Read These Blogs

Keeping Love Close
What does love look like in a time of hate? Asian and Asian American photographers respond.

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He Was Charged in an Anti-Asian Attack. It Was His 33rd Arrest.
Many people arrested in assaults on Asian residents in New York have had a history of mental health episodes, arrests and homelessness, complicating the city's search for an effective response.

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In Response To Anti-Asian Hate Incidents, Groups Step Up Trainings For Bystanders
Hollaback! offers trainings that give bystanders tools for intervening when they see someone being harassed or disrespected, with a focus on the person experiencing the conflict.

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Commentary: The casual racism of mispronouncing an Asian person's name
"Mispronouncing someone's name, accidentally or on purpose, at the very least demonstrates a selective laziness to learn the correct way to address or acknowledge a person."

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A Lifetime of Reading Taught Min Jin Lee How to Write About Her Immigrant World
"I don't remember how I learned to read books in Korea or America. As a child, I couldn't speak well or find friends, but I was a very early reader."

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Why So Many Asian Americans Are Learning Remotely
Asian American students are far more likely to be learning remotely than members of any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. Because of the racism.

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The Bay Area town that drove out its Chinese residents for nearly 100 years
Before the white residents of Antioch burned down Chinatown in 1876, they banned Chinese people from walking the city streets after sunset.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Hollywood Must Do More to Combat Asian Stereotypes
While progress in the portrayal of Asians is real, it has been maddeningly slow.

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‘Kung Fu’ Rights the Wrongs of Its Ancestor
CW's gender-flipped martial arts reboot of Kung Fu departs from its 1970s predecessor by having a predominantly Asian American cast.

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Maurene Goo Weaves a Web on All Things Cindy Moon, Journalism, and the Korean-American Identity
In celebration of Silk's grand return, acclaimed author Maurene Goo sits down with Women of Marvel to share her experience.

They Call Us Bruce 122: They Call Us Rep. Grace Meng

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome Rep. Grace Meng, who represents New York's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. The congresswoman talks about taking leadership amidst tragedy in the Asian American community, seizing this moment of hypervisibility, and accepting our stories as American stories.

Read These Blogs

Swelling Anti-Asian Violence: Who Is Being Attacked Where
Over the last year, people of Asian descent have been pushed, beaten, kicked, spit on and called slurs. Homes and businesses have been vandalized. The violence has known no boundaries, spanning generations, income brackets and regions. Using media reports from across the country, The New York Times attempted to capture a sense of the rising tide of anti-Asian bias nationwide.

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Atlanta Spa Shootings: What Korean-Language Media Told Us That the Mainstream Media Didn't
Korean American communities in Georgia and across the U.S. have been outraged at the differences between Korean-language and English-language coverage of the mass shootings.

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From colonialism to Covid: Viet Thanh Nguyen on the rise of anti-Asian violence
Anti-Asian racism is on the rise around the world. Pulitzer-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen reflects on his own experiences as a Vietnamese American – and the dark history that continues to fuel the current hate.

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Three children told me and my son to 'go back to China.' Here's how I reacted.
When Michael Kurima and his family faced racism, Kurima jumped into action.

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America Ruined My Name for Me
"I cannot detach the name Bich from people laughing at me, calling me a bitch, letting me know that I'm the punch line of my own joke."

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Sen. Mazie Hirono Wonders How Some Republicans Live With Themselves
"Even after being elected to the Senate in 2012, the Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono was, by her own choosing, a politician little known outside her home state. Then, around 2016 and the election of a particularly divisive president, Hirono, who was born in Japan and is the Senate's only immigrant, decided that staying under the radar was unsustainable."

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Asian American Runners Fight to Reclaim a Refuge
Amid rising racism, many have reported being slurred or coughed or spit upon on their routes in the last year.

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The History of Anti-Asian-American Violence
The filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña discusses the Atlanta shootings, the murder of Vincent Chin, and the complexities of Asian identity in the United States.

