator
San Diego Padres
schumma26@aol.com
Casting Call for Transnational Couples: Go Time Entertainment based in Los Angeles is producing a documentary about the success stories of relationships between Western men (of any race) and Asian women (born and raised primarily in Asia). We are looking for happily married couples who would like to share their story about how they came together and have stayed together despite coming from completely different backgrounds. We will begin conducting film interviews in January 2009. If you or someone you know are interested and live in the Los Angeles area please contact Lyn at gotimeentertainment@gmail.com for more information.
As an educator and a person of color, I have a particular interest in issues surrounding racial/ethnic diversity on college campuses. In fact, this topic is a common theme that I’ve written about on this blog. Like most liberals, I happen to think that greater diversity is generally a good thing, although I acknowledge that there are some ways in which diversity can lead to some challenges in the short run.
In other words, racial/ethnic diversity is a complicated and multidimensional phenomenon. This is especially true on college campuses where, in most cases, there are students who come from a wide range of backgrounds and once they interact with each other, can lead to an equally wide range of outcomes. To illustrate this point, Inside Higher Education reports on the release of a new study that looks at actual outcomes of racial/ethnic diversity on college students and finds, you guessed it, some mixed results:
One key finding was the generally positive impact on racial attitudes of living with someone of a different race. Students were surveyed on their attitudes before being assigned someone to live with, and after a year in which some lived with “outgroup roommates.â€
Generally, and regardless of the attitudes with which students entered UCLA, those who lived with members of other ethnic groups showed statistically significant gains in comfort levels with people of different groups, having circles of friends beyond one’s own group, and a variety of other measures of tolerance toward different groups. The changes in attitudes were most striking for those living with either black or Latino roommates.
The one exception to this positive impact was with Asian students as roommates: White and black students who lived with Asians tended to show increased prejudice against Asians on some measures after living with them. . . .
[However], the researchers examined the impact of membership in groups that are defined largely by race and ethnicity (such as black student unions) as well as membership in groups that do not have an explicit racial or ethnic mission, but have overwhelmingly white members (some fraternities and sororities). Generally, they found that a negative impact resulted from membership in these groups — white or minority — in which belonging to such a group led to an increase in feelings of victimization.
There are several key findings here, so let me address them one at a time.
The Benefits of Diversity
The study’s finding that increased racial/ethnic contact and interaction among students leads to greater comfort with others of a different race is not new and in fact, reinforces what sociologists have been saying for decades — this is frequently referred to as the “Contact Hypothesis.” Nonetheless, it is nice to see real, concrete evidence of this idea in a real-world situation.
As the article also notes, this finding confirms one of the basic principles of affirmative action — that increased racial/ethnic diversity represents a net benefit for American society and is therefore a worthwhile goal. Opponents of affirmative action are free to criticize other aspects of affirmative action that they disapprove of, but as this study confirms, the argument that increased diversity can’t improve people’s attitudes and levels of acceptance towards others is simply not true.
The Drawbacks of ‘Segregated’ Student Groups
On the other hand, the study points out that racially/ethnically homogeneous student groups and organizations generally do not improve racial tolerance and acceptance. This finding is basically the flip side to the first one that I discussed above. The only potentially controversial part of this finding is that it applies to all kinds of homogeneous groups, whether they are all-White fraternities/sororities or Black Student Unions, Asian American Student Associations, etc. that are based explicitly on a particular racial/ethnic identity.
On that count, I would point out that while feelings of victimization and anger may exist among students of color in such racial/ethnic student organizations, there are many benefits that also exist within such groups. For example, these groups can also foster a sense of community identity and support and can also empower students by educating them about their group’s history and shared experiences, as well as giving them opportunities to turn their feelings and emotions into positive, constructive activities that provide the campus community the chance to further promote racial/ethnic diversity.
In other words, to echo another central theme of this blog, there is a difference between all-White and all-minority organizations in terms of their historical, cultural, and political meanings. That is, in the past and frequently still true today, all-White organizations have been associated with excluding marginalized groups and perpetuating a superior position of power for themselves.
In contrast, minority organizations have traditionally been focused on working to eliminate that kind of social inequality and to improve the conditions and lives of its members so that they more equally match that of their White counterparts. Therefore, the social dynamics are likely to be different between all-White and all-minority organizations.
