The month of May in the US is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2015. I will try to have at least ten posts that have to do with Asia, the Pacific or their diasporas, especially in the US. Thank you for all of your suggestions, links and guest posts! I will try to post at least four of these (Promised Posts):
- Amy Chua
- Asian brain drain
- Asian Americans and university admissions
- Black/Asian American race relations
- Black women, Asian men
- Massie Affair, The
- Watsonville Riots of 1929
- yellowface
And maybe like six of these:
- Amy Tan
- Angel Island
- Anna May Wong
- anti-Maori racism
- Are Asians the new Jews?
- Asian America: a brief history
- Asian American YouTube
- Asian Australians
- Hollywood stereotypes about Asians
- Cupertino
- Dalits
- Dean Cain
- Filipino Americans
- Fresh Off the Boat (television show)
- General Tso’s chicken
- Genghis Khan
- Guam
- Hapas
- Lisa See
- Margaret Cho
- Nancy Kwan
- paper son
- Saipan
- Yellow Peril
- Yuri Kochiyama
Here are the posts that have gone up so far:
- General Tso’s chicken
- Genghis Khan
- Qian Xuesen
- The Watsonville Riot
- Mao
- Black Eyed Peas: Bebot
- The term “hapa”
- paper son
- The Asian quota
- Far★East Movement ft Dev: Like a G6
- Fresh Off the Boat
- Amy Chua
- Angel Island
Note: Because of the events in Baltimore, I got a late start, so Asian American History Month om this blog will extend a week or two into June.
– Abagond, 2015.
See also:
Abagond 
Abagond, since I moved back home, incredibly, I found “The Africa Channel” — I’ve been watching it religiously ever since!! I just ordered a book, referenced on a show about Jamaica entitled, “Finding Samuel Lowe.” You might find it interesting. Here’s a link about the author:
(if it didn’t embed, here’s the short one: https://youtu.be/vJaMQgto5cY)
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@ Abagond,
If you decide to do a post on the Watsonville Riots, let me know.
The Black Eyed Peas did at least two songs that were mostly or partially in Tagalog, and would a good companion post to that topic, ie,
1. Bebot (Filipino slang word for “chick”)
There are 2 versions of the video:
a. Generation One – which features the dance halls in Stockton, California in the 1930s where Filipino Agricultural workers frequented and sometimes danced with white women, and who were hassled by white men and the police. The video ends with an elderly man in 2006 walking by the old dance hall in Stockton’s Little Manila district, seeming to reminisce about his youth.
b. Generation Two – Filipino Americans in California in the 2000s.
2. The apl song
Featuring (non-brain drain) Filipino elderly in California who reminisce about their lives back in the Philippines. The song is in Tagalog, but the commentary is in English.
I would be happy to get the Tagalog lyrics and translate them into English if you do posts on Watsonville Riots or other Filipino American topics.
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@Deb,
Paula Madison was also discussed last year and Linda provided some additional links on her story and her journey to China to meet her mother’s brothers and sisters and her cousins:
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/settlement-of-asians-in-the-deep-south-1763-1882/#comment-235980)
In all of her commentary, Ms. Madison strongly resists the notion that being black or being African is defined by slavery. I was wondering if she gets counter attack by the other camp.
Finally, it is interesting to note that Ms. Madison’s mother was subject to the Chinese immigration quotas even though she was born in Jamaica and her mother was black. That supports the evidence that the Chinese Exclusion and later immigration quotas were based on race, and not national origin, which was not changed until the 1965 Act.
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@Lord of Mirkwood,
The main problem is not that they they are treated equally with whites, but they are penalized for being Asian (e.g., 150 pt. penalty on each of their SAT scores) so that their universities do not become majority Asian.
I know many families with kids whose surnames can pass as non-Asian mark their kids as white, black, Latino, anything but Asian to avoid this anti-Asian discrimination. In other words, they have a better chance under admissions policies to be marked as “white”.
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I hate these race history months. Sorry, but you’re never really consistent with the post. I always feel disappointed by the end of the month. I am excited for the Amy Chua one tho
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I didn’t know Manny Pacquiao was Phillipino.
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@ Mary Burrell:
Yep, he sure is. I’m waiting for the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight right now. So many Filipino peeps I know are watching.
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“Jefe,
Finally, it is interesting to note that Ms. Madison’s mother was subject to the Chinese immigration quotas even though she was born in Jamaica and her mother was black. That supports the evidence that the Chinese Exclusion and later immigration quotas were based on race, and not national origin, which was not changed until the 1965 Act.”
