This is What Marvel Executive Jeph Loeb Wore to the Iron Fist Panel at San Diego Comic-Con

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Marvel is quickly making a name for itself as the comic book company of unadulterated racial insensitivity and Orientalism.

While comic book fans from around the world gather in San Diego this weekend at the annual San Diego Comic-Con, attendees to the Marvel's Iron Fist panel bore witness to a breath-takingly boorish stunt by Marvel Television head, Jeph Loeb. To kick off the panel, Loeb appeared to introduce the second season of the Netflix television show. In apparent reference to criticism of the show's first season, Loeb came on stage dressed as Daniel-San from The Karate Kid -- complete with karate gi and headband -- and joked that he had trained with Mr. Miyagi in preparation for hostile fans at the panel. Shortly thereafter, actor Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing) -- who may or may not have been in on some sort of pre-scripted act with Loeb -- demanded that Loeb remove the outfit, and Loeb obliged.

There is nothing that excuses the racial insensitivity of this pointless and ugly stunt.

New York Times Editor Thinks American-Born Mirai Nagasu Is An Immigrant

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Perpetual Foreigner stereotype alert: shortly after US figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel in an Olympic competition, New York Times Opinion section editor Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) tweeted "Immigrants: they get the job done," a line from Hamilton.

The implication from Weiss' tweet was obvious: Nagasu should be celebrated as an American immigrant. One problem, though: Nagasu was born in Montebello, California. And yet, for Weiss, the place of Nagasu's birth doesn't seem to matter: instead, the colour of her skin appears to have marked Nagasu as foreign.

Why is it that American media personalities commenting on the Winter Olympics can never seem to remember that Asian Americans are American, too? Let's not forget the infamous headline: in 1998, MSNBC published a headline declaring that "American Beats Out Kwan," implying that US figure skater Michelle Kwan wasn't an American. Now again, a mainstream media commentator can't seem to figure out that Mirai Nagasu isn't an immigrant.

Ethnicity data is critical to address the diverse needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

By Karthick Ramakrishnan and Janelle Wong. Cross-Posted from AAPI Data.



Karthick Ramakrishnan, director, and Janelle Wong, senior researcher, wrote this letter with respect to H3361, a bill in Massachusetts that seeks to improve state data collection on Asian Americans

We write as the Executive Director and Senior Researcher, respectively, at AAPI Data—the leading repository for data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. We are also professors with over four decades of collective experience with original survey data collections on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations and analyses of demographic and administrative data collected at the national and state levels.

Our research findings, as well as those in dozens of other studies, have shown that there are critical differences in life chances among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that track by detailed origin. Thus, for example, Southeast Asian refugee populations have a distinct set of mental health needs that derive from wartime experiences of individuals and family members. Also, population health risks such as chronic Hepatitis B, childhood obesity, and cardiovascular disease vary significantly by detailed Asian origin. Importantly, language needs also vary dramatically by Asian detailed origin, with some groups such as Indian Americans and Filipino Americans having relatively high levels of English proficiency, and other groups such as Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean Americans have the relatively low levels of English proficiency.

George Takei Accused of Sexual Assault

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



In stunning news for the Asian American community, beloved community activist and Star Trek star George Takei has been accused of sexually assaulting former male model and commercial actor Scott R. Brunton in a 1981 incident.

Charlyne Yi Recounts Racist Remarks from Writer and Director David Cross

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Charlyne Yi -- the award-winning actor, comedian, writer, and musician best known for her role as a series regular on House, her voice acting work on Steven Universe, and her starring role in Paper Heart which she also wrote -- took to Twitter earlier this week to describe her first encounter with writer, director and actor David Cross.

In a series of four tweets, Yi -- who is mixed race Filipinx and Korean American -- describes how when she first met Cross, Cross made fun of Yi for her appearance. When she didn't respond, Cross reportedly said: "What's a matter? You don't speak English?? Ching-Chong-Ching-Chong." Cross went on to mockingly challenge Yi to a karate match.

At the time of the encounter, Cross was over forty years old, and already an established comedian, writer and TV and film actor with several stand-up comedy specials already under his belt. Yi was a veritable newcomer to the comedy and acting scene, and was only about twenty years old.

Trump Likely to End DACA - Here's What You Can Do Now

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Activists at the DREAM Action protest action in front of the White House on August 16, 2017.
(Photo credit: NAKASEC)
Politico broke the news earlier today that President Donald Trump has decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which had provided deportation protection and employment authorization for registered undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States as children. The program had been implemented by the Obama administration in 2012, and enjoys broad popularity in the United States.

