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AsianWeek: A Lesson in Racism
Kenneth Eng’s “Why I Hate Blacks” column in AsianWeek stirred an uproar that reached a national stage. AsianWeek terminated his columns and apologized profusely, but NAM Editor, Sandip Roy, wonders if ethnic media can report about the realities of race relations without fanning the flames, and what standard should it take? Roy is the host for UpFront on KALW, 91.7 FM.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Something is rotten in the state of race relations in America and we are building a town-hall over it. Kenneth “Why I Hate Blacks” Eng has lost his gig ranting about why he hates different ethnic groups before he got around to Latinos and Jews. His publisher AsianWeek has apologized profusely for the “promotion of hate speech” but with the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors and even Speaker Nancy Pelosi weighing in, a mea culpa might not be enough to put this storm back in the teacup.
The tempest is at full boil. Even a cursory scroll down the comments on the AsianWeek apology website reveals that the issue is far from dead. And when it comes to racial stereotyping, Kenneth Eng has plenty of company.
“So AFTER ALL of the Asian racial stereotypes of the meek little, submissive, quiet, short, geeky, or just plain inscrutable Chinese male -- we finally have an Asian Male speak his mind… Where are the articles in Asianweek documenting the discrimination against Asians in SF public housing by certain "protected" groups?” demands DF.
“AsianWeek has fallen right into the ‘You should feel sorry for the blacks’ trap that is fueled via the media by the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.. AsianWeek should just go for the gusto and check all of themselves into rehab, HAHAHAHA,” scoffs EZ-E.
“Eng should be fired when Hot 97 fires Miss Jones. Her comments were much more racist and yet she only got a slap on the wrist,” writes Sara referring to New York’s Hot 97 WQHT-FM host Miss Jones who called Asians "chinks" and mocked tsunami victims.
In the anonymous world of the Internet, it is hard to tell if these posters really feel that way or are they just garden variety flamers, the Net’s version of agent provocateurs?
Of course there are also plenty of people raking Eng and AsianWeek over the coals for bigotry, ignorance, blanket stereotyping and plain old stupidity. But here’s what gives me pause for thought. Eng’s problem isn’t that he aired the community’s dirty laundry. It’s that he didn’t really think it was a problem at all.
I’d think he was just a freak offshoot of some Asian KKK except I remember when I first moved to the US as a graduate student in a small leafy town in the Midwest, on the first day I was there, a helpful older student from the Indian Students Alliance pulled me aside. “Suresh” gave me three “helpful” tips to survive in America – where I could find Indian spices like turmeric and garam masala, don’t walk down the streets holding hands with a male classmate like you did in India because people will think you are a “homo” and don’t live on the east side of the town across the railway tracks (“that’s where the 'kallus' (blacks) live.”)
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=5f3332a5f98750b331e6664dcd60c75b
The tempest is at full boil. Even a cursory scroll down the comments on the AsianWeek apology website reveals that the issue is far from dead. And when it comes to racial stereotyping, Kenneth Eng has plenty of company.
“So AFTER ALL of the Asian racial stereotypes of the meek little, submissive, quiet, short, geeky, or just plain inscrutable Chinese male -- we finally have an Asian Male speak his mind… Where are the articles in Asianweek documenting the discrimination against Asians in SF public housing by certain "protected" groups?” demands DF.
“AsianWeek has fallen right into the ‘You should feel sorry for the blacks’ trap that is fueled via the media by the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.. AsianWeek should just go for the gusto and check all of themselves into rehab, HAHAHAHA,” scoffs EZ-E.
“Eng should be fired when Hot 97 fires Miss Jones. Her comments were much more racist and yet she only got a slap on the wrist,” writes Sara referring to New York’s Hot 97 WQHT-FM host Miss Jones who called Asians "chinks" and mocked tsunami victims.
In the anonymous world of the Internet, it is hard to tell if these posters really feel that way or are they just garden variety flamers, the Net’s version of agent provocateurs?
Of course there are also plenty of people raking Eng and AsianWeek over the coals for bigotry, ignorance, blanket stereotyping and plain old stupidity. But here’s what gives me pause for thought. Eng’s problem isn’t that he aired the community’s dirty laundry. It’s that he didn’t really think it was a problem at all.
I’d think he was just a freak offshoot of some Asian KKK except I remember when I first moved to the US as a graduate student in a small leafy town in the Midwest, on the first day I was there, a helpful older student from the Indian Students Alliance pulled me aside. “Suresh” gave me three “helpful” tips to survive in America – where I could find Indian spices like turmeric and garam masala, don’t walk down the streets holding hands with a male classmate like you did in India because people will think you are a “homo” and don’t live on the east side of the town across the railway tracks (“that’s where the 'kallus' (blacks) live.”)
