紙老虎. According to the Chinese, a “paper tiger” is that which appears dangerous or threatening as a tiger, but is in fact harmless. This concept is in one way, a variant conclusion to the “yellow peril” narrative. Here, Wesley Yang’s insightful essay harasses (and that’s truly the correct word here) many narratives—both social and self-told—that dominate the notion of Asian American achievement. Touching upon meritocracy, the Bamboo ceiling, Amy Chua’s “tiger mother parenting” and its flip-side, Yang hopscotches the personal, social, cultural, ethnic, and racial frays that conspire to obscure Asian Americans. It’s a must read piece which includes some jaw-dropping anecdotes, such as the following from Eddie Huang, owner of BaoHaus in the Lower East Side of Manhattan:

Huang had a rough twenties, bumping repeatedly against the Bamboo Ceiling. In college, editors at the Orlando Sentinel invited him to write about sports for the paper. But when he visited the offices, “the editor came in and goes, ‘Oh, no.’ And his exact words: ‘You can’t write with that face.’ ” Later, in film class at Columbia, he wrote a script about an Asian-American hot-dog vendor obsessed with his small penis. “The screenwriting teacher was like, ‘I love this. You have a lot of Woody Allen in you. But do you think you could change it to Jewish characters?’ ” Still later, after graduating from Cardozo School of Law, he took a corporate job, where other associates would frequently say, “You have a lot of opinions for an Asian guy.”

Read the full piece here.

WATCH: asians in the library of the world: a persona poem in the voice of alexandra wallace

Slam poet Beau Sia’s persona poem that inhabits the voice of UCLA student Alexandra Wallace who went on YouTube to rant against Asians directly challenges notions of cultural myopia and hegemony, American-ness as white-ness, and xenophobia that underscores the kind of racialized lashing out exhibited by Wallace. In Sia’s words:

after watching “asians in the library,” and many subsequent postings in response, i wrote this. rather than attack alexandra wallace for her thoughts, i decided to write a persona piece in her voice, as a means to address some of the greater issues revealed in her rant. in the end, this poem isn’t really about her and what she said, but more the thoughts and beliefs people hold, without considering the entire history that may have led them to think and believe in the manner that they do. my hope is that we can all use this moment to recognize that we all need to improve our ability to understand and share this world with each other. this is just a small contribution to furthering that conversation.

WATCH: Racist UCLA Girl Goes Off on Asians

Pathetic how she thinks herself polite and mannered. Her apology doesn’t do anything to undo her racist default.

Like most clueless, right-wing pundits, he doesn’t know how he’s being racist, but instead deflects and says he was doing his listenership a favor:

“He was speaking and they weren’t translating,” Limbaugh said. “They normally translate every couple of words. Hu Jintao was just going ching chong, ching chong cha.”

He then launched into a 20-second-long imitation of the Chinese leader’s dialect.

The next day, Limbaugh said he “did a remarkable job” of imitating China’s president for someone who doesn’t know a language spoken by more than 1 billion people.

“Back in the old days, Sid Caesar, for those of you old enough to remember, was called a comic genius for impersonating foreign languages that he couldn’t speak,” Limbaugh said. “But today the left says that was racism; it was bigotry; it was insulting. And it wasn’t. It was a service.”

A service? He wasn’t translating. He was mocking rooted in his deep xenophobia.

And to his sicko audience that keeps him going: grow up.

[Photo credit: J.Scott Applewhite/AP Images]

Photographers Mis Nakano and Christine Pan were searching for an answer on how to break down social stereotypes of the queer Asian American community. And when they couldn’t find answers they were satisfied with, they created the Visibility Project, a portraiture series devoted to showcasing a vast array of queer API folks. The photos are simple studio portraits set up to make each participant feel comfortable and safe. But through that simplicity, the photographers are able to convey so much through the simple facial expressions these beautiful people. Participants are asked simple questions about their sexual and gender identity, and if they’re are willing, they share their stories as well.  So far, Nakano and Pan have taken portraits in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. And at the Visibility Project, you can see participants in all of their ordinary glory.

(Source: colorlines.com, via asiansnotstudying)

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco welcomed its first Asian-American leader Tuesday, as City Administrator Edwin Lee was sworn in as interim mayor before a crowd of hundreds.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to appoint Lee to fill the remainder of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s term. Newsom was sworn in Monday as California’s lieutenant governor.

Immediately following the vote, Lee took the oath of office before a packed audience of family members, current and former city leaders and supporters from the Chinese-American community who gathered in the City Hall rotunda.

“This is a big step we’re making as a city,” said Supervisor Eric Mar, one of four Asian-Americans serving on the 11-member board.

San Francisco’s population of 815,000 is nearly one-third Asian – the largest percentage of any county in the continental United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau.

With Lee serving as the city’s 43rd mayor, San Francisco is now the largest in the country with an Asian-American leader, said Don Nakanishi, director emeritus of the UCLA Asian Studies Center.

Earlier this month, neighboring Oakland inaugurated Mayor Jean Quan, the first Asian-American woman to helm a major U.S. city. Quan, a longtime acquaintance of Lee’s, also was present at Tuesday’s ceremony to show her support.

The 58-year-old will serve as interim mayor until next January, when the winner of November’s mayoral election will take over. Lee, a city employee for more than 20 years, has said he does not plan to run.

But he said Tuesday he sees the temporary job as a “tremendous, historic opportunity.”

+ here

WATCH: “Cantonese Boy” by Larissa Lam featuring Only Won 

Hilarious! I need the “Cantonese Boy” t-shirt!

[via:ohmyasian]

(Source: youtube.com)

My Mini Story: Gay 2nd Generation Cambodian American

Suny Um shares his story of struggle to survive and find acceptance as a gay, second generation*, Cambodian American.

[*Note: In Asian American discourse, first generation is the generation who leaves the home country, 1.5 generation are those who were born abroad but came to the United States at a very young age, and second generation are those who were born in the States to parents born abroad.]

[via:allsineed]

The hair, the suit, the tie. Fantabulous!

[source]