Fisher vs. University of Texas: the debate over affirmative action

so what happens when you shut down open and honest dialogue about racial inequality?

today, i got into a heated discussion about affirmative action. 

it started when a man and his wife announced they wanted to 'fund a scholarship for average white guys' because they felt it was impossible for a white male to get a scholarship. after trying and failing to hinge their understanding of affirmative action on the events of history that lead to the inherent racial structure that exists with white men on top, i began to see something in their crossed arms and downturned lips that i hadn't noticed before.

they both frequently said it's not fair: just because historically white men have had an advantage, doesn't necessarily mean her husband did. they wanted autonomy or separation from the white community. he wanted to be recognized as an individual, an individual with his own struggles and set of hardships. 

what a privilege it must be to only have to think about yourself in every situation, to not have to think: how is what's happening to me right now affect the bigger picture? 

and what i mean by that is, near the end of the conversation, i realized i was asking them to think beyond themselves. yes, they are not the ones who wrote the jim crow laws, but they are shortsighted in acknowledging the advantages they gained from those laws and denying its propagation. 

by choice or grand naivety, they do not see their historically elevated status and what it would mean if they stepped back. as a man in a room full of women, in a world that tips toward masculinity, what would it mean for him to step back and allow the women to speak?

if a man in a room among women steps forward, does it not seem 'natural' for the attention (and sense of power) to be on the man? i know you'll push that if a woman steps forward in a room full of men the attention would be on her immediately; but i argue that it's for different reasons (sexuality, and thus, not the same sense of authoritative power as the man 'naturally' commands.) so, what would it mean for him to step back, to accept that he has this privilege and to consciously refrain from using it?

and regarding their inability or refusal to see the historical advantages laid before them, what a privilege it is to have that choice or to have that 'ignorance is bliss' naivety. it is the very lining of white privilege: to be able to say that doesn't affect me, why do i have to be punished? i don't see how i am a part of this. i don't have to do anything for anyone else. my actions don't have greater meaning. i am living only for myself. 

i think people of color don't get that same sense of independence. what happens to someone else in the community, might very well happen to us. we don't have that security of that happened to them. it didn't/won't happen to me. take for instance the murder of Trayvon Martin. hundreds marched in hoodies with signs asking: am i next?

whereas white folk are allowed individual status, people of color are denied that complexity.

this can be seen on tv/film. if a white person is on screen, they represent themselves. if an asian person is on screen, she represents her entire race. when a white man flew his airplane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas he was seen as a crazy man who flew his plane into a building. of course, there was no backlash on the white community, doesn't that sound silly just saying? but when 9/11 happened, those men represented not only an entire country but an entire religion. 

yes, i am asking you to 'give up your scholarship' to a person who perhaps scored lower than you did. 

what a privilege it is to be able to say, without even a moment of thought, i deserve it more. 



to read more about white privilege, click here:

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks. 

for more on Fisher vs. UT, click here and here for what's  at stake with the ruling of this case.

-melissa

KONY 2012 filmmaker arrested

dear Jason Russell of the KONY 2012 video:

Joseph Kony has not been in Uganda for over 6 years. And masturbation is not something we do in public. 

location, location, location, sir.

-m


for more on jason russell's arrest, click here and here

how much do YOU know about kony 2012?

a still from the kony 2012 film

no doubt, you have seen all the kony 2012 posts on facebook and twitter. but have you watched the 30 minute film that launched this swift movement taking over your newsfeed? 

let's talk about this film with its cool, fast-paced editing, mumford & son's background music, and its aerial shots of white kids forming a peace sign---or even better, white kids with their fists in the air. 

look at this picture, what do you see? or better yet, what do you not see? 

invisible children, the nonprofit that put out the film, has come under fire for several things, most widely circulated online is the critique of their spending: it seems only about 32% of their $8.8mil earnings last year was spent on ground operations in uganda. the rest went toward movie production, travel, employee salaries, and such. but a big question a few people are asking is where is uganda in all of this talk? why aren't you targeting any ugandan leaders among your 20 culture makers and 12 policy makers?

the film absolutely has a western hero/savior complex that, by leaving africa out of the conversation, paints africa as helpless and incompetent. this we must save our little brown brothers complex is visually perpetuated in the movie 17 minutes and 35 seconds in with this shot and voiceover declaring, "the unseen became visible", implying that it takes being surrounded by (mostly) white people for a black child to become visible. 

