Apr

30

Dealing with Racism in a Foreign Country

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, International Racism, Race and Racism | 26 Comments

At one point in my life, I needed to take my Spanish to fluency level in order to accomplish an important goal. I spent a year working to save money in order to go to a private immersion school in a Latin American country. I picked the capital of Costa Rica, San Jos. I wanted to stay in a relatively big city, and I was worried the smaller towns famous for language schools in Mexico and Guatemala would have so many other Americans that the immersion wouldn’t be as effective.

The school lasted 9 weeks, 8 hours a day. I was placed with a Costa Rican family. My seora was an older woman living with her adult son. They had a beautiful house in the suburbs. My boarding price included a breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was often a fried pork chop accompanied by rice and beans and a vegetable, with a side of fresh tropical fruit, a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a steaming thermos of world-famous Costa Rican coffee. The first time she presented me with this spread, it was pretty intimidating. But I ate every delicious bite, thanked the seora and staggered off to school.

Some of my American fellow students drove me crazy. There was a teenager who kept complaining about the breakfasts. She made her seora fix her a special breakfast: Captain Crunch cereal. Then she complained because her seora wasn’t fixing it right. The cereal was too soggy. So she made the seora wait to put the cereal into the milk until the exact proper moment.

I didn’t want to be an ugly American. I tried to understand the customs of daily life, and did some research before I went. I also knew from living in Miami that people would call me “chinita” or “Chinese girl” without regard for my real ethnicity, but that “chinita” didn’t carry the same negative baggage as it would in the U.S. In my own country there’s a thin but persistent layer of enmity towards Asians, based on a long history of immigration scares, economic competition, and wars. That history wasn’t the same in Costa Rica, obviously. Asians were simply stereotyped as “exotic” and “foreign”. It was actually a breath of fresh air. I had to deal with being “foreign”, and I had to deal with explaining that yes, I really was an American even though I didn’t look like one. Nothing especially difficult or painful.

I didn’t think about other racial stereotypes, but I had a rude awakening.

In class, we were doing a unit based on cartoons and jokes. We were shown cartoons and asked to comment on them. It was going well. Then I turned the page of the photocopied course packet for the next cartoon. There was a black boy with exaggerated black features, crying, sitting by the side of the road next to huge watermelon slice. An older man (white/criollo) asks him, “why are you crying, negrito”? The boy says something like, “there’s too much watermelon and not enough negrito”.

It was horribly offensive. I went to the teacher right away. It was hard for me to articulate myself in Spanish, so I switched to English, which the teacher spoke very well. I told her, “this is a terrible cartoon, it’s very offensive to black people. It really needs to be taken out of the course packet.”

The teacher smiled and chuckled. She explained several things. In the U.S., we had lots of problems with race relations. Even riots! But things just weren’t the same in Costa Rica. In her country, black and white people got along. In fact, she had an in-law who was part black. No black Costa Rican would see anything wrong with that cartoon. How would I know it was offensive, when I myself wasn’t black? What’s wrong with enjoying watermelon?

She was implying, very politely, that I shouldn’t be an ugly American. I was imposing my own ideas about race relations in a realm where I was ignorant.

I’d lost some clarity, but I stayed on track. If I couldn’t win the argument on moral grounds, I’d switch to practical.

“I’m sorry I cant explain why it’s so offensive. But if you have a black student from the United States, and they see the cartoon, I promise you they’ll be very offended. In fact, they’d probably ask for their money back and say bad things about the school when they got back home.”

That did the trick. The teacher promised to remove the cartoon from the next course packet.

I felt bad about going this route and, in essence, threatening their livelihood. The teachers were women with multiple degrees in the humanities, who worked harder, for much less pay, than their U.S. equivalents. Costa Rica has a high standard of living for the region, but America is a much more powerful country and casts a large shadow.

