Woman tells supermarket employees to "Go back to China"

Racist rant, erroneous claims about the law caught on video in Toronto-area Chinese supermarket.



This one comes to us from our neighbors to the north... A woman in a Toronto-area Chinese supermarket was caught on camera scolding employees for not speaking English and telling them to "Go back to China!"

'Go back to China': Outrage over racist rant caught on video

The video, recorded last Friday at the Foody Mart in Scarborough, Ontario, shows a white woman in a motorized wheelchair shouting at several Chinese employees at a -- heh heh -- Chinese food counter, after realizing they couldn't speak fluent English. That's when she told them to, you know, go back to China.

"They should go back to China," the woman tells one man, who was attempting to translate and mediate the situation. "Go back to China! This is Canada. If you're going to work here, it is the law to know English."

No, lady. This is indeed Canada, but it is not the law to know English. According to Canada's Official Languages Act, workers at private businesses don't need to speak English. Only employees at federal institutions are required to provide service in French or English.

So yeah, nobody's going back to China.

CNN anchor mocks Indian American spelling bee champion

"We're not sure that it's root is in Sanskrit, which is what you're probably, uh, used to using."



Look, this isn't hard. An on-air interview with the winner of the National Spelling Bee. Ask her how she prepared, what it felt like to win, and what she's going to do now. Don't say anything racist.

That seems simple enough, right? Not quite.

Last week, CNN anchors Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo were interviewing 12-year-old Ananya Vinya, the newly crowned Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, when they challenged her to spell "covfefe." Ha ha. The infamously inexplicable word recently tweeted by Donald Trump. Funny... I guess?

But then after going through the motions of this inane bit, Camerota attempts to explain the "origin" of the word to Vinay, telling her "But it is a nonsense word but we're not sure that it's root is in Sanskrit which is what you're probably, uh, used to using."

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They Call Us Bruce - Episode 11: They Call Us Rep. Ted Lieu

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. 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.

This week, we welcomed Rep. Ted Lieu, who represents California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He talked about immigrating from Taiwan, getting into politics, becoming a leader in the resistance, and taking down Donald Trump one tweet at a time.

Angry Reader of the Week: Joseph Lachman

"Inequity makes me angry, and I try to channel that anger into action!"



What's up, good people of the internet? It's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Joseph Lachman.

How to Make Bun Bo Hue

Mrs. Nguyen teaches you the secrets of spicy lemongrass beef noodle soup.



Awwwwww yeah. Mrs. Nguyen back with a brand new cooking lesson. The viral hit YouTube cooking show Cooking With Mrs. Nguyen recently dropped her first video in ten months, coming at you with a savory, steamy tutorial on how to make bun bo hue. Yum. The process is a little long a tricky, but with Mrs. Nguyen's help, you'll be cooking up some of that spicy lemongrass beef noodle soup in no time.

Take it away, Mrs. Nguyen:

12-year-old Ananya Vinay wins National Spelling Bee

The "Indian Super Bowl" crowns a new champion.



M-A-R-O-C-A-I-N. A new spelling champion is crowned! 12-year-old Ananya Vinay of Fresno, California correctly spelled "marocain" Thursday night to win the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Hundreds of badass young spellers from around the country gathered in Washington DC this week for several days of grueling, knock-out, drag-down competition. In the end, one remained standing.

Ananya, a sixth grader at Fugman Elementary School correctly spelled "marocain" (a dress fabric of ribbed crepe, made of silk or wool or both) in Thursday's final round. She takes home a $40,000 cash prize, a $2,500 savings bond, a collection of reference books, a giant trophy, and supreme spelling bragging rights.

His train broke down on the way to his graduation. So subway strangers threw him an impromptu ceremony.

"Thank you guys for coming out today to see my graduation. I appreciate it."



Sometimes, people are great. This week in New York, subway strangers held an impromptu graduation ceremony for a nursing school student who missed his actual grad ceremony due to massive train delays.

Nursing School Student Misses Graduation Due to Train Delay, Has Impromptu Ceremony with Commuters Instead

On Tuesday morning, 22-year-old Jerich Marco Alcantara boarded the packed E train from Queens to Manhattan to attend his graduation at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing. Unfortunately, the train was stalled by an emergency brake malfunction that kept Jerich and his fellow passengers stuck underground for close to three hours. He wasn't going to make it to his graduation. He was going to miss the whole thing.

Of course, this was a bummer. Standing there on the train, in his full cap and gown, Jerich attempted to alleviate the mood and cracked a joke. He turned to the other passengers in his subway car and said, "Thank you guys for coming out today to see my graduation. I appreciate it."

The people in the car erupted in cheers, and it was on.

"It just kind of snowballed after that." Alcantara told The Washington Post.

Philadelphia Councilman David Oh stabbed in robbery

57-year-old councilman stabbed with a knife, expected to make a full recovery.



Philadelphia councilman at-large David Oh was hospitalized after he was stabbed outside his home during an attempted robbery on Wednesday night. Thankfully, he is expected to make a full recovery.

Philly Councilman at-Large David Oh Recovering After Stabbing

Oh was returning home from work, unloading his car when a man approached him and demanded his keys.

"[David Oh] gets out of his car, he's taking his bags out of his car and other things. He gets approached by a black male in his 20s and the male is saying something to him, he can't understand what he's saying," said Lt. John Walker, with the Philadelphia Police Department.

According to police, Oh tried to engage in conversation with the man. That's when the man pulled out a knife, stabbed the councilman once in the left side, then fled the scene.

Smile! Serbian women's volleyball team does the slant-eye

Squad celebrates world championship berth with a good old fashioned racist gesture.



