The Associated Press reports that in their search for a new General Manager (the person in charge of making player personnel decisions), the Dodgers have interviewed their current Assistant General Manager, Kim Ng, a Chinese American woman who has been with the Dodgers since 2001 and previously worked for the New York Yankees:

Kim Ng, a vice president and assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers the past four years, became the first candidate to interview for the team’s vacant GM job. Team spokesman Josh Rawitch said Ng was interviewed Saturday. If hired to succeed Paul DePodesta, she would become major league baseball’s first female GM.

Before joining the Dodgers, the 36-year-old Ng served as vice president and assistant general manager for the New York Yankees from 1998-2001. Ng and Roy Smith, vice president of player development, are handling front-office duties for the Dodgers until a general manager is hired, and will represent the team at the GM meetings, which begin Tuesday in Palm Springs.

You may remember that Ms. Ng was involved in a racial incident in which another executive from the New York Mets mocked her Chinese ancestry and who was eventually fired for his actions.

Admittedly, Ms. Ng is facing an uphill battle, as there are several other General Manager candidates out there who have much more experience than her. Nonetheless, it is encouraging to see that she — as both a woman and as an Asian American — is starting to get the national recognition that she has earned. Even if she doesn’t end up getting the job, it will hopefully be useful stepping stone for her career and future attempts to become a GM.

Update: Not surprisingly, Kim Ng did not get the job of being the Dodger’s next GM. But as the New York Times reports, she is now in the public spotlight and it should only be a matter of time before she makes history and is named as GM for some team:

When Ng learned Monday night that she had finished a close second, she reminded herself what teams always tell players who are sent to the minor leagues: “You’ll be disappointed, you’ll take some time to deal with it, and then you’ll move on.” Ng may eventually realize that this was a painful but necessary first step. Just last year, even the most optimistic women in baseball doubted that they would ever have a chance to run a team. But considering the exposure that Ng received this month, the gender gap has narrowed. At 36, Ng will probably be on shortlists for a long time.

As many news organizations like CNN are reporting, the Pentagon has just announced that, in consideration of constant opposition by native Okinawans, it will eventually cut the number of Marines stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa by half in the next six years:

The announcement from the Pentagon came Saturday and stated that the United States and Japan had agreed to shift 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam during the next six years. . . . Local residents have held widespread protests periodically during the past decade in response to U.S. military personnel committing crimes.

Protests boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen were found guilty of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl. Since 1995, U.S. service members have been convicted at least five times on sexual assault charges. An airman was convicted of rape in 2002. In July, Okinawa police in July charged another U.S. airman following the molestation of a 10-year-old girl in a parking lot. Sgt. Armando Valdez, 27, later pleaded guilty.

The Pentagon apparently is trying to portray this as a shift in strategy, all part of an ever-evolving plan to respond to changing geo-military conditions around the world. But make no mistake about it — this is also a capitulation by the Pentagon to the overwhelming anti-American hostility and hatred that they have brought upon themselves by the criminal actions of some of their soldiers.

Why does it seem that almost everywhere the U.S. military tries to set up a semi-permanent presence — and in the process try to win over local inhabitants — they always shoot themselves in the foot by committing criminal acts and atrocities against these very same local inhabitants, thereby squandering any goodwill they’re trying to build and ultimately leading to overwhelming opposition to their presence?

This happened in Viet Nam, is happening in Iraq, and as this story shows, has happened too many times on Okinawa. As the cliche goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same . . .

It seems that allegations against Asian Americans for spying are popping up each week. The latest, as reported by the New York Times, involves two four Chinese Americans accused of trying to smuggle secret documents about Navy warship technology to China:

An engineer, a Chinese television director and their wives were indicted on charges of stealing secret documents on American Navy warship technology and trying to smuggle them to China, prosecutors said. The engineer, Chi Mak, a naturalized American citizen from China, was ordered held without bail on Monday, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office.

Also arrested were Mr. Mak’s wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu; his brother, Tai Wang Mak; and his sister-in-law, Fuk Heung Li. The four face charges of stealing government property, aiding and abetting, transportation of stolen goods, and conspiracy, Mr. Mrozek said.

Not good. I hope we can remember that theoretically, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Nevertheless, the potential implications of these latest allegations are inevitable — due to the alleged actions of some Asian Americans, all of us are likely to face suspicion about our true loyalties and whether we should be considered “real” Americans.

Those of you who have visited Viet Nam any time in the last couple of decades (and probably even before that) should know that corruption on the part of government officials throughout the country is rampant. It’s an open secret that the way to get things done is through bribes and that starts the minute you arrive in their airports — if you want to sail through customs quickly, slip a $10 spot into your passport as you give it to the clerk.