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=5f3332a5f98750b331e6664dcd60c75b
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The hypocrisy of the Democratic Party in demanding one of its bourgois Babbit business community mouthpieces, Asian Week, pretend to be not racist, is disgusting. The racism and male chauvinism that exists throughout this society, courtesy both the Democrats (formerly known as the Dixiecrats) and the Republicans, is glaringly evident in the latest, not suprising statistics. From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/03/BAGJ2OETS11.DTL
SF Chronicle, 3/3/07 article by Bob Egelko entitled "CALIFORNIA
Judiciary heavily white and male, report shows
Statewide study finds even bigger disparity among attorneys"
The attorneys and judges of California are overwhemlingly white and male, some 40 years since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, meaning that very little has changed. 72% of California''s 1,598 judges are men; 66% of California lawyers are men while women are the majority of the California population, at least 51%. At least 70% of the judges are white (other surveys indicate 83% of California judges are white). The Cal population is 46% white officially, and a good deal less if the non-white communities were accurately polled. The remaining statistics are: Judges: 4.4% black, 6.3% Latino, 4.4% Asian, 4.4% more than 1 color; 9.9% did not respond, and the rest were other ethnicities. The second survey showing 83% white judges showed 17% of the judges were non-white. As to the 210,000 California lawyers, 84.4% are white, 1.7% are African American, 3.8% are Latino, 5.3% are Asian/Pacific islander and the rest are mixed or other ethnicities. California's population is: 51% female, 46% or less white, 32% Latino, 12% Asian, and 8% black. The Latino population is probably larger and the white population is probably less.
You can be sure the physician statistics are just as reactionary, if not worse. This is the "leadership" of this backward, cesspool country that claims to be a democracy. Please, spare us the rhetoric and hypocrisy. The "progress" made is that there are some women and some non-whites serving as judges, lawyers and doctors. Before 1970, it was practically unheard of for women and non-whites to be judges, lawyers or doctors. The lack of serious progress is due to the fact that there is no advancement opportunity for the workingclass because there is no labor movement. See the State of Working America 2006-2007 by Mishel, Bernstein & Allegretto, published by the Economic Policy Institute & Cornell University Press. See http://www.Stateofworkingamerica.org/ The United States is going backward as fast as it possibly can with no pay raises for 6 years, no opportunity for advancement, a privately funded medical system that is a nightmare and much more. The world wants to know, what is the American workingclass waiting for?
SF Chronicle, 3/3/07 article by Bob Egelko entitled "CALIFORNIA
Judiciary heavily white and male, report shows
Statewide study finds even bigger disparity among attorneys"
The attorneys and judges of California are overwhemlingly white and male, some 40 years since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, meaning that very little has changed. 72% of California''s 1,598 judges are men; 66% of California lawyers are men while women are the majority of the California population, at least 51%. At least 70% of the judges are white (other surveys indicate 83% of California judges are white). The Cal population is 46% white officially, and a good deal less if the non-white communities were accurately polled. The remaining statistics are: Judges: 4.4% black, 6.3% Latino, 4.4% Asian, 4.4% more than 1 color; 9.9% did not respond, and the rest were other ethnicities. The second survey showing 83% white judges showed 17% of the judges were non-white. As to the 210,000 California lawyers, 84.4% are white, 1.7% are African American, 3.8% are Latino, 5.3% are Asian/Pacific islander and the rest are mixed or other ethnicities. California's population is: 51% female, 46% or less white, 32% Latino, 12% Asian, and 8% black. The Latino population is probably larger and the white population is probably less.
You can be sure the physician statistics are just as reactionary, if not worse. This is the "leadership" of this backward, cesspool country that claims to be a democracy. Please, spare us the rhetoric and hypocrisy. The "progress" made is that there are some women and some non-whites serving as judges, lawyers and doctors. Before 1970, it was practically unheard of for women and non-whites to be judges, lawyers or doctors. The lack of serious progress is due to the fact that there is no advancement opportunity for the workingclass because there is no labor movement. See the State of Working America 2006-2007 by Mishel, Bernstein & Allegretto, published by the Economic Policy Institute & Cornell University Press. See http://www.Stateofworkingamerica.org/ The United States is going backward as fast as it possibly can with no pay raises for 6 years, no opportunity for advancement, a privately funded medical system that is a nightmare and much more. The world wants to know, what is the American workingclass waiting for?
For more information:
http://www.Stateofworkingamerica.org/
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