I am not saying that all-White fraternities or sororities exist to actively reinforce White superiority. Rather, the nature and impact of the “negative” consequences of segregation are different because the history of American race relations has been different through the years. That’s what we should keep in mind when considering the dynamics of such groups.
The Negative Impact of Having an Asian Roommate
I’ve left this finding for last because I have the most trouble understanding it. My first reaction is skepticism of the results themselves. But as an academic myself, for now I will presume that the results are valid and reliable until I read the study’s exact methodology myself.
That said, my first question is, are there differences between having an Asian immigrant roommate versus a U.S.-born Asian American roommate? In other words, did White and Black students who had an Asian roommate have conflicts with the fact that their roommate was Asian or that s/he was an immigrant and therefore, presumably not as “Americanized” as they were. That may help to explain this particular finding.
If there is no difference between having an immigrant versus U.S.-born Asian American roommate, then my second thought is that perhaps it has to do with the fact that Asian Americans are something like 40% of the student population at UCLA. More generally and at the national level, perhaps White and Black Americans see us as symbols of globalization and how the U.S. is slowing losing its cultural superiority around the world as the 21st century progresses.
In that sense, it is conceivable that Whites and Blacks unconsciously feel threatened by Asians/Asian Americans and see us as competitors, either on the international level or at the level of a college campus. On several occasions I’ve posted about anti-Asian incidents on college campuses, and more generally, the rise of racial tensions in general in recent years.
With that in mind, perhaps this finding that having an Asian roommate actually had a negative impact on racial tolerance for White and Black students at UCLA reflects this general atmosphere of economic insecurity and cultural change and instability.
While it is possible that individually, Asian American roommates exhibited specific behaviors that offended their White or Black roommates, I have a hard time seeing that this was a systemic or consistent pattern among most Asian American roommates. I will have to read the actual study and the authors’ explanations for this finding to have a more concrete idea.
Ultimately and with most studies dealing with the topic of racial diversity, there are many interpretations and conclusions to make. On the one hand, I am encouraged to see the study’s results that in almost all cases, increased racial/ethic diversity led directly to increased racial/ethnic tolerance among students.
At the same time, I am a little worried about how Asian Americans fit into this equation and to what extent this finding — that having an Asian American roommate had the lone negative impact on racial tolerance — is reliable and generalizable to American society in general.
Here are some more links out that have come my way relating to Asians or Asian Americans. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents:
That Minority Thing: Group blog about racial/ethnic minority issues and news.
Asian Health Care Leadership Association Annual Meeting: AHCLA Annual Conference to be held April 23-24, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, IL. As the inaugural annual conference, AHCLA will (1) organize a national conference for Asians in health administration and health policy to network with each other and to increase the number of Asians serving in leadership roles within health care; (2) introduce Asian health care executives to a larger audience among the general public and policymakers; and (3) encourage organizations and individuals to support a systematic process for increasing the number of Asians working as leaders in health administration and health policy. For more information, visit www.asianhealthcareleaders.org.
Secrets of the Kung Fu Temple: From the National Geographic Channel: Thursday, December 18 at 10pm ET/PT. The Shaolin Temple in rural China gave birth to one of the greatest martial art forms: kung fu. For over a thousand years, the warriors of Shaolin have defended the temple with carefully crafted skills of self-defense. But now, Shaolin may be experiencing one of its hardest battles: maintaining a traditional temple while grappling with the 21stcentury. Watch as young kung fu students balance their piercing physical regimen with the shrewd rules of the business world. As the ancient temple transforms itself into one of China’s hot tourist destinations, what will happen to the cherished tradition?
You can also view a preview video Kung Fu Dream from Secrets of the Kung Fu Temple, in which we see a glimpse into the world of kung fu novices at the Shaolin Temple, whose dream of worldwide acclaim drives them to dedicate their lives to the art.
I received this email from an academic colleague asking for help in recruiting contributors for an encyclopedia on Asian American folklore:
I invite you to contribute to a project that I’m co-editing: the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore (Greenwood Press, anticipated publication date sometime in 2010).
