Jian Li or Li Jian?

Stereotypes?:


A couple of days ago, I came across an interesting article from one of my favorite blogs, www.angryasianman.com - citing an article from the Daily Princetonian that poked fun at a Yale freshman who was rejected from Princeton, despite having perfect SAT scores, near perfect grades, and a plethora of extra-curricular activities. This Yale freshman, Li Jian, brought a lawsuit upon Princeton - accusing them of harboring an apparent bias towards Asians and Asian Americans, in an attempt to limit their enrollment at top universities in the United States. The law suit is still pending, but the topic of affirmative action and the model minority has once again been thrust into the media limelight. Of course, this story broke weeks or months ago, and the lingering memories of this whiny student has all but dwindled in the spotlight; that is, until the annual Joke issue of the Daily Princetonian and the article mocking this student, caught the eye of the national media here.

The controversy surrounding this article mostly has to do with something Asians have been all too familiar with: tasteless humor aimed at exploiting the stereotypes of Asians being 1) bad with grammar (the column was written in broken English); 2) dog eaters 3) perpetual foreigners (references to the General Tao province); and 4) overachievers. These are only a few that I could think of, but I'm sure there exists plenty of examples.

So let's examine the pros and cons that can be elicited from this event. I agree with the editors in a sense that the controversy that has erupted since the article publication has served its purpose in thrusting the topic of race and college admissions into the spotlight because, as I've mentioned earlier, the story surrounding the original law suit had all but died down. The pros all but end there.

As for the cons, the article simply was not original, it was done in poor judgement and taste, and one might have expected more from such a prestigious university as Princeton. The jokes were not funny, and only served to perpetuate stereotypes in the mainstream that Asians have tried for decades to shed.

As expected, critics from both sides have flooded columns and blogs alike with their incessant view point on the matter. The editors in charge of the newspaper have issued a statement that falls somewhere along the lines of "oops, we didn't know that it would be offensive...we seek to draw attention to racism in hopes of strangling it...at worst, it was a bad joke, at best, it exposes racism...yada yada." Again, the same kind of response that can be expected from anyone who didn't seem to know that perpetuating stereotypes do have the potential of offending most if not all people in that particular racial column.

I was particularly disappointed with the response from the editors because, for one thing, the editor in chief is of Asian descent and there are numerous Asians who comprised the staff at the Daily Princetonian. It is one thing to have a group of white students write and make fun of Asians - they would be easy to criticize for being racially insensitive. The fact that there are Asian students on the newspaper staff speaks at length about the internalized racism that these students must feel towards their own culture. How can anyone in the right mind and sensible awareness of their cultural existence, be inclined as to contribute to such a poorly intentioned article?

Students being students though, the controversy surrounding this article will serve to be a learning experience for all those involved - hence the importance of a college education. At the same time, as much as I may disagree with the content of the article, all too often people jump to conclusions - labeling the perpetrators as racists or bigots - when in fact, they probably just had very poor taste in humor. All too often, liberal groups jump head first into debates surrounding race and race relations - citing racism and prejudice or what not. When I was in college, I took a west African Drumming course, where the professor was a 75 year old Ghanaian with a giant potbelly and a incessant desire to tell his class that he enjoys the pleasures of having intimate relations with his wife. One day in class, I had my feet up on the drum, which prompted an outburst from him. After that, he asked me what race I was - which I told him. His response was 'that's why' - implying that my being Chinese was the reason that I had disrespected his instrument and ultimately his livelihood.

Almost immediately, reactions from the liberal student crowd almost immediately went from slightly bored, to that of a venomous serpent - ready to pounce on the prey in the form of a kind hearted but culturally misguided teacher. I couldn't tell if the people were angry or surprised at the fact that I didn't have more of a reaction. I received emails of support that night for the supposed injustice that had occurred in the classroom. Of course, I wasn't the least bit offended, having had the chance to meet his acquaintance before hand and understand the linguistic barriers that existed between over-privileged private college students, and an African man. I actually spoke to him rationally afterwards, and managed to elicit a kinder, gentler response from him outside of the class. We were able to express our differences without reverting to labels of 'racism'. The other people, without this rational dialogue, probably walked away from the class thinking the man is a racist.

My point is this: as an Asian-American, we do not need to jump down the throats and be resentful of those who might make a few stupid, ignorant comments about our race, history, stereotypes, etc... We have to understand that in a society that prides itself on free speech, there will be people with access to media channels, that are going to make some remarks that will offend a few, if not, many people. People like Adam Carolla, Rosie O'Donnell, Sarah Silverman and the like, are comedians who make a living making fun of people and their lives, and they will do whatever it takes to draw laughter from their perceived audiences. I would like to believe that they are not racists, because being a racist implies that you think that you are superior to everyone else simply based on your race.