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15 Asian American Children's Books to Read As a Family Right Now
"These stories recommended by Asian American children's book authors make excellent conversation starters about different cultures and the importance of respecting others."

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10 Essential Podcasts From AAPI Creators
"These podcasts explore the richness and complexity of Asian American identity, and emphasize how AAPI history is integral to American history."

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Catching Up With NYC's "Vaccine Daddy"
He helped thousands of New Yorkers get vaccinated. Now he's using his platform to combat anti-Asian racism.

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She Never Dreamed of Acting. Now She's an Oscar Nominee for 'Minari.'
The veteran Korean star Yuh-Jung Youn has had a thriving career for five decades — all because of a choice she made when she failed her college entrance exam.

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Sandi Tan "Unscares" Herself by Writing Her Worst Nightmares
The director behind Shirkers returns with a beautiful, demented, and deeply funny new novel called Lurkers.

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On Building a Brighter Future, Together
Nicole Kang, Leah Lewis, Momona Tamada, and Adeline Rudolph—talented actors and close friends—came together for a roundtable discussion full of love and support about the state of Asian inclusivity in Hollywood and their hopes for what's next.

Read These Blogs

A Letter to My Fellow Asian Women Whose Hearts Are Still Breaking
"Still and always, hypersexualized, ignored, gaslit, marginalized, and disrespected as we've been, I am so fortified, so alive, when I'm with us."

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How Racism and Sexism Intertwine to Torment Asian American Women
Many viewed the shooting rampage in Atlanta that left eight people dead as the culmination of a racialized misogyny that they say has long been directed at them.

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Racism, sexism must be considered in Atlanta case involving killing of six Asian women, experts say
While police said the suspect denied having racial motivations, experts and activists alike say it's nearly impossible to divorce race from the discourse, given the historical fetishization of Asian women.

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To be an Asian woman in America
"To be an Asian woman in America means you can't just be what you are: a fully enfranchised human being. It means you are a blank screen on which others project their stories, especially, too often, their sexualized fantasies -- because US culture has long presented Asian women as sexualized objects for White male enjoyment."

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The spa shootings reignited the trauma of everyday racism and misogyny
"The news brought to mind the men who have seen my Asian face, my Asian body, as something to conquer."

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Column: If the mass killing of six Asian women isn't a hate crime, what is?
Let's not accept how law enforcement frames the mass killing of people of color.

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Steph Cha: The Atlanta shooting is another reminder the cops are not our friends
"The police and law-and-order conservatives are always happy to use us and even protect us when it suits their needs. And although we might benefit from their attention, they don't actually care about us. The system they serve wasn't built for us. It was built for white people."

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How Hollywood Is Complicit in the Violence Against Asians in America
Reducing Asians, women and sex workers to flat punchlines isn't just degrading — it's dangerous.

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Why This Wave of Anti-Asian Racism Feels Different
The author Cathy Park Hong sees the recent upsurge in violence as a turning point for Asian Americans.

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Asian Americans Are Being Attacked. Why Are Hate Crime Charges So Rare?
Several recent attacks have not been charged as hate crimes, fueling protests and outrage among many Asian Americans.

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Recent Rise in Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Doesn't Mean Anti-Asian Racism Is New
This op-ed talks about how recent anti-Asian violence is rooted in a long history of racism and U.S. policy.

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The history of tensions — and solidarity — between Black and Asian American communities, explained
How white supremacy tried to divide Black and Asian Americans — and how communities worked to find common ground.

Read These Blogs

What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America
"When it comes to Asian-American grief, do Americans want to know?"

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For Asian Americans, Sharing Our Grief Is an Act of Revolution
With anti-Asian violence on the rise, our fierce love for our elders is compelling us to speak our truth.

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This Is What No One Tells You About Being Asian In America In 2021
"We are used to minimizing our own pain because we don't want to rock the boat."