My guilt didn’t last long. I found out that everything the teacher told me about black Costa Ricans was wrong. When I went to the black Caribbean coast (which every criollo Costa Rican warned me against doing) and actually met black Costa Ricans, I realized that Costa Rican society was extremely segregated. There was strong institutionalized racism against black people. The tourist dollars were diverted from their beaches; their language (English patois) was disparaged and dying out.

The most graphic illustration I had of this flavor of racism was in another part of Costa Rica, when I was watching television next to a friend of my seora.

They were showing a Richard Pryor movie on TV. She quickly changed the channel and said, in a normal conversational tone, “I don’t like black people. I don’t know why, I just don’t. My mother was the same way!”

I maintained a stunned silence. I didn’t say anything, because the woman was much older than me, and I felt physically incapable of confronting her. I just sat there, confused, frustrated, depressed, inadequate and culpable.

So my attempts at dealing with anti-black racism in Costa Rica were definitely a mixed bag: one partial success, one abject failure.

It’s very difficult determining where to intervene or how to stand when it comes to unfamiliar forms of racism. People defending American racism (or denying that it exists) often point to other countries and say, triumphantly, “well, they’re just as racist!” When done from an unquestioning perspective, condemning the practices of other countries has little effect other than asserting American moral superiority.

I still believe it has to be tried.

I learned a lot about racism in my own country from traveling and living in Latin America. In parallel, the most insightful accounts of racism in Korea and Japan have been the ones I’ve read from African-Americans. Different forms of racism are often not as separate and distinct as they first seem, and comparing them shows the weak spots where they can be challenged.

Apr

29

An Example of How I Find it Hard to Separate Race and Gender

Filed Under Pop Culture, Race and Racism, Sexuality and Heterosexism, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

Regular readers know I’m a Japanese-American woman. I’m an outspoken, stubborn but mostly peaceful person. I overlook a lot of offensive statements on the internet, but every now and then, they sneak up on me and whack me on the head.

While browsing The Onion’s AVclub blog, I ran across one of those “I Went to Japan and it’s Weird There and They Sell Weird Stuff in Vending Machines” posts. It’s neither more nor less stupid and offensive than the average. For an in-depth discussion of the kind of piece I mean, see this post, “Of ‘Wacky’ Japan and the Myth of the Other”.

I did expect better from the AVclub, which often has quite sophisticated pop culture analyses. I especially enjoy the “Box of Paperbacks” feature. The AVclub is an incredibly popular and widely read site, and it’s not known to be especially “extreme” or fratboyish.

And I knew I shouldn’t have done this. I’m kicking myself now. But I read some of the comments on that Japan travel piece. What a cesspit. The kind of mentality on display is the reason I avoided any kind of Japanese clubs through college. And yes, I know I hurt myself by doing that. But I saved myself a lot of hurt as well.

I’m reproducing the comment thread here to show what I mean. I’m starting with the p0rn description from the original article, which inspired nothing more than a “meh” from me. Below that are the truly disgusting comments. Do NOT read any further if you’re not prepared for the worst. I have not censored them other than adding some characters to try and throw off search engine results so I don’t bring a bunch of drooling losers to Rachel’s blog.

From Japan, a Brief Pop-Cultural Survey by Kyle Ryan
Speaking of Japanese p0rn, wow, is it disturbing. Although my orgy DVD liveblog and Nina Hartley interview may indicate otherwise, Im no aficionado of the p0rnographic arts. So maybe Im a little sensitive about the borderline sexual assaults I saw broadcast over the Meguros two p0rn channels. The premise of one had some dirtbag on the street coaxing ostensible amateurs to follow him to a hotel room and, you know, f*ck a stranger on camera. I had no illusion that these women were professional ringers, but it was still disconcerting.