Teddy Ruge from Project Diaspora, an american organization that works to "mobilize african diaspora in the states to engage with the continent" expressed his frustration with this imaging:

What I'd really like is for organisations like this to have a little bit more respect for individuals like ourselves who have the capability to speak for ourselves. By putting themselves as the heroes of our situation it debilitates our own ability to progress and develop our own capacity. ...it's not everybody's responsibility to come and rescue us. We're not babies. 

All ill roads are built on good intentions. Meaning well doesn't give you the right to march into my house and tell me how to live. It does not offer you that right. Uganda is my country, my brothers, cousins and countrymen.  

when i first saw the film, i couldn't shake the manipulative and emotive gloss and storyline; the narrator kept making the comparison between his son, dressed in a purple cardigan, khakis, and flip-flops, with the ugandan children. what is the role of his son in this film? while i agree wholeheartedly that children deserve the best life and opportunities, regardless of origin, i thought he was pandering or exploiting the audience's feelings toward this blonde, dimpled little boy. is america only able to feel sympathy if they can use a white child as a reference point?

and of course, there is the over simplification of the conflict and what was not mentioned in the film, like joseph kony has not been in uganda for over 6 years. is your mind blown? yeah, me too.

i understand that this man has overseen and lead the operations of heinous crimes, and i support the invisible children's desire to call attention to it. hell, i even admire how quickly they were able to reach such a vast audience; however, i do not agree with their approach. their film, and the reasons behind their call to action, is condescending, self-indulgent, and manipulative.

it is one thing to tell (white, according to their film) americans: hey, this is happening in the world. pay attention. but it is sometime entirely different to yell: hey, this is happening in the world and only you can stop it and save them. 


i don't want to discourage youth activism by any means, i only ask that you do your research and allow more than a shiny, well-scored film to shape your thinking. watch the kony 2012 film and the many that will come after it, and ask yourself: now what? what do i do with this information? 

otherwise, it's like journalist, Michael Wilkerson, writes:

it is unclear how millions of well-meaning but misinformed people are going to help deal with the more complicated reality. 

at the very least following this viral campaign, perhaps a few more fingers in generation y can find their way when asked to point out the country of uganda on a map.

perhaps.


for a lot of information, both critical and supportive, on kony 2012 and about the situation in uganda, check out the guardian's post.

invisible children also posted responses to several critiques, including the savior complex motif. (weak in my opinion.)

-melissa

happy holi!

on sunday, my friends and i made the trek out to rosenberg, texas for the holi festival.

holi, a religious festival celebrated in hinduism, is often called 'the festival of colors' because of the brightly pigmented powders tossed in good spirits and celebration.

after speaking to several people and asking, what is holi?, i've gathered that the story behind the festival and its origins differs from family to family; however, a common thread expressed by several of the answers is that the celebration is a gesture of welcoming to spring and happiness.

happiness, indeed, as holi seems to be one big party and i loved every second of it. the colors, the dancing, the food, everyone was just having a good time. there was no hesitation to dance alongside a stranger or to sprinkle color on one another. though i am usually a curmudgeon and hate when people i don't know touch me, i didn't mind one bit when folks came up to me--fingers brightly dusted with power--and patted my face wishing me a happy holi.

haaaaave you read american asians?

to all the new friends i met in rosenberg, i invite you to my living room to continue the celebration. bring your bags of color and your dancing shoes, and we'll worry about who will clean up the mess later...not it.

i wish everyday was holi

to read more about holi, its origins and its meaning, see here and here.


*to the folks that i interviewed, i am sorry that the footage couldn't be used in the video. the music was so loud all throughout the festival grounds that the audio was drowned out. 

All I Do is D-town Boogie

I'm placing an amber alert on our fellow blogger, Dougie Fresh. This post is specifically dedicated to you, in my desperate attempts to get your attention.

You're actually really motherfucking hard to find Doug. No joke.

Tehe. Actually, every time I look at this picture, I'm more like "teheheheheh." I really wanted to have a reason to post this picture so I found this post appropriate. Anyways, Melissa and I know you're busy, especially with planning a major special event for the anniversary of Vincent Chin this spring at your college. Or that may just be a front and you're really just avoiding us by crashing parties and drinking your life away. What say you?

