March 10, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Earlier this week, Dr. Jim Yong Kim was announced the 17th president of Dartmouth College by its Board of Trustees, making him the first Asian American individual to hold the presidency of an Ivy League institution. This momentous occasion is a cause for celebration in not only the circles of American higher education but in the Asian American community as well. Dr. Kim’s distinguished professional history in the non-profit health sector, his leadership in the World Heath Organization’s fight against HIV/AIDS, and his experience as a researcher and educator make him an ideal role model for young Asian Americans. The board of the New York City Asian American Student Conference (NYCAASC) would like to extend its sincerest congratulations to Dr. Kim.

It is unfortunate that an event that should invoke pride in America’s diversity was immediately greeted with ignorant and hateful commentary. Generic Good Morning Message (GGMM), the daily Dartmouth email update, was intrinsically tasteless, socially and culturally insensitive, and harmfully racist. Under the flimsy guise of satire, the author attempted to pass off statements that ridiculed immigrants by likening the accomplished humanitarian to a democracy-hating "Chinaman" and mocking his ethnic heritage through hate speech that has permeated our history. Particularly disturbing was the underlying assumption that all people of Asian ethnicity, regardless of their upbringing or accomplishments, should be viewed as outsiders and a threat to a fictional racially-homogeneous United States.

While we applaud GGMM’s timely apology and willingness to attend diversity training seminars, this incident is an indication of a deeper, more troubling issue. In recent years, there have been similar incidents across college campuses (such as the University of Colorado’s 2008 press article, “If it’s war the Asians want”, written by Max Karson) – and the problem is not being addressed. This disturbing trend becomes increasingly clear as Asian American attendance in higher education institutions continues to grow. The alarming reality is that while the immediate controversy is generally resolved by getting the offending party to apologize and/or attend educational workshops, racial stereotyping of Asian Americans is still often condoned without questioning. Most derogatory comments made about people of Asian descent are often considered to be relatively humorous and are not condemned as gravely racist— we must ask ourselves, why is this so?

We must spread awareness about issues in order to combat bigotry within our community. It is not enough to acknowledge that this is an issue, have it be swept under the rug, and watch it recur. NYCAASC calls on all individuals to take a more proactive stance by empowering themselves through education and by challenging assumptions so that these incidents will no longer persist.

"Scholoarships"

... will Ethnic Studies be the first to go? Check out the NYTimes article here.

Some thoughts to consider: how high is Ethnic Studies in administrative priorities? What about a Core curriculum? Which disciplines might the institution value over others?

Reported by Rachel Smith, Richa Naik and Marc Beja. Compiled by Thomas Garry:

Just minutes before a planned 12 p.m. rally, Public Safety officers stormed Take Back NYU's third floor barricades, according to Emily Stainkamp, Take Back NYU's spokeswoman. Just past noon, five non-NYU students walked out of the front door of Kimmel Center after they were granted amnesty from the university for their peaceful cooperation. All remaining NYU students have been told they will be expelled, Stainkamp told WSN. Four NYU students have taken to the dining hall's balcony, because they said they are fearful of fifteen Public Safety officers who have entered the barricade. All students still inside Kimmel Center will either be suspended or arrested, according to university officials. "This morning the university summarily suspended the remaining students," university spokesman John Beckman said in a statement. "Any non-NYU students will be turned over to the police for arrest as trespassers; we will notify their schools of the participation in improper activity. Any students who refuse to identify themselves will be assumed to be non-NYU students."

From Rahel Aima:

As some of you may know, the faculty have composed a letter addressing President Bollinger's silence regarding academic freedom in Palestine. They have collected over a hundred faculty signatures thus far, and are now hoping to gather student signatures in support.

This letter will be made public Monday, but it would be great to have an already sizable list of student signatures. Please take a minute to show your support.

To read and sign the letter: http://www.academicfreedomcolumbia.org/

Please forward this far/wide!

A fairly recent study publicized through Korea Daily and New America Media makes an interesting finding: almost one in two Korean American students in Ivy League and top-tier universities drop out.

A rather oblique way to defy the model minority stereotype, this figure is a contrast to the 25 and 21 percent of Chinese and Indian Americans, respectively, that drop out. The author Samuel Kim of this doctoral dissertation points toward parental pressures as cause for this high dropout rate. Hmm.