At any rate, Viet Nam was supposedly trying to address this rampant corruption and one high profile step was to name an official “anti-corruption” chief whose job was to lead efforts to reduce corruption in the country. Alas, the irony is inescapable — Yahoo News reports that this anti-corruption chief has just been arrested for allegedly taking bribes and other forms of graft:

Vietnam’s anti-corruption chief [Luong Cao Khai] has been arrested over allegations he took bribes and abused his position, in an embarrassing setback for the country’s fight against rampant graft. . . . , “He is accused of receiving money and land from some oil and gas officials to use for private purposes and abusing his position to provide his relatives with jobs in oil and gas sector,” the Tuoi Tre daily newspaper said Friday.

The communist regime has vowed to stamp out rampant corruption that permeates the government and state sector, and the National assembly is due to vote a comprehensive anti-corruption law on November 28. Critics, however, say the crackdown is highly selective and that some high-ranking officials have acquired de facto immunity from prosecution despite allegations that their personal fortunes were acquired illegally.

More proof that corruption is still alive and well and not going anywhere in Viet Nam. Corruption is not limited to communist countries of course, but the Vietnamese government seems to be doing all they can to showcase their own unique version of it. Very well done . . .

There were two stories in the news recently that involved allegations of racial profiling against Asians and other people of color. One involved a Black professor of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University who was stopped — and eventually arrested — by two campus security officers while he was trying to retrieve a book from his office:

Antwi Akom says he was just going to his office late on the night of October 25 to pick up a book he needed to prepare for class the next day. But after he was stopped by security guards at San Francisco State University, he ended up facing felony charges of resisting arrest and battery of a police officer. Akom, an assistant professor of Africana studies, was briefly jailed.

He has told supporters that he had an identification card and was willing to show it to the guards. Security officials have said that they did ask for the ID. The security report said he did not comply with reasonable requests. Akom’s supporters said that he repeatedly told the officers he was a professor and that he was in a rush because he had young children asleep in the car he drove to campus.

The incident has prompted a wave of meetings and demands for reform at San Francisco State. Professors say that Akom was a victim of racial profiling and that black employees routinely face harassment. The controversy is particularly upsetting to some professors, who say that they have taken pride in San Francisco State’s progressive reputation.

The second involved a small group of Muslim Americans who were detained and then carefully watched after they prayed at a recent NY Giants football game:

The Muslims said they did not know they were in a sensitive area, and they complained that they were subjected to racial profiling while they were praying, as their faith requires five times a day. “I’m as American as apple pie and I’m sitting there and now I’m made to feel like I’m an outsider, for no reason other than I have a long beard or that I prayed,” said Sami Shaban, a 27-year-old Seton Hall Law School student who lives in Piscataway.

Shaban said he and four friends had just gotten to the September 19 New York Giants-New Orleans Saints game when they left their seats to pray. Around halftime, 10 security officers and three state troopers approached the men and told them to come with them, Shaban said. The men were questioned and then were not allowed to return to their seats, but were instead assigned to seats in another section, Shaban said. Three guards stood near them, and escorted them to their cars when they left the stadium, he said.

As with most incidents, there are two sides to each story and conceivably, there may have been legitimate reasons why these two people of color were stopped, questioned, detained, and in the case of the Africana Studies professor, arrested.

But ultimately, these two incidents inevitably highlight the continuing issue of how people of color are still — even in 21st century globalized American society — constantly being questioned and challenged on their status as “real” or “authentic” Americans and whether their actions are considered “appropriate” by people in positions of power and authority, who in most cases, are White.

In other words, it is clear that the White-dominated social institutions and power structures of this country are still clinging on to the firmly-ingrained presumption that the only people who merit the identity of being “American,” and therefore who get to enjoy the direct and indirect privileges of that identity, are White (and perhaps even more specifically, male, upper class, and Protestant). Everyone else who does not fit into this category, apparently including professors working the birthplace of ethnic studies, are automatically seen as potential criminals.

Even when we as a nation and society are in a heightened state of awareness due to possible terrorist attacks, presuming that someone or a group of people are potential enemies based almost entirely on their racial/ethnic/national origin identity is the very definition of racial privilege and racial profiling. In other words, it is flat-out racist, unjust, and wrong.

American citizens theoretically enjoy certain freedoms from invasion of privacy and false searches and imprisonment by authorities. But unfortunately, those rights are apparently only valid if one is White.

