Some would say that the title of this blog entry is sensational and untrue– I for one cannot see how what has happened is nothing short of murder.
This past Sunday, police officers were called to a Berryessa neighborhood in San Jose after Brian Pham called to say that his mentally ill brother was making unprovoked attacks on the family. The call was made after Daniel cut his brother with a knife from throat to ear. Thereafter, the police arrived at the home. The family members shouted “Don’t shoot him– he’s mentally ill!” In spite of this, the police tasered Daniel and shot him four to five times until he was dead.
Clearly, this was a fragile and highly dangerous situation. Yes, the police needed to use force to prevent Daniel from hurting others but it is a fucking outrage that they would shoot a man with a knife to death. Menace or not, there is no way that it is justifiable for an officer to shoot someone to death when they are not armed with a gun. Police officers claim that they did not know that he was mentally ill but also state that they would have acted in the same way even with this knowledge. Some remorse, huh? There’s plenty of talk about whether or not Daniel was on drugs– can I just say that this is completely beside the point? It makes no difference if he was mentally ill or on drugs because we know that he clearly had problems. This is a mere distraction from the overt injustice taking place. The fact of the matter is that the police shot to kill a man who did not have a gun and are now calling it acceptable procedure.
What absolutely tears me apart is the suffering and guilt that Daniel’s family must be feeling right now. Daniel’s father says that his brother, Brian, feels responsible for Daniel’s death because he was the one who called the police. The family reports that the police have made no effort to contact the family, update them on the case, or make any gesture to express their condolences.
For the Vietnamese community in San Jose, this incident has evoked memories of Bich Cau Thi Tran’s murder. In this 2004 incident, the police were called to check up on reports of unsupervised children. When the police arrived and saw this 4′ 9” woman gesturing with a Vietnamese fruit peeler knife, they shot her in the chest and killed her. The police were acquitted by the grand jury.
Protests and vigils are taking place in San Jose. Keep an eye out for the way in which the investigation of this shooting unfolds.
You can read the San Jose Mercury News article here.
– hardboiled. keeping an eye on the watchdogs as usual.
Does it mean anything to you?
Ah, yes that ABBA song is stuck in my head.
And it became stuck shortly after I spoke with my sister. She asked me what’s the big deal about the Yale a cappella group singing “All the Single Asians”. She couldn’t see why it was so offensive and why people are making a fuss over it. So I told her that it was degrading and demoralizing. It perpetuates several stereotypes and objectifies women and Asian Americans as flat, 2D characters. and she just said, “so? it’s not supposed to be taken seriously anyways. It’s a joke.” She said that it’s only demoralizing if we interpret it like that. She questioned why hardboiled was so invested in these so-called “petty” issues when there were larger sociocultural positions and stories that we could cover. But I honestly feel like the larger issues stem from the smaller problems. If people cannot appreciate themselves and their ethnic backgrounds, how are they expected to value and respect others?
In case you can’t access the link, here’s the recap of the article.
A rep from the Organization of Chinese Americans spoke at a House testimony on voter registration about the difficulty some Asian Americans have during voting “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.”
Republican Betty Brown from Texas responded, “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?”
People called her out making racist, ignorant statements, and of course, her spokesman says this is just being blown out of proportion.
Okay. Let’s forget how messed up (and freaking racist) her statements are for a second and just enjoy how purely stupid this whole thing is.
Who are these Americans she’s referring to? The whole issue is on VOTING. You must be an American citizen to vote. Every last person in the Organization of Chinese AMERICANS is an American. When Brown suggests that Asian Americans “adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with” and refers to the OCA as “you [the rep] and your citizens,” she’s making a distinction between Chinese Americans and Americans.
Chinese Americans are Americans.
This is a bit tangential, but still relevant. Up until this year, I used to be wary of calling things racist. Especially as an Asian American Studies major, I didn’t want to be seen one of those people who see racism everywhere – from tv shows to textbooks to the bottom of my coffee mug. So I would use phrases like “poor lack of judgement” or “unfortunate choice of words” or “momentary lapses of sanity and reason.”
I’m done with that. This year, I’m calling them like I see it. Remember kids, “racist” is not a bad word, it just refers to bad people.
I got some updates about the fight against the new UC Admissions policy, which I wrote about for issue 12.4. You know, the one that wants to increase diversity by increasing the white population and decreasing the Asian American one. Ring any bells?
Here are some follow-up links to this article. It’s reassuring to know that Asian Americans aren’t going to take this sitting down. Hell yes!
“How can we not be concerned?” said Patrick Hayashi, a retired UC Berkeley and systemwide leader. “The projections show our community will be decimated. We have to keep in mind that these numbers represent real people.”
