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.
For frequent readers of this blog, you’ve probably read several posts in which I discuss the anti-minority, anti-immigrant White backlash phenomenon. For those who aren’t familiar with such arguments, the White backlash is basically the idea that many (as in a large number, perhaps even most, but not all) White Americans increasingly feel destabilized and even threatened by many of the following developments in American society:
The changing demographics of the U.S. in which non-Whites increasingly make up a larger proportion of the population and the projection that in about 35 years, Whites will no longer be a majority in the U.S.
The political emergence of non-Whites, best represented by the election of President Obama, and also illustrated by the growing Latino population.
The continuing evolution and consequences of globalization, the growing interconnections between the economies of the U.S. with other countries, and the economic rise of China and India.
The “normalization” of economic instability and how, even after this current recession ends, Americans will likely still be vulnerable to economic fluctuations that affect the housing market, stock market, and overall unemployment.
The unease about the U.S.’s eroding influence and military vitality around the world.
Taken together, these institutional developments and their negative consequences have been increasingly been felt on the individual level by many Americans. But in the case of White Americans, they have had a particularly significant impact because, as a group, their position at the top of the American racial hierarchy is increasingly being threatened — politically, economically, and socially.
That is, even though many Whites will deny their position at the top and the privileges that they directly and indirectly enjoy, ultimately very few would be willing to trade places with a person of color if given the choice. So as many Whites see these shifts and changes taking place around them, they increasingly feel confused, defensive, and angry about what is happening to “their country.”
For those who say I’m overreacting, take a look at Gregory Rodriguez’s recent article in Time magazine where he basically points out the same thing:
As much as Americans pride themselves on the notion that their national identity is premised on a set of ideals rather than a single race, ethnicity or religion, we all know that for most of our history, white supremacy was the law of the land.
In every naturalization act from 1790 to 1952, Congress included language stating that the aspiring citizen should be a “white person.” And not surprisingly, despite the extraordinary progress of the past 50 years, the sense of white proprietorship — “this is our country and our culture” — still has not been completely eradicated. . .
This [White backlash] won’t take the form of a chest-thumping brand of white supremacy. Instead, we are likely to see the rise of a more defensive, aggrieved sense of white victimhood. . . . one can hear evidence of white grievance in many corners of the country. And it’s not coming just from fringe bloggers.
In the spring of 2008, candidate Hillary Clinton appealed to “hardworking white Americans” to help her campaign against an ascendant Barack Obama. Last March, conservative commentator Glenn Beck suggested that the white man responsible for the worst workplace massacre in Alabama history was “pushed to the wall” because he felt “silenced” and “disenfranchised” by “political correctness.” . . .
[E]ven though they are still the majority and collectively maintain more access to wealth and political influence than other groups, whites are acting more and more like an aggrieved minority.
The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It’s not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver [African American members of Congress] — none of them major Democratic players in the health care push — received a major share of last weekend’s abuse.
When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan “Take our country back!,†these are the people they want to take the country back from. They can’t. Demographics are avatars of a change bigger than any bill contemplated by Obama or Congress.
The week before the health care vote, The Times reported that births to Asian, black and Hispanic women accounted for 48 percent of all births in America in the 12 months ending in July 2008. By 2012, the next presidential election year, non-Hispanic white births will be in the minority. The Tea Party movement is virtually all white. The Republicans haven’t had a single African-American in the Senate or the House since 2003 and have had only three in total since 1935. Their anxieties about a rapidly changing America are well-grounded.
As others, including many of my fellow sociologists, have already written about, we can see examples of this White backlash throughout American society, such as the growing militancy of Tea Party members, the Texas school board elections, and the recent racial incidents and tensions at the University of California campuses, to name just a few of the most recent examples.
I anticipate that there will be plenty to say and write about in terms of this growing White backlash movement for the foreseeable future, so for now, I will leave it at that and just say that whether White Americans like it or not, and whether they want to recognize it or not, this backlash among many White Americans is real and it is absolutely centered on racial issues, conscious and unconscious.
As part of this blog’s mission of making academic research and data more easily accessible, understandable, and applicable to a wider audience and to practical, everyday social issues, I highlight new sociological books about Asian Americans and other racial/ethnic groups as I hear about them. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its complete contents.
A common theme in many of my posts is how globalized and transnational the world in general and American society in particular have become. Within this evolving process, the lives and identities of Asians and Asian Americans also reflect these cross-national formations. The following new books shed light on some specific examples of how these forms of globalization and transnationalism affect different aspects of American society as they relate to Asians and Asian Americans.
Ends of Empire examines Asian American cultural production and its challenge to the dominant understanding of American imperialism, Cold War dynamics, and race and gender formation.
Jodi Kim demonstrates the degree to which Asian American literature and film critique the record of U.S. imperial violence in Asia and provides a glimpse into the imperial and gendered racial logic of the Cold War. She unfolds this particularly entangled and enduring episode in the history of U.S. global hegemony—one that, contrary to leading interpretations of the Cold War as a simple bipolar rivalry, was significantly triangulated in Asia.
The Asian American works analyzed here constitute a crucial body of what Kim reveals as transnational “Cold War compositions,†which are at once a geopolitical structuring, an ideological writing, and a cultural imagining. Arguing that these works reframe the U.S. Cold War as a project of gendered racial formation and imperialism as well as a production of knowledge, Ends of Empire offers an interdisciplinary investigation into the transnational dimensions of Asian America and its critical relationship to Cold War history.