USA Today has an article that talks about the emerging — or enduring — popularity of samurai films among American consumers and in influencing Hollywood movies:

A subset of the martial arts genre, samurai films have been made since the early 1930s in Japan. They gained international status when renowned directors such as Kurosawa (Rashomon) explored the genre. Interest in Japanese pop culture and easy access to the films on DVD is driving the resurgence.

“It seems they’re just now, at the dawn of the 21st century, finally receiving the mainstream appreciation in the U.S. that is their due,” says Patrick Galloway, author of Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook. . . .

Swordplay is only part of the attraction of samurai films. “What you have in a samurai battle is close-in, bladed warfare, the good guy going against the bad guy face to face,” Jeck says. “You have kinetic energy, balletic grace and brutal force, all conjoined.” A foreign cousin of the American Western, samurai films “have struck a chord with U.S. audiences,” IFC’s George Lentz says.

I’ve talked before about how the popularity of certain Asian cultural elements can be both good and bad. It’s good when it introduces people to parts of Asian culture that had been in obscurity until then and fosters an appreciation and respect for those cultural elements. It’s bad when it reinforces and perpetuates negative stereotypes and biased portrayals of Asian culture.

Some Asian Americans may also object because they feel that American filmmakers are merely “copying” or “butchering” the original Asian elements for their own gain. Others see this type of cross-cultural influence as healthy and a sign of respect for the original Asian works. Like most things, there isn’t a simple answer, just general principles that need to be considered.

Each work will be judged separately — like Steven Spielberg’s upcoming release of Memoirs of a Geisha.

The New York Times has an article that describes a series of proposals that U.S. government officials will present China on how it can modernize its economy, with the goal of strengthening China’s yuan currency and eventually equalizing China’s current trade imbalance with the U.S.:

The plan, to be discussed in two days of talks here and in Beijing, calls for China to speed up the privatization of state-owned companies, including banks; to develop a Chicago-style futures market for currency trading; to establish an independent credit-rating agency; and to crack down on bailouts for banks left holding bad loans. . . .

Though many of the ideas are familiar, and often supported by Chinese leaders in principle, the list reflects an increased effort to lecture China about internal financial issues. That could backfire. Chinese leaders invariably bristle at pressure from American officials, and they could view the new American “priorities” as an unwelcome intrusion.

Beyond the actual financial details of the plan, I find the larger socio-political context of the U.S.’s efforts to influence China’s economy very interesting. Specifically, the question is, is the U.S. being a little presumptuous and maybe even a little arrogant to think that it can tell China how to run its own economy? How would the U.S. feel if China came out with a list of suggestions on how the U.S. can improve its economy?

Although the U.S. may have some legitimate concerns with some of China’s financial practices, it seems to me that the U.S. is in danger of engaging in another form of imperialism. In the past — long ago and recently — the U.S. used military means to spread its power and influence. Nowadays, they are apparently turning toward financial and political means to try to accomplish the same thing — influence the internal affairs of a sovereign country.

We’ve seen how “successful” these attempts at imperialism have been (i.e., Viet Nam, the current war in Iraq, etc.). In this case, China is not Viet Nam or Iraq — it is a major international political, economic, and military superpower, just like the U.S. In other words, the U.S. had better watch its steps here.

As many news organizations are reporting, including CNN.com, George Takei — Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek TV series on the late 1960s and a beloved icon of Asian American entertainment, has just publicly announced that he is gay:

Takei told The Associated Press on Thursday that his new onstage role as psychologist Martin Dysart in “Equus,” helped inspire him to publicly discuss his sexuality. Takei described the character as a “very contained but turbulently frustrated man.”

“The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay,” he said. “The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young.” The 68-year-old actor said he and his partner, Brad Altman, have been together for 18 years.

Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling ashamed of his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.

I commend George for his courage in going public with his identity as a gay man. I had a very high opinion of him before and this “news” hasn’t done anything to change that. If anything, I have even more admiration for him now that he has found the courage to come out of the closet and proudly proclaim his identity and solidarity with the Asian American GLBT community.

You’re still an inspiration to many of us, George.

The NBC affiliate in Philadelphia reports that several Chinese-owned small businesses around the city have recently received racist hate letters that threaten physical violence against them. The letters indicate that they were sent by the White supremacist group Aryan Nation:

Disturbing hate letters and threats have left some Asian market owners rattled, prompting an investigation by Philadelphia police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The letters threatened the rape of Asian women and the bombing of Asian businesses. “The author of this letter indicates that they are from the Aryan Nation and that these people are basically being targeted because of their ethnicity,” said Philadelphia Police Inspector Bill Colarulo.