Linda says,
Jefe, you have to remember that coming from Jamaica,
Paula Madison’s mother would have been considered “Chinese” race-wise, even though she is mixed-race. Jamaica did not follow a “one drop” theory, if you are mixed, then you are considered “mixed”. Paula’s mother most likely considered herself Chinese, and society would have treated her that way.
If Paula and her brothers were raised in Jamaica, they would be part of the Chinese-Jamaican community, and seen as ethnically more Chinese than black.
Nell Lowe’s (Paula’s mother) father was Hakka and Nell’s mother was mixed-race (black/white). Nell looked Chinese, not black, so therefore, immigration treated her as they saw her.
so, most likely, if Nell had to fill out any official paperwork, she would have put down her Ethnicity as Chinese, especially since her mixed-race mother was considered brown in Jamaica.
I’m glad Paula and her brothers were raised in America, because they were exposed to racism on a different scale than they would have been in the Caribbean.
and like myself, they are aware that in the USA, being mixed-race, does Not give you any special advantages (contrary to popular opinion).
I would love to know what inspired them to start the Africa Channel.
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Abagond,
I did not mean to imbed that big ole picture of Nell Lowe, sorry.
Also, please don’t forget about my request from last year about:
Smoking “Hot as Hael” Asian – Pacific Island men
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/asianpacific-american-heritage-month-origins/#comment-235000
and
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/asianpacific-american-heritage-month-origins/#comment-235076
as I said, if you are pressed for time, and
you need more pictures, I will have to find the strength to assist you 🙂
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Hey Miss Deb,
Paula’s story was very interesting and inspiring.
it’s just very sad that she did not have a connection to her Jamaican roots and it took her so long to find her family.
I wonder what happened for her to be just so cut off — there are sooo many Jamaicans in New York City — the fact that she had to travel to Canada to meet a Chinese Jamaican is crazy
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Reblogged this on The inconvenient Truths .
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Hi Linda,
As always, thank you for your background information.
re: your statement
Yes, I had already got that. But that was not at all my point.
Most immigration quotas are based on National origin. And historically, persons traveling from most Western hemisphere countries to the USA were not subject to any exclusions or restrictions.
That is, unless you were of Chinese (even partially) descent. The Chinese Exclusion Act and post WWII immigration quotas were all about race, and not national origin. No other immigration restriction to the USA was about race or ethnicity.
The USA was so intent on keeping ethnic Chinese out, that even mixed Chinese-black-white NON-Chinese citizens from unrestricted countries were subject to the exclusions and quotas for Chinese.
Was she really cut off from her Jamaica roots per se?
Anyhow, I think once Jamaicans came to the USA, they probably were inclined to, if not forced to resegregate themselves according to USA racial definitions, not Jamaican ones. Are there any Jamaican Chinese community organizations in New York City?
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Reblogged this on Indiĝenaj Inteligenteco.
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Reblogged this on Refugee Archives @ UEL.
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@Linda: I always appreciate what you bring to the table.
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I still don’t think that the media (when they do show Asians) show them with respect. They do some crazy stuff that they wouldn’t try with Black people anymore.
(https://screen.yahoo.com/community/community-episode-8-intro-recycled-070001874.html)
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@King,
It is a minstrel show in yellowface.
The only difference from the 1960s is that whites no longer do the yellowface.
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@ jefe
Which means that Asians are left to do their own yellowface??!!
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@King
I don’t really see it as any different from the black minstrel shows:
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/minstrel-show/)
First whites did “C00n” stereotypes in blackface; then blacks did the stereotypes in black face.
It means that Asians have no control of their images, so whites select the yellowface caricatures. 50-60 years ago, whites played them in yellowface. Now Asians do the yellowface character (because even whites know that there is something wrong with having a white person do it).
Blackface is largely gone (or at least considered to be in very bad taste). Yellowface is still here and as popular as ever.
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I disagree with the assessment that Asian Americans could be the new Jews. Asian Americans are too diverse to be compared with Jews. I cannot imagine impoverished Southeast Asian groups like Hmong, Cambodians and Laotians reaching that level of racial privilege afforded to Jews. With educated and well-off Chinese, Japanese and Korean business owners, this is somewhat feasible. I also think lighter-skinned Asians will fare much better than darker skinned Asians as well. Even if you examine yellow fever, most white men go for light skinned Chinese, Koreans and Japanese while rarely courting darker skinned Cambodians and Filipinos. But Jews have been assimilated into whiteness for a long time now. I’d go as far to say Armenians are more “ethnic” and face more discrimination in America as a whole. In L.A., you have Armenian gangs. The rate of Asian gang membership slightly outsizes the overall population in America whereas white gang membership is proportionally much, much lower relative to the white population of America. The thought of a violent Jewish street gang in America is laughable material for a Saturday Night Live skit.