Claiming Diaspora explores the thriving contemporary musical culture of Asian/Chinese America. Ranging from traditional operas to modern instrumental music, from ethnic media networks to popular music, from Asian American jazz to the work of recent avant-garde composers, author Su Zheng reveals the rich and diverse musical activities among Chinese Americans and tells of the struggles and creative searches by Chinese Americans to gain a foothold in the American cultural terrain.
In doing so, she not only tells their stories, but also examines the transnational and racialized experiences of this musical culture, challenging us to take a fresh look at the increasingly plural and complex nature of American cultural identity. . . . She unveils the fluid and evolving nature of music in Chinese America, discussing current cultural struggles, while acknowledging an unavoidable connection to a history of Asian exclusion in the U.S. . . .
The book delineates the introduction of each music genre from its homeland and its subsequent development in New York, and explains how Chinese Americans express their cultural longings and belongings. Ultimately, Zheng reveals how Chinese American musical activities both reflect and contribute to local, national, and transnational cultural politics.
Examining a variety of intriguing issues, this sociological study analyzes the impact global culture has had on the flora and fauna, people, economies, languages, and cultures of the Pacific for many centuries. The survey draws on findings from a 40-year research partnership, illustrating the effects of globalization from the perspective of a typical Samoan village and documenting the country’s shift from baskets to buckets, from religious authority to a questioning democracy, and from in-kind work to a cash economy.
Delving into questions such as When do Pacific emigrants stop sending money to their home village? Do villagers stop giving away fish when they get a refrigerator? and How do cell phones change villages? this argument contends that contemporary changes are presenting a more profound challenge to Samoan social institutions and society than at any other time in the past. Comprehensive and accessible, this guide is essential for those interested in the way global forces are shaping change in small Pacific nations.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Lai was trained as an engineer but blazed a trail in the field of Asian American studies. Long before the field had any academic standing, he amassed an unparalleled body of source material on Chinese America and drew on his own transnational heritage and Chinese patriotism to explore the global Chinese experience.
In Chinese American Transnational Politics, Lai traces the shadowy history of Chinese leftism and the role of the Kuomintang of China in influencing affairs in America. The result is a nuanced and singular account of how Chinese politics, migration to the United States, and Sino-U.S. relations were shaped by Chinese and Chinese American groups and organizations.
The Department of Sociology invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning August 2011. We seek candidates with combined teaching and research interests in Sociology who do comparative work on racialized groups (particularly Native American, Latino/a, and/or Asian American) with expertise in environmental sociology, sociology of education, or public/social policy.
Teaching responsibilities include five courses annually. The candidate will support the Sociology Department’s core curriculum and the general education program, as well as offer some core courses in her/his areas of specialization that contribute to both Sociology and the American Ethnic Studies program. Promise of teaching excellence required. PhD preferably completed by August 2011.
The following materials should be submitted electronically to Honey Wilson (hwilson@willamette.edu), Administrative Assistant, and addressed to Kelley Strawn, Chair, Department of Sociology, by Friday, September 10†: letter of application, Curriculum Vitae, graduate transcripts, separate statements on teaching and research, a writing sample, and three letters of reference. Also include a statement that explains how you will engage multiple perspectives in your teaching and contribute to our institutional and departmental commitments to social responsibility.
Believing that diversity contributes to academic excellence and to rich and rewarding communities, Willamette University is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff and student body. We seek candidates, particularly those from historically under-represented groups, whose work furthers diversity and who bring to campus varied experiences, perspectives and backgrounds. The University is near the Portland metropolitan area, the Pacific Ocean, and the Cascade Mountains. For more information, visit Willamette’s web site.
One or more of my colleagues (including myself) will be at a number of professional meetings over the next several months and we would welcome opportunities to meet potential candidates in advance of the application process. These include the Eastern Sociological Society meetings (March 18-21 in Boston, MA), the Pacific Sociological Association meetings (April 8-11 in Oakland, CA), and the National Association of Ethnic Studies meetings (April 8-11 in Washington, D.C.) We will also be at the American Sociological Association meetings in Atlanta in August, and will be conducting initial interviews there through the ASA Job Service. Anyone interested can contact me via email (kstrawn@willamette.edu) or telephone (503-370-6196).
Regards,
Kelley Strawn
Search Committee Chair
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Willamette University
GENERAL INFORMATION
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY) invites applications for the position of Director of the Asian American Studies Program (AASP). We seek a dynamic scholar working in Asian American Studies, discipline open, who will provide intellectual and programmatic vision and leadership for the AASP, and who is committed to building and sustaining cross-disciplinary connections to other programs and organizations at Hunter, as well as throughout CUNY and New York City. This is a full-time, Distinguished Lecturer line, subject to annual reappointment, renewable for up to seven years.
Established in 1993, the AASP offers a multidisciplinary range of courses to the entire Hunter College community, a minor in Asian American Studies, and extracurricular programs and events. The AASP benefits from its location in a global city with unmatched cultural and intellectual resources and a diverse and vibrant Asian American population. Hunter College is the largest college of the City University of New York. It is comprised of five schools: Arts and Sciences, Education, Nursing, Public Health, and Social Work, and has nearly 600 full-time faculty members. Hunter enrolls over 20,000 students, and has one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States.
