Hey Alex Groberman, Yes, It's Offensive!

Alex Groberman @agroberman, Sports Editor at OpposingViews.com on his blog writes: "Race, religion and gender continue to be too divisive of topics for us to discuss on a daily basis without folks getting offended sooner or later." Hey, Alex, I am Asian American and any way you look at this, I am personally offended by this graphic. It's not funny or humorous at all. And the last thing I want to be told by anyone, especially a non-Asian American is that I shouldn't be offended.

Of course you're not the only blogger, writer, celebrity or individual that in my humble opinion doesn't get it. Jason Whitlock "White people think I'm a Racist" (and Asians too) tweets a racial slur about an Asian on February 10, he apologizes publicly but a week later, he has not yet deleted the tweet. Is he exercising his First Amendment right or does he truly have it out for Asians. If an Asian American writer tweeted a racial slur against a Black or African American or Gay Person - wouldn't that tweet be removed in minutes. I simply continue to not get it. I wrote Fox Sports about this and never received a reply.

On the other hand, David C. Wilson, Political Science Professor, University of Delaware would say Floyd Mayweather's comments reflect "Racial Resentment" in his recent story". He says , "There is no evidence that Mayweather hates Asian Americans or believes that they are an inferior race, but it is clear that Mayweather resents the attention Lin has received because he is Asian American relative to African Americans." Is it possible, your post about the Fortune Cookie picture is motivated by "Racial Resentment".

I think Ling Woo Liu, in her article for CNN, "Why Jeremy Lin's race matters" clearly gets it. She says, "Hopefully one day, Americans of Asian descent will no longer be seen as foreigners, economic competition or anything less than equal Americans. Until then, race matters, whether we like it or not."

In the end, I probably agree with you that race, religion and gender are topics that our society cannot discuss without someone getting offended. Many racial slurs or stereotypes made by people are made out of ignorance or lack of education. That all said, most minorities or easily offended because we've heard the racial slurs so many times. And while I acknowledge that non-Minorities or the Majority in America may not like these acts of racism pointed out to them or being perceived Racists or having Racial Resentment, that is a perfect example of a Stereotype. Hey Alex, now do you get it?

Jason Whitlock Apologizes but Doesn't Delete the Jeremy Lin Tweet

I noticed that Jason Whitlock, the Fox Sports columnist "White people think I'm a RACIST" issued a public apology over the racist comment he made when tweeting about Jeremy Lin. I even saw his public apology to The Asian American Journalists Association @aajamediawatch. What I didn't see that he deleted the racist tweet. In fact days after he sent the tweet, and even after I sent him a message to hist Twitter account @whitlockjason, the tweet still appears on his Twitter page.

Jason, if you don't know how to remove a tweet, here are instructions:

https://support.twitter.com/articles/18906-how-to-delete-a-tweet

Update: 2/20/2012 - I noticed this morning that Jason Whitlock's above tweet has finally been removed. Huh, did it take the 30 day suspension of Max Bretos (without pay) for Mr. Whitlock to take a minute or less to remove this tweet? Why did he leave it up for nearly 10 days?

Jeremy Lin - Lin-sanity - Stereotypes of Asian Americans

With the Lin-sanity or recent notoriety of Jeremy Lin, the starting Asian American, Point Guard for the New York Knicks, I have seen more negative stereotypes of Asian Americans both online and in the media. As an Asian American, these annoy me just as much as when I am asked the question: "Are you Oriental?" (No, I'm Asian American). For example, on Jeremy Lin's Wikipedia, it says that he was called the following at NCAA basketball games: "Wonton soup", "Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or pseudo-Chinese gibberish. I can't believe this is the year 2012 and we're still hearing these types of horrible stereo types again Asian Americans.

So the first stereotype would be why a 6' 3" point guard from a high school team in California that went 32-1 and scored 1,480 points at a NCAA Division I school be an underdog to make a starting lineup in the NBA. Sure, the NBA traditionally likes point guards that are not like Steve Nash, Jose Barea or Muggsy Bouges but Jeremy Lin in 6' 3" and has a proven Basketball IQ. The stereotype that he is considered an underdog is probably the biggest stereotype, he is not expected to be a basketball player because of how he looks.

Jeremy is not the first Asian American to play in the NBA. Rex Walters, the 6' 4" Shooting Guard from Kansas 1993 Final Four Team was a 16th pick in the NBA Draft. He is biracial or half Japanese. Walters played basketball for Piedmont Hills, California, not to far from Palo Alto where Jeremy Lin played. Walters played 10 years in the NBA.

