Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America

Contents

Contents Series Foreword, by Darrell Y. Hamamoto xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 1 Hometown:IntheShadowofSanFrancisco 10 American Dream, Chinatown Branch 10 A “Manong” with Magical Hands 24 2 Family:FromAgrarianismtoCyberspace 30 Finding Sacred Ground 30 Traditions: Old and New 45 “Rock On, Mr. President” 48 3 History:FromExclusiontoConfusion 50 Conquering Frontiers and Barriers 50 Wong Is an American Name 52 The “Forgotten Holocaust” 55 Healing Wounds, or Opening Them? 57 The Price of Memories 61 4 Immigration:HuddledMasses 64 Still Searching for Gold Mountain 64 Second-Class Citizenship 67 Downsize Your SUV 69 Se Habla English 70 5 IdentityandAcculturation:VisiblyInvisible 73 A State of Mind 73 So That’s Why I Can’t Lose Weight 77 Yellow Chic 78 A Tumultuous World in Transition 80 “We Lost a Country” 82 Who’s a Bonehead Now? 85 Paradise Lost 88 Minnesota Chow Mein 92 Best Friend or Best Meal? 95 Violating the Crustacean Creed 96 Parenting, Chinese Style 98 The American Nightmare 101 6 Anti-AsianRacism:ForeverForeigners 107 “The Boat People Own Everything” 107 Learning from the Vincent Chin Case 110 Escaping Racism: No Way Out 113 The Golden State of Bigotry 117 Swastikas in the Sunset 120 Un-American Christians 122 I Am a Gook 124 viii Contents 7 Class:YinandYang 126 Picking on the Most Vulnerable 126 New Global Capitalists 129 An Obnoxious Status Quest 132 The Rich Can Be Nice Too 134 Exploiting Our Own 136 8 AffirmativeAction:TheMythofMeritocracy 138 Between a Rock and a Hard Place 138 Calling for Magician Administrators 143 The Selfish Versus the Altruists 145 When Values Collide 147 9 Gender:HeSaid,SheSaid 150 The “Hottest” Dating Trend 150 Special Assets 154 Hiding Behind a Cultural Defense 156 The Hero of Asian Men 159 10 RaceRelations:WhyCan’tWeAllGetAlong? 164 Just Who Is the Victim Here? 164 Playing Together 168 Plenty of Blame to Go Around 170 Middleman Myopia 172 Yellow Pride Versus Multiculturalism 176 Beyond Black and White 180 Contents ix 11 Politics:ASeatattheTable 183 Right Man, Wrong Time 183 Race and Ideology: Bumping into Each Other 186 An Asian American “Mr. Fixit” 189 Riding a Yellow Wave 194 A Common Human Affliction 198 A Question of Loyalty 200 Trolling for the Big Fish 202 Scientific Scapegoat 204 12 Crime:Bang,Bang,You’reDead 206 “It Makes You Feel Special” 206 The Model Minority Criminal 208 Born to Kill 213 Boyish Appeal 215 13 Stars:IAMSomebody 219 Colorblind Casting 219 Forbidden in More Ways Than One 223 The Connie Chung Syndrome 226 Kowtowing to the Queen 228 Disposable Commodities 233 Mercenaries 238 The Politics of a Bond Film 242 Money Talks 243 The News Media: Only Getting Part of It 245 Everybody’s Child 251 Publication Credits 253 Index 259 x Contents ...