“The changes over the last two years took place inside the ivory tower and closed the door, without the public’s knowledge,” he said.
Added Hayashi: “A public university should be more responsive. Private schools can do anything they want. But public schools have a different set of objectives. “It will have a devastating impact on our community. It is a fatal mistake to think it will blow over.”
“It’s affirmative action for whites,” said UC-Berkeley professor Ling-chi Wang. “I’m really outraged “… and profoundly disappointed with the institution.”
Let’s be real. This past year has been full of some unpleasant realizations for me when it comes to the way the Berkeley campus is run. As Professor Ling Chi Wang said at the API Language and Education Now! conference, the reason that this campus is full of liberal, passionate, and active students is (and has been since the raging sixties) is because the administration is so incredibly conservative.
The need for us, as students, to defend our education against the administration has come yet again with the plan to restructure the International Area Studies (IAS) department at UC Berkeley. The IAS houses 6 undergrad majors such as Peace and Conflict Studies, Development Studies, and even the Global Poverty minor. The Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (EVCP) George Breslauer recently announced that the position of dean in IAS would be replaced by a director and the IAS Teaching Program would be demoted to the Institute of IAS.
What’s the big deal about this name game? The title of dean represents a certain degree of importance and power and as such, they would have a larger role in the administrative happenings. This demotion not only takes away this power but makes the statement that Berkeley does not value international knowledge despite the fact that we live in a globalized community. In response to the student and professors’ badgering, Breslauer said that this move would save $250,000 annually. You know what, Breslauer? We’re calling your bluff because, as Prof. Ananya Roy has stated, you’re going to be hiring three individuals to replace the dean– how much money will that save? If you want to restructure a program on campus, can’t you please give us real and foolproof reasons as to why and how it will be beneficial? Breslauer has outright refused to talk to students in an open and public dialogue. This is a serious issue of transparency.
As a Development Studies major, this move impacts me in a very real way. I took on this major because I knew it was interdisciplinary and would not confine me to viewing the world’s issues from one field, one perspective. This major allows me to not only better understand the Third World but pick a geographic area of concentration. I have chosen to focus on Southeast Asia and, in doing so, I have had the opportunity to learn so much about Viet Nam, my heritage as a Vietnamese American woman, and better understand the present day conflicts of the region. This program represents the passion for cultural understanding on the Berkeley campus and we are all stakeholders in it. We cannot afford to let the administration tell us that our concerns are not valid. In true TWLF fashion, let’s tell them that this is our education and OUR university.
For more information, please go to: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=75491306920&ref=ts
To sign the petition to stop restructuring: http://www.calpetitions.com/petition/support-ias/
I am absolutely not going to refute the claim that Google is pretty much the reason why the universe functions these days BUT I do have to say that they could do a tad more to amp up their political correctness. It’s a total coincidence that Annie’s last blog is about Google because just last night I was watching the latest Wong Fu snippet (It’s hilarious and you should check it out!) when low and behold a couple Google ads popped up at the bottom of the youtube screen. Mind you this is no exaggeration:
Ad 1: “Want to date some sexy ASIAN LADIES? Go online to visit our dating website.”
(i am not going to list said website b/c some creeper will probably go visit it for said reason).
Ad 2:”Hot Chinese Girls” + link to stupid website #2.
(Once again, no free advertisement for you, racist “Hot Chinese Girls” website!)
Ad 3: “Enroll in Martial Arts Classes NOW!”
Yes, because Wong Fu = Asians = Bruce Lee = Martial Arts … duh.
Really, Google, really? Someone needs to fix that shizz asap.
Yes, this is yet another ridiculous martial arts movie to crush my spirit. It’s coming out at the end of the month and it looks completely absurd. The movie is based on a popular video game and its cast consists of predominantly white male actors …and Kristin Kreuk of Smallville fame. So there you have it– another over-the-top kung fu movie that will probably exotify and hypersexualize the cute, little (part) Asian girl. The blog, /Film, stated that they were happy that Kreuk does not don the Chinese outfit and ox horn hairdo that is in the video game. To that I say, “To hell with the subtleties, if you’re going to be cliche and racist than why not go all out?” (read with immense sarcasm).
The basic plot synopsis: Kreuk’s character seeks revenge after daddy is kidnapped, trains to be kung-fu warrior (by a white guy with black hair extensions?!), and kicks butt while looking pretty for the camera. Watching the trailer definitely reminded me of that awful show that premiered last year, “Samurai Girl.” Hey mainstream media, if you’re going to be racist can you at least get a little more creative? Yeah, thanks.
I got some updates about the fight against the new UC Admissions policy,