The Distinguished Lecturer’s primary responsibility is directing the AASP, which includes: program and curriculum development, student advisement and engagement, and development/grant writing. S/he works closely with student groups, local and regional Asian American community organizations, and within the field of Asian American Studies as a whole to elevate the profile of the AASP both within and outside Hunter. Teaching load will be determined in consultation with the Provost based on the scope of programmatic activities and curricular needs.
MINIMUM & PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor’s degree and a record of achievement in a profession or field of expertise related to anticipated teaching assignments. Also required is the ability to cooperate with others for the good of the institution. Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree preferred. Demonstrated leadership, teaching, and administrative experience in Asian American Studies preferred. Record of publications and active scholarly agenda desired.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications. CUNY offers a comprehensive benefits package to employees and eligible dependents based on job title and classification. Employees are also offered pension and Tax-Deferred Savings Plans. Part-time employees must meet a weekly or semester work hour criteria to be eligible for health benefits. Health benefits are also extended to retirees who meet the eligibility criteria.
HOW TO APPLY
All applications must be received be mail or email. Do not apply online at this job board. Please submit a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference to:
Asian American Studies Search Committee
Office of the Provost
Room E1701
695 Park Avenue
New York , NY 10065
OR
via email to: iavargas@hunter.cuny.edu
Open until filled with review of applications to begin March 3, 2010.
The Asian American Studies Program at Hunter College CUNY, seeks Adjunct Faculty for June 10 – July 12, 2010 to teach “Asians in the U.S.,” our interdisciplinary introduction to Asian American Studies. Applicants must have an M.A. or ABD in a relevant field, as well as a record of successful undergraduate teaching.
The Asian American Studies Program (AASP) at Hunter College was founded in 1993 on the initiative of students and faculty. Today, we are a small but dynamic program with a growing number of minors, and we offer approximately 12 courses per semester, ranging from our interdisciplinary survey courses to more advanced courses in Literature, Cultural Studies, and Diasporic community formations — West Asian American, Chinese American, and Korean American in particular.
Applicants should be prepared to teach “Asians in the U.S.” to a cross-section of undergraduate students from all majors. The majority of our courses are taught by adjunct faculty, and as a result, the work you will do in our program is crucial to the process of introducing undergraduates to concepts concerning Asian American history and experience; we hope to work with dedicated, effective, and intelligent educators, and we seek to provide a welcoming and supportive work environment for our faculty.
For more information concerning our course offerings, faculty, or student activities, please visit the AASP site. Please send CV, letter of intent, and contact information for at least 3 references to:
Jennifer Hayashida, Acting Director
Asian American Studies Program
Hunter College, CUNY
695 Park Avenue, Room 1037HE
New York, NY 10065
The Claremont Graduate University Transdisciplinary Group on Asian American Studies is proud to announce an upcoming conference for graduate students pursuing Asian American Studies-related fields. So you’re studying Asian American Studies in graduate school. Has anyone ever asked, “what are you going to do with THAT?” Learn how to answer this question at a FREE upcoming one-day graduate student conference “What Can I Do With Asian American Studies?”
Our conference, “What Can I Do With Asian American Studies?” will take place on Saturday, April 17th in Claremont, California. Registration (Deadline April 1, 2010) is now open via our website, where you can also get more information on our scheduled events and speakers.
We will be featuring career and real world-centered workshops by some of today’s leaders in Asian America, who were in similar shoes as yourself in the not-so-distant past. Also, all participants will be placed into breakout groups with peers from different universities. Everyone is encouraged to bring something that you’re currently working on in order to give/receive constructive feedback from new sets of eyes. This will be a great opportunity to network! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns, please contact Dean at dean.adachi@cgu.edu.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Asian American filmmaker Christopher Wong about his first feature-length documentary Whatever It Takes, scheduled to premier on PBS stations nationwide on March 30, 2010. The documentary profiles Chinese American Edward Tom, Principal of the new Bronx Center for Sciences & Mathematics:
Christopher Wong’s Whatever It Takes offers a fascinating inside look at the first year of the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics (BCSM), a small public high school in the South Bronx headed by the idealistic Principal Edward Tom, an Asian American man who gave up a lucrative position as an executive with Saks Fifth Avenue for the underpaid, supremely challenging career as an educator in the inner city. . . .
This deeply emotional, character-driven documentary focuses on the school’s dynamic rookie principal and a spunky ninth-grade girl with big dreams but even bigger obstacles. The personal stories of the school’s students and staff call to mind larger themes of school reform and the need for educators, parents and policy makers to prioritize the transformation of the public school system so that all children can receive a quality education.
Grittily realistic, yet ultimately triumphant, Whatever It Takes paints a compelling picture of cutting-edge ideas and dedicated individuals, united in their vision to restore hope to a broken community.
What were your experiences in elementary and high school growing up?
I grew up in a relatively well-to-do neighborhood, so the area schools were excellent. I had good teachers, clean school facilities, and small class sizes. Since my parents were both college-educated, they always checked my homework every night, and made sure I studied for my tests. There was never any question in my mind that I would go to college; it was a foregone conclusion. However, for the kids profiled in my film, college is only a dream — something that only “privileged” people get to experience.
How did you decide to become a filmmaker, rather than a ‘safer’ occupation more typical of Asian Americans, such as an doctor, engineer, etc.?
Believe me, I always thought that I would end up working a high-paying, white-collar job in a Fortune 500 corporation. While being a lawyer or businessperson wasn’t exactly my dream, I thought those careers would be good enough to provide me with a comfortable and happy life. But after graduating with a degree in economics, two years at a law firm, and five years in banking, I finally realized that I was meant to do something more creative, something that was a better fit for my talents.