Trump had promised to end DACA on the campaign trail, but had been flip-flopping on the issue since his inauguration. However, facing threats from the attorneys general of ten Republican states, Trump now appears to have decided to eliminate the DACA program, throwing the fate of over 700,000 so-called "Dreamers" -- including over 100,000 Dreamers from Asian countries -- into question.

Asian Ethnicity Data Helps Students, Saves Lives

By OiYan Poon. Cross-Posted from AAPI Data.



There have been some recent, ill-informed protests by some vocal Chinese groups against the collection of Asian ethnicity data, and it has sparked a massive response by AAPI educators and community groups. The following is an account from an educator who has spent nearly two decades helping Asian American and Pacific Islander students, including Chinese American students.

Erica* was always academically successful in high school. Her Asian immigrant parents challenged and supported her scholastic development. But when she started college, she struggled to keep up with her classes, and realized she didn't want to study pre-med, the major her parents wanted. While other students seemed to be easily finding friends and getting involved in various campus activities, Erica didn't feel she could spend time outside of her books, for fear of failing her classes. Despite increasing her study time, Erica's growing social isolation and academic anxiety began eroding her sense of self-efficacy. Her sense of belonging in college quickly began to plummet, and she became depressed over disappointing her parents. At the end of her first term, the university notified Erica that she was being placed on academic probation. Instead of turning to campus resources and services to turn things around, Erica began to consider ending her life.

As a student affairs professional, I often worked with undergraduates like Erica. In fact, during my three years working on one campus, four Asian American undergraduates committed suicide. Around that same time period, fellow student affairs professional networks discussed what seemed to be a national outbreak of Asian American student suicides, with Elizabeth Shin, who set herself on fire in her dorm room at MIT being the most infamous case.

Under Trump, Dreamers -- But Not Parents -- Will Be Allowed to Remain in U.S.

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



In a surprise announcement on the 5th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Trump administration announced yesterday that it would reverse one of the president's campaign promises and would instead continue the popular federal program. Founded in 2012, DACA granted renewable permits to undocumented immigrants who had been brought into the United States as children, protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work.

However, yesterday also saw U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly sign a memorandum to roll back a program proposed by the Obama administration in 2014 called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). DAPA was intended to provide legal protections for the undocumented parents of American citizens or residents in an effort to not break up immigrant families. That program was never put into place due to legal challenges in federal court filed by 26 states led by Republican governors.

In January, Trump was quoted as saying about undocumented immigrants, "They are here illegally. They shouldn't be very worried. I do have a big heart. We're going to take care of everybody." However, it is clear by yesterday's dual announcements that the Trump administration is less interested in "taking care of everybody", and more interested in taking care of Trump's approval rating.

Speaking Truth to Power is not Cyberbullying: On Tone Policing and Respectability Politics

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Zach McGowan (left), who is not Native Hawaiian, has been cast to play Ben Kanahele (right) in the upcoming "Ni'ihau" film.

Last week, Deadline broke the story that writer/director Gabriel Robertson (EastEnders, Bucket, The Gift) was attached to write and direct a feature film based on the infamous so-called "Ni'ihau Incident." Deadline further reported that actor Zach McGowan (Dracula Untold, Terminator: Salvation, Black Sails) -- who is not Native Hawaiian -- had been cast in the leading role of Benehakaka "Ben" Kanahele, a historical figure and Ni'ihuaian who was awarded a Purple Heart for his role in the incident.

News of McGowan's casting triggered immediate backlash from Asian American and Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander activists, who accused the filmmakers of using "Polyface" to whitewash the character of Ben Kanahele. In addition, Asian Americans criticized early buzz surrounding the planned "Ni'ihau" film, which described the incident as a "catalyst" for Japanese American incarceration (Editor's Note: see JACL's Power of Words handbook).

In truth, the events at Ni'ihau Incident was co-opted by hardline conservatives to provide a veil of legitimacy to obscure the racist and anti-Asian motives behind Japanese American incarceration. History has since confirmed that Executive Order 9066 — which led to the forcible removal of over a hundred thousand Japanese and Japanese American civilians — was not based in significant military intelligence showing that Japanese Americans were untrustworthy; rather, Japanese American incarceration emerged as the latest escalation in a decades-long pattern of legalized anti-Asian and anti-Japanese harassment and criminalization.

Online outcry against "Ni'ihau" was fervent, taking the shape of memes, Twitter threads, and long-form thinkpieces. As it turns out, the filmmakers behind the planned "Ni'ihau" film were listening; and, they weren't very receptive to the criticism.

Proof of Belonging: My Grandpa in Texas

By Michelle Lim, Voting Rights Policy Advocate. Cross-Posted from Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA.



My grandpa and me cheering on the Houston Astros -- our last home game before I moved to Los Angeles.