Asian American University of Maryland Students Mobilize To Save Asian American Studies

(COLLEGE PARK, MD) -- Students at the University of Maryland are stepping up to demand Asian Americans are included in the future of the University. The current draft of the University "Strategic Plan" – a document which governs future resource allocation and academic affairs policy for the next 5 to 10 years – completely ignores Asian American Studies and does nothing to address meeting the needs of Maryland's growing Asian American student population.

Outrage has been vented at several recent meetings of Asian American student organizations and activist groups. Given forecasted fiscal shortfalls for the state of Maryland, many students fear Asian American Studies, as well as other academic programs dedicated to the study of race, gender, sexual orientation and issues of identity, face elimination or severe cut backs in the case of a budget crisis.

"Without inclusion in the Strategic Plan, you don't exist," lamented Pi Delta Psi President Scottie Siu.

As the deadline nears for community input, several Asian American groups are preparing to lobby and write letters demanding that the Provost add provisions to ensure that Asian American Studies be protected and promoted one day into a Major. Other demands include that there should be more needs based assessment surveys so counseling services can be improved, and that there should be a space on campus for Asian American cultural events.

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Lee Fang (301) 318-7351 Lhfang at gmail dot com

April 19, 2008

Because blogging makes you go crazy?

This can be considered a live blog - Gary Okihiro just gave us this link to a petition decrying the proposed budgets cuts of Asian American Studies at University of Pennsylvania. These budget cuts are university-wide, but disproportionally affects smaller departments and programs - thus, threatening to effectively shut down the Asian American Studies program. So take a look, read the petition, and sign it!

The petition at www.petitiononline.com/saveasam

To: The University of Pennsylvania

We, the students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as other interested members, believe the 25% budget decrease by the School of Arts and Sciences to Asian American Studies is outrageous. Asian American Studies, and more broadly Ethnic Studies, are integral components to a college curriculum and should not be viewed as simply supplementary knowledge. We DISAPPROVE of the School of Arts and Sciencefs decision to cut funding for Asian American Studies. We URGE the administration to reverse the decision and fully recognize Asian American Studies as an essential component of campus diversity.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Recently, the University announced that the Asian American Studies program will receive a 25% decrease in their budget. Because the program is already so poorly funded, these additional cuts would ultimately terminate Asian American Studies at Penn.

If this University is indeed committed to diversity, it must display that passion through sufficient funding and support of Asian American Studies.

In an effort to address this issue to administration, the Asian Pacific Student Coalition and the ASAM Undergraduate Advisory Board have started a petition to document the student and faculty interest in Asian American Studies.

Petitions will be available in PAACH (3601 Locust Walk) as well as at the Asian American Studies Office (166 McNeil Building).

PLEASE STOP BY AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT BY SIGNING OUR PETITION!

HELP US SAVE ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES AT PENN!

The Coalition for the Revitalization of Asian American Studies at Hunter (CRAASH) is underway in a campaign to strengthen the school's AAS program; they're also helping Columbia and NYU to plan the 2nd annual New York City Asian American Student Conference (NYCAASC). Our best wishes go out to CRAASH and their efforts. In solidarity!

"They [Asian students] don't genetically have a knowledge of the subject matter." - Gary Okihiro in Intro to Asian American Studies

Here's a sampling of the Asian American Studies and Comparative Ethnic Studies courses offered this semester, for those of you looking to fill up that last hour of your week with something worthwhile.

ASAM W1010y Introduction To Asian American Studies 3 pts. Not offered in 2007-2008. Call number: 76780

Interdisciplinary, intercultural introduction to the field of Asian American Studies. Major themes include methodological and theoretical formulations central to the field (e.g. racial, gender, and sexual formations, modes and relations of production and class, nation and transnation, oral history, and communities research), history and comtemporary issues of identitites, family, immigration, labor, education and anti-Asianisms.

ASAM W3933y South Asians in the U.S. 4 pts. Call number: 80942

The interdisciplinary course survey course explores the history and experience of South Asians in the United States. The course is divided into thematic sections. Section I provides background information on the South Asian American community. Section II will broaden the picture by considering issues of the class, the model minority myth, family lives, and patterns of acculturation. Section I and II set the stage for further examine how South Asian Americans negotiate new forms of identity. Section III explores popular culture among second generation youth, religious maintenance and adaptation, gender and sexuality, and culture politics.

Explores selected texts written by Asian American women from diverse backgrounds, focusing on issues such as identity, gender, generation, race, class, religion, and language.