Right before I quit my last corporate job, I started watching a lot of documentaries (e.g., “Hoop Dreams,” “Salesman,” “Roger & Me”). Those films taught me that the two most important qualities of a documentary filmmaker were 1) the ability to listen well, and 2) the willingness to invest oneself completely in someone else’s life. While I didn’t have the brains to become a doctor or the genes to be a professional athlete, I knew I could produce good documentaries. And so, I quit my job, started taking video production courses at a community college, and 10 years later, here I am.
Why did you decide to focus on Principal Edward Tom and his school?
When you see Principal Ed Tom on screen, you instantly understand why people find him so compelling. He’s a born leader, and people absolutely listen to what he has to say. Leaders like Principal Tom are rare, but those are just the sort of individuals that we all want to see running our nation’s public schools. When I went to school, I never had a principal like him; in fact, I don’t even remember seeing my high school principal more than once or twice a year. But Ed is always with his students, and they know that he cares, and that he will fight for them with everything he’s got.
But I didn’t want to just portray Ed only as a hero. I was also equally curious to see if good intentions and constant effort were enough to bring about change in one of the nation’s worst school districts. After all, Ed was a rookie principal, and failure was always looming around the next corner. Then add to the mix the potentially explosive racial dynamic of Ed as an Asian American amidst a student body almost entirely comprised of African American and Latino children. I remember telling Ed that while I wished him the best, my documentary might show him falling on his face and getting fired midway through the year. When Ed said he was OK with that level of honesty, I knew that I could go ahead and start filming.
There’s a debate about whether race or social class are the bigger barrier for African Americans and Latinos these days. What are your thoughts on this question?
In the South Bronx district of New York City, race and social class are almost identical. The South Bronx is the poorest district in the entire country, and it’s no coincidence that you almost never encounter a white face on the street (unless it’s a cop). So, for a kid who comes from a low-income, African American/Latino family, they have so many hurdles to overcome just to make it into college. They often have no support from their parents, no role models who have gone to college, and few friends with high career aspirations.
And they certainly don’t have the financial means to afford college, or other things that are sometimes necessary to get admitted (e.g. SAT prep courses). Having said that, I don’t think that South Bronx kids should use these barriers as excuses for lack of achievement; however, when we do see someone from that kind of environment make it to college, we should recognize that accomplishment as something truly great.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Asian American students these days?
Just like there are poor African American and Latino students, there are also very poor Asian American students. So, a lot of the challenges are the same. But what seems to be different is that there is an ingrained cultural respect for education and the value of a college degree. Thus, as a whole, Asian Americans have significantly higher college attendance and graduation rates. Therefore, the challenge to Asian American students generally has nothing to do with access to college or finding jobs that pay well. Rather, the real challenge for our community is to seek after jobs that are truly meaningful, and that have positive effects on society at large.
For too long, Asian Americans have been satisfied with replicating the financial success of their white American counterparts, all the while neglecting to invest themselves in causes greater than themselves. Truthfully, much of that selfish motivation comes directly from our Asian American immigrant parents, whose main goals were survival, stability, and social conformity. Liberating ourselves from our parents’ dreams for us is not an easy battle.
Asian Americans as a whole have done pretty well occupationally and economically but in many ways, are still not perceived to be “leaders.” Individuals like Edward Tom are slowly emerging as exceptions to this image, but what else do Asian Americans need to do to change this perception?
To be seen as leaders, Asian Americans need to get more involved in issues that extend beyond their own ethnic community. I think that’s what makes Edward Tom such an amazing figure, because he is absolutely putting his life on the line for people that neither look like him nor can give him back anything in return.
Leaders are made through sacrifice and commitment (e.g Martin Luther King, Jr.), and Asian Americans need to do a better job of understanding that. On a positive note, I should say that I have recently seen more and more Asian Americans pursuing unconventional careers and being willing to take risks on the behalf of others.
As part of this blog’s mission of making academic research and data more easily accessible, understandable, and applicable to a wider audience, and for readers who like to keep on top of the latest sociological research, I highlight new research and studies in academic journals about Asian Americans and other racial/ethnic groups as I hear about them. An article’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its complete contents.
The following articles focus on different aspects of Asian Americans portrayed as the “model minority” and how such perceptions on the part of White society and social institutions affect how Asian Americans are treated in daily life.
Chao, Melody Manchi, Chi-yue Chiu, and Jamee S. Lee. 2010. “Asians as the Model Minority: Implications for US Government’s Policies.” Journal of Social Psychology 13:44-52.
Asian Americans are often perceived as a ‘model minority’– an ethnic minority that are high achieving, hardworking, self-reliant, law-abiding, as well as having few social and mental health problems. Although the impact of the model minority image on the US government’s redistributive policies is a widely contested topic in public discourses, there has been little research on the association between the model minority image, people’s worldviews, and attitudes towards the US government’s redistributive policies.
In an experiment that measured American participants’ worldviews and manipulated the salience of the model minority image, we have demonstrated that those who believed in a malleable social reality were relatively unsupportive of government policies that help the Asian American (vs African American) communities. Theoretical and practical implications of this finding are discussed.
Brettell, Caroline B. and Faith Nibbs. 2010. “Lived Hybridity: Second-Generation Identity Construction Through College Festival.” Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 16:678-699.
