-------------------------------------------------------------------- main FAQ file maintainer (editor): Bryan Wu -------------------------------------------------------------------- ;;; this version is from . ;;; Tanaka made minor changes like correcting typos (Aug 1994). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Last changed: Tuesday, April 5 1994 This FAQ has no official status whatsoever; it's just something I put together in my spare time. I post it weekly; it's aimed primarily at newcomers, but it also includes some reference information. Comments and criticism are welcome, either in e-mail or on the net. - Russil Wvong Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Maintainer till 5/17/93 Same goes for me. :-) - Bryan Wu New York City Maintainer till present Some notes on this revision of the FAQ - I've incorporated many of the suggestions and additions that were posted and e-mailed to me. The resource directory has some substantial additions. Thanks to this revision's contributors: elvin@jaws.ae.utexas.edu, Alan Hu , "Timothy J. Lee" , Michael Sy , John Ho , "Edward C. Lin" , Pizza the Hutt!!! , Wataru Ebihara , aahf@itsa.ucsf.edu (Collin Quock), ken william nose , "Craig F. Harmon" , Sterling I may have misplaced an e-mail here and there, so please e-mail or post to the net if I missed something. Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- soc.culture.asian.american - Frequently Asked Questions ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: ------------------ Introductory Information 1. How do I access soc.culture.asian.american? 2. Where did soc.culture.asian.american come from? 3. How can I use this FAQ efficiently? General 4. What's an Asian American? 5. What's the difference between Asian Americans and other Americans? 6. How many Asian Americans are there? Terminology 7. Doesn't "Asian" really refer to East Asians only? 8. What's the difference between "Asian" and "Asian American"? 9. What's the difference between "Oriental" and "Asian"? 10. Is it "Asian American" or "Asian-American"? 11. Asian American Slang? Is there really such a thing? 12. What does calling someone a "banana" mean? 13. What are some derogatory names to call white people that don't make me sound like a throwback from the 70's? 14. What does "Chinese-cu" mean? Dating 15. Why do interracial relationships more commonly involve Asian females than Asian males? 16. Why do Asian males complain about it, when Asian females don't? Netnews 17. Why isn't Asian culture ever discussed in this newsgroup? 18. So why isn't Asian American culture discussed in this newsgroup? 19. I'd like to meet some Asian girls. Is this the right place to post a personal ad? 20. Is this the right place to discuss martial arts? 21. I can't figure out how to post to this newsgroup. Help! 22. What's a good way to deal with people who post inflammatory or offensive articles? 23. What's a KILL file? 24. Isn't this censorship? References, Publications and Media 25. Are there any Asian American magazines or periodicals? 26. What other kinds of AA media are there? 27. How about some Asian American calendars for my wall? 28. How about some books? 29. Are there any Asian American organizations? 30. Are there any Asian American college organizations? 31. How about some performers? 32. I'm worried about violence against Asian-Americans. Where can I get some information on self-defense? 31. I'm not a big fan of the way Asians are portrayed on TV. New Sections 32. Are there any AA specific health issues? 33. Health Alert to people of Southern Chinese descent 34. Asian Americans vs. Milk! 35. Random quotes ----------------- Introductory Info ----------------- 1. How do I access soc.culture.asian.american? soc.culture.asian.american (s.c.a.a. for short), is a "usenet newsgroup". Usenet is a world-wide collection of hundreds/thousands of individual newsgroups - of which, s.c.a.a. is one. You should be able to access s.c.a.a. using a 'newsreader' on your computer if your site carries usenet newsgroups. Some sites carry only a subset of usenet's newsgroups, so if you do not recieve s.c.a.a., please contact your system administrator or local computer guru (expert) for advice. 2. Where did s.c.a.a. come from? s.c.a.a. was created in the early part of 1988 (way before the 'information superhighway', I might add :-) to facilitate the dissemination of ideas and information, and to encourage a nationwide dialogue of Asian Americans everywhere. It originally began as a way to enable Asian American college organizations to communicate, yet s.c.a.a. has evolved into a broader dialogue with a broader audience - and it is much richer for this as we can learn from each other and recognise the diversity that encompases 'Asian America'. With the present-day "super info highway" being touted everywhere, we're likely to see more and more volume here. Additionally, the signal:noise ratio has actually gone way up since it's inception due to the fact that many regulars know their stuff and are able to back themselves up with solid research and evidence. This has stopped much of the 'flaming with opinion only, without solid facts' action which seems to happen in other newsgroups. 3. How can I use this FAQ efficiently? The one piece of advice I can give is to use the search command. On many unix systems, the command to start a search is "/" (a slash). Once you type the slash, the newsreader you are using will prompt you for a "search pattern". Type the number, or word you would like to search for (i.e. to find a particular question in this FAQ, search for it's number in the table of contents (i.e. "1.") and press return. The newsreader will jump you to the correct spot. If you would like to search for the same word, type "/" again, and press return without entering a word. That should automatically search for the same word. ------- General ------- 4. What's an Asian American? An American of Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry (Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Pakistani, etc.). Immigrants are "first-generation" ; their children are "second-generation"; their grandchildren are "third-generation"; etc. The different Asian communities often adapt and add to this terminology to better describe themselves to each other and sometimes those terms are picked up and used by Asian America. For example: issei, nissei and sansei : 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation people (from the Japanese American community) 1.5 generation : someone who immigrated when they were a teenager (Korean American). Some people count 1st