[Community activist Ken] Wong said that the disturbing letters were also sent with graphic pictures. “There are photographs of Asian bodies, so it’s pretty shocking,” Wong said. . . . Conmmunity activists in Philadelphia said that since the police have taken possession of the three letters, three or four other business owners said they had received similar letters.

It is truly sad to see that there are still elements of American society that not only detest racial/ethnic diversity in the U.S. but apparently are willing to use intimidation, violence, and potentially murder to express their intolerance. It just goes to show that racism is still alive and well in the U.S.

If you would like to sign an online petition urging city and state government officials to take all measures necessary to address this blatant episode of racism, go to http://www.petitiononline.com/phillyhc/.

Newsday reports that graduate students leaders at Yale University charge that the school routinely discriminates against Chinese students and subjects them to unfair requirements and harsher standards of performance:

“Year after year, Chinese graduate students in engineering face expulsion and are called upon to defend their academic standing,” Cong Huang, president of the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Yale, wrote in a letter to Yale administrators. “We have no hard data, but know for sure that every year someone fights a very trying and high-stakes battle.

“There are no different standards for different groups of students,” he said. . . . Xuemei Han, who works and studies in the ecology and evolutionary biology department, said administrators told her they were stripping her of funding and she must leave the university at the end of the year because she is not in good academic standing. Han said she passed all her exams and requirements.

Han also said a professor told her it would be too much work to advise a Chinese student because of language difficulties. “I believe I’m doing good work,” said Han, whose case is at the center of the complaint. “My department has tried very hard to push me out. It’s extremely unfair and unreasonable.”

At this point, we should understand that these are just allegations. However, if they are true, it would not be the first time that foreign students (particularly from Asian countries) were treated with disdain, as if they were disposable in the eyes of some faculty members.

Apparently, there is still an ingrained belief among professors and university officials that foreign Asian students are more exploitable than your garden-variety American student because they are less likely to fight back against their unequal treatment, in line with the stereotype of Asians being quiet and passive.

Is this what’s happening at Yale? We’ll have to wait and see.

As virtually all news organizations such as CBS News are reporting, Rosa Parks passed away last night at the age of 92. I’m sure you know that Rosa Parks became an iconic figure of the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat to a White man in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955.

Her courage, bravery, and determination to stand up for herself and her community eventually led to the monumental Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 and was one of the first major acts of defiance and public disobedience of the Civil Rights Movement. As Jesse Jackson eloquently commented:

We are saddened by the passing of Rosa Parks. We rejoice in her legacy, which will never die. In many ways, history is marked as before, and after, Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down. Paradoxically, her imprisonment opened the doors to our long journey to freedom. These three giants, Rosa Parks, Dr. King and Mandela – without bombs, bullets or wealth – have shown the awesome power of right over might in history’s long journey toward peace and freedom.

Ms. Parks was one of the first people I considered to be a role model and true pioneer of strength and social justice. She is not only a personal inspiration to me but I think the entire Asian American population owes her (and others of course) a debt of gratitude and reverence. She showed that the actions of one person can have far-ranging consequences for an entire country.

Not only that, but she also showed that a woman can be just as courageous and determined to fight for the dignity of herself and her community just as much as men. In a time when women were routinely considered subordinate and inferior to men, Ms. Parks fought and contributed to two separate wars — one for racial/ethnic justice and equality and one for gender equality.

She is truly one of the most remarkable figures of American history — a humble but incredibly powerful inspiration to millions of people today, and into the future. Thank you Ms. Parks, and may you rest in peace.

The Christian Science Monitor (which is an independent, non-religious journalism organization despite its name) has a very interesting article that describes the results of a multi-year survey of college freshmen nationwide on how religious they are. The results generally show that based on their measures, Asian American students are the least religious of all the major racial groups:

Some of the biggest differences in the study emerge in the following categories:

“Religious commitment” (following religious teachings in everyday life and gaining strength by trusting in a higher power): Forty-seven percent of African-Americans scored high on this scale, compared with 25 percent of whites, 23 percent of Latinos, and 22 percent of Asian Americans.

“Spiritual quest” (interest in finding answers to the mysteries of life and developing a meaningful philosophy of life): African-Americans scored the highest on this (36 percent), with other groups ranging from 23 to 34 percent.

Most interesting. My slightly educated guess is that Asian American students tend to be more focused on academic performance, rather than religious or spiritual activities. This is not to say that it is either good or bad, just that different racial/ethnic or cultural groups may tend to have slightly different priorities.