Recent research suggests that the children of recent immigrants, the so-called second generation, no longer choose to emphasize one identity over the other but that their identities are more fluid and multifaceted. College campuses are often the arenas in which a new hybrid identity develops.
This article addresses how South Asian American college students make sense of and control their various identities through the celebration of Diwali, an event sponsored each year by the Indian Students Association (ISA) on a college campus in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. South Asian students use performative space to help them make sense of their backgrounds in ways that both differentiate them from and allow for association with the majority student population.
They also use this space as a safe place for ‘coming out,’ that is, for communicating their hybrid identity to their parents. This hybrid identity is expressed through a discourse of ‘brownness’ that marks something distinctive and that reflects the process by which the children of immigrants choose among a range of identities to create integrated selves. The campus Diwali festival is the expression of those selves.
Johnson, Brian D. and Sara Betsinger. 2009. “Punishing the “Model Minority”: Asian-American Criminal Sentencing Outcomes in Federal District Courts.” Criminology 47:1045-1090.
Research on racial and ethnic disparities in criminal punishment is expansive but remains focused almost exclusively on the treatment of black and Hispanic offenders. The current study extends contemporary research on the racial patterning of punishments by incorporating Asian-American offenders. Using data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) for FY1997-FY2000, we examine sentencing disparities in federal district courts for several outcomes.
The results of this study indicate that Asian Americans are punished more similarly to white offenders compared with black and Hispanic offenders. These findings raise questions for traditional racial conflict perspectives and lend support to more recent theoretical perspectives grounded in attribution processes of the courtroom workgroup. The article concludes with a discussion of future directions for research on understudied racial and ethnic minority groups.
Oh, David C. and Madeleine Katz. 2009. “Covering Asian America: A Content Analysis Examining Asian American Community Size and Its Relationship to Major Newspapers’ Coverage.” Howard Journal of Communications 20:222-241.
This study attempts to determine whether 4 decades after the Kerner Commission, newspapers report more accurately on an increasingly diverse population. Specifically, it studied whether the size of the Asian American population covered by a newspaper influences the coverage of Asian Americans in newspaper articles.
It appears that although newspapers situated within larger Asian American communities report more frequently, at more depth, and with more prominence on Asian Americans, the quality of that coverage is not influenced by the size of the Asian American community. In cities with larger Asian American populations, newspapers have responded with increased stories and length but not with increased quality of coverage.
This is likely because of newspaper fears of alienating European American readers, leading to a ‘White flight’ in circulation and because of news practices that lead to distorted reports of Asian Americans. These findings renew calls for the newspaper industry to more fairly represent the diverse range of its readership and not just its most favored demographic.
Here are some more announcements and 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.
I am currently at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles. We’re anchoring a statewide network that is outreaching to the AAPI community to inform them about the importance of participation in the upcoming census. We’ve just launched our nationwide APICount PSA contest:
Our Communities Need to be Counted in Census 2010!
Asian and Pacific Islander Communities are underrepresented by Census numbers, but you can help change that! Help get the word out by making a 30 – 60 second video about how the Census is safe, easy and important. Your video could screen at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Fest 2010, be seen nationally, and win you the grand prize of $3000! Fill out an entry form at apicount.com and get started now!!! Deadline for entries is March 26th, 2010.
SAALT’s summer internships allow students to help promote the civic and political engagement of South Asians in the United States. We encourage applications from undergraduate, graduate, and law students who are self-motivated and committed to working toward social change in your community.
Two internships are available for Summer 2010:
Program and Campaigns Intern
The Program and Campaigns Intern will promote the mission of SAALT’s community mobilization, partnerships, and policy work.
Communications Intern
The Communications Intern will provide support for all of SAALT’s online, media, and other communications, including website development, media outreach, social networking outreach, and community outreach.
Internship applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with priority consideration to those received by March 26.
SAALT is also seeking a Be The Change National Coordinator. SAALT is seeking a dynamic, enthusiastic, hard-working individual to spearhead Be the Change efforts in 2010. The Be The Change National Coordinator will coordinate logistics, materials, correspondence, trainings, and implementation of the October 2, 2010 Be the Change National Gandhi Day of Service.
Visit the SAALT website for more details and how to apply.
The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) seeks a Community Capacity Program Coordinator.
Full Time (37.5 hours/week)
Salary Range: Competitive, excellent fringe benefits
Reports to: Community Capacity Program Director
Location: Washington, DC
Job Summary:
The Program Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating the various activities of a funded body of work related to capacity development. The Program Coordinator will be responsible for performing grant administration and support activities such as but not limited to: assisting in program documentation and developing products, managing electronic program telecommunications, websites and databases, and conference and meeting planning and coordination. The Program Coordinator, in conjunction with the Community Capacity Program Director, will work towards achieving the mission and aims of the grant.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Coordinate activities related to all the components of a large capacity development grant program
Assist in program documentation and development of products (e.g. program pamphlets, factsheets, presentations, press releases, requests for proposals/reports, monitoring guidelines, scientific articles)
Manage and update electronic program telecommunications, databases, and websites (e.g. HTA webpage, HTA Partner’s website)
Research via the internet and other sources, on topics related to AA and NHPI health, capacity building, and other issues as assigned
Plan and coordinate national, regional, and local conferences and meetings
Travel for work-related meetings and events as required
Perform other duties as assigned
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree
3+ years experience working in an office environment
Intermediate/Advanced user of MS Office
Highly proficient in using the internet
Experience in conference planning and coordination
Project coordination experience with increasing levels of responsibility
Experience with calendaring and scheduling meetings
Ability to multi-task
Experience and/or interest in working with minority health/health care issues
Experience and/or interest working in a diverse and high energy team environment
If interested, please submit cover letter and resume to:
Via Email (preferred): hr@apiahf.org, Attn: Community Capacity Program Coordinator Search
Via Fax: 415-954-9999
Via Mail: APIAHF
Attn: HR Manager – Community Capacity Program Coordinator Search
450 Sutter Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94108
We’re working and baking together again in our fourth year for “A Little Peace: A Dessert Tasting†to help fundraise for social justice organizations. We support each other and build community with nurturing and sweet things so that we can build a stronger effort for a better and more progressive society. Please come join us and taste for yourself the creativity of the community’s best bakers!