Oh, just some casual racism, courtesy of the Serbian women's volleyball team. Over the weekend, the squad won a match that earned them a spot in the 2018 world championship, to be played in Japan. The ladies celebrated their victory by posing for a group photo while making, naturally, a racist slant-eye gesture.

You know, the international gesture for "chink."

Of course. People can't resist engaging in some good old fashioned Asian mockery. Girls, let's gather 'round for this photo and pull our eyes back like a bunch of racist fuckheads! Well, except for that one player who appears to have her hands pressed together in a shallow bow, trading one racist gesture for another.

Sports writer fired for racist tweet about Indy 500 winner

"I am very uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500 during Memorial Day weekend."



On Sunday, Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver ever to win the Indianopolis 500. Which was cool... but not so cool for one Denver sportswriter, who expressed on Twitter that he was "uncomfortable" with a Japanese man winning the storied motor race on Memorial Day weekend -- a tweet that promptly got him fired.

Not long after Sato crossed the finish line of America's most prestigious motorsports race, Terry Frei, a sportswriter for the Denver Post, farted out this ridiculous, thoughtlessly racist tweet trying to somehow draw an unfortunate connection between a Japanese driver winning the Indy 500 -- who says Asians can't drive? -- and the fact that he did so on a holiday meant to honor those who died while serving in the country's armed forces.

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They Call Us Bruce - Episode 10: They Call Us Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler and Ian Chen

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What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. 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.

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Angry Reader of the Week: Lewis Tan

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Photo Credit: @michaelblankphotography
Hello, good and faithful readers! It is time, once again, to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Lewis Tan.

"Go back to Asia and eat a dog."

21-year-old man jumped, beaten in hate crime assault at OC Night Market.



Hate crime alert. Orange County authorities are searching for a white couple who assaulted a 21-year-old Asian American college student in the parking lot of a recent OC Night Market event in Costa Mesa, following an earlier incident in which one of the assailants told the victim, "Go back to Asia and eat a dog."

Asian Man Assaulted By White Couple After Racist Taunts in Costa Mesa

The altercation started on Sunday evening when two white women approached the victim, who was standing in line, and tried to get him to buy them drinks. When he refused, one of the women told him to "Go back to Asia and eat a dog," among other not-so-nice remarks. Because, yes, racist taunts are the totally reasonable response to someone refusing to buy you drinks.

She reportedly got up in the victim's face and when he pushed her away for some space, another man charged and punched him in the face. Security responded and escorted the couple out of the OC Night Market.

But later that evening, as the victim and his girlfriend were walking back to his car after the event, he was confronted and attacked by the duo we will from this point on refer to as the Violently Racist Couple. They had apparently been waiting for him to leave, followed him back to his car, and jumped him.

"The moment I got to my car, a black sedan pulled up," the victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells the OC Weekly. "The guy immediately went after me and everything else was a blur."

The victim suffered bruises and lacerations to his face requiring stitches, and several chipped teeth. The victim's girlfriend was also punched in the face when she tried to intervene. According to witnesses, the Violently Racist Couple drove off in a black sedan, but not before the guy yelled some more anti-Asian slurs while hanging out of the passenger side window. Well, that's classy as shit.

The victim's friend posted details about assault on Facebook, along with a photo from the emergency room.

Submit your picture book to Lee & Low's New Voices Award

Award-winning children's book publisher is accepting manuscripts for picture books.



Hey authors! Do you have a story to share with young readers? Want a chance to get published? Lee & Low Books, award-winning publisher of children's books, is now accepting submissions for the eighteenth annual New Voices Award. The Award will given for a children's picture book manuscript by a writer of color.

Established in 2000, the New Voices Award encourages writers of color to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. Past New Voices Award submissions published by Lee & Low include The Blue Roses, winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People; Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story, a Texas Bluebonnet Masterlist selection; and It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw, winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Honor.

A 'Joy Luck Club' television series is in the works

Casting call seeks Chinese American women to participate in research for the show.



There's apparently a Joy Luck Club television series in the works. Whaaaaaaat. Somebody -- Ellen DeGeneres, possibly(!?) -- is developing a new television series based on Amy Tan's widely-read 1989 novel, and they're putting the call out to Chinese American women to be part of a discussion as research for the show.

According to this casting call, producers are seeking a "professionally diverse group of Chinese American born women," ages of 26 to 34 years old in the San Francisco area, to "discuss their lives as a Chinese American female in today's society." The project will take place on June 20 in San Francisco.

Here's the casting call:

Community activist gets law license 63 years after his death

California Supreme Court grants posthumous bar admission to Sei Fujii, who was denied because of his race.



Law school is no joke. Imagine busting your ass, making it through and graduating from law school, only to learn that you are ineligible to practice law because you're not white.

That's what happened to Sei Fujii, a Japanese immigrant who was denied a license to practice law in California in 1911 because of his race. He received his license this week from the California Supreme Court -- over sixty years after his death.

Fujii immigrated to the United States in 1903 and received a law degree from the University of Southern California. At the time, California law barred legal licenses for immigrants who were ineligible for citizenship, and naturalization, according to federal law, was limited to "free white person" and those of African descent.

Asian AF Goes to New York!

Tuesday, June 27 at UCB East Village.



New Yooooork! Asian AF is making its way out east! The landmark, acclaimed, kind of sort of famous Asian American variety show travels from the west coast to New York City, bringing its special brand of shit-talking Asian as F comedy to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, hosted by Keiko Agena and Will Choi. This is your chance to see the show that's been selling out every single month in Los Angeles.

It's happening Tuesday, June 27 at UCB East Village. Here are some more details:

The Force is With Kelly Marie Tran on the cover of Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair celebrates the Star Wars saga's 40th anniversary with four 'Last Jedi' covers.



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