opinion
How I Came to Terms With Being Asian
I wasn’t going to write this article.
Normally, I publish about virtual and augmented reality and how technology can enhance our lives, so going deep within my personal experience and being vulnerable is something I truly have avoided, and have rarely spoken out about in the past. Frankly, I’ve never looked at myself as a voice for Asian people as I’ve always felt detached and disconnected from that identity.
10 Years After Starring in ‘Gran Torino’, I See Today’s Anti-Asian Racism for What it Really Is
Back in 2008, I starred opposite Clint Eastwood in “Gran Torino” playing the lead Hmong role in a tale of two people transcending their differences to form an unlikely human bond. It was a historic cinematic moment for Hmong people around the world, despite its copious anti-Asian slurs.
At the time, there was a lot of discussion about whether the movie’s slurs were insensitive and gratuitous or simply “harmless jokes.” I found it unnerving, the laughter that the slurs elicited in theaters with predominantly white audiences. And it was always white people who would say, “Can’t you take a joke?”
Why I Refuse to Be an Asian Tiger Mom or a Pushover Parent
Editor’s Note: Katharine Chan is a Chinese-Canadian author, mother, and culture blogger behind the site Sum on Sleeve. The views expressed in this piece are solely her own.
Have you ever seen the High Expectations Asian Father meme? Or remember author Amy Chua back in the early 2010s, when her controversial book about tiger mothers blew up around the world?
We Started With A Napkin and Ended Up With An Nintendo Wii
We met at our local ice cream shop to get a napkin and begin our quest.
The day before, Vaibhav shared with Brandon and me a famous TED talk about how Kyle Macdonald played this game called Bigger or Better where he would offer an item to trade for something bigger or better.
Think Adopting Children of Color Makes You Woke? It Doesn’t
White people have been adopting children of color for decades, using infertility, religion, or unacknowledged white saviorism to explain their choice. An entire adoption industry supports itself on white people’s desire to parent — which is not in of itself a bad thing — but only recently did anyone consider transracial adoption’s ramifications.
Scouring the internet reveals some of these white parents trying to do right by their transracially adopted kids. This isn’t directed at them. In fact, I’m friends with many of those rockstar white parents and they’re doing adoption right. But this right here is a direct message to white people who think adopting yellow, brown, and black children somehow enwokens™ them to the needs of people of color.
How Asian Men Get Lured Into The Toxic ‘Incel Community’
Editor’s Note: Eric Trinh Chu is an educator from San Francisco. The opinions expressed in this piece are solely his own.
There isn’t much I find surprising about the news of Alek Minassian’s terrorist attack, or of his self-proclaimed idea of an “incel rebellion.” What surprises me is how much I see my younger-self staring back at me.
A Letter to My Crazy (and Maybe Not Rich) Asians
Editor’s Note: Anna Zhang is a writer, teacher, and first generation Fuzhounese American from Brooklyn, New York. The views expressed in this piece are solely her own.
A lot of Asian people I know have this tendency to be perfectionists, myself included.
This Japanese Douchebag Has No Business Talking About Race In America
Editor’s Note: Ranier Maningding is a copywriter and mastermind behind the social justice page “The Love Life of an Asian Guy“. The opinions expressed in this piece are solely his own.
This week, Nobita, a Japanese Youtuber who makes budget videos on Japanese culture, posted a video titled “The Black People may be DANGEROUS for Japan.” For ten whole minutes, Nobita explained why he thinks Black people are bad for Japanese culture.
Starbucks is Trying to Fix Its Problem with Racism — Now It’s the Police’s Turn
Editor’s Note: Dr. Eugene Gu is a resident physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and president of the Ganogen Research Institute. He graduated from Stanford University with honors and holds an M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine. The views expressed in this piece are solely his own.
Last week, a video went viral on Twitter showing a large group of police officers arresting two African-American men at a Starbucks store in Philadelphia.
My Experience With a White Worshipper
Editor’s Note: Carol Wild is a Taiwanese/New Zealander Blogger. The views expressed in this piece are solely her own.
To be honest with you, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to post this.
Why Mulan is the Ultimate Asian American
Editor’s Note: Benjamin To is a Los Angeles based writer, director, and producer who founded BAND WITH NO NAME Films. The views expressed in this piece are solely is own.
June 5th, 1998.
The Day I Changed The Conversation Around Our Chinese Family’s Dinner Table
Editor’s Note: Katharine Chan is a Chinese-Canadian author, mother, and culture blogger behind the site Sum on Sleeve. The views expressed in this piece are solely her own.
It’s my time to reflect on those (sometimes annoying) mandatory Chinese family dinners growing up, and how they’ve changed as I got older and became a mom.