generation as the first generation being born in the USA, however, this is not the standard usage of the terms. To avoid confusion, please use the generally accepted definition, given above. There is often a big cultural gap between the first generation (who grew up overseas) and later generations (who grew up here) and is the topic of tons of Asian American literature. Often, language is lost somewhere between the first and third generation - making it hard for the different generations to communicate with each other. This further excaborates the gap. 5. What's the difference between Asian Americans and other Americans? Plenty. In general, Asian Americans, particularly children, face anti-Asian racism of varying degrees throughout their lives. Asian Americans also tend to come upon a sense of ethnic identity sometime in their lives. This realization is the famed Asian American "Identity Crisis". In many cities and an increasing number of suburbs, there are Asian American communities which serve as a cultural "home-base" (i.e. yummy foods, festivals, a sense of community, heritage, etc.) to many Asian Americans - even to those who live away from these communities. Children of immigrants are sometimes bilingual, using English at school and their "ancestral" language at home, but this is not always the case: many second-generation Asian Americans can understand their ancestral language, but not speak it well. If there is a big enough community in the area, sometimes kids are sent to "Saturday school" to learn the language from a community sponsored school. Many Asian Americans wish they could speak their ancestral toungues and some take it up in high school or college. Because they are Asian, Asian Americans are often mistaken for foreigners. This tends to irritate second-generation Asian Americans intensely. Asian immigrants generally place high value on education, hard work, family, and social status, and to some extent they pass these values on to their children. 2nd generation Asian Americans often have relatives in Asia, and some have visited them. However, probably just as common are country-sponsored 'cultural summer-school programs' which take Asian Americans, bring them to their 'mother' country, and give them cultural and language classes. For example, there is a program - nicknamed "The Love Boat" probably because the participants presumably learn more biology than Chinese :-) - that is based in Taiwan that a suprising number of Chinese Americans go to. These programs are fun and culturaly affirming which can be nice if you've grown up in, say, Oaklahoma and don't see other Chinese around very often. They also apparently make for good friendships. There are also numerous other programs of varying study:play ratios. These programs can be very interesting and broadening experiences. For example, there is a Chinese (PRC) language program that takes Chinese-Americans, Chinese-British, Chinese-French, Chinese-Cubans, etc. and brings them all together to learn Chinese. 6. How many Asian Americans are there? About 7 million, or 3% of the population. Broken down by ethnic origin, about 1.5m are Chinese, 1.4m Filipino, 0.85m Japanese, 0.8m Indian, 0.8m Korean, and 0.6m Vietnamese. (From the 1990 census, courtesy of John Ho.) However, by latest count, Filipinos are the largest ethnic group in Asian America. [Please, someone give me up to date stats! -BWu] About 40% of Asian Americans are born here. There are many 5th and 6th generation Asian Americans. About 60% of Asian Americans are foreign-born. However, this 60% also includes children who immigrate with their parents so it really doesn't say much and is a 'factoid' that probably does more harm than good. If someone has more complete information (breakdown of the 60% by age of immigration), please contact me. Hawaii has a huge number of Asian Americans and they make up a majority (?) of the Hawaiian population. That's probably why Hawaiian AAs are really cool folks. If someone has info about AA population by state/city, please contact me. 7. Does "Asian" really refer to East Asians only? Definitely Not. 8. What's the difference between "Asian" and "Asian American"? "Asian" refers to anyone of Asian ancestry. "Asian American" refers to people of Asian ancestry who live in America. This includes Asian non-citizens, Asian nationals and illegal immigrants as well. It is important not to marginalize those people since they are often the most easily exploited. The term "Asian American" grew out of the civil rights movement in the 60's and 70's and has parallels with the African American community's movement from "negro" to "black" and from "black" to "African American". It is an issue of having the power to name your own community rather than being named by someone else. 9. What's the difference between "Oriental" and "Asian"? "Oriental" is a term which has negative connotations for many Asian Americans because it reflects European and American colonialistic attitudes of the past and present. It is also a term that has always been used to exotify people and products. i.e. Exotic oriental teas/women/attitudes/customs/foods/etc. A general rule of thumb is "Oriental is for rugs, not people." Besides, no one uses the term "Occidental" to describe white folks. Additionally, "oriental" is a term which describes location in respect to Europe (and to England specifically). "Asian" is in respect to nothing. In contrast to America, British use "Asian" to refer to South Asians, and "Oriental" to refer to East Asians. The "Far East" in British terminology means East Asia, while the "Near East" means areas such as Turkey and Greece. The terms "near" and "far" were coined in relation to England's then-colonial posessions - hence the problem that many Asian Americans have with the terms. Some Asian Americans still use "oriental" - particularly in areas where there are no large Asian American populations or a sense of pan-ethnic community. George Wu writes: >The term "oriental" offends some AAs, just as the term "nigger" >sometimes (but not always) offends some African-Americans. If you want >to go on using the term, so be it. Of course, you run the risk of >offending others, but that's your problem. > >If is often claimed that the argument for the use of the term >"oriental" comes from the (overly?) politically correct movement. Let >me set that matter to rest here and now and state this is not the case. >The PC movement, if there is one, may also advocate dropping the term, >but rest assured that said movement does so because AAs tell them that >"oriental" is offensive. It's not the