By Jeff Yang, Special to SF Gate
Thursday, February 25, 2010

The notion that Asians and Jews are two shoots from the same cultural rootstock is an old but evergreen meme.

You see it in fringe theories about the Lost Tribes of Israel -- there's an entire body of cryptoarchaeological canon that uses similarities between customs, language and naming convention to "prove" that the ancient vanished Jewish clans ended up in China, India or Japan. (Japan's 50,000-member Makuya sect, which has as its central dogma that the Japanese are descendants of a lost Jewish tribe, keep kosher, speak Hebrew and use the seven-armed menorah as their symbol.)

Harvard University is known for its top notch academics, but not exactly as the hotbed of hoops excellence. It has been more than 60 years since the nation's top-ranked academic institution has been invited to compete in the NCAA March Madness tournament. But that could change this year, thanks, in part, to star basketball player Jeremy Lin, who some say has a shot to going to the NBA. Host Michel Martin talks with Lin about his skills on the court and some of the racism he's faced as an Asian-American player.

Vote for Jeremy Lin for the Bob Cousy Award by clicking here. 
Let's give him the recognition he deserves.

You can also catch the the Jeremy Lin interview NPR.org

Our summarized transcript:

In this new year of 2010 I hope everyone can continue to be optimistic as this ever struggling economy still has a heart beat, although we have been told our economies have recovered our wages are still just as terrible ( I think not ). There is still no excuse for not making the best of what we have and we should continue to strive for new heights.

In the past, this website had primarily worked on with publishing Asian related content, intelligent opinions, informative articles and any positive Asian media.

This year there will be a slight adjustment to the style of posting, usually we would publish news without actual commentary but as of today we will be adding in our 2 cents worth to everything post. Ideally would like to throw topics in the air and have people take it upon themselves to think about issues. 

We'll try to remain objective about each issue.

The first fear mongering article I've come across since the beginning of this new year sums up all the forecasts of "experts" panic stricken and fear mongering media who can only see this world burning in hell.

 Are you currently unemployed? According to the new Canadian citizenship guidebook for prospective immigrants, over 8.6% of unemployed Canadians are not fulfilling the Canadian responsibility of having a job, which now comes with the rights of having a Canadian citizenship.

The new Canadian citizenship guidebook was unveiled last week, redefining what it means to be Canadian. After all, new Canadian immigrants are more likely to be unemployed, which must mean—according to the authors of the guidebook—that their economic difficulties are a result of their failure adopt Canadian values. In addition, the new guidebook tells prospective immigrants, “Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, “honour killings,” female genital mutilation, or other gender-based violence.”

 A judge today dismissed a discrimination lawsuit against Miley Cyrus that argued that Asians were harmed by a photo that showed the teen idol and her friends pulling back their eyelids.

The novel legal claim was filed by Lucie J. Kim in a class action suit against the singer earlier this year that sought $4,000 in damages for each Asian and Pacific Islander living in Los Angeles County. The suit argued that Cyrus, 16, violated a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating against people based on race, gender, ethnicity and other traits.

The picture appeared on websites like gossipteen.com in February, and Cyrus repeatedly apologized. Cyrus’ attorney, Bryan M. Sullivan, referred all inquiries to Miley's spokesperson, who declined comment.

Scholarly blogger deals with cultural fallacies, ethnic misconceptions.

When you think of an angry Asian man, the image of a ninja wielding formidable weapons comes to mind. The stereotype isn’t far from the mark when you visit “Angry Asian Man,” a blog run by University of California, Berkeley alumnus Phil Yu.

“The name of my blog is provocative and scary,” said Yu. “It’s different from most people’s idea of what an Asian person is supposed to be. Most Asians in this country are not seen as people who are willing to rock the boat. We’re seen as meek people who just let things slide, but that’s not true at all.”

At a panel in the Texas Union on Thursday, Yu and Nhi Lieu, a UT American studies professor discussed Asian-American media representation and identity in America, as well as the influence of Yu’s blog on the Asian-American community.

The Washington Post is running a series called “Voices of Power” wherein top White House staffers are interviewed about their positions in the Obama administration. Today, the Post published video and a transcript of their conversation with Chris Lu, who, as Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary, is one of the most prominent Asian Americans in the White House.

The full transcript is five pages long, but I found Lu’s comments about his identity as an Asian American in the White House intriguing:

You are among the most senior Asian-Americans in the administration and in the White House. What does that mean to you?

Mr. Lu: It means a lot to me. My parents were both born in China. They moved to Taiwan for grade school and high school. They both emigrated here in the late ’50s for college.

"Strangers" of the Academy Asian Women Scholars in Higher Education, Edited by Guofang Li, Gulbahar H. Beckett, Foreword by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim

Abstract - No less than other minorities, Asian women scholars are confronted with racial discrimination and stereotyping as well as disrespect for their research, teaching, and leadership, and are underrepresented in academia.

In the face of such barriers, many Asian female scholars have developed strategies to survive and thrive. This book is among the first to examine their lived experience in Western academic discourses. It addresses the socio-cultural, political, academic, and personal issues that Asian female scholars encounter in higher education.

TIME - What's in an apology? Some expressions of remorse are commonplace - we hear them on the playground when kids smack each other on the head, or they land in your inbox after a friend forgets your birthday. It's the grand-scale apologies, it seems, that are harder to come by.

On July 17, the California legislature quietly approved a landmark bill to apologize to the state's Chinese-American community for racist laws enacted as far back as the mid–19th century Gold Rush, which attracted about 25,000 Chinese from 1849 to 1852. The laws, some of which were not repealed until the 1940s, barred Chinese from owning land or property, marrying whites, working in the public sector and testifying against whites in court. The new bill also recognizes the contributions Chinese immigrants have made to the state, particularly their work on the Transcontinental Railroad.

LA Times - Judy Chu can trace the beginnings of her career as a San Gabriel Valley activist and political leader back to the early 1970s and her freshman year in college.

As the young math major, intent on a career in computer science, was crossing the UC Santa Barbara quad one day, someone thrust into her hand a flier about a new Asian American studies course. She decided to give it a try.

"It was like a light went off in my head," Chu recalled. She learned about the history of Asian immigrants and their children, the discrimination and stereotypes they endured and their contributions to American life and culture.

One of the guest speakers was Pat Sumi, a third-generation Japanese American whose activism included registering blacks to vote in Mississippi and Georgia and organizing protests against the Vietnam War.