Japanese p0rn
by Baio Wulf
All Japanese p0rn appears to be sexual assault (you know, so I’m told). The girl always appears to be in pain. It’s certainly not a consequence of those super-hung Japanese fellows, so I’m not sure what the cultural origins of those frowny f*ck-faces are. Maybe someone can shed some light on this for me?
5:07 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by AJR
I was under the impression that all Japanese p0rn was tentacle-related.
5:23 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by Baio Wulf
No, only the animated stuff is tentacle-related. Someone told me that’s because they’re not allowed to show penile insertion, so they circumvent the “no penetration” rule by having monsters penetrate women with tentacles… which is of course way, way sicker than just allowing penile penetration to be shown. Go figure.
5:31 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by AJR
Oh. Gross. But, still…kinda hot. Mostly gross, though.
5:37 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by New Skin
Why don’t you have sex with a Japanese woman.
Then you’ll get it.
Although, there does seem to be an unfortunatly large amount of rape themed p0rn in Japan.
Consequently, I’m sure if you didn’t understand English and watched your standard American p0rn, based solely on the noises the people were making you would probably think the participants were having a good time–or trying to make you believe they’re having a good time–either
5:51 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by The Magical Ghost of The Timonator
Are you implying to understand the tentacular-penetration phenomenon I must first engage in intercourse with a Japanese lady?
Dude, sometimes intercultural studies is a dirty job… but, well, you know the rest.
6:06 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by New Skin
Well I was refering to the non-animated p0rn, but if it’ll help with the tentacle thing too, then bonus.
6:13 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by AJR
Science says we must, Timonator’s Ghost. For science, I will obligingly nail a Japanese sch00lgirl.
6:15 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by String him up
Ewww…pedophile.
6:39 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by MMe
“Tentacular”? Timonator, you slay me…
8:38 PM Mon April 28, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by Seacrest… OUT!
Bein’ coaxed to f*ck a stranger on camera? That’s called “reality” or “g0nzo” p0rn, and America is sick with the stuff.
11:00 AM Tues April 29, 2008

RE: Japanese p0rn
by squilla boxer
Yes, Japan did bring us the R@pe Man series of movies although they aren’t even actual “p0rn”. Also, 90% of the actual J-p0rn I’ve seen is “censored”, because although they’re implying rape, we can’t be expected to endure the sight of un-pixilated genitalia. B*ttholes are alright, though. Weird.
12:41 PM Tues April 29, 2008

I was wondering if the author of the piece would say something.

He did. He responded to some insults about the depth of his writing style. He sarcastically called himself a racist. He’s the real victim here, after all.

This, more than anything, was the last straw. I left this comment:

White People are soooo Waaaacky
by atlasien
Interesting how the author of this article is so insulted and vociferously defends himself from commenters bored of the “Japan is waaacky” meme, but doesn’t say anything about all the commenters making jokes about raping Japanese children.
1:20 PM Tues April 29, 2008

I don’t expect my comment to have much effect. In fact, I’ve already been accused of being a “white, liberal en@ma sack”.

Maybe it will make a few people at the AVClub think. Think about incidents like the one this year where a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa was raped by a U.S. Marine. I don’t want to point my finger and say “this is funny, but that is not funny.” Given the right conditions, I’ll laugh at anything. But when Japanese girls are referred to as subhuman rape toys, and the site editors allow that to be normalized as a baseline level of humorous discourse… it’s funny like a heart attack; it’s funny like cancer.

Apr

25

Sean Bell Verdict: Officers Acquitted of All Charges

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Crime/Hate Crimes | 16 Comments

A quote from NPR:

A New York judge has found three police officers not guilty in the death of an unarmed black man who was hit by a barrage of bullets and died hours before his wedding.

Justice Arthur Cooperman cleared two officers of manslaughter and other charges and a third of reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell, 23. Along with two friends, Bell was shot after a bachelor party at a Queens strip club on Nov. 25, 2006. Bullets struck Bell 50 times.

I’m not surprised.? I followed the case closely, and it seemed that the prosecution wasn’t trying hard at all, which isn’t surprising since the prosecution has to rely on the New York Police Department to help them with their cases.

The next round in this case will be civil trials, where the victims, or in Bell’s case his family, will be suing the city and/or officers for monetary damages.