PC movement telling you to drop >the term, but AAs themselves. Who better to decide? > >At one time, to be called "oriental" was fine, just as "nigger" was >once widely accepted. However, if a term is frequently used in an >insulting context, that term will take on negative connotations. This >has happened with the term "oriental." > >Some people, even AAs, do not realize "oriental" has picked up these >negative connotations. Perhaps it's because such AAs come from a region >where "oriental" is not so frequently used in an insulting manner. >Perhaps it's because such AAs have missed the connotations, as is sure to >happen from time to time if American English isn't their native language. >Who cares why. By the sheer volume of debate over the term right here in >scaa, it's clear that a significant portion of AAs prefer "Asian-American" >to "oriental." What better reason to switch. On the same note, non-Asians are likely to be completely oblivious as to objections to its usage. My way of handling this situation is that if the person does not know my (or others') objections to the usage, then that person cannot be held responsible until that person knows better. Certainly, the vast majority of people do not mean to offend, however, there are always exceptions. The first time is excusible, the second is not. Two strikes and you're out. 10. Is it "Asian American" or "Asian-American"? People prefer Asian American instead of Asian-American. Asian-American is used to describe foreign affairs kind of things. i.e. "Asian-American trade talks" The lack of the hyphen stresses that Asian Americans are not foreigners. 11. Asian American Slang? Is there really such a thing? Are you kidding? Of course! [please send in your contributions/corrections/more eloquent definitions! - please include entymologies if possible. - BWu] Haole - Hawai'ian for "outsider", used by everyone in Hawai'i - pronounced 'how-lee - i.e. white. Hapa - Japanese American, used in Hawaii a lot - meaning 'half'.. as in "hapa haole" - but used for all combinations of ethnicities. Not derogatory. 12. What does calling someone a "banana" mean? It means that the speaker is claiming that they are yellow on the outside and white on the inside, i.e. claiming that they are ashamed of being asian (usually applied to second- or later-generation Asian Americans). Generally derogatory. "Twinkie" means the same thing. "Coconut" - brown on the outside, white on the inside. (used in Filipino & South Asian communities) Generally derogatory. "Banana", "twinkie", and "coconut" are analogous to "oreo" in the context of black people. "ABC" stands for "American-born Chinese", i.e. second or later generation Chinese Americans. Somewhat negative connotations (?). "ABCD" stands for "American-born confused desi" (Indian or Pakistani). Somewhat derogatory. "FOB" stands for "fresh off the boat" (an immigrant). Derogatory. "jook-sing" - Cantonese for someone who's Chinese who can't speak Chinese and has 'lost their heritage'. (it's the part of the bamboo that is hollow). Somewhat derogatory. "jook-kak" - Cantonese for someone who's so rigid that they will not change. (it/s the knot of the bamboo). Somewhat derogatory. 13. What are some derogatory names to call white people that don't make me sound like a throwback from the 70's? Yes, this really is a Frequently Asked Question.. Whitey Cracker White Trash Eurotrash Honkey (cheezey throwback from the '70s) Haole Lo-fan (Cantonese) (more?) See Andrew Chin's "Verbal Self Defense FAQ" (info in self-defense section) 14. What does "Chinese-cu" mean? It's a term used by Dwight Joe; it means "culturally Chinese". "Chinese-ge" means "genetically Chinese", and "Chinese-ci" means "a Chinese citizen". Just to get new folks up to speed, Dwight tends to post rather inflammatory articles, including unprovoked personal and racial attacks. He seems to hate Koreans and Chinese especially - suprising, since he is Chinese himself. Many people here think it best to ignore them to avoid drowning the group in anti-Dwight flames. Also, please don't use "Chinese-cu" terminology-ci because it's really irritating-ge and no one will understand-ge you-cu. ------ Dating ------ 15. Why do interracial relationships more commonly involve Asian females than Asian males? There's a million theories. See Alan Hu's FAQ on the topic. 16. Why do Asian males complain about it, when Asian females don't? Why do you think? It's also interesting to note that some non-Asian males tend to assume that all Asian males are angry about it which is often the cause of extended flame-wars. ------- Netnews ------- 17. Why isn't Asian culture ever discussed in this newsgroup? This newsgroup is supposed to be for Asian American culture, not Asian culture. There's a number of newsgroups devoted to various Asian cultures, including soc.culture.japan, hongkong, indian, pakistani, china, taiwan, asean (for the ASEAN nations), thai, filipino, and several more I can't think of right now. There's also soc.culture.usa, which discusses American culture. 18. Is Asian American culture discussed in this newsgroup? Is there such a thing as Asian American culture? (Why are you looking at me like that?) The answer is "sure, kind of". There is a growing number of Asian Americans who see themselves as just as much "Asian American" as they are Chinese American or Filipino American or Pakistani American. This is particularly true of AA activists because ethnicity is not usually a boundary to AA activism. This newsgroup is a place for people with related backgrounds to socialize and exchange bits of information. Historically speaking, s.c.a.a. was created for the dissemination of information among colleges and to facilitate a dialogue among Asian American activists and Asian Americans at large. It's also important to note that the "Asian.American" part of "s.c.a.a." doesn't mean that it's a place meant for people to talk about "Asians" who go out with "Americans". If you want to talk about languages, literature, theater, cooking, movies, or whatever, feel free to post an article on the topic. If it's an ethnic-specific post, then consider crossposting it to both s.c.a.a. and the other s.c. group. You'll find that generally s.c.a.a. is a bustling place. 19. I'd like to meet some Asian girls. Is this the right place to post a personal ad? Probably not. A lot of people here get irritated by this kind of personal ad. There's a newsgroup for personal ads, called alt.personals. 20. Is this the right place to discuss martial arts? Again, probably not -- another thing which irritates many Asian Americans is people assuming they're interested in martial arts. There's a rec.martial-arts newsgroup. 