On Monday night, at the dinner table, my 79-year-old grandpa asked my mom if he will be safe driving around since SB4 was signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday, May 7th. I was speechless when my mom told me this over the phone. My family lives in Katy, Texas, a city within the Houston metropolitan area. I did not know what to tell her, and I couldn't make any promises that SB4 would not affect our family.

Five Showrunners Who Could Have Gotten Iron Fist Right

By Keith Chow. Cross-Posted from The Nerds of Color.



Three years ago, when I initially wrote about casting an Asian American in the lead role on Iron Fist, I had no idea the NOC would become ground zero for the #AAIronFist movement. I just never thought an Asian American Danny Rand was that radical a notion! Now that we're on the eve of the show's debut on Netflix -- in addition to its star's recent Twitter tantrum -- years-old arguments are starting to resurface on twitter and elsewhere. Coupled with early reviews savaging the series, I figured now was as good a time as any to resurrect one more Iron Fist thinkpiece before (hopefully) never having to talk about this goddamn show ever again.

Stop the Unjust Deportations of the Minnesota 8 #ReleaseMN8

Cross-Posted from 18 Million Rising



This past summer, 8 Cambodian Americans in Minnesota ("MN 8") were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for unjust deportation. Families, friends, and neighbors have banded together by launching the #ReleaseMN8 campaign. Watch their call to action video here.

What is happening is unjust because the Obama Administration pledged to deport felons, not families. Unjust deportation is an important Asian American issue and families are fighting to stay together (e.g. the Adam Crapser Korean Adoptee case). Now the next Trump Administration may escalate attacks on Asian American families, even though we understand that deporting people who contribute to society is a waste of time and money.

Asian American Students File to Join Harvard Lawsuit and Defend Affirmative Action

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (AAAJ-LA) held a press conference moments ago to announce that lawyers with the group will represent two Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) high school students who wish to present their support of race-conscious affirmative action admission before the Supreme Court if and when the justices hear arguments next year about an anti-affirmative action lawsuit filed against the school by Edward Blum, the architect behind Abigail Fisher’s earlier failed attempts to dismantle affirmative action before the Court.

The two AAPI high school students represented by AAAJ-LA are current applicants to Harvard University, and both believe that race-conscious affirmative action is beneficial; AAAJ-LA filed paperwork yesterday to help the students join an existing group of diverse students who will have "amicus plus" status to present their support for affirmative action in a pending anti-affirmative action case, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

In the Students for Fair Admissions case, lobbyist Edward Blum specifically recruited disgruntled Asian American students to serve as the next Abigail Fisher, in hopes of weaponizing a stereotyped, Model Minority Myth narrative of Asian Americans against other students of colour. Blum’s lawsuit alleging bias at Harvard was ultimately consolidated around the case of a still-unnamed Chinese American woman.

2016 Asian American Poetry Books and Chapbooks

By Bryan Thao Worra. Cross-Posted from On The Other Side Of The Eye.


Following a month of research and asking over 388 Asian American poets, scholars, publishers, and community builders familiar with the academic, small press, mainstream, and underground Asian American literary scene, over 30 books and chapbooks of Asian American poetry have been identified for publication in 2016. I've posted a public album of the covers of these books on Facebook and Flickr with author information and book information as available.

I would also note that this year has an impressive showing among the Vietnamese and Filipina poets, and it's a delight to see the Hmong and Khmer communities have works put forward this year as well. A special thanks to Victoria Chang, Alyss Dixon, Mari L'Esperance, Grace Loh Prasad, Sun Yung Shin, and Marianne Villanueva for their assistance in putting this list together with me. I‘m particularly happy to see that this year has been a good year for many poets to debut their very first book or chapbook, because it’s so important for us to get more of our poetic voices out into the world, now more than ever.

900+ Asian American Studies Scholars Issue Collective Statement Decrying Trump’s Proposed Muslim Registry

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate



Over 900 Asian American Studies scholars from across the United States issued a joint statement today decrying President-Elect Donald Trump’s proposal to create a national registry of Muslims and Muslim Americans.

Trump has repeatedly said that as president he would institute aggressive measures to limit immigration of Muslims into the country and to place Muslims currently within the United States’ borders under close scrutiny. He has promised to halt the entry of Syrian refugees and to also ban immigration from a number of countries -- including Pakistan and the Philippines -- with large Muslim populations. He is quoted as suggesting the creation of a national database of Muslim and Muslim Americans -- a proposal that is likely unconstitutional -- and he staffed his White House transition team with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of the highly controversial NSEERS registry system which was used to monitor the movement of Muslim immigrants under George W. Bush and the first half of the Obama administration.

Earlier this month, Trump surrogate Carl Higbie went on Fox News to defend Trump’s alarming proposals to register Muslims and Muslims Americans. In an appearance on The Kelly File, Higbie suggested that Trump’s proposal for a national Muslim registry has legal precedent: Japanese American incarceration during World War II (for a note on language, see JACL’s Power of Words handbook).

