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8.30.2015

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7 Things About Asian-Americans You'll Never Learn From the Mainstream Media: There is no shortage of stereotypes plaguing media portrayals of Asian Americans. Here are some stories that need to be told about Asian Americans in the media today -- and which stereotypes need to die.

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Jeb Bush, "anchor babies," and America's deep legacy of anti-Asian American racism: "'Anchor baby' doesn't actually have the same connotations when it's transferred from Latinos to Asians, because the underlying stereotypes about each group are different. Unfortunately for Bush, however, talking about birth tourism and "anchor babies" plays into some long-established and very painful stereotypes about the inherent foreignness of Asian Americans."

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The real 'anchor babies' are conservatives, not Asians: "As Jeb Bush must realize after his clumsy attempts to establish his conservative base and maintain his moderate facade, the hard-core nativists that make up the heart of the Republican Party are the real "anchor babies." And they're dragging Republicans down into the swamp of irrelevance."

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Student starts #MyAsianAmericanStory in response to Bush remarks: A Redondo Beach high school student, Jason Fong, launched #MyAsianAmericanStory, a Twitter conversation responding to Bush's xenophobic remarks. Fong talks about learning from #BlackLivesMatter about how people in power create divisions between minorities.

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Donald Trump meet Wong Kim Ark, the Chinese American cook who is the father of 'birthright citizenship': While it never quite received the landmark status as other high-profile Supreme Court decisions, in the annals of civil rights in America, U.S. vs. Kim Wong Ark is a huge case. Had the decision gone the other way, instead of a nation of immigrants, America would have become "colonies of foreigners."

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American devotion to order over justice must end: Last summer, human rights lawyer Chaumtoli Huq was unlawfully arrested and detained. Huq talks about the people she met while in custody, going through the criminal justice system as a client, and how disruption is essential in achieving social justice.

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'This only happened because people organized.' Nail salon workers speak out after NYT exposé: Sarah Maslin Nir's New York Times exposé on working conditions in nail salons ignited a firestorm of outrage and debate over industry practices. Sukjong Hong, the creator of this graphic journalism piece, counts many salon workers among members of her community. Having taken part in a salon worker's wage recovery campaign, Hong provides a look at ongoing organizing efforts for better conditions, as well as nail workers' responses to the Times report.

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Seeing Myself: In Search of the Inciting Incident: An essay on adoption, return, and imagination by Korean American adoptee Matthew Salesses, author of The Hundred-Year Flood.

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The 'self-fulfilling prophecy' of stereotyping Asian American students: Sociologist Jennifer Lee talks about how stereotypes based on race can determine Asian American students' chances for success.

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Yick Wo: How A Racist Laundry Law In Early San Francisco Helped Civil Rights: The story of Lee Yick, a Chinese laundry store owner, took the city of San FRancisco all the way to the Supreme Court over discriminatory enforcement of a fire-safety ordinance -- and won -- in 1886.

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An important message to 2015 Ed Lee, from 1977 Ed Lee: In 1977, Ed Lee fought for tenant rights. Today, the San Francisco mayor perpetuates the city's current rental crisis, even saying that the homeless are "going to have to leave" to make way for the NFL Super Bowl 50 city.

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#WomensEqualityDay Forgets Women of Colour: Facebook greeted many of its members with a banner celebrating the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment... Only, the "diverse" faces depicted in the graphic weren't even allowed to vote until much, much later, and the right to vote is still not a guarantee to all.

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Owen Wilson's "No Escape" is another attempt to depict Asian people as evil "others": No Escape stars a white family who gets stuck in an unnamed Southeast Asian country during a coup d'etat -- once again perpetuating stereotypes of Asian "backwardness" and making bodies of color disposable.

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As an Asian-American, I never thought diversity mattered until I founded my own startup: Roger Wu didn't care about diversity, In fact, sometimes the topic made him angry. But when he founded a startup entered the Silicon Valley world, he started to think about its importance.

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Justin Kim Goes From Small Town, USA to 'America's Next Top Model': Justin Kim has gone from Small Town, USA to America's Next Top Model as the show's first Korean American male model contestant.

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Ken Jeong: How to Ditch Medicine for a Career in Comedy and Diagnose Castmates (Guest Column): The creator and star of the ABC comedy Dr. Ken was an internist with Kaiser Permanente until his breakout roles (as a doctor) in 'Knocked Up.' He still renews his medical license every year…just in case.

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Go Away With ... Kristen Kish: Former Top Chef winner Kristen Kish, host of the new Travel Channel show 36 Hours, talks about travel, food, and the destination at the top of her bucket list.

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Interview: Gay Indian comic explains how invisibility fuels homophobia: Comedian Nik Dodani talks about coming out to his family, LGBT comedy, and how invisibility fuels homophobia.

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At Home With: Miss Info: Take a peek inside the Brooklyn home of legendary hip-hop journalist blogger, radio personality, and brand new mom Minya Oh, aka Miss Info.


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