The Bake-Off Challenge, sponsored by Ocean Spray, features a flavored Craisin this year. Contestants provide samples for attendees to vote on the best dessert, and winners will be awarded prizes. If you are interested in participating, please email us for more information and to receive the Craisins in advance!
Proceeds Benefit the Asian American Resource Workshop, the API Movement, Boston Korean Adoptees, Inc., and Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth. Community Partners include the National Association of Asian American Professionals – Boston and Viet-AID. Our corporate sponsor is Ocean Spray.
Date: Saturday, April 24, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: VIET – AID , 42 Charles St., Dorchester, MA
Tickets: $20 in advance / $27 at the door
Children: $10 (10 and younger)
To purchase, visit: aarw.org/dessert2010/
Questions? Email: dessert@aarw.org
Below is an announcement about a research project and online survey in need of Asian American respondents.
Participants Needed for Study on Biracial Asian-White Family Relationships
I am writing to you from Loyola Marymount University where I am an honors student in the Psychology Department. I am currently working with Dr. Adam Fingerhut on an online survey study about Asian/White biracial individuals. The study has been approved by LMU’s Institutional Review Board (LMU IRB # 2009 F-42).
I am trying to recruit a large sample of Asian/Caucasian biracial individuals for a study on family relationships. Those who participate in this study will be entered into a lottery to win one of 10 $20 iTunes gift cards. To participate, or to learn more about the research, please visit:
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Allison McFarland at amcfarla@lion.lmu.edu, or Adam Fingerhut, Ph.D. at afingerh@LMU.edu, 310-258-8637.
2008: Government Apologies to Native Populations Looking at the sociological implications of two recent examples in which national governments officially apologize to indigenous ethnic groups.
2007: America’s Top Asian American Women CEO A brief profile of Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Cosmetics and the only Asian American woman CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation.
Today is International Womens Day so I would like to use this occasion to reflect a little bit on the state of affairs for Asian and Asian American women by discussing two recent news events. This is not meant to be a comprehensive or exhaustive review of the political, economic, and social status of Asian/Asian American women, just only some observations based on a couple of recent news stories.
The first article concerns the success of female figure skaters of Asian descent in the just-concluded Winter Olympics in Vancouver Canada. As the New York Times points out, Asian skaters such Kim Yu-Na and Shizuka Arakawa have elevated the status of the sport significantly in their home countries while and Asian Americans such as Mirai Nagasu try to follow in the legacy of recent Asian American champions Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan:
Skaters of Asian descent, primarily women but also men, have risen to prominence in large numbers both nationally and internationally. The reasons are varied, skaters and coaches say. They have to do with rules changes, body type, hard work and discipline, diet and the emergence over the past two decades of role models like Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan of the United States and Midori Ito of Japan. . . .
Maybe Asians are switching from studying to sports,†said [Mirai] Nagasu. The influx of Asian skaters can be traced in part to the elimination of compulsory school figures, coaches said. . . . Without compulsory figures, skating became more like gymnastics. . . . The key to jumping is to leap high and spin quickly and tightly through two, three or four revolutions before returning to the ice. Asian skaters are often small and willowy, which can be an asset when jumping. . . .
Asian skaters also often adhere to a diet of rice and vegetables and fish, avoiding large quantities of beef and fat, Carroll said. This can make them less vulnerable to weight gain in a sport where five pounds can make a difference between a winning jumper and a struggling one.
Other cultural factors are also at play, coaches said. Discipline at home often transfers to discipline at the rink, Carroll said. Audrey Weisiger, a prominent Chinese-American coach, said: “A lot of Asian families really drive their kids, and I don’t mean in the car. They’re not allowed to be marginal.â€
To summarize, the NY Times article cites several potential reasons why Asian American skaters have become so prominent in recent years. For the most part, the factors discussed sound plausible, although there is certainly still a lot of room for exceptions and variations (i.e., taller figure skaters, both male and female, have still achieved success, no physical size isn’t everything).
However, the one factor mentioned in the article that caught my attention was the parental pressure on Asian American figure skaters to succeed. Unfortunately, it seems that wherever you look, Asians and Asian American consistently face these kinds of “model minority” pressures to do well, live up to their parents’ expectations, and to outperform everybody else. This is the case when it comes to academics and apparently, to more “recreational” activities like figure skating as well.
I have also written about how such parental pressures on their children to succeed can become overwhelming and even dysfunctional to the point of resulting in tragic consequences.