This is the first encyclopedia project of its kind and is inclusive of all the different cultural communities, including those that are often less represented in Asian American scholarship. We especially need contributors for the:
Burmese American, Chinese American, Hmong American, Indian American, Indonesian American, Japanese American, Khmer American, Korean American, Laotian American, Malaysian American, Mongolian American, Nepali American, Pacific Islanders American, Pakistani American, Punjabi American, Sri Lankan American, Thai American, Tibetan American, Vietnamese American, and other pan-Asian American sections, etc.
This project employs the broadest definition and discourse of folklore, and by extension contends that Asian American folklore, is, generally speaking, emerging. Asian American folklore consists of more than Asian mythologies that are narrated in Asian American families and communities; it is an Asian American way of life.
Asian American folklore encompasses the narrative history of Asians in America; it is the totality of Asian material culture, religious traditions, performances, celebrations, social relations, and so on, used to produce individual and collective Asian American identities. The remaining available headwords are broader than the title of this project suggest.
Following up on his recent nomination of Eric Shinseki to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Barack Obama has named another Asian American — Steven Chu — to be his Secretary of Energy. As news outlets report, Professor Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics and is the latest Asian American political trailblazer:
Chu, [director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics and is a former chairman of the physics department at Stanford University in California and head of the electronics research laboratory at Bell Labs.
The Lawrence Berkeley Web site says Chu was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change and has guided the laboratory on a new mission to become the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research, particularly the development of carbon-neutral sources of energy.
I have to be honest again and admit that I had not heard of Professor Chu before today but nonetheless, as always, I trust Barack Obama’s judgment and based on Professor Chu’s recent accomplishments, I have no doubt that he would be an excellent choice.
More specifically, I am also very pleased to see that President-Elect Obama has chosen an academic for a cabinet position. I have long been an advocate for making academic research and data relevant and accessible to as wide of an audience as possible. This very website and blog is my modest attempt to make good on that promise.
Hopefully this position as Secretary of Energy will be an opportunity for Professor Chu to use his expertise to apply academic knowledge to address real-world issues. In other words, knowledge isn’t much good unless it’s turned into action.
Congratulations to Professor Steven Chu and I wish him the best success.
Shinseki [is] the first Army four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry . . . [and] a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy. . . .
Shinseki’s tenure as Army chief of staff from 1999 to 2003 was marked by constant tensions with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which boiled over in 2003 when Shinseki testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the invasion.
[T]he general was marginalized and later retired from the Army. But Shinseki’s words proved prophetic after President George W. Bush in early 2007 announced a “surge” of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating the numbers needed to stem sectarian violence. . . .
Shinseki, 66, is slated to take the helm of the government’s second largest agency, which was roundly criticized during the Bush administration. . . . Veterans groups also cheered the decision.
In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson’s 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state legislature. . . .
Republicans made an aggressive push to take the 2nd District seat from the 61-year-old Jefferson, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office. . . . Greg Rigamer, a New Orleans political consultant, said his analysis showed turnout in predominantly white sections of the district was double that in black areas. He said that helped push Cao to victory.
Once General Shinseki is confirmed by the Senate, he follows in the trailblazing steps of Norman Mineta (Secretary of Transportation first under Clinton, then G.W. Bush) and Elaine Chao (Secretary of Commerce under G.W. Bush) as one of the first Asian American presidential cabinet members.
Shinseki’s nomination could not have gone to be more courageous and deserving person. He showed tremendous bravery and integrity in standing up to the Bush administration and then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld by putting facts before politics.
Even though many liberals like me and other Americans from all backgrounds opposed (and continue to do so) the U.S.’s entry into Iraq, as many analysts point out, it was the U.S.’s underestimation of what it would take to secure the country after overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s government that is responsible for the mess we face today.
General Shinseki’s career has been one of blazing a new trail for Asian Americans and while the task ahead of him is daunting, I have every confidence that he will effectively tap into his decades of determination and experience to do a great job in serving our veterans, who put their lives on the line to protect all Americans’ right to disagree with each other within our democratic system.
Regarding Anh “Joseph” Cao, I have to admit that I had never heard of him until news of his recent victory, nor did I know of his candidacy for Congress. Further, as a liberal, I do not anticipate that I will support many of his political positions and policies.