Jews left the ghettos of America many, many decades ago. Jews are probably the only ethnic group in America to completely avoid modern ghettoization. Can you name a single lower income Jewish neighborhood in America where the crime rate is much higher than the national average? The same cannot be said of Asian Americans because some of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in California are heavily to majority Asian American in demographics. There are even high crime lower income white communities in America from Pigtown in Baltimore to Buffalo, NY.
Also, Jews never faced the amount of discrimination that Asians do in America. While Jews faced near genocide in Europe during the Holocaust, there were no internment camps for Jews in America, no Jewish exclusion acts, no laws to stop Jews from marrying whites, no railroad building, no aggressive mainstream propaganda campaigns against Jews etc.
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@ jefe
It’s fascinating that the principle doesn’t carry over though. I mean, you’d think people would get it that if it’s not cool doing it to Blacks, then it’s also not cool doing it to Asians either. I guess nobody ever said that racism has to make sense.
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[…] Source: abagond.wordpress.com […]
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I just picked up Amy Tan’s “Joy Luck Club” from a book sale, so I just added her to the list.
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Jefe@ Are there any Jamaican Chinese community organizations in New York City?
most likely, there is the Chinese Cultural Association/Foundation in Miami and Jamaica, so I’m sure they have a branch in New York, like they do in Toronto.
Both of Paula’s parents were Jamaican, that’s why I seemed surprised she seemed to have a weak link to her Jamaican relatives.
But then again, reading her biography, Paula and her brothers were Very successful in corporate America, so they were probably more focused on their education and careers growing up.
It seems Paula had reached out to her Jamaican family and while in Jamaica, visiting her family, she learned about Toronto and the Hakka conference.
She says that she goes to China every 6 months. She and her Chinese family members have started a business together.
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Linda,
maybe you can do a post about Paula Madison? It seems like you know a lot about her.
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This is great! I am an African American in a multiracial family and I have Asian American nieces and nephews. I will be happy to share some of my learnings. I also look forward to the post on Amy Tan, who is one of my favorite authors.
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I decided to step into the library yesterday and looked at 4 English language textbooks on USA history published in the USA in the 1980s or 1990s. They look targeted for Senior high school students.
Each had 400-500pp. Two made no mention whatsoever to any aspect of Asian American history; Two made 2-3 references each that added together would make up less than a paragraph. That means that they role played in US history and culture amounts to way less than 0.1%.
There is more in one single post in Abagaond’s blog than in all 4 textbooks added together.
Now, what are Americans (of any background) supposed to think once they graduate from High School? And, if that American is of Asian descent, what are they supposed to think about the history of the US and how their family relates to that?
What’s more,
Blacks and Native Americans figured into US history only the extent that affected white Anglos. The history of racism post- Civil War was summarized in 3-4 pages.
That pretty much sums up the Anglo view of US history.
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@ Jefe
Oh yes, please, if you get a chance. That would be great. I will be doing a post on the Watsonville Riot. Thanks.
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I thought I was going to have to translate the lyrics myself, but I actually found English versions of the lyrics to match the Tagalog ones, so it saves me the trouble.
I took a look at the translation – there is a word here and there I might have put differently, but it is close enough.
Bebot (2006)
Original lyrics (Lyrics (http://www.metrolyrics.com/bebot-lyrics-black-eyed-peas.html)
English translation: (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/bebotenglishversion.html)
If you need the videos, I can email some links.
Let me know if you will draft the post yourself, or if you need help with that. However, I will be “off the grid”, ie, no gmail, wordpress, youtube, etc. for a couple days next week.
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By the way, “Bebot” is Tagalog slang for “babe” or “hot chick”. There is a good summary in Wikipedia about the origin of the video and the use of the word.
Please be aware that there are 2 separate music video versions (Generation One and Generation Two) for this recording, and both should be included to get the full impact of the video.
If you are interested in doing the other song partly in Tagalog by the Black Eyed peas, most of the song is actually in English, only the chorus is in Tagalog.
The APL song (2003) from the album “Elephunk”
Also found English translation for the lyrics.
(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/theaplsong.html)
(Already includes English translation of the Tagalog lyrics)
Again, there is a word here and there I might have put differently, but it is close enough.