21. I can't figure out how to post to this newsgroup. Help! "If you can send e-mail to soc-culture-asian-american@cs.utexas.edu, your message will automatically be posted to soc.culture.asian.american. That's what I do most of the time." - Russil Wvong 22. What's a good way to deal with people who post inflammatory or offensive articles? 1. Ignore them. 2. Put them in your KILL file. That way, you'll never have to read their articles again. This also deprives them of attention, which often seems to be their objective. When you do this, you may want to post a short followup, telling them that they're going into your KILL file. This is usefulfor two reasons: it tells them that they'll be ignored, and it encourages other people to do the same. 3. Flame them in e-mail. Don't flame them on the net if they are obviously inflammatory articles - it just adds more 'static' to s.c.a.a. (see Jeff Yang's anti-flame petition) 4. Try to post a calm and rational response on s.c.a.a. Sometimes people don't realize that their articles may be offensive. Sometimes they do, but they feel compelled to offend people for some reason. Either way, try to keep the discussion as constructive as possible. The Usenet guidelines suggest restricting flames to e-mail. Also, excessive flaming on s.c.a.a. can get annoying for everyone else - keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that there are a lot more people reading s.c.a.a. than you think - many are 'lurking' (only reading, occasionally writing). One last thing: Usenet doesn't have much in the way of central control, and where it does exist, invoking it is usually frowned on. In particular, contacting someone's system administrator is usually viewed as violating their right to freedom of speech. However, if someone is harrassing you via e-mail (i.e., mail-bombs - filling your mailbox with tons of garbage, death threats, etc.), then contact your system administrator, because mail-bombing is frowned upon by system administrators and, like death threats, is an infraction of "nettiquite" rules. Likewise, do not mail-bomb others. 23. What's a KILL file? It's a way to automatically filter out articles you don't want to see. In groups like this one, it can do wonders for your blood pressure. For example, if you're using rn as your newsreader, and you want to filter out all articles by annoying@foo.com (Annoyingman): Start reading the newsgroup. Press CTRL-K to edit your KILL file for the newsgroup. Add the following line to the file: /annoying@foo/h:j The next time you start reading the newsgroup, rn will check each of the new articles in the group, and junk any of them containing the string "annoying@foo" in its header. So you'll never see any articles that I post. If you also want to filter out any followups that other people post to my articles, use the following line instead: /annoying@foo/a:j This command will junk any articles containing the string "annoying@foo" anywhere in the article. For more information about KILL files, please consult your local news guru. 24. Isn't this censorship? No. It is not censorship because you are only restricting what you read, not what other people read. ---------------------------------- References, Publications and Media ---------------------------------- 19. Are there any Asian American magazines or periodicals? "A. Magazine" is published quarterly. The editor-in-chief, Jeff Yang, is on the net, and has posted a couple of interesting previews. Subscriptions are US$12, Canada$22/year (five(?) issues), and they're interested in submissions as well. (Cheques should be made out to Metro East Publications (publishers of A. Mag), not A. Magazine.) A. Magazine 296 Elizabeth Street Suite 2F New York, NY 10012 (212) 505-2077 (800) 446-6235 Jeff Yang (editor-in-chief) There's a bi-weekly(?) newspaper called Asian New Yorker (ANY) and it's got a lighter take on Asian America - good reading. Asian New Yorker 97-07 63rd Rd #1M Rego Park, NY 11374 (718) 997-0009 There's also "Asian Week", a weekly newspaper published from the SF Bay area covering national as well as local issues. Arthur (not Alan) Hu writes a column for it. Asian Week 809 Sacramento St. San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 397-0220 Editorial (415) 397-7258 FAX Subscription rates: $28/year Another AA newspaper is "International Examiner", and is published out of Seattle - one of the editors is on the net as well. I saw a couple copies of it - and it looked to be an excelent paper. International Examiner 622 S. Washington Seattle WA 98104 (206) 624-3925 Editor: Jeff J. Lin [Jeff, could you please send me your e-mail address again? I'm sorry, I misplaced it. -BWu] Subscription rates: $18/1 year, $29/2 years 2nd Generation - another NYC newspaper publication targeted at the AA community - anyone have the address? Does it still exist? There's a glossy magazine called "Transpacific" which is the Asian American equivalent of "GQ" or "Cosmopolitan". Some people like it, others hate it. From the same publishers, there is a new women's beauty magazine called "Face" and an AA men's magazine called "XO" (but I haven't seen it) - both magazines are in the Cosmo/GQ genre. TMI Subscriptions 23715 W. Malibu Road, No. 390 Malibu, CA 90265-9986 (800) 888-8723 Transpacific $39/year XO 39/year Face 29/year The APA Journal is a semiannual literary journal. Single issues are $10, plus $2 for shipping and handling; subscriptions (2 or 4 issues) are $16 or $30, respectively. The current issue is about food - a popular topic on s.c.a.a. :-) The Asian American Writers' Workshop attn: The APA Journal 630 First Ave, Suite 4K New York, NY 10016 (212) 481-3237 -- College publications: East Wind CB# 5240, International Center Student Union University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27514 "We just started this past school year with an issue/semester. Next year two big issues are planned. Since two issues aren't much to refer to, I really can't say much more than that. Supposedly we're one of the first AsAm campus publications in the South." -Sterling Chen There are also many college-based publications (such as "Slant" at Berkeley) - if you have info on your college's publication, please contact me w/ info. [Someone please send me info on Critical Mass (the journal out of Berkeley) Also, please include subscription information. -BWu] -- AA Publications which serve specific ethnic communities: "News India" is a publication for Indian Americans: News India 244 Fifth Ave New York, NY 10001 (212) 481-3433 