Apr

23

Bill Clinton Wants His “Race Card” Back

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Politics, Race and Racism | 6 Comments

I don’t really know what people mean when they say “playing the race card.”? To me, 9 times out of 10 it’s really means “stop talking about race because I’m uncomfortable” or it means “don’t accuse me of racism.”? But you have to laugh at some of our white American politicians like Bill “My Office is in Harlem” Clinton.

Clinton is at it again complaining that the Obama camp “played the race card” on him.? It all started with an interview with a Philadelphia radio station where Clinton made the race card comment.? The next day when asked about the comment Clinton denied it. Check out the video and the text summary on this New York Time blog (Clinton has his finger up in the air, which is usually a sign that he’s lying or angry.).? Here is the text of the exchange where Clinton tells his lie:

Mr. Memoli: Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?

Mr. Clinton: When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?

Mr. Memoli: On WHYY radio yesterday.

Mr. Clinton: No, no, no. Thats not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and Im not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day. Go back and see what the question was, and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your game today. Have a nice day.

Mr. Memoli: Respectfully sir, though, you did say

Mr. Clinton: Have a nice day. I said what I said, you can go and look at the interview. And if youll be real honest, youll also report what the question was and what the answer was.

Then in a subsequent interview he followed up with this gem of a comment:

In the same interview, he offered a full-throated defense of his record with African-Americans, adding: You gotta really go some to play the race card with me. My office is in Harlem, and Harlem voted for Hillary by the way.

Nice variation of the some of my best friends are black line isn’t it?? I guess we should also note that there were several irregularities in the voting in NYC, so some have questioned Clinton’s “lock” on Harlem.? In spite of past black support? for Clinton, Clinton has never been the pro-black politician people make him out to be.? His policies were not particularly helpful to African Americans, and he was more than willing to play on white fears of blacks when he went out of his way to attack a rapper in one of his campaigns.?

I? get a chuckle out of? people like Clinton and Ferraro making racist comments, and then attempting to use the condemn the condemners strategy to make themselves look like victims.? I think I need to file this under “whiny white people.” What I’d say to Clinton is–if you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.?

Apr

22

The Babies..Keeping Everybody Up To Date

Filed Under Family Issues, Pregnancy and Childbirth | 10 Comments

Some folks have written or commented asking how things are going with the pregnancy and the babies, so I figured I’d give a blog post updating everyone simultaneously.? Right now I’m in week 30.? The due date is at the end of June, but it is typical with twins that they come early, sometime around week 36 or 37 (on average).

The good news is that everybody is healthy.? My morning sickness finally subsided in the 4th month, and in month 5 I started gaining back the weight that I lost, and now I’ve gained 20-25 lbs.? Other than the typical things like morning sickness, heartburn, back pain, insomnia, and breathlessness, I’m doing well.? My diabetes test was negative, my blood pressure is low, and everything else is fine.? My mobility is getting a little more limited every day, but that is to be expected, especially since I’ve been equivalent to full term size since 25 weeks.? I can’t even imagine how big I’ll be in the last few weeks.

The babies are also doing well.? At 30 weeks, their estimated weights 3.5 and 3.1 lbs, which means they are the same size as the typical singleton baby.? At this rate, they may end up being 6-7 lbs when they are born, which is big for twins.? I’m also happy that they turned head down, which diminishes the likelihood that I’ll have a c-section delivery.

At this point, it’s wait and see.? We gotten almost everything the babies need, so we aren’t too worried about that. My semester will end in a week, and from there on out I’ll be relaxing and finishing off the nesting..