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Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Many Say More Policing Isn't the Answer
Hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise, and while there are a lot of possible solutions, more policing isn't the answer.

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Asians Must Stop Comparing Our Issues to Black Lives Matter
"If we as Asians, in witnessing constant protests responding to anti-Black oppression and tragedy, come away with the notion that Black people are overly favored, we should consider whether we are perpetuating the very oppression we’re supposed to be fighting."

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As an Asian American, I'm Tired of Being Racially Gaslit By My Peers
"Just as you ask us to hold our people accountable, we ask you to do the same."

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Amid attacks, school principals concerned over Asian Americans' return to class
As heightened levels of anti-Asian sentiment continue alongside the coronavirus pandemic, racist incidents and attacks on members of the Asian American community in public have, in part, persuaded some families not to send their children back to in-person schooling.

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He Writes Unreliable Narrators Because He Is One, Too
Viet Thanh Nguyen won the Pulitzer for his debut, The Sympathizer, recognition that was great for his career and bad for his writing. Now he's back with its subversive sequel, The Committed.

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Bling Empire and the Energizing Potential of Asian-American Mediocrity
Jean Chen Ho explores what we gain when we give up the idea of perfect representation.

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Meet NASA's Swati Mohan, star of Perseverance rover's epic Mars landing
The cool, collected play-by-play from one of the mission's leaders has observers around the world taking notice.

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The Secret History of a Filmmaker's Family in "No Crying at the Dinner Table"
Carol Nguyen's short documentary is a striking depiction of what families avoid discussing, and what can happen when those taboos dissolve.

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Q&A: Jeremy Lin on Finding Peace Back In the G League
The veteran guard is back where he started, fighting for an NBA roster spot with the Santa Cruz Warriors. But, as he explains, he's never felt more comfortable in his career.

They Call Us Bruce 121: They Call Us Angry Asian Man

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

Happy Angryversary! In this episode, we take a moment to observe the 20th anniversary of this blog, Angry Asian Man. It's been a journey. I look back at the blog's beginnings, how I got here, and my unique view of Asian America over the last two decades.

Read These Blogs

Crime, race, safety: what's really happening in Oakland Chinatown?
Assaults on Asians have sparked international outrage and been widely called hate crimes. Is there evidence that they were racially motivated? What do Chinatown stakeholders say Chinatown needs?

* * *
Rising crime, calls for solidarity: a deeper look at what's happening in Chinatown
Is crime in Chinatown really increasing? What does community solidarity look like?

* * *
I want justice for anti-Asian violence — but not at the expense of Black people
"Since the problems that engender crime stem from white supremacy, the solution isn't to implement a white supremacist policing system — it's to destroy the white supremacy that endangers all BIPOC."

* * *
My Mother Was a Victim of the Rise in Anti-Asian Crime—Here's What You Can Do to Help
Reaching out to local communities and their organizations, donating funds to families of victims, and other ways you can support Asian Americans affected by the rise of hate crimes.

* * *
I'm An ICU Doctor. I'm Haunted By What I've Seen During The Recent COVID-19 Surge.
"I can't stop thinking about the 40-something man who told me, 'I can't die like this. I just got engaged and have a 6-month-old baby.' I encouraged him to be positive, but that didn't stop him from dying two weeks later."

* * *
Whitewashing of Asian students and a report that launched a reckoning
A school district sparked fury after grouping Asian and white students together. The message was clear: 'Person of color' meant underperforming.

* * *
A Vision of Asian-American Cinema That Questions the Very Premise
Lulu Wang, Lee Isaac Chung, Bing Liu, Alan Yang, Justin Chon, Sandi Tan and Mira Nair talk forthrightly about staying true to themselves while navigating Hollywood and issues of identity.

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Minari and the Real Korean American Immigrants Who Have Farmed U.S. Soil for More Than a Century
For many Korean American farmers, Minari reflected many of their experiences.

