7 Things NEVER to Say to Asian-American Executives

Jae Requiro remembers her friend’s story vividly: Following a meeting in which her friend was the only Asian-American woman, a male colleague said to her, “You’re not at all like my Asian wife … you speak up.”

— Diversity Inc.

Glenda posted this on her blog and to me, this is a good primer for those of you who think there is such a thing as positive stereotypes. Some of my favorites from this article:

• “You’re not a minority because all Asians are rich and successful.”
• “Where are you from? No, where are you really from?” or “When are you going to go home?” or “How often do you go home?”
• “You aren’t like them” or “You don’t act very Asian.”

Read the whole thing.

Lawmaker defends comment on Asians

My frend sent me this article via email:

Lawmaker defends comment on Asians
Call for voters to simplify their names not racially motivated, Terrell Republican says
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.

The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

Ko told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver’s license on school registrations.

Easier for voting?

Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said Republicans are trying to suppress votes with a partisan identification bill and said Brown “is adding insult to injury with her disrespectful comments.”

Brown spokesman Jordan Berry said Brown was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem.

Berry said Democrats are trying to blow Brown’s comments out of proportion because polls show most voters support requiring identification for voting. Berry said the Democrats are using racial rhetoric to inflame partisan feelings against the bill.

“They want this to just be about race,” Berry said.

My favorite come back by racist people is how they blame their accusers of making everything about race. Guess what, it is about race! Not only is the ignorance and arrogance amazingly prevalent in these events, but also doesn’t this smack familiar to anyone else? I mean why stop wth those “difficult” Chinese names? Those Polish ones can be a mouthful and you know, Irish names with the O and the apostrophe? Those break web forms often times and forget about URLs… Why can’t they just make it easier, huh?

What? You mean your last name as special meaning to you? Represents your heritage, right? Hmm…

Can’t Hate Everything

“Chopstix, a real asian cuisine” by Aji Bekti

Funny and poinent.

Italy bans kebabs and foreign food from cities

This is some major bullshit.

Apparently, Italy wants to ban “foreign” foods from its cities. Even though:

The San Marzano tomato, a staple ingredient of Italian pasta sauces, was a gift from Peru to the Kingdom of Naples in the 18th century. Even spaghetti, it is thought, was brought back from China by Marco Polo, and oranges and lemons came from the Arab world.

While race, culture, nationalism and immigration are certainly complex and hard to quantify and legislate. The only thing, perhaps more complex and even harder to quantify is cuisine! Italian food, as we know it today, has more imported products in it that without them it would resemble perhaps more Greek food than any other.

I mean, no tomato sauce, no pasta, no peppers?! What are you left with? Bread, cheese and olives. That’s it.

But more importantly, this is obviously an affront to immigrants in Italy and the growing European back-lash against non-European immigration. Of course, they deny this, but if you hate a culture’s food to the point of banning it, how much of a logical leap does one have to make to hate the people who produce that culture and food?

Massimo Di Grazia, the city spokesman, said that the ban was intended to improve the image of the city and to protect Tuscan products. “It targets McDonald’s as much as kebab restaurants,” he added.

There is confusion, however, over what is meant by ethnic. Mr Di Grazia said that French restaurants would be allowed. He was unsure, though, about Sicilian cuisine. It is influenced by Arab cooking.

Also, kebabs are good.

So it begins…

The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center – a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool – one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element.

via After Obama’s win, white backlash festers in US | csmonitor.com

‘Suntanned’ Barack Obama jibe

The Italian-born Ms Bruni, who became a French national following her marriage to President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this year, said: "When I hear Silvio Berlusconi making light of the event Obama's election and joking about the fact that Obama is "always tanned", it feels strange to me.

"Some people will no doubt put it down to humour, but often I find that I am pleased to have become French."

Italy's left-wing opposition parties have accused Mr Berlusconi of embarrassing the nation with the quip.

He responded by calling them "imbeciles" with no sense of humour.

via Carla Bruni angry at Silvio Berlusconi’s ’suntanned’ Barack Obama jibe – Telegraph

SNL’s Racist Caricature of Matt Gonzalez

Gonzalez- Has no discernible accent. But, because he’s of hispanic origin, it’s somehow funny and not-racist to give him an accent.

This is a textbook example of racism in the media. Will it harm our children? Probably not.

Was it lame? Definitely.

via SNL’s Racist Caricature of Matt Gonzalez « Mission Mission

“Especially if they’re different.”

Obama Bucks

“I didn’t see it the way that it’s being taken. I never connected,” she said. “It was just food to me. It didn’t mean anything else.”

Inland GOP mailing depicts Obama’s face on food stamp | Inland News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

Learn Chinese in 5 Minutes

Posted here for some reason.

Ok, so I just checked the calendar, it’s 2008 right? This is rediculous!