There's also "The Indian-American" The Indian-American 87 Fifth Avenue, Suite 603 New York, NY 10003 (212)-929-3929 fax: (212)-989-0800 For the Filipino American community: Filipinas Magazine 5222 Diamond Heights Boulevard San Francisco, CA 94131-9925 1-800-654-7777 "Sinorama" is a Taiwanese magazine aimed at Chinese living overseas. It has articles in both Chinese and English. A similar magazine is "Megachine", a New York publication which is aimed at permanent residents and replicates the look of glossy Hong Kong mags. 26. What other kinds of AA media are there? --Television: New York City: In New York City, there's also a show called "Asian Panorama" on Channel 31 that's shown on Saturday afternoons which is made by young people - look in your TV guide. Also in NYC is a public access cable show called the "Asian Pacific American Cable Network". Anyone have info on when it's on? Additionally, there's a new show on Channel 31 called "Asian America" which seems to be pretty interesting - please check your TV guide. Radio: Radio Bandung, NYC Asian American radio with a focus on Filipino and Pan-Asian American issues. ???? Anyone have the frequency and schedule? 27. How about some Asian American calendars for my wall? _Asian American Men Calendar_ AA Hunks 'a the month w/ real lives Giselle Ow Yang Pomona College Mudd-Blaisdell 267 230 E. Bonita Ave. Claremont, CA 91711-6351 Cost: $7.00 plus $2.00 for shipping (incl. pkg.) Total = $9.00. Info: Giselle Ow Yang _The Asian Americans United Calendar_ It's an excelent calendar full of significant dates and community stuff - I highly recommend it. Asian Americans United 801 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 925-1539 28. How about some books? How many do you want? Thanks to everyone for their recommendations. Non-fiction: Ronald Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore. A commonly used history text. Also: "A Different Mirror" Sucheng Chan, Asian Americans: An Interpretive History, 1991. Chan is the head of the UC Santa Barbara Asian American Studies Program. Includes a filmography. State-by-state AA populations are given in Sucheng Chan's "Asian Americans," a must-read. - Andrew Chin [same book? - BWu] Lynn Pan, Sons of the Yellow Emperor. Discusses the history of the overseas Chinese, including Chinese Americans. Victor G. and Brett de Bary Nee, Longtime Californ': A Documentary Study of an American Chinatown, 1986. A study of Chinatown in San Francisco. Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1980s. Amy Tachiki, Roots: An Asian American Reader, 1971. An anthology of Asian American writings. Frank Chin, Jeffery Paul Chan, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong, ed., The Big Aiiieeeee!: The History of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature, 1991. U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Civil Rights Issues Facing Asian Americans in the 1990s. Discusses bigotry and violence against Asian Americans. Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutionsand Identities, 1992. A book-length study assessing and arguing for pan-Asian American identification. --Japanese American Internment: Peter Irons, _Justice at War_, Oxford University Press, 1983 "Its been a while since I read this, but from what I recall the people who wrote the book were involved in the legal battles for victims of the internment (the Fred Korematsu case?- not sure). Good background on the legal history & backdrop of the internment, as well as the subsequent cases against it. (The kind of stuff I wish more people on scaa would learn about before trying to argue that it might have been justified <- personal peeve here...). I'll see if I can get more info on it for you if needed." - ken william nose "Possibly the most comprehensive and enlightening book on AA Lit so far (my biased opinion): _Reading Asian American Literature: From Necessity to Indulgence_ by Sau-ling C. Wong, 14.95 paperback, $40.00 cloth, 1993, Princeton." - Michael Yin Also, Wataru Ebihara recommends the bookstore Asian American Books. Its 40-page catalog costs $3. Asian American Books JACP Inc. 234 Main St. P.O. Box 1587 San Mateo, CA 94401 (415) 343-9408 (800) 874-2242 If you have any additions to this list, please contact me. 29. Are there any Asian American (non-student) organizations? Lots and lots. Thanks to everybody who contributed to the following list. National organizations: (student orgs. are in the next section) Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Dennis Hayashi, National Director [no longer?] 1765 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 921-5225 Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Daphne Kwok 2025 I St., N.W., Ste. 926 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 223-5500 National Association of Asian American Professionals: NAAAP-New York Jean Woo, President P.O. Box 772 New York, NY 10002 (212) 514-8191 NAAAP-Boston Judy Yung, President P.O. Box 1435 Cambridge, MA 02238 NAAAP-Chicago P.O. Box 81138 Chicago, IL 60681 (312) 918-2454 NAAAP-Seattle Judy Yu, President P.O. Box 14344 International Station Seattle, WA 98104 Organizations based in California: Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) 1765 Sutter St., Rm. 1000 San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 346-2051 Asian American Manufacturers Association (high technology manufacturing) (415) 321-2262 800 Menlo Ave., Suite 115 Menlo Park CA 94025 Asian Business League (415) 788-4664 San Francisco chapter 166 Geary Street, Suite 405 San Francisco CA 94108 Asian Immigrant Womens Advocates (AIWA) (address??) Asian Inc. (small businesses) (415) 928-5910 1670 Pine Street San Francisco CA 94109 Asian Law Caucus Paul Igasaki, Ex. Director 468 Bush Street, Third Floor San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 391-1655 Asian Pacific Legal Center 1010 Flower St. Los Angeles, CA 90015 (213) 748-2022 Break the Silence P.O. Box 2165 San Francisco, CA 94126 (415) 982-2959 National Asian American Telecommunications Association 346 9th St., 2nd fl. San Francisco, CA 94103 (or is it 94115? anyone?) (415) 863-0814 Chinese Progressive Association 123 Waverly Place, 3/F San Francisco, CA 94108 Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) P.O. Box 1881 Santa Monica, CA 90406-1881 (213) 486-4433 "media offenses" hotline Visual Communications 263 S. Los Angeles St., #307 Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 680-4462 Midwest: "I just wanted to drop a short message to promote another Asian Am "network". It's called the Midwest Asian American Writer's Union (affiliated