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WHAT WE PLANT, WE GROW: BEHIND THE MAKING OF "MINARI"
The women behind Minari—Christina Oh (producer), Julia Kim (casting director), Kelly Park (makeup lead), Susanna Song (costume designer), and Yong Ok Lee (production designer)—share the ways they shaped this tender exploration of a Korean American family.

* * *
Minari's 8-Year-Old Breakout Star Thought Being in a Movie Would Be Kinda Nice
An interview with Alan Kim, the second-grader who made his screen debut in Minari.

* * *
Saving Face: The Half of It director's 2004 lesbian romcom debut was way ahead of its time
Alice Wu's first feature film Saving Face could have been a stock-standard star-crossed queer love story, but the Taiwanese American director had bigger ideas.

* * *
Prince From Brandy's 'Cinderella' CredMusical's Diverse Cast
Paolo Montalban reflects on playing the Asian prince opposite Brandy in 1997's Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, now streaming on Disney Plus.

* * *
Lana Condor Says Goodbye to 'To All the Boys'
Lana Condor discusses being one of the few Asian Americans to headline a rom-com and pushing to make Lara Jean more independent in To All The Boys: Always and Forever, the third and final installment of the series.

Twenty Angry Years

Happy Angryversary.



Hey, everybody! Phil here. Happy Lunar New Year. Happy Valentine's Day. And Happy Angryversary.

On this day, 20 years ago, I hit "publish" on the very first iteration of this website. I barely knew what I was doing, and I honestly didn't think anyone was going to read it, but this shiny new internet thing seemed wide open and free, so I decided to carve out a little space on it. I had no idea I was starting a thing. Two decades later, with a lot of hours and energy in between, I've found a community and a calling. That said, I've seen this day coming up on the horizon, and now that it's here, I don't know how to feel.

I feel bewildered. I know I say this every passing year, but I keep thinking I've done the math wrong. How could twenty years fly by like this? In some ways, I feel like I'm still back on my old noisy desktop monitor at the beginning of the millennium, sitting in my pajamas, coding clunky HTML. I've run this blog longer than I've done anything else. It has basically defined my adult life. In recent years, as personal and professional demands have pulled me in different directions, my time and resources have been diverted away more and more from actual blogging to podcasting, social media and other writing, but at least I can say I'm still here. But where's here?

I feel tired. Twenty years ago, I didn't know where we'd all be in 2021, but it sure as hell wasn't here. Running this blog has given me a unique vantage point. On some days, I marvel at the joys, struggles and progress of Asian America. On other days, it feels like quicksand, and I wonder if any of this is worth it. I don't have to recount what a crap collision of the time/space continuum the past year has been, or ongoing recent events that have shaken our community. It weighs heavy on the heart, I start doubting if any of this is making a difference, and I calculate the actual cost of flinging this laptop off my balcony. Also, I'm just physically tired. I need a nap.

But I also still feel hopeful. Over the years, I've seen too many heartbreaks and setbacks to count (some of them, my own) but I've also witnessed the best of our community. The people, ideas and movements that challenge and inspire me to keep this thing going. Sometimes it feels like the full-time job of being Asian American is simply convincing folks -- America, other Asians, myself -- that we exist. But Asian America is a project, and it's not yet finished. It's a work-in-progress, and it's worth it.

Most of all, I feel grateful. The last few years, I've been in the habit of asking myself "how did I get here?" The answer is you. I always say the best thing about starting Angry Asian Man has been the people it has placed in my life, friends and strangers alike. Thank you for being partners in this journey. Thank you to the loyal readers who gave me a voice and purpose. Thank you to financial backers for your faith. Thank you to colleagues and collaborators for creating something with me. Thank you to the educators, mentors and activists for lighting the way. Thank you to the ancestors for holding us on your shoulders. Special thanks to my family and loved ones who have always held my hand and had my back.

Thank you for the last twenty years. As always, stay angry.

Phil