-Diane

hands down the best whitney houston cover

16 year old jessica sanchez steals the show again with a cover of whitney houston's i will always love you. when she announced she would be singing the iconic ballad, america nodded along and spoke the words, "of course she is" to their tv sets.

with her big voice and even bigger stage presence, it just makes sense. my parents and i held our breaths while she sang for fear of disturbing the gorgeous melody with our jagged breathing. perhaps this only comes from the fat-cheeked little girl inside me, but when jessica was on stage, i felt like every little girl wanted to be her, in that blue dress, singing that song.

how exciting that we can add one more name to the list of asian americans that has america buzzing.

and fear not, i did not forget about heejun han. my boy was lookin' dapper tonight in his tux and french-cuffs, wasn't he?

his performance wasn't bad, but was no where near his best either. it was a little dull and flat with a few brief pitchy parts. the kid has mad swagger though and no doubt won a few extra votes when he presented jimmy iovine, who last week said he wasn't a fan of heejun, with an autographed picture of himself.

mary j. blige was the mentor tonight and upon hearing heejun sing for the first time mentioned, "he does not sound like i thought he would".  jlo said the same thing when he auditioned back in philly. there's the whole low expectations thing again.

listen, america, it has been 8 long years since william hung sang that horrendous cover of she bangs, and that shit still hangs over us and apparently weighs heavily on the judges' minds. we are not all william hungs. give us a fucking chance.

i think jessica sanchez will have america reevaluating their expectations of asian american artists.

re: diane's post on interracial dating

i wanted to add this on-point comic regarding interracial dating as often (read: fucking always) portrayed in hollywood movies.

films where white men win the local girl/female of color: full metal jacket, fast and the furious, james bond films, scott pilgrim vs. the world, the social network, pocahontas, avatar--which let's get real, was just pocahontas with blue paint and floating flowers, miss saigon (the film adaptation is rumored to be coming out this year)...there are more, i am certain. 

know of any films? leave 'em in the comments section. the most obscure title wins the hipster award. yayyyy.

also, be sure to read diane's post on interracial dating and to see more of asian canadian comic Daniel Ha's work, check out his page at dvhstudios.com. i am particularly fond of his Casanovice series described as 'sex and the city from the point of view of 20-something men.' 

-melissa

asian american singers battle it out on NBC's The Voice

something is in the air, and it sounds delicious. i am lovin' all the asian american talent on mainstream tv right now.

i've written about heejun han and jessica sanchez, the two asian american american idol finalists this year, but last night on the voice, i was able to catch the battle round between two asian american female vocalists: angie johnson and cheesa laureta.

the two belted out  bonny tyler's total eclipse of the heart. there were a few pitchy parts on both sides, but cheesa made it through to the live show on cee lo green's team.

hailing from hawaii and recently relocated to LA, cheesa will get her big break on this season of The Voice, while angie is sent home after being discovered on youtube when a video of her singing adele's rolling in the deep to her military comrades went viral.

tune in monday nights at 7 pm CT to NBC's The Voice to cheer on cheesa and to join the debate outside of NBC studios on which one-hit wonder judge/cast member is the most washed up.

hello, carson daly.


-melissa

Fetishes About Asian American Women? Dislike.

Ok, so I’ve been itching to write this. Interracial dating and these weird ass fetishes men have about Asian American women. Men, take heed because this advice will drastically improve your chance of getting some ass….wait, I don’t want to help you creepers get ass – scratch that. This advice will help you not get your ass kicked or tased by some crazy female (I don’t have a taser, I promise).

Tip #1: Never ever EVER say “Me love you long time.”

This happened when I was living in Austin back in the day. I walked into a bar with my friend and we passed this group of white guys. Two of them decided to tag team us – which by the way is creepy and we’re not meat, k thanks. The first one strolled up to me and believe it or not, this ridiculous line was the first thing to come out of his mouth, “Me love you long time.” The other just simply told my friend that he “loves Asian women.” Really? Oh! Here is my taser!

Tip #2: Don’t talk about your balls.

Houston, Texas. My friend was at a really chill bar and wanted to play some skeeball. However, there weren’t any balls on the table. (Alright, alright you already know where I’m going with this but please bear with me. This is as painful as waiting for the dentist to fucking drill a hole in your mouth…I hate the dentist by the way). So these two guys sauntered up to my friend and one of them said, “Are you looking for some balls? These balls are too big for Asians.” I don’t know if I’m more offended that 1) you just mentioned a play on words about your own balls or 2) that you just insulted my vagina. Hold up dickwad, let me take off my earrings.

Alright, so I’m done giving tips. If you’re spewing shit like this to Asian/Asian American women or any other woman of color, it’s rightfully so that a female will open up a can of ass whooping on you. Whatever happened to approaching a woman in a respectful manner?