with the Asian Am Writer's Workshop in New York). It's for all Asian Americans interested in writing -- creative writing, newsletter writing, whatever..." - Wataru Ebihara Midwest Asian American Writers Union c/o Mary Chi-Whi Kim P.O. Box 02202 Columbus, OH 43202-9998 af006@cleveland.freenet.edu New York: Asian American Arts Alliance (Arts organization - they publish an AA arts resource directory) 339 Lafayette St. #5 New York, NY 10016 (212) 979-6734 Asian Americans for Equality 180 Eldridge St. New York, NY 10002 (212) 677-7210 Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) 99 Hudson St. New York, NY 10013 (212) 966-5932 Asian American Writers' Workshop (AAWW) 296 Elizabeth St. Suite 2R New York, NY 10016 (212) 481-3237 Asian CineVision (ACV) 32 East Broadway New York, NY 10002 (212) 925-8685 Asian Pacific American Journal (APA Journal) 296 Elizabeth St. Suite 2R New York, NY 10016 (212) 481-3237 AparNet (Asian American BBS) via modem: (212) 740-7051 (set terminal to 8-N-1) (sysop: davidtay@panix.com) Association of Indian Americans Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) 191 East Third St. New York, NY 10009 (212) 473-6485 Federation of Indian Americans (info anyone?) Pan Asian Repertory Theatre (212) 505-5655 Sakhi (212) 909-6160 United Federation of Filipino Youth (UFYC) Asia Society (I really wouldn't call this an Asian American org.) 725 Park Ave. New York, NY Other cities: Asian Americans United 801 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 925-1539 Asian Young Professionals Group Jason Lee, President 22341 Peachtree Novi, MI 48375 (313) 746-9217 American Citizens for Justice (313) 557-2772 Asian American Resource Workshop Fred Dow, Exec Dir 27 Beach St., 3rd Floor Boston, MA 02111 (617) 426 5313 I just got word that the AARW may have moved - can someone please confirm this information?: Michael ______ - director 106 Kneeland St. - new address? (Primarily an community group organizing community projects, protest, outreach. Recent examples include an AsAm conference for high school students in Boston area, coordinate Chinatown protest/polit involvement over a proposed New England Medical Center parking garage in Chinatown. But they are involved with cultural sort of activities as well such as a "Welcome to Asian America" art exhibit and a reception for Henry David Huang a couple years ago when his new play played in Boston. They also had put out "Asian American Comic Book" which was excerpted in Amerasia Journal last year. - Sterling Chen ) in addition: John Ho writes: Gale Research has published a 400+ pages directory in 1992 year called "Asian American Information Directory". It has everything you want to know about Asian Americans. Topics includes organisation, museum and library colections, embassies and consulates, research centers, studies program, publications and publishers, broadcast media and videos. Cost: $75 + S/H. To order called 1800-347-GALE. [I do not have any more info on this - if people know about other AA resource guides, and their availability, please contact me. -BWu] 30. Are there any Asian American college organizations? National-scale AA Student organizations: Asian Pacific American Student Union (APSU) Comprises of colleges all over California and the West coast. Grand-daddy of AA student orgs. Washington Asian Pacific American Student Union (WAPSU)(?) Made up of colleges in Washington state. Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU) Made up of colleges in the midwest - they also run an e-mail mailing list. East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECASU) Made up of colleges in the Northeast from New England down to Philly. They run an e-mail mailing list as well. Mid-Atlantic Asian Student Union (?) Made up of colleges in the Southeast. FIND a network of Filipino student groups that's in the Northeast. [Anyone have more info on this group/it's mailing list?] Asian American College groups across the nation: Colorado: The Asian and Pacific American Coalition University of Colorado CB 207 Boulder, CO 80309 (303) 492-5354 HSA Hmong Student Association same address (303) 492-4144 KSA Korean Student Association same address (303) 492-1063 KFAC Kaibigan Filipino American Club same address VSAB Vietnamese Student Association at Boulder same address (303) 492-4211 31. How about some performers? Commedians: Phil Nee: contact at DCA Productions 212-245-2063. Chinese Am comedian from NYC. Margaret Cho: contact Jackman & Taussig Inc. 310-478-6641. Korean Am comedian. Henry Cho: contact Joey Edmonds 312-871-1444. Korean Am comedian. Acting troupes: Here and Now: AA acting troupe (premier college based one) (Please try to contact Jean Lau first.) Jean Lau John Miyasaki Box 72 2043 Stratford Ave 1600 Campus Rd. South Pasadena, CA 91030 Los Angeles, CA 90041 (213) 341 6730 (818) 441 9615 or try (310) 478-6641 "Good luck to all this year with programming. I would say that Here and Now has the widest appeal... Be sure to inquire with Here and Now about new Asian Indian Am material which has been absent in their previous work. You may also request for them to do a continuous show...vs. a chop best of type show. Currently they are touring in California with "Why is Hello Kitty's head so big?"" - Elvin Chan "Here and Now came here to Indiana University to perform for the Asian American Heritage Month, and it was a big success. The compliments people on the net have been giving to Here and Now are not exaggerations at all! The performance was phenomenal. The skits they performed were: (I don't remember all of them) Orientals, Siblings, White Guys and Asian Girls, Tiananmen Square, Red Rain... and a few others. The group also had a question and answer period where you could ask just about anything you wanted." - ayun 32. I'm worried about violence against Asian Americans. Where can I get some information on self-defense? Alan Hu posted a great article on this topic. I'm including it here pretty much verbatim: Disclaimer: I'm not an attorney; this is not legal advice. Reporting Harassment and Hate Crimes I encourage people to report harassment and hate crimes. Even if the local authorities don't do anything, at least there will be some record, which may help someone in the future. The US Department of Justice maintains a hate crimes hotline, which you can use to report incidences to the DOJ. The number is (800) 347-HATE. Violent Response The general legal principle, as I understand it, is that you have the right to use physical force to stop an *immediate* threat to your personal safety. Laws and interpretations vary from locale to locale, but