Along the same lines, the next news story focuses on some of the challenges that Asian and Asian American women still face in contemporary society these days. As the Washington Post reports, a recent full-page newspaper advertisement in South Korea illuminates how, despite the rising status of women in the country, numerous working mothers face severe contradictions and in many cases, a no-win situation:
In a full-page newspaper advertisement headlined “I Am a Bad Woman,” Hwang Myoung-eun explained the trauma of being a working mom in South Korea. “I may be a good employee, but to my family I am a failure,” wrote Hwang, a marketing executive and mother of a 6-year-old son. “In their eyes, I am a bad daughter-in-law, bad wife and bad mother.”
The highly unusual ad gave voice to the resentment and repressed anger that are common to working women across South Korea.
In a country where people work more and sleep less than anywhere else in the developed world, women are often elbowed away from rewards in their professional lives. If they have a job, they make 38 percent less money than men, the largest gender gap in the developed world. If they become pregnant, they are pressured at work not to take legally guaranteed maternity leave.
Thanks to gender equality in education, the professional skills and career aspirations of women in South Korea have soared over the past two decades. But those gains are colliding with a corporate culture that often marginalizes mothers at the workplace — or ejects them altogether.
Women who do combine work and family find themselves squeezed between too little time and too much guilt: for neglecting the education of children in a nation obsessed with education, for shirking family obligations as dictated by assertive mothers-in-law, and for failing to attend to the care and feeding of overworked and resentful husbands.
As Hwang complained in two mournful newspaper advertisements she bought last fall in Seoul newspapers: “We work harder than anyone to manage housekeeping and earn wages, so why are we branded as selfish, irresponsible women?”
It seems that in terms of society’s acknowledgment and recognition of the challenges that working mothers face in balancing the demands of work and family, South Korea is very similar to the U.S. That is, despite laws and formal policies in place to provide working mothers with job security, the actual implicit and cultural expectations frequently deter many mothers from taking full advantage of them.
While this situation is slowly changing for the better, in many ways the U.S. is still grappling with both firmly-embedded institutional practices and individual attitudes. With this in mind, unfortunately South Korea is likely to also be dealing with these societal contradictions for some time to come.
Ultimately, International Womens Day gives us a chance to reflect on both the successes, progress, and positives that women around the world have achieved, but also how many barriers still remain in the way toward attaining full equality. Like racial/ethnic relations, in many ways achieving gender equality also seems to be a “two steps forward, one step back” process.
Here are some more announcements and 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.
The Eva Lowe Fellowship for Social Justice at the Chinese Progressive Association. Applications due Monday March 8 , 2010.
Eva Lowe is a longtime progressive community activist who has committed her life to serving the community, she turns 101 this year. Born in Fort Bragg, California in 1909, she and her family went back and forth to China for education and to support the anti-imperialist movement. She was inspired by China’s movement and the women’s rights movement and got involved in many progressive issues. . . . Eva has dedicated her life to social and economic justice and believes that people should actively work to end imperialism and ‘fight for the underdog,’ the poor and working class community.
The Eva Lowe Fellowship for Social Justice provides a unique opportunity to a new generation of activists and organizers who want to build the power of and improve the lives of the working class Chinese immigrant community. During eight weeks of intensive training, ground work and reflection, Eva Lowe Fellows will learn about and support Chinese immigrant struggles in San Francisco, work to connect the larger API Movement across the country and build lasting relationships with peers, mentors and community members.
All placements for the program will be in San Francisco, California. Scholarships ranging from $500 – $2000 are available but students are also encouraged to seek additional and alternative funding sources (include campus work-study programs, scholarships and stipends). All other costs will the responsibility of each Fellow though some assistance may be offered to locate and secure housing. A maximum of four Fellows will be chosen for the 2010 year. Applications are due by Monday, March 8, 2010 at 5:00 pm. Applications can be filled out online at www.evalowe.org. We will announce the Fellowship recipients by March 20, 2010.
About the Chinese Progressive Association: Founded in 1972, the Chinese Progressive Association educates, organizes and empowers the low income and working class immigrant Chinese community in San Francisco to build collective power with other oppressed communities to demand better living and working conditions and justice for all people.
The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, economic, and political well-being of Asian Pacific Americans, is accepting applications from current undergraduate students for the OCA-Verizon College scholarship for fall semester 2010. This is a reminder that applications are due April 1, 2010.
Accounting, Business Administration, Computer Electronics, Computer Programming, Computer Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Finance, HR Management, Industrial Engineering, Information Technology, International Business, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Mechanical Engineering, or Network Administration.
The application deadline is April 1, 2010, and must be completed online. If your school has a policy that prevents you from uploading your letter of recommendation, please contact me individually at iho@ocanational.org. For more information about the OCA-Verizon College scholarship or to access the application, please visit www.ocanational.org and click “Verizon College Scholarships†under “Programs.â€
Sincerely,
IIMAY HO |Program Manager
OCA National Center
1322 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-223-5500 tel
202-296-0540 fax
iho@ocanational.org
www.ocanational.org
White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Internship
The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) is responsible for the Department’s implementation of the Executive Order of October 14, 2009 which is designed to improve Federal efforts to develop, monitor, and coordinate executive branch efforts to improve the quality of life of AAPIs through increased participation in Federal programs. The Initiative is housed at the Department of Education, but represents a collaboration among many Federal agencies.