CSER W1012y History of Racialization in the United States 3 pts. Call number: 14285

The History of Racialization in the United States examines the development of race and racism through the study of significant historical circumstances that define the institutional structure of American Empire and of the resulting interactions among its peoples. Race is not static. Consequently, it is not an ahistorical object, nor a predetermined identity, nor a uniform category of analysis. Traditionally, the history of American race relations is the contact between racially defined groups over time and space of the effort required to maintain social and economic differences among them. Racialization, then, refers to the process by which one population group or many are "placed" in distinct racial categories.

CSER W3940x Comparative Study of Constitutional Challenges Affecting African, Latino and Asian American Communities 4 pts. Call number: 83648

This course will examine how American legal system decided constitutional challenges affecting the empowerment of African, Latino, and Asian American communities from the 19th century to the present. Focus will be on the role that race, citizenship, capitalism/labor, property and ownership played in the court decision in the context of the historical, social and political conditions existing at the time. Topics include the denial of citizenship and naturalization to slaves and immigrants, goverment sanctioned segregation, the struggle for reparations for descendants of slavery and Japanese Americans during World War II.

Luckily, I generally have the ability to enter periods of deep thought during finals crunchtime. Unfortunately, it's never really about the finals themselves. This time, it's about my thesis and the reclamation of an Asian American radical history based on theoretical conceptions of, and community actions around, race, nation, class, empire, and society.

I found this video on YouTube, a preview for a documentary on Richard Aoki, a longtime Japanese American radical from Oakland, CA:



This looks legit, featuring the likes of Yuri Kochiyama, Bobby Seale, and Prof. Diane C. Fujino, who penned Yuri's biography and is currently working on a bio of Aoki himself. But to backtrack for a moment, and give a brief description of who this guy is.

Aoki, a third-generation Japanese American, was born in San Leandro, CA in 1938; at the age of 4 he and his family were evacuated and relocated in the forced movement of 110,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast during WWII. After returning from the Topaz, Utah relocation center in 1945, his family returned to the Bay Area, where he would eventually encounter fellow Oakland residents Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, co-founders of the revolutionary nationalist Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Aoki, credited as a "radical Japanese cat" in Seale's autobiography, Seize the Time, provided the inchoate Panthers with their first firearms in their now-legendary method of patrolling Oakland cops, or "policing the police."

A relatively unsung figure in the BPP (Newton makes no mention of Aoki in his biography, Revolutionary Suicide), and often marginalized (he was, for a while, the sole member of the BPP's Berkeley chapter), Aoki was nevertheless a significant player in the Panthers' activities, one of six Field Marshals. He also enrolled at UC Berkeley in the late 1960's, was a co-architect in the campus' Asian American Political Alliance (one of the first organizations to proclaim themselves "Asian American"), and an organizer in the Third World Liberation Front, the coalition of color whose campus protests in 1969 led to the formation of one of the nation's first Ethnic Studies programs. As he says in the vid, "I do believe in mass action."


Aoki--like fellow Japanese American Panthers Guy Kurose and Mike Tagawa in the Seattle chapter--is part of a hidden history of Asian American activism that, while perhaps no longer so well-figured in a racial consciousness that has been radically altered by the changing face of Asian America since the 1960's, is nevertheless crucial in an understanding of what previous generations have contributed to our lives. Aoki's organizing--bridging campus and community, uniting different peoples of color, challenging the very structural base of state and society--has profound implications for current and future generations of Asian Americans, students or not, activists or not, and provides a space for legacies that must be remembered, kept alive, and cherished.

I'm gonna work on tracking down this documentary. In the meantime (and I think I'll do these from time to time), next up will be Chris Kando Iijima and his mother, Kazu. Now back to studying...

When we say memorial, it tends to mean that the person has died. Our Solomon Chao (former PC member or something), however, is alive and kicking somewhere in Cali, while we celebrate the legacy of study room take-overs in the But in his absence.

We're not gonna say where it is... 'cause this is technically against Butler policy. All we will say: this is the third semester in a row this has happened. It's a little bit distracting, but all are welcome - if you find out where we are, that is.

And so we descend back into finals hell.

A message of solidarity from AAA to AAA.

A Harvard Crimson article describes the ways that campaigns for Asian American Studies at Harvard University have over 20+ years risen and fallen, while actual programs in AAS at other schools such as University of Pennsylvania and Cornell have thrived. (UPenn is even bringing in Kal Penn as a visiting professor in the spring of '08. Damn, that's impressive.)