Nonetheless, as an Asian American and particularly as a Vietnamese American, I am thrilled that he has just become the first Vietnamese American member of Congress. As I wrote previously, Vietnamese Americans have a well-documented history of crossing political party lines to vote for Vietnamese American candidates, although we should note that in contrast to most Asian Americans who identify as liberal or Democrats, Vietnamese Americans are the Asian group most likely to identify as Republican/conservative.
Cao joins fellow Republican Bobby Jindal (an Indian American elected as Governor in 2007, and was mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential pick for John McCain) as emerging Asian American politicians in Louisiana. (By the way, for whatever reasons, Louisiana seems to be emerging as an incubator for young Asian American politicians these days).
What is notable about Cao’s victory is that, as the quote from the AP article above notes, his victory is the result of enormous support not necessarily of Asian Americans, but from Whites in his district. In other words, despite the fact that there is a large Vietnamese American community in New Orleans, Cao’s victory resulted from the overwhelming support of Whites.
The point is, Cao’s victory represents the “mainstreaming” of Asian American politicians and how they are able to both leverage the collective resources of their ethnic community and at the same time, broaden their appeal to Whites and other non-Asian voters in order to propel them to victory.
Does this sound familiar? It should because it’s basically the strategy that helped Barack Obama become our next President. I know that Obama’s appeal and victory are more complex than that, but the point I’m trying to make is that “minority” candidates understand that their “dual identities” as both a person of color and as an mainstream American can be both an advantage and a challenge.
That is, just like Barack Obama experienced, his non-White identity led to charges that he wasn’t really “American” by some extremist critics, but that same identity helped him appeal to the growing racially diverse population here in the U.S. At the same time, he showed the country that in terms of his ideals and dreams for the country, he was just as “American” as anybody else — White or non-White.
As such, Obama’s example is likely to be used a model for many minority politicians for years to come. Eric Shinseki and Anh “Joseph” Cao are the most recent examples of this idea and I wish them both the best success in their new positions and thank them for being role models for all Asian Americans.
The Visitacion Valley children and their teachers had been on the hard floor for nearly an hour. They had no idea why they were assembled – told only that the politicians and other important people were there because of the school’s great test scores. That was a ruse. . . .
Then Mike Milken, prominent financier and philanthropist, started talking about money. He said he had a big surprise. He told the students he was there to give one teacher $25,000, no strings attached – a prize described by some as “the Oscars” of teaching. . . .
Yip pointed to the back of the room, mouthing to a parent that the winner must be one of the fourth- or fifth-grade teachers. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, opened the envelope to announce the winner of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.
“Mindy Yip,” Pelosi announced, smiling at the first-grade teacher who looked shocked, but also wary, apparently wondering if she heard right. She looked around, confused. Then she started crying. . . .
Yip never knew she was under consideration for the award. The state Department of Education asked principals last spring to recommend excellent teachers with more than five years in the classroom and fewer than 10. Her name was submitted by Visitacion Valley Principal Vincent Chao. . . .
The Milken Foundation noted that Yip has been a leader at her school, using creative ways to motivate students, including asking them to design homework for her. She also speaks six languages, including Cantonese, Lao, Hmong and Vietnamese, which enables her to communicate with the diverse students’ families.
Although I don’t know Ms. Yip, I am nonetheless proud of her and inspired by her accomplishments. Congratulations to Ms. Yip for her dedication, hard work, and for serving as a role model for all Asian Americans.
Every December 1st, we commemorate World AIDS Day. HIV/AIDS is a disease that affects millions of people around the world, from all races, ethnicities, nationalities, social classes, genders, and sexualities.
If you would like to learn more about HIV/AIDS and Asian Americans, please visit the sites of organizations such as the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (where I worked as its Director of Education from 1998-2000). Another excellent resource is the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center, which has created the following public service announcement, in conjunction with its latest program, The Banyan Tree Project:
The Banyan Tree Project (a national campaign to reduce HIV-related stigma in Asian & Pacific Islander communities) features high profile male-to-female transgender women and community activists. The PSA seeks to educate the community by openly discussing safe-sex and harm-reduction practices, particularly for transgender women and their primary partners. The silence in our communities is deadly; our PSA is one way to reach people and begin a dialogue.