Intern Duties:
Perform research on and outreach to national and local AAPI organizations, elected officials, and ethnic media outlets
Conduct research on WHIAAPI issue areas, including education, commerce, health, housing, labor and employment, community and economic development as they relate to AAPIs
Intern Qualifications:
Currently enrolled undergraduate student (it is a requirement that interns be enrolled in school at least half time)
Great research skills
Experience working with AAPI community or familiarity with the issues
Detail-oriented
Team player
Compensation: interns are eligible for Transit Benefits, which cover the cost of commuting to and from work on public transportation. Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter to Hallie Montoya Tansey at hallie.montoyatansey@ed.gov.
The Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland (AAST) is hiring an Administrative Assistant. We are looking for someone with good communication and people skills. All are welcome to apply. Starting salary range is $30k to $36k. For more information, visit the University Human Resources website. Deadline is March 12, 2010.
As many of you have undoubtedly heard about already, there has been a series of racist incidents at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) recently. It was first sparked by a fraternity party held off-campus with a “Compton Cookout” theme in which attendees “celebrated” Black History Month by dressing up in ghetto costumes and imitating racist caricatures of Blacks. As one of their fliers put it, “For those of you who are unfamiliar with ghetto chicks — Ghetto chicks usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes.”
As news of this event became publicized and as various members of the UCSD community expressed their outrage, a student-run radio station and newspaper further flamed the tensions by airing a live segment on closed-circuit television in which they expressed their support for the frat party and called the African American students protesting it “ungrateful niggers.”
There followed a series of protests and marches where participants demanded that UCSD’s administration take immediate and decisive steps to improve the campus’ racial climate. After listening to and accepting many of the protesters’ demands (although giving few details about how they will be eventually implemented), the administration organized a teach-in on racial tolerance to publicly address the issues. However, hundreds of attendees of this teach-in walked out, calling the event an inadequate response.
Most recently, a noose was found at the university library. A student of color subsequently admitted to playing with some rope, fashioning the noose and “inadvertently” leaving it at the library. Her apology reads in part: “As a minority student who sympathizes with the students that have been affected by the recent issues on campus, I am distraught to know that I have unintentionally added to their pain.”
The students note that only 1.3% of UCSD’s student population are African American (believed to be the lowest of all the University of California campuses) and that as illustrated by these recent events, there is a climate of ignorance and hostility in which African American students do not feel welcomed or even safe around campus and where their history and culture are routinely ignored, marginalized, or ridiculed.
Unfortunately, these kinds of racial incidents are not new nor isolated incidents (thanks, Lisa and Gwen at Sociological Images). Not only have I written about other similar incidents but as just the latest example of this kind of climate of ignorance and intolerance directed against students of color on college campuses, some cotton balls were recently found scattered in front of the Black Cultural Center at Missouri University. For many, the cotton balls symbolizes the racist legacy of slavery and racial subordination of African Americans. Along the same lines and as a second latest example, an Arizona congressman recently asserted that African Americans were better off under slavery than today.
Beyond feeling profoundly sad and depressed about the state of race relations in this country, what should we make of these incidents?
My colleagues at Racism Review quote activist Tim Wise in analyzing in depth the sociological meanings and implications of these kinds of incidents. I would only add and emphasize that for me, these incidents serve to highlight the utter failure of colorblindness and the tragic belief that if we just don’t acknowledge or talk about race and racial differences in American society that racism will just magically go away.
I’ve written about this on numerous occasions but for those who want to hear from someone else, Wired magazine’s blog cites a recent study that further describes the fallacies of trying to be colorblind:
What Bronson and Merryman discovered, through various studies, was that most white parents don’t ever talk to their kids about race. The attitude (at least of those who think racism is wrong) is generally that because we want our kids to be color-blind, we don’t point out skin color. We’ll say things like “everybody’s equal†but find it hard to be more specific than that.
If our kids point out somebody who looks different, we shush them and tell them it’s rude to talk about it. We think that simply putting our kids in a diverse environment will teach them that diversity is natural and good. And what are they learning? Here are a few depressing facts: Only 8% of white American high-schoolers have a best friend of another race. (For blacks, it’s about 15%.) The more diverse a school is, the less likely it is that kids will form cross-race friendships. 75% of white parents never or almost never talk about race with their kids.
That is, simply exposing a White child to racial diversity is not enough. Merely expressing generalized respect for racial diversity is not enough. This is because in keeping matters on a general level, racial differences and history get “watered down” and children do not understand why, despite the fact that we’re all supposed to be equal, Blacks and other people of color occupy different statuses and are portrayed in stereotypical ways in the media, which they inevitably are exposed to.
In other words, without a detailed and specific understanding of racial discrimination, children then just assume that it’s because individual Blacks and persons of color are entirely responsible for their subordinate status and have “earned” the scorn, prejudice, and hostility directed at them, not to mention being blind to the subtle privileges they enjoy as being part of the White majority. Ultimately, the assumption becomes, “Since American society is supposed to be equal, why aren’t you successful? What are you doing wrong?”
If we as a society are going to make any headway in alleviating this climate of racial ignorance and intolerance, the first place to start is to simply acknowledge race as a fundamental social distinction in American society. Only from this specific understanding of how racism works can we then begin addressing the consequences of racism.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update: MSNBC reports that last night, a KKK-style hood was found on a statue outside the main UCSD library:
A university statement said the hood was found about 11 p.m. Monday. The object appeared to be a white pillowcase that had been crudely fashioned into a hood with a hand-drawn symbol. A rose had also been inserted into the statue’s fingers. The university said an aggressive investigation was under way, including fingerprint and DNA analysis, and vowed to punish the culprits to the fullest extent of the law.
