That really made me wonder if there really is this subliminal message that Asian American = activist; if that is being conveyed through the publication, do certain individuals feel marginalized that they don’t fit into that equation. And so having thought about it, I realized that there is just a phenomenological sense of being Asian American. The fact that individuals who encompass this broad group cannot define the term themselves suggests that identity is ineffable. Shakespeare had put it most eloquently in Romeo and Juliet–”a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. You are who you are. The label itself shouldn’t matter so much in that our inherent qualities encompass our being. So if you read hardboiled and feel empowered, great! If you feel left out, don’t! hardboiled is only a medium for expression of issues that certain individuals subjectively feel are important. The purpose of the newsmagazine is not supposed to characterize the issues that Asian American’s should be concerned about. If you don’t care about it–it’s ok. At least you know yourself well enough to see what you aren’t.

Honesty, she shouldn’t be embarrassed by girls who enjoy Asian paraphernalia; we should be embarrassed by people like her who draw on superficial features as salient measures of identity. I see no real difference in her article and the numerous video postings on Youtube on “how to be a fob”.

Monte’s take: Wow, an azn hater. I didn’t even realize the concept of being “azn” had escaped middle school but wow, here it is. Are you kidding me? This girl isn’t embarassed of her own race? Nobody who respects her own culture would spend 2/3 of an article spewing hate on it, and then spend the last 1/3 reconciling with it. First off, being “azn” shouldn’t be classified as emoticon loving, peace sign waving, hello-kitty loving people. If that’s being “azn,” a subgroup of “asian,” then I know too many confused white people. Emotions, hello-kitty, and peace signs are all pretty popular cultural norms that deserve respect in their own right, not hate. I personally don’t care for hello-kitty, but I certainly do not judge others for doing so. I don’t understand where this concept came that the aforementioned traits are “embarrassing.” I think what’s embarrassing is being on a newspaper staff belonging to the most prestigious public university in the world and having the audacity to publish an article that reinforces stereotypes. This article tries to redeem itself at the end saying it embraces “azn,” but it really doesn’t. It just reconciles it. There is no celebration of culture, and what’s especially sad is that there’s so much more to Asian American culture that is never mentioned );

Cecilia’s Take: what.the.hell. I think a part of my soul just shriveled up and died after reading this. First off, Daily Cal, when did self-deprecation, cultural ignorance, and general ludicrousness become news? Pang begins by saying it’s ridiculous for her to hide her oh-so-embarrassing Asian-ness because of her “squinting eyes” and ethnic last name, as if she’s tainted and marked as inferior. Internalized racism much? More than being angry at her, I’m incredibly disturbed by the fact that she just doesn’t get it. Even when she embraces her “azn” side, she still speaks about Asian identification as a disorder or illness that cannot be suppressed in spite of desires to absorb mainstream American norms to remedy her internal handicap. What really gets me though is a certain retort that follows someone’s comment that the writer should take an Asian Am class: “Don’t you know the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans?” Being azn is cute.. IN ASIA. Being an American-born azn IS NOT. How is flashing the peace sign in photos a part of Asian culture? Um, what? And what in the WORLD does Asian American studies have to do with anything? How would Asian AMERICAN studies help??” Um I don’t know, generate some sort of intellectual thought on racism and identity? Thank God for alternative media is all I can say.

Denise’s Take: Playing on Cecilia’s aformentioned “disease” metaphor, I really feel that this author’s discomfort with her identity is the result of a misdiagnosis. “Asianness/Aznness” is not a virulent disease-like state that can only be “lived with”; however, idiocy and ignorance are. But I’ll refrain from being as mean as I’d like to be; while Pang’s uninformed, judgmental generalizations of “Azns” and her self-deprecating fear of being judged are indubitably HILARIOUS, they are also tremendously tragic. The quality of this piece’s writing as well as the mention of a “dorm room” at the end of the article already suggest the author’s youth, and it may be possible that she comes from somewhere where poorly-crafted, racist vitriol is tolerated or even considered funny. No biggie. Humans make mistakes to learn, and it may just be incredibly unfortunate that this one was racist, horrid, and made many people feel very, very sad for society (especially that rather distasteful remark about the Wah Ching Gang. Classy!).

The real culprit is whatever idiot at The Daily Cal who thought this was appropriate to publish. This was essentially the only piece in this issue that did not have to deal with the walkout–really? Of everything in the world to have an opinion about aside from the walkout, the only one worth publishing was this sophomorically written regurgitation of antiquated stereotypes. This is absolutely pathetic that The Daily Cal thought this passes off for news, or even intellectual thought worth representing at this university. Maybe this was an attempt to join the illustrious ranks of such schools as Yale and Dartmouth in terms of unfunny, anti-Asian “satire”  (disclaimer: I realize that the vast majority of students at Yale and Dartmouth are probably far more intelligent than the perpetrators of those two articles). In any case, it’s a particular slap in the face,considering the complete lack of discussion on how the budget cuts will affect API students outside of API spaces. Nah, don’t worry, our progressive spaces, representation from underserved API demographics, and classes that speak to our communities’ interests aren’t in danger at all. The biggest problems we have today are making sure we don’t look like “wannabe geishas” or choosing between the “ordinary square eraser, or handy and efficient but Azn clicking eraser.”

On a lighter note, I found this online comment on the article pretty fucking funny:

“One last thing.. Democrats make fun of Republicans all the time, stereotyping them as gun-toting, Bible-thumping conservatives.

Do white Democrats then have “classic internalized racism” for their own race as well??”

….LOL.

This morning, I was awakened by the squeak of the platypus outside my window. As I ran out of bed, I thought to myself, today is a scintillating day. I was inspired to become a more active coal miner and get involved in San Francisco. The weather was excellent to hop down Sproul. I was on my way to Bancroft when I bumped into a shopping cart. “What’s this”, I thought to myself. The shopping cart was old and vomit green. I looked up at saw Rose slowly passing out newsmagazines and decided to take one for myself. But just as I was about to get my own copy of hardboiled, I saw another person twirling around with a magnifying glass.
“What are you looking for?” I suspiciously asked.
“I’m looking for trees. Have you seen any?” he responded.
He then explained that he was an investigative plumber, looking for the latest scoop on Asian American democracy to report on. Then the girl with the tools and newsmagazines came over and said, “Why don’t you check out hardboiled! It’ll meet all of your needs.”
Since I only like my eggs raw anyways, I decided to check it out and it was a lot of fun! :)
The end.

If you are free, come to our first decal meeting in 20 Wheeler! A decal is a class you can take at Cal that’s run by students. There will be baked goods, discussion, and fun :) We will be giving an overview of hardboiled, both the publication and the decal, and providing a little taste of our purpose in the larger community.

So come on by and check us out! :)

• editor’s notes by james yeh
• the chilling ghost of april’s past by montague hung
• florida and the big, bad, racist law by denise wong
• racism: an amateur’s perspective by kathy wang
• whitewaching film adaptations of asian franchises by katherine bai
• “they’ll be fine” by elaine chen
• API education and language NOW by eunice kwon
• EO9066 and 9/11: do you remember? by annie noguchi
• elected ASUC officials impacting API communities by layla abdul-khabir
• appeasing conservative surgardaddies? by melani sutedja
• recalling irresponsible political action by cecilia tran