Category Archives: Asian American issues

Asian American issues

#linsanity

I was at work last night, trying to finish up so I could get home to my family, when I saw multiple tweets from my buddy Marc, making jokes about Jeremy Lin. I knew who Jeremy Lin was, but Marc was a baseball and football dude — why was he tweeting Lin jokes? Turns out every Asian American I knew (and I know a lot of them, obviously) on Twitter and Facebook was tweeting the heck out of the Knicks/Lakers game — all in favor of Jeremy Lin.

But it wasn’t just an Asian American thing — Jeremy Lin has captured the attention of all basketball lovers. What is it about this guy? Is it simply because he’s the first American of any Asian descent to really do well in basketball? Is it because he’s Christian? Is it because he happened to explode on the scene in New York, where dreams either come true or die, and not much in between? I’m trying to figure it out.

(Trinity, by the way, was mostly just so irritated by the Lakers horrible shooting night that he didn’t even want to hear any discussion about Lin. I think he thinks I have a crush on him, but that’s not the case. Lin is simply a fascinating case study of sudden celebrity.)

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Japanese Americans have a bad taste from ‘The Goods’

This past week was, of course, the AAJA Convention in Boston, which brought out the nostalgia in me — especially on Facebook, where so many people I’ve met from past conventions posted about the parties, the workshops, the speakers and of course, having fun with old friends. One issue arose, however, that didn’t come out of the convention, but did get discussed — the new movie, “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.” The treatment of the Asian guy in the movie is not getting any love from Japanese Americans.

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L.A.-area vigil for detained journalists

Laura Ling and Euna Lee will be tried Thursday in North Korea on charges of hostile acts and illegally entering the country. The two American reporters for Current TV have been detained since March 17 and if convicted, face up to five years detention and hard labor.

Both women are married, and Lee has a 4-year-old daughter.

I think we all have high hopes for these two women reporters, especially since Roxana Saberi was freed and her sentence suspended. But with the rumblings from North Korea lately, I think it will take a lot of prayer to get them out without risking a full-scale war with this still-Communist nation.

There will be a vigil in Santa Monica Wednesday night for Ling and Lee, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wokcano, 1413 5th Street, near the Third Street Promenade. It’ll be one of many across the country. I won’t be able to be there because I work that night, but would be much obliged if anyone else is there and would be willing to share pictures with AAJA-LA.

Roxana Saberi goes free

Freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was freed by Iran today. Her sentence was suspended, but the espionage charges still stand. She cannot work in Iran for the next five years, but can leave the country.

Ms. Saberi’s arrest had become a thorny issue between U.S. and Iran. The two nations have no diplomatic ties, but have engaged in talks to improve relations and have held high-level meetings on Afghanistan. According to Mr. Khorramshahi, the judges explicitly stated in their verdict that Ms. Saberi could be released because “there was no animosity between Iran and the United States.”

Asian women journalists, beware

Is there really so many Asian American women as journalists that three of them are being held in hostile countries for espionage? It is disturbing to me that three women of Asian descent — including Roxana Saberi, who is half Japanese and half Iranian — are being held in hostile countries on trumped up charges. Is Hillary Clinton the only U.S. official who will speak up for them?

The three of them have been on my heart lately. I can’t imagine the fear they are feeling, the worry their families are experiencing. I can only imagine the admonishment their moms will give them when, God willing, they return, especially since I’m sure all three of them were urged to go into safer professions like medicine, law or some sort of computer or engineering work instead.

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