Apr

21

Critiques of Obama’s Race Speech Which are Really About Racial Politics in the US Presidential Election Pt. 1

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Family Issues, Interracial Relationships, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Politics, Race and Racism, U.S. History, Uncategorized | 34 Comments

While I think Barack Obama has done a good job walking the tightrope of racial politics in America, I get the feeling that he is heavily constrained by racism and racial stereotypes. This was one of my reactions to the now famous speech–it is always important to think about what is, and is NOT being said. For the record, I think the speech was good as a political speech, but as a speech about race in American it was so heavily constrained by the politics of racism that there were some important points that Obama omitted. Furthermore, the reactions to the speech steer discussion in some unfortunate directions, which is where most of my critique lies. Now before anybody gets upset at me for saying this, I don’t blame Obama for the subsequent discussion of his speech.? My critiques are not about the man as an individual, they are about racism and racial politics in America.

Let me start with some things I agreed with and liked about the speech. Obama (and the speech writers because I’m sure there were some) asserted that we don’t talk openly and honestly about race in America.? I think that is true–people either tend to deny the realities of racism and or they exaggerate, stereotype, or misrepresent when it comes to our differences.

I also agree that history has created a great deal of racial baggage that we carry around with us as people.? Moreover, there is an acknowledgement in the “speech on race” that these effects linger in the form of institutional racism.? Check out these few paragraphs (I referenced the text from Daily Kos.):

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. ? As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. ? In fact, it isn’t even past.” ? We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. ? But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.

Legalized discrimination – where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. ? That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. ? And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. ? They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. ? What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. ? That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. ? Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. ? For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. ? That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. ? But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. ? At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.

With the exception of the comment about welfare policy, which echoes Ronald Regan, I think these are pretty bold statements for a politician to make.? Of course, they are not quite as bold when they are framed as products of past discrimination rather than products of both past and present discrimination, but given the conservative nature of political discourse, I can live with it.

A Few Critiques of the Speech and Reactions to It?

The comment about Obama’s white grandmother has been pulled apart and parsed by pundits, most of whom don’t have a clue about the dynamics of interracial families.? Later, in discussing this speech Obama described his grandmother as the “typical white person” and the same pundits went crazy. These pundits expect people to be racially consistent and they cringe at the idea of whiteness being discussed in any way that is not exceptional1.? In the pundits’ minds, people can’t change their racial views over time, and they can’t hold contradictory views.? In reality, that’s exactly how people are when it comes to race.? I highly suspect that Obama’s grandmother is typical of most whites in her generation–they grew up with racial segregation both legalized and informal segregation as the norm and didn’t much question it.? Furthermore, intermarriage was illegal in many states during the much of his grandmother’s lifetime.? Although Obama has never spoken about his white grandparents reaction to his parents marriage and his birth, we know from surveys that during the early 1970s the vast majority of whites opposed interracial marriage and this opposition was still very strong even into the 1990s, when whites were asked about a family member intermarrying.? So it would be the least bit surprising if she had negative views of interracial relationships and black people.? It’s pretty clear that, like many white relatives of interracial couples and biracial people, Obama’s grandmother loved him and cared for him, and she held stereotypical views of black men.? That should not be hard to believe because it is the norm in many mixed race families, and in many people in general.
What bothered me about this part of the speech and the subsequent discussion of the racial dynamics of Obama’s family life is that I got the distinct impression that the underlying message Obama and some of his supporters were trying to convey was, “Hey, don’t forget; I’m/he’s white too” or “I’m/he’s not as black as you think I am/he is.”? To me that was a really sad revelation about the current state of racial politics in this country.

What made this worse was when it devolved into a common stereotype of mixed race people that I have discussed in the past (here and in papers I have presented at conferences).? The myth involves the belief that mixed race people are 1) signs of progress and 2) potential saviors who will somehow liberate us from racism because they understand “both worlds.”? On numerous occasions, people have treated Obama in this way.? They have viewed his mixed race heritage as something that bestows him with supernatural abilities, specifically the ability to transcend race and heal old racial wounds.? Having a mixed race family doesn’t not necessarily give an individual a special understanding of race, and being monoracial doesn’t preclude someone from being able to united diverse groups and develop an understanding of what it is like to be from “another race.”