in general, you'd probably be in trouble if you were to, say, trash someone's car or beat them up or even rip up their pocket protector in response to a verbal slur. At the opposite extreme, if a gang of racists is actively attempting to bash your skull in with baseball bats, you can probably justify employing physical force to stop the attack. The moral question of whether and when to use physical force is entirely personal. You may decide it's better to let yourself be beaten to death rather than compromise your pacifist ideals. That's fine. Personally, I have no qualms over using physical force to stop an immediate threat to my life, but that's just my personal decision. The important thing, IMHO, is to decide *before* you need to deal with it, how you feel about the issue. Self-Defense Resources If you decide that you can imagine ever needing to employ physical force, you may choose to get some training. There are obviously many traditional martial arts to choose from. Look around and ask around to see what's good in your area. (Rec.martial-arts is a good place for general info.) One quick self-defense course that gets frequent high praise is called Model Mugging or IMPACT. (I'm not sure if one group spun off from the other, or if it's the same people with a different name.) This is a short (a few days of a few hours each) self-defense course for women, during which they train mental attitudes as well as physical techniques full force against a padded "mugger", for dealing with the types of attacks women are statistically most likely to have to deal with. I've heard that some chapters have recently added a men's course as well. IMPACT's national information line is (800) 345-KICK. Some people may be interested in mace, tear gas, pepper spray, etc., as well as other weapons. If you choose something, be sure to learn how to use it properly, and practice! The various chemical sprays get mixed reviews from self-defense experts -- they're better than nothing, but experiments have demonstrated that none of them will really stop a determined attacker. (One article pops up regularly in rec.martial-arts and rec.guns.) The various electronic devices (tasers, stun guns) don't seem to be recommended for self-defense. Also, there are considerable laws regulating most weapons, so find out what's legal before you carry (e.g. last I heard, in California, possession of nunchaku is a felony). Firearms Statistically, firearms are the most effective self-defense tool available, but they also carry considerable legal and social stigma in many circles, as well as the considerable burden of legal, safe, and responsible ownership. If you decide to go this route, be sure to get proper safety training! The NRA should be able to point you to somewhere to get lessons in your area; their number is (202) 828-6000. Just a personal note - choose your battles wisely and don't let people stomp on your pride and get away with it. If you're feeling strong that day, give them a piece of your mind (or your fist). Because believe me, if you don't take care of it right then and there, it's going to burn a hole in your heart for the next few days. - Bryan Andrew Chin's "Verbal Self-Defense FAQ" is available by email. Details below: Andrew Chin writes: My multicultural self-education has enabled me to tackle ignorance and racism where I see it on the net, but I'm still sluggish in the art of verbal self-defense. So I've started a private compilation of snappy responses to ignorant and/or racist remarks about Asian- Americans. This is now available as a FAQ via email. Caveat emptor: sometimes counter-insults aren't the best or most appropriate responses to racism. From the age of four I was taught to ``just ignore'' racist taunts from my peers, and this advice is still useful in most cases. On the other hand, there are times when a counter-insult can be very satisfying, and without doing damage to the overall state of race relations. At these times it can be very useful to have some stock responses in mind rather than standing there dumbstruck and figuring out what I should have said 10 seconds too late. Access to this FAQ is strictly limited to contributors only; i.e., _only_ people who submit ideas will receive a copy of the FAQ, which will be updated from time to time. Submission will indicate permission to publish in this limited way. Responses to the following categories of remarks are being collected (further categories are welcomed): 1. General ignorance [pulling eyes into slants, bowing, other attempts to imitate stereotypical Asian behavior/speech] 2. Assuming Asian-Americans are foreigners [surprise at your ability and preference to speak English] 3. Assuming Asian cultural characteristics [you remind them of the last Asian person they knew/their travels in the Orient (never mind that _you've_ never been there)] 4. Intrusive genealogical queries [``Where are you from? No, where are you really from? Well, where were your parents born? Oh yeah, well where were your grandparents born? Oh yeah, well, where were your great-grandparents born?'' (walks away, thinking, ``Jeez, why so testy?'' and writes to Ann Landers, who will sympathize)] 5. Japan-bashing [``You Japs are stealing all our jobs!'' (n.b. Inspect speaker thoroughly for baseball bat before responding)] 6. Assuming the model minority myth [``All you Orientals are math whizzes, why don't you give us normal students a break?''] 31. I'm not a big fan of the way Asians are portrayed on TV. Me neither. Here's the addresses and phone numbers for NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox, courtesy of Bryan Wu: National Broadcasting Corp. 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 (212) 664-4444 Comments to: Audience Services (at above address) (212) 664-2333 -- American Broadcasting Corp. 77 W. 66th New York, NY 10023 (212) 456-7777 Comments to: Network Programming (at above address) (212) 456-7477 -- CBS 51 W. 52nd New York, NY 10019 Comments to: (212) 975-3247 -- Fox Broadcasting PO Box 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90213 ------------ New Sections ------------ 32. Are there any AA specific health issues? Health information specific to Asian Americans is rarely found in the mass media, therefore this section will be dedicated to "health" issues regarding Asian Americans. The first book dedicated to Asian & Pacific Islander American health, Confronting Critical Health Issues of Asian and Pacific Islander American, commissioned by Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (formerly, Asian American Health Forum) is now available. Call (415)541-0866 for more information. 