So we are now seeing the preponderance of stories about an Asian Athlete with the Jeremy Lin stories in the media. Despite Michael Chang (tennis), Kristi Yamaguchi (Figure Skating), Apolo Ohno (Speed Skating), Tiger Woods (Golf), Greg Louganis (Swimming) and Michele Wei (Golf) that have preceded him, Jeremy is finally getting his in the NBA. I imagine it will be some time before NBA fans will look at him as the starting point guard rather than the starting Asian American point guard.

Sources:
Wikipedia

Wikipedia Entry on Japanese Americans is Incorrect

I recently searched Wikipedia for "Japanese-American" and found this entry. I don't know the Wikipedia author(s) responsible for this page but they should remove the entry on "net migration" of Japanese Americans. The statement that some older Japanese Americans are moving back to Japan is absurd. The older Japanese (Issei/first generation, Nisei/second generation) are dying of old age, they are not moving back to Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American
"net migration, however, is significantly lower^{[citation needed]} because some older Japanese Americans have been moving to Japan."


From Wikipedia
Japanese Americans (日系アメリカ人, Nikkei Amerikajin^?) are Americans of Japanese heritage, either born in Japan or their descendants. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity. In the 2000 census, the largest Japanese American communities were in California with 394,896, Hawaii with 296,674, Washington with 56,210, New York with 45,237, and Illinois with 27,702. Each year, about 7,000 new Japanese immigrants enter United States ports, making up about 4% of immigration from Asia; net migration, however, is significantly lower^{[citation needed]} because some older Japanese Americans have been moving to Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Mochi 2.0 - Microwave Mochi Recipe for New Years

As a Sansei child, my Japanese American parents use to buy white Mochi for eating on New Years Day (for good luck). I enjoyed eating it with sugar and soy sauce but other family members ate it with just soy sauce or in a soup.

I now live in South Florida and after several hours of searching for a place to buy the Mochi, I gave up. So I gave my Yonsei daughter a box of Mochiko and a recipe I pulled from the Internet. Shortly thereafter, I was invited back into the kitchen to taste her Mochi 2.0 which was made with the box of Mochiko, a Microwave Oven and Convection Oven.

Microwave Mochi 2.0 Recipe
Here is a recipe for making Mochi for New Years using Mochiko Flour in your Microwave and Convection ovens. You should plan to eat it the same day.

To Make:
1 cup Mochiko sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
1 cup water

Katakuriko or corn starch for dusting.

1. Mix Mochiko and water.
3. Put in a microwaveable dish. Cover with plastic wrap.
4. Microwave on high for 6-8 minutes (depending on the power of your microwave). Take off plastic wrap. Cool for a few minutes. Cut using the cornstarch sparingly.

To Eat:
Heat up convection oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cake in the oven until it puffs and becomes golden brown.

Serve it with Sugar and Soy Sauce.

Serena Williams and Asian Lineswoman at the US Open

Ugh, this is horrible. Serena Williams gets a bad call from this Asian Lineswoman at the U.S. Open and the match ends with the call. I've read some of the blogs and as an Asian American I am horrified at the racism toward Asians. If a Black or White referee made a call in NBA basketball, you wouldn't hear the referee was Black or White yet, it would just be another bad call. To make matters worse, it was a very close call at a very crucial moment in the match.

Also as a Japanese American, I also think, I wonder if the lineswoman is Japanese or Japanese American like me. I try and stop myself at that thought, it really shouldn't matter, any racism toward a person of any color is offensive. I am also disappointed at Serena for how she handled the situation with this particular lineswoman of Asian ethnicity. I am also disappointed in the Asian lineswoman for the way she handled the situation as well as the Umpire in the match.

I really hope the blogging community will step up and deter any bloggers from making racist comments against Asians regarding this issue. This was one tennis match and one linesperson and one close call to make.

Ogawa is a Common Last Name in Japan

According to Wikipedia and a study done on all the Japanese Yellow Pages for the past three years, my last name "Ogawa" is the 31st most common surname or last name in Japan. The top ten are:

• Sato
• Suzuki
• Takahashi
• Tanaka
• Watanabe
• Ito
• Yamamoto
• Nakamura
• Kobayashi
• obayashi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames

BTW, the 31st most popular last name in the United States is Young based on the 2000 U.S. Census. Here is the top ten last names in the United States.
Smith

• Johnson
• Williams
• Brown
• Jones
• Miller
• Davis
• Garcia
• Rodriguez
• Wilson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames#United_States