I don’t totally blame Obama for reminding people that his mother is white–that is politics.? Obviously, his campaign thinks it will help him, and they are probably right about that.? I just don’t like the handful of narratives that we have developed about interracial families and mixed race people.? While the old narratives about tragic mulattos, the one drop rule, and sexually adventurous interracial couples are misguided, some of our new narratives–”the best of both worlds” and “the supernatural biracial uniter” are also misguided.

In the next post on the Obama speech, I’ll address two other problems I had with the speech and the reactions to it.? The 2 critiques/points are related to the following points 1) Are white “resentments” and black “anger” really equivalents?? Does the two way street anaology really work?? 2) Why does “Working Class” mean white in our political discourse?? And what does it say that we single out white working class resentment (racism)?

  1. Do you think they would have been mad if he described her as the “exceptional white person” rather than the “typical white person”? [back]

Apr

15

While the Rachel’s Away The Feminist…

Filed Under Blogs Blogging Blogthropology | 3 Comments

blogosphere will blow up, as usual.

Apparently, brownfemipower has taken down her site.? I have read a few takes on the situation, but I don’t really have the energy to catch up on all of the posts.? It appears to have started with an Amanda Marcotte post, which seems to reiterate several of BFP’s ideas, but doesn’t reference her actual work.

Personally, I’d hate to see BFP go.? And since I know she actually reads this site ;) , I’d like to give her a shout out: I really respect your work and the tremendous leadership you have shown in bringing very diverse groups of people together.? I hope the time out is really short.? Besides that I’m selfish–I need something good to read after these babies are born.? Do you think I can tandem breastfeed two babies, while simultaneously blog reading?

Apr

14

World Wide Food Price Crisis

Filed Under Class Classism and Economic Inequality, Environment and Conservation, Original Essays and Analysis, Politics, Sociology, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

A few weeks ago I walked into my local supermarket to see that a 10 oz. bar of cheese was “on sale” for $5.39. I did a double take–maybe they meant two bars of cheese for $5.39. Generally, the sale on that brand of cheese is 2 for $4.00 or 2 for $5.00, but sure enough this was somehow supposed to be a sale. I’ve been complaining about this since last year–the cost of food is soaring. Last year, I could generally get out of the supermarket paying around $65-85.00 for two people, now I’m paying $90.00 or more. The higher prices seem to apply across the board–fresh produce, canned foods, flour/rice, and most dramatically dairy. Of course, I’m fortunate to be able to suck it up and pay the higher prices, but many lower income folks in this country and other wealthy countries are struggling, and in poorer countries, people are taking to the streets in protest because they are unable to feed their families.

A quick search of Google news indicates that we really are in a world wide food crisis. I’m not so sure that there is an actually shortage of food, but the crisis appears to be the cost. Some of the countries where people are struggling with soaring food prices, include–Afghanistan, Haiti, South Africa, Namibia, New Zealand, Ivory Coast, and numerous others. The situation is getting so serious that the United Nations (and the World Bank) weighed in last week :

The head of the UN World Food Programme has warned that the rise in basic food costs could continue until 2010.

Josette Sheeran blamed soaring energy and grain prices, the effects of climate change and demand for biofuels.

Ms Sheeran has already warned that the WFP is considering plans to ration food aid due to a shortage of funds.

Some food prices rose 40% last year, and the WFP fears the world’s poorest will buy less food, less nutritious food or be forced to rely on aid.

Speaking after briefing the European Parliament, Ms Sheeran said the agency needed an extra $375m (244m euros; 187m) for food projects this year and $125m (81m euros; 93m) to transport it.

She said she saw no quick solution to high food and fuel costs.

“The assessment is that we are facing high food prices at least for the next couple of years,” she said.

Ms Sheeran said global food reserves were at their lowest level in 30 years – with enough to cover the need for emergency deliveries for 53 days, compared with 169 days in 2007.