While we hope that Harvard comes around soon concerning what should be an anachronism in the lack of ethnic studies (or in this case Asian American) course offerings, we support fully the progressive endeavors that students there (including their AAA, the Asian American Association) are taking to instate such a program/department.

Whether or not students there are ready to undertake such activist measures such as hunger strikes (as we did in '96 for both Latino and Asian American Studies following similar successes at schools all across the country), the AAA of Columbia is willing to aid this and all campaigns for Asian American Studies in all ways possible. (With two of our senior advisers as chairs of NAASCon and more of our members and constituents as activists in this cause, we're more than happy to offer help! Just let us know...)

And for all students wishing to bring about Asian American Studies at their respective institutions, take a look at this NAASCon student advocate's guide to campaigning for Asian American Studies.

P.S. Whooa, history professor Mae Ngai apparently turned down Harvard for our ethnic studies program... We're eternally grateful, 'cause I hear she's a kickass (and hardcore) teacher.

What is Asian American Studies?
Why do we need AAS when we have EALAC & MEALAC?
How does it relate to life beyond college?

Join us for a teach-in on Asian American Studies, tonight 8pm in Lerner E569! Come meet some of our most beloved professors like Mae Ngai and Gary Okihiro. I would leave it there, but our writer Nhu-Y wrote too many hilarious things onto the Facebook event.

Other serious questions of inquiry:
Why is it so interdisciplinaryly sexy?
How does it transcend the hotness of other fields?
Is AAS so hot that it intimidates you?
Why does AAS drop it like its hot all the time?
Can AAS really walk it out?
Will my biology major get jealous if I want to do AAS too?

Get academically crunk. MMM ACADEMIA.

After seeing this I had to ask... Was Nhu-Y done? No.

Why does it combine history & sociology & other fields to make such hot babies?
Too nervous to approach AAS? Well, now you can in a low-key environment. Don't worry if you can't perform... AAS is hot, but so many people don't hit on it because they're afraid of being rejected... well, AAS is waiting.

(Nhu-Y: i really was going to make a bunch of rap song references but i was like hmm... appropriate?)

And oh right, ... free food! Be there!

For my weekly Anthropology film course, I am assigned hundreds of pages of reading in preparation for a three hour film-watching session (the satisfaction of which is robbed by all the time spent printing and reading until 3am).

Two weeks ago, to prepare for The Battle of Algiers, an Italian black-and-white film based on the '54-'62 Algerian War of Independence, I held my usual routine of printing away what would determine my next few hours in the library. I accidentally came across a text by Robert Stam called "Fanon, Algeria, and the Cinema: The Politics of Identification" (which mysteriously disappeared from Courseworks the week after).

This all sounded boring enough until the sub-header, Multiculturalism, Postcoloniality, and Transnational Media, caught my eye. I read further.



Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), "the eloquent critic of colonial opppression", is often regarded as a forefather of Ethnic Studies. He is well known for believing that "social oppression itself generates 'extraordinary unhappiness'" and that classical anthropology's view of the colonized as "living in another time" (acting as contemporary ancestors) is problematic. His work, The Wretched of the Earth (Les damnés de la terre), discusses the psychological effect of colonialism and calls for a movement of decolonization. Bringing it back to Asian American issues - one could say that Fanon's critique of colonialism also fueled anti-Orientalist sentiment.

Long ago, my view (and others' too) of the Anthropology vs. Ethnic Studies situation was that the two fields were fatally pitted against each other, completely opposite in principle and not to be studied conjointly. I was once given the impression that Anthropology was rust and Ethnic Studies gold. The fact that Fanon, an anticolonialist thinker, appeared in my anthropological readings, however, shatters this misperception and shows that some judgments of anthropology are outdated and prejudiced.

Readers, let me break it to you: one cannot go through life believing that studying Anthropology is either an unforgivable crime or a shining light of truth. Yes, it claims a history of providing colonialist, racist sentiment while Ethnic Studies has too often been overlooked; but making an early assumption about the fields will not help provide an accurate understanding towards the conflict between the two. One must be fully aware of the information and resources that any field (however problematic) provides.

Most importantly, with whatever you're studying, a critical eye is necessary. If you're going to deal with some 18th Century Eurocentric thinker talking about "the perfection of the white man", you might as well have an Intro to Cultural Studies class in your schedule too.