33. _Health Alert to people of Southern Chinese descent:_ Nasopharyngeal Cancer is a relatively rare cancer which has stuck two people that I know personally. One of them was 24 years old.. Because this cancer is rare among non-Asians, it is rarely diagnosed correctly and when it is finally recognized, it may be too late. Symptoms include recurring nose-bleeds. James Ou writes: I have just found this from IARC Scientific Publications iss. 105 (1991): pp. 39-47 Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a disease with a remarkable racial and geographical distribution. It is very rare in most parts of the world, and in only a handful of populations does this low-risk profile deviate; these groups include people in southern China.......... Convincing evidence implicates dietary factors as the primary cause of NPC among Chinese. A series of case-control studies conducted in various Chinese populations with distinct risks of NPC, ranging from the very high-risk Cantonese populations to the relatively low-risk northern Chinese, have suggested that ingestion of salted fish and other kinds of preserved foods constitutes the most important cause of NPC among these people... causes of NPC and there are other factors which may also cause NPC. If someone has a sucinct listing of symptoms, please e-mail me. 34. _Asian Americans vs. Milk!_ Basically, 80% of Asian Americans have some kind of lactose intollerance which can cause bloating pain and gas (farting:*p). This lactose intollerance is not an allergy per se, but rather the lack of the enzyme "lactase" required to digest the lactose which naturally occours in cow milk. If you still love milk, then consider lactase supplements which come in both capsule and liquid form. Capsules you take when first starting to eat dairy. Liquids you add a few drops to your carton of milk and overnight, the lactose is removed by the enzyme and you have a carton of lactose-free milk. Personally, I'm lactose intollerant and have found these drops to be useful when I have a craving for milk & cereal or heavy-duty ice cream consumption.. I've also found that out in California, there are generic brands of lactase suppliment which are much cheaper than the name-brands. >From _The Merck Manual_, 16th edition (1992) [a standard medical reference], p. 825-826: > >Carbohydrate Intolerance >(Lactose Intolerance; Lactase Deficiency; Disaccharidase Deficiency; >Glucose-Calactose Malabsorption; Alactasia) > >Pathophysiology > >Disaccaharides are normally split into monosaccharides by lactase, >maltase, isomaltase, and sucrase (invertase) in the small intestine. >Lactase splits lactose into glucose and galactose. Unsplit >disaccharides remain in the lumen and osmotically retain fluid, >causing diarrhea. Bacterial fermentation of sugar in the colon leads >to gaseous, acidic stools. ... > >Incidence > >Lactase deficiency occurs _normally_ [emphasis in the original] in >about 75% of adults in all ethnic groups except those of northwest >European origin, in whom the incidence is < 20%. Although statistics >are unreliable, most nonwhites of North America gradually become >lactase-deficient between ages 10 and 20 yr. It affects 90% of >Orientals [sic] and 75% of American blacks and Indians [sic], with a >high incidence among peopls from the Mediterranean area. > ... > >Symptoms and Signs > >Symptoms and signs are similar, regardless of the specific enzyme >deficiency. A child who cannot tolerate sugar will have diarrhea and >fail to gain weight. An adult may have borborygmi, bloating, flatus, >nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Even when only lactose >absorption is directly impaired by deficiency of the enzymem lactase, >the resulting diarrhea may be severe enough to purge other nutrients >before they can be absorbed. ... > ... [I'm omitting the diagnosis section, which includes a > test where you give someone lactose and see if they get sick.] ... > >Treatment > >The disorder is readily controlled by a lactose-free diet, or often >simply by avoiding milk drinks. ... If a lactose-free diet is >continued, oral Ca supplements should be given. Lactose in milk can >be predigested by the addition of commercially prepared lactase. > >[My comments: Personally, I swear by Lactaid Brand lactose-reduced >non-fat milk, available in a grocery stores everywhere. I find it >odd that a condition that "afflicts" a substantial majority of human >beings is classed as a "disorder". In reality those lucky few people >who continue to produce this bizarre enzyme (lactase) to digest the >glandular secretions of another species should probably be labelled >as having "hyperlactasia" or something. The current terminology >and notion of normalcy reflect the historical bias arising from modern >Western medicine's development occuring primarily in Northwestern Europe. > - Alan Hu ] Note that the degree of lactose intolerance varies in that different lactose intolerant people can consume differing amounts of dairy products without side effects. Cultured milk products (yogurt, buttermilk, cheese) tend to be less likely to produce side effects than plain milk. 35. Random quotes "Craig F. Harmon" writes (in reply to a non-Asian American poster who wrote something about his 'understanding' Asian Americans): >I think the reason they got mad at you is that most people who do that >are trying to use the fact they are dating an Asian (male/female) as some >sort of qualification for membership in this newsgroup. Kind of like, >"Yeah I can relate to you people, my girlfriend/boyfriend is Asian." Or >by using the fact they are dating said person to try to win arguments, >like, "No, you're all wrong, I KNOW, because my girlfriend/boyfriend is >Asian!" Besides I guess who you date is irrellevent for most of what is >posted here, so keep that good personal info personal. (Easier said than >done). I guess a good rule of thumb to follow would be, don't post >anything about your personal life unless specifically >asked, or unless that info will show that you have a life experience >which would give you some intimate knowledge of the subject being >discussed. >I think a better place to discuss inter-racial relationships is a group >called, soc.culture.intercultural or soc.couples.intercultural, something >like that. I hope this helps. Also try wearing NOMEX when you write. >It is fire resistent. ------------------ The End (for now!) ------------------ Please feel free to send me suggested additions/corrections to the FAQ. For one, I'd like to include a recomended fiction books section. - Bryan