I think it’s important to draw the line between fetishizing someone and actually liking the individual for who they are. I don’t go around expecting something from someone i.e. how mostly white men expect Asian women to be submissive and fulfill their sexual needs OR perpetuating stereotypes i.e. me love you long time (Here is that extra shit - broken English! You so funny! HAHA! Fuck you.). It’s like me going up to a black man and saying, “Hey, I heard you’re hung, let’s get together.” Yeah – real smooth, Diane. But back to my point...men, if you take anything away from this post, just remember – no one likes fetishes. Contrary to what you may believe, you are NOT cool. And if you get your ass kicked, it’s your own damn fault.

-Diane

The University of Texas' Heman Sweatt Symposium: The Asian American Male Experience in Higher Education

Left to right: Dr. Eric Tang from UT Austin, Dr. Mitchell Chang from UCLA

I was very sad that I missed this event in Austin. To give you some background, the Heman Sweatt Symposium came about from the legacy of Heman Sweatt, the first African American to be admitted to an all-white institution. Consequently, Sweatt v. Painter was the only case to involve The University of Texas at Austin with the U.S. Supreme Court. It foreshadowed the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and Grutter v. Bollinger, pivotal cases in the argument that there were educational benefits for students exposed to diverse ideas. Props to my Higher Education Law class for this knowledge!

This year, the symposium featured a panel about "The Asian American Male Experience in Higher Education." You can read about this here: http://blogs.utexas.edu/ddcecentral/2012/03/05/aamales/

This is an important issue that often is overlooked. And that brings up another question: "What about my Asian American females in higher education?"

-Diane

Raging Racist Edition Part 1

So anyone who knows me well, knows that I am very passionate about social justice and racial/ethnic relations. I’m particularly interested in learning about the commonalities between the Asian American, Latino, and black communities. Now, I wasn’t as open-minded back in the day as I am now – I was actually scared of black people. But this was what I learned from my parents and by society at large as I was growing up. I was fortunate, though, to be exposed to a number of opportunities in college that made me step out of my comfort zone. Joining a multicultural sorority (Theta Nu!) and learning more about my own culture and history through Asian American courses at UT were two of the main stepping stones that started this process of change for me. I find that it’s my charge now to educate others, or at the very least, to challenge their way of thinking. Seeing how my parents immigrated here from Vietnam to the U.S., how they worked their asses off to raise my siblings and I in a good home, and seeing how other immigrants and people of color are exploited in the U.S. gives me more reason to continue the work that I do. That being said, I have no tolerance towards blatant, racist comments.

I don’t really associate with raging racists; and in my circle of friends, fortunately, no one is like that. But, they could still have preconceived notions about different groups – race is always going to be a complex and controversial matter – that is almost always going to be the case when you are raised and influenced by specific factors. I can certainly say I’m more aware than some of my friends about race issues but shit, I study this for a living so of course, I’m going to be more acutely aware of my surroundings and put on my critical analysis glasses when I feel the need.

So when it comes to raging racists, I have to bite my tongue or get someone to hold me back because I get that close to punching that bitch in the throat. There is a friend of a friend of a friend who has a tendency to say some really hateful stuff and it just blows my mind how you can judge someone based on their skin color.

She won’t hang with you if a black person or a Mexican (I really hate the word “Mexican” by the way) person is going to be with you. Shit like: “I’ll pass because Mexican people scare me” or “That black person must have some watermelon and fried chicken.” She isn’t the only one who shares these same opinions – there are plenty of racist people out there; but in my life, she is the closest one I’ve heard about who says these outrageous things. In the bigger picture, she continues a vicious cycle of pitting minorities against minorities when really minorities are up against a system that supports white privilege.

So the big question is: How do I approach this person when it takes every living thread in my body NOT to punch her in the ovaries?

-Diane

world, meet jessica sanchez

if you read my earlier post, you know i'm all aboard the heejun han american idol train, but last night's episode may have just made my ride a little bit more tricky thanks to 16 year old filipina american, jessica sanchez. during hollywood week, she did a beautiful cover of celine dion's the prayer and this week, jessica sang and danced her way through jennifer hudson's love you i do. the girl has got pipes. she was sick during this performance too. if this is how she sings with swollen vocal chords, one would probably see jesus while listening to her sing at 100%.

while she certainly has the vocals to elicit one of steven tyler's closed eyes, head back and forth, just enjoying the music responses, jessica sanchez is so much fun to watch on that stage that i wouldn't close my eyes for a second for fear of missing one of her sassy moves.

2 very talented contenders that may just give us our asian american american idol for 2012? i'm digging' it, and diggin' hard.

-melissa