It should come as no surprise that Asian American Studies scholars have something to say about that dubious line of reasoning.

Elaine Chao Joins Trump's Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

Former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who is the only member of President George W. Bush's Cabinet to serve the full eight years of his two terms in office, has been selected by President-Elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Transportation in his upcoming administration.

Chao, who was the first Asian American woman to sit on a presidential Cabinet, previously served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of the Peace Corps under President George H.W. Bush.

Chao's tenure as Labor Secretary was marked by her decidedly pro-business stance, leaving her frequently at odds with labour unions and workers' rights groups. The Government Accountability Office reported in 2008 that the Labor Department inadequately investigated tens of thousands of complaints filed by workers alleging labour violations. In addition, the Department of Labor under Chao was repeatedly criticized for failing to conduct proper safety inspections to protect worker health, while redirecting resources towards stricter scrutiny of labour unions' financial records. Nonetheless, Chao has remained a powerful player within the national Republican party even after leaving the position of Secretary of Labor, particularly as a close strategist and advisor to her husband of over twenty years, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Asian Americans Must Join the Fight to #StopSessions (and #StopBannon)

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate


Jeff Sessions
Earlier this morning, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he has chosen Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to fill the role of US Attorney General under the upcoming Trump administration.

This selection is tantamount to a declaration of war against people of colour and immigrants, including against Asians and Asian Americans. The Asian American community must rally to stop the confirmation of Senator Sessions as our next head the Department of Justice.

Reviewing the Reviews of Marvel’s Doctor Strange

By Shaun Lau. Cross-Posted from The Nerds of Color



Six months and change after the release of its first trailer -- and therefore about the same amount of time since co-writer C. Robert Cargill's infamous "[t]he social justice warriors were going to get mad at us for something this week" rebuttal to Asian American critics of the film's whitewashing -- the initial reviews are in for Doctor Strange, and they're not encouraging.

Oh, the movie? Actually, the critics seem to like it just fine. Being The Nerds of Color, however, we’re interested in looking at a different metric. Doctor Strange's whitewashing of primary character The Ancient One was, after all, one of the driving forces behind the hashtag and rallying cry #whitewashedOUT in May.

So no, this isn’t a review of Doctor Strange the film, but a review of the reviews of the film, using a simple standard: how accurately and humanely did each review portray Asian American dissent over the whitewashing of The Ancient One?

Life Imitating Art Imitating Life

By Hudson Yang. Cross-Posted from CAAM.

Hey all, I'm Hudson Yang, and I play Eddie Huang on ABC's Fresh Off the Boat. You probably know Eddie is based on the real Eddie Huang, who's an amazing chef and writer -- his restaurant Bauhaus in NYC is the bomb, and he's opening one in LA soon, yeaaahhhh. Eddie's memoir about growing up as a Taiwanese American kid in Orlando, Florida turned into our show.

When they cast me as Eddie, they did it in part because in a lot of ways, we're alike. I mean, it's not just that we kind of look alike: We say what's on our minds and we do what we feel like we gotta do, and we both really love food.

I always have, since I was a little kid. My grandma on my mom's side, who lived with us, would cook all the time — it was her way to show that she loved us. I grew up on amazing Taiwanese food (and leftovers from the food, and leftovers from the leftovers….). She let me help her cook, showing me how to use a knife the right way to peel vegetables, stirring the pot. Once I got burned and my dad flipped out. But I told him it was my fault and that I'd be more careful. I kept on helping my grandma…and even when I got burned again, I pretended it didn't happen so he wouldn't know until it healed.

Fox News Airs Appallingly Racist anti-Asian Segment

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Jesse Watters interviews people in NYC's Chinatown during a segment that aired on October 3, 2016.
(Photo credit: Fox News)
This is a new low, even for Fox News.

Earlier this week, Fox's O'Reilly Factor aired a jaw-droppingly racist segment about Asian Americans as part of its “Watters' World” features. In it, Fox correspondent Jesse Watters traveled to New York City's Chinatown under the auspices of discovering what Asian American voters thought about Donald trump and the presidential election.

Rather than to approach pollsters and researchers who professionally study Asian Americans' and Pacific Islanders' political attitudes — and who released an updated report this week on AAPI opinions, showing low support among AAPIs for the Republican Party and the race-baiting of the Trump campaign — Watters instead went for a man-on-the-street approach.

Actually, correction: Jesse Watters went for a holy-crap-that's-so-racist-man-on-the-street approach. Because, why bother with investigative journalism when you can instead fill five minutes pretending to report about a growing but largely overlooked elecorate by being an offensive, annoying asshole to total strangers?