And again, let me know if you cannot find the video for this one – I will have to send it separately as you don’t allow too many links in your blog comments.
It is interesting to note that the man playing the young Filipino WWII soldier in the video is California-born Filipino American Dante Basco, who starred in the movie The Debut (2001), a film produced by, directed by and featuring Filipino-Americans.
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@ Jefe
Thanks!
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May 19th already, and we have not made too much headway into the list. Any of the posts in the works, or will it spill into June?
The Hispanic, Native American and Black history and heritage months in the past year turned out to be almost a dud. It is not that the other posts are not interesting or timely, but it sets up a false expectation.
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I’m really interested in an Amy Chua & university admissions post. The recent lawsuit against Harvard concerning Asian admission would be great material for the post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-misleading-lawsuit-accusing-harvard-of-bias-against-asian-americans/2015/01/02/cc7a7c52-91e5-11e4-ba53-a477d66580ed_story.html
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@ The Pragmatist
Thank you for the link, I will be doing Amy Chua and university admissions.
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Abagond, please don’t forget to write a post regarding Back/Asian American race relations. okay?
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@ Jefe
I did get a late start, mainly due to Baltimore, which I could not NOT write about. So, in fairness, Asian American History Month on this blog will extend a week or so into June.
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@ Leigh
Okay.
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^ Yay, I can’t wait!!!
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I did ask about doing a post on Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club i actually liked that film. I also enjoyed Snow Falling On Cedars.
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In one of my Google+ pages Oxford Word of the day is “kawaii” in Japanese popular culture means “cute” They even use it in a sentence. Even in a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo “kawaii” is everywhere.
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It would be interesting to read an up to date post on Pacific Islanders. Somehow you leave them out whenever you do Asian American History month topics.
It seems like Pacific Islanders’s generally play second fiddle (maybe 3rd lol) when addressing Asian American history. Definitely after the Chinese and Japanese, and somewhere behind people society readily identifies as Asian but as not necessarily fitting into the “model minority” idea such as Cambodians, Vietnamese or Southeast Asians (excluding Indian Americans) period. But that’s just my opinion. 🙂
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@Mary Burrell
Whereas it was quite refreshing to see a Hollywood film do a film featuring a Chinese-American cast that did not only have a couple versions of stereotyped cardboard characters, it was particularly scathing towards Asian males. If you notice, all of the men that the mothers were involved with in China were HORRIBLE men (from the viewpoint of the plot). All of the men the mothers married in the states were basically neutered men with cardboard character. The only daughter married to a Chinese American man was in a bad marriage and divorced him. At the end, all of the daughters had reconciled with, or were dating white men, which undoubtedly was connected to Amy Tan’s own life.
The director Wayne Wang directed other films with Chinese American themes, e.g., Chan is Missing, Eat A bowl of tea, etc. which did not portray Asian men in such a bad light. Eat a Bowl of Tea was based on a novel written by a Chinese American male and the plot focused mostly on men in New York’s Chinatown in the late 1940s..
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A post on the other Amy is coming.
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@Abagond: Richard Aoki who was active in the Black Panther Party and Yuri Kochiyama human rights activist.
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@jefe: Now that you mention that yes i do remember the men being awful. At the time i was not conscious about how these portrayals affected Asian men until i started reading blogs such as Abagond’s and having discourse with commenters such as yourself and Kiwi. I am enlightened now.
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^Such as Kiwi and yourself^^^
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@Kiwi,
Would you care to share your experience about the Wong Fu Brothers, perhaps with some background about the growth in Youtube celebrity stars (and how this has evolved in reaction to the snubs from Hollywood), maybe even do a guest post on it?
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@ Abagond:
I was hoping you could still do a post on Black/Asian American race relations. 😎
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^ The subject is so vast, it probably could not be addressed in a single post. Also, it is not strictly an Asian-American topic as it affects US society in general.
But yeah, some more posts related to that topic would be good.
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@ Jefe:
Yes, I know the subject is extensive. However, I’d like to see a post on this topic get started.
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A few posts deal with this:
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/black-men-asian-women/)
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/chinese-americans-in-the-deep-south-after-1882/)
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/the-model-minority-stereotype/)
But admittedly, not much. I do think there is a large interest among the readers on this blog.
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@ Leigh
I haven’t forgotten. I still want to do that, Amy Tan and Filipino Americans before the summer is over.
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@ Abagond:
Sweet! I can’t wait! I’m glad you’re doing a post on Filipino Americans. In my experience, not very many people know about Filipinos. More people know about Chinese or Japanese folks.
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