Several factors have been cited as causes for the food price crisis including: rising fuel cost, the shift towards biofuels (e.g. ethanol), population growth, the growth of capitalist economies, and weather patterns. The greatest criticism in the range of articles I read has been reserved for government subsidies for bio-fuels, specifically ethanol. Many feel that the shift to ethanol and bio-fuels is environmentally harmful, but now we can add soaring food prices and hunger to the list of arguments against bio-fuels1.

  1. If you want more information of about the food crisis, these graphs from the BBC website have useful information about the food price crisis. The only additional point I would add is that (see the chart of trade balances) while some countries like the US will benefit in the area of trade, I don’t think that the average American is benefiting from this. A few corporate farmers may be getting rich, but the vast majority of people are hurting. We’re not hurting anywhere near as much as poor people in poor countries. [back]

Apr

10

Racist Views of Asian Suicide

Filed Under Education and Academia, Race and Racism, Uncategorized, Xenophobia and Immigration | 10 Comments

(crossposted at APAforProgress.org)

I’ve been following this story at Angry Asian Man: Cornell Blog Thinks Asian Suicide is Funny. The Cornell blogger, D. Evan Mulvihill, wrote a pathetic piece consisting of mashed-together racist jokes about Asians; the low point was a joke about Asian-American students killing themselves, drawing from a sad history at Cornell.

The original piece was taken off, and the blogger left a typically passive-aggressive non-apology in its place. He changed his tone yet again after people pointed out he wasn’t really apologizing. Perhaps he’s finally learned a lesson.

The topic of suicide was very much on my mind recently after reading this story about suicides in Okinawa during WWII. In popular American culture, suicide is associated with Japan more than any other country. Who doesn’t know words like hara-kiri and kamikaze? I grew up knowing about this stereotype, and I always hated it. Japanese don’t value life, worship death, aren’t fully human… that’s what it suggested to me. It’s obvious that this kind of specialized stereotype has also started extending to all Asians/Asian-Americans.

In reality, the nationalities most likely to kill themselves are predominantly Eastern Europeans. Here are the latest figures. Yet there’s no white suicide stereotype.

The reasons behind the Okinawa suicides were complex and historically contingent. They were not caused by some mystic quality inherent in Japanese culture.

Similarly, ignorant people like D. Evan Mulvihill like to think of Asian-American suicide as reducible to a single, culturally bound factor. Those mean, strict Asian parents!

His very first commenter does a great job of pointing out his mistake.

Claire:

[...]

and, as comfortable as it would be for you to believe that white american institutions are driving asian americans to suicide because we cant handle the pressure of high expectations, thats not actually at all the case. the east asian educational systems that korean american, chinese american, and japanese american immigrant parents are coming from is MUCH higher pressure/higher expectation than the floppy, sad, post-bush american school system. so exactly the opposite would be true: asian students would be finding an advantageous differential in the amount of academic pressure they get in the US. THIS is in fact why asian american studentsespecially the children of immigrants do so well in american schools.

the factors that ACTUALLY lead to asian american depression are: institutionalized bullying and poor or no anti-bullying strategies by institutions, the constant pressure of being treated as an outsider by individuals and institutions in the country you grew up in, a lack of opportunities that match your educational level and familial expectations, failure to see yourself reflected or celebrated in our countrys image of success or normativity, constantly being viewed and discussed publicly as a problem, institutionalized mockery (like your article)especially when that is the only media image in which you find yourself, lack of public social support for yourself, your family, and your other relationships, etc.

Apr

2

I’m coming back…I promise

Filed Under Blogs Blogging Blogthropology | 9 Comments

I’m going to get back to regular posting soon. I’ve been really tired and busy over the past couple weeks, so I’ve neglected posting. Between nesting, midterm grading, sleeping, and trying to catch my breath, I’ve been a little preoccupied. I definitely want to respond to the Obama race speech…just to tease everyone a little I think there were many problems with the speech, and I want to address some of them in a post.

In the mean time, let me know what I’ve missed in the blog world.