Instead, they're just people looking to create laughter by playing on those stereotypes that have emerged throughout the years. Of course, there is good comedy (Dave Chapelle, John Stuart, and Stephen Colbert, to name a few), that possess the unique talent to write comedy that offends just about everyone. The problem that I have with crappier comedians (see above), is that they would single out un-original stereotypes as a last ditched effort at drawing laughter. Ha ha. The Chinaman does laundry (actually, the Chinese were forced to open laundromats because they were systematically discriminated against in the job market after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.). Ha Ha, The Chinese eat dogs, their men are effeminate tools, and their women are desirable sex objects (Ummm...cultural differences; allegedly in the 1800's the Chinese men were depicted as rampant sex maniacs in which the white women were supposed to be protected against...sort of like the black stereotype now; oh yeah, well, Asian females are just perceived to be exotic...would you rather have a hamburger or some exotic far east meal you can't pronounce? human nature). Can't these comedians think of better material than to play off decades-old material?

Back to this article. On the one hand, I see the need to address the issues that arose. Playing off out-dated stereotypes to elicit laughter is merely a demonstration of unoriginality and lack of creativity. On the other hand, it's not necessary to call these people racists. That would just be going too far.

C & E

It has become readily apparent that in addition to random political rants, this blog also pertains to my personal/professional life. For the past 18 months or so, I have been working at a lucrative biotech patent law firm - lucrative not in the sense that it is ultra-competitive to land a job there, but rather, the firm is predominantly occupied by remarkably intelligent Ph.D. scientists (some of whom happen to have their law degrees). I was initially drawn to the firm because of the promise that I would be exposed to a great deal of international law, as well as the inner workings of a typical law firm. As far as I'm concerned, these two aspects have been fulfilled, and thus, it is time for me to move on- with the only logical next step being law school.

Like many jobs heralded by recent college graduates, I have had my fair share of ups and downs with regard to the work environment. On the one hand, I'm gaining fantastic experience interacting with scientists and attorneys alike on a daily basis, communicating with international law firms throughout, and shouldering a significant amount of responsibility; without which, the firm would not function the way that it does. On the other hand, I am working in a lucrative field that fails to inspire my deepest interests in international economics, politics, and law. I long to find purpose in my professional life, and so far, it has been difficult.

In the beginning, I was excited to learn about almost anything: Patent Cooperation Treaty, Paris Convention, World Intellectual Property Organization, Immunoinflammatory Disorders - these were once as foreign to me as Arabic or French. However, as time passed by, I managed to pick things up much quicker than expected, resulting in a sense of boredom fulfilled by my ambition to master the tasks at hand. Now, I see my job not as a source of inspiration and learning, but rather, as Randall called it, "A place to buy time before law school starts."

But then I have to reassess my own motivations in life. Am I wasting my time at this firm? Is my reluctance to take that extra step in quitting preventing me from experiencing another job environment? Or am I gaining valuable experience in dealing with a particular employment experience where I must succumb to the high's and the low's, in order to ultimately reach that unattainable feeling of fulfillment in my life?

Maybe I'm getting a little too far ahead of myself. Nevertheless, I've managed to saturate my experience at the law firm. Once the law school red tape has been cleared, I see myself travelling Asia for a couple months - before returning to a summer not yet occupied by solid plans. I will come to regard this experience as one that has contributed to my personal and professional development, and I hope that I will be able to maintain friendly relations with the co-workers that I have been a large part of my life for as many months.

Bush doctrine

It has been a little while since I last wrote. Nevertheless, I wanted to add my two cents on the dissenting situation that seems to be unfolding in Iraq, even as I write. For those of you who have been hiding under a rock, here's a random URL pertaining to what I plan on writing about: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-13-democrats_x.htm

You might have guessed it, but this blog entry is devoted to one George W. Bush. Having gone to an extremely liberal college where "Impeach Bush" and "Go Green" bumper stickers seemed to outnumber all else, I have been programmed to hate this man that blatantly stole the White House in 2000, and followed by a close election, to which we can attribute his victory to the ineptitude of the Kerry Campaign in 2004. Yet, I don't hate him, and for the most part, I can see why he would do the things that he does, based on his character alone.

From the very beginning, his presidency has been defined by the attacks of September 11, 2001. Without this single most heinous act on American soil, there would be no doubt in my mind that his presidency would have simply been characterized as the most in-effective term out of any presidency (and that rhetoric may still hold true). Since the attacks, he has used the fear of terrorism as a means to win his re-election (based on the false assumption that he was a war-time president), and has turned his global war on terrorism on Iraq - justifying this war by linking Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

When that connection failed to materialize, he began echoing calls for a global fight on terrorism, with Iraq planted firmly in the middle. Since then, the American army - long regarded as the strongest in the world - has been inadvertently placed in harm's way - for a cause that is ambiguously buried in a sea of bureaucratic mishaps that has leaked into the general mainstream. They are fighting a war where the enemy is not readily apparent - and the goal ambiguously defined.

What started as a simple invasion to tout American superiority in the Middle East, has resulted in a quagmire that mirrors the mistakes of the Vietnam War - long heralded as the worst foreign policy blunder in American history. I guess that is what happens when you have Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney- two Foreign Policy Vulcans left over from the Nixon era - initiating the Iraq war. The plethora of mistakes initiated by these two men have resulted in over 3000 soldier deaths, a deficit that will surely be detrimental to our grandchildren, and a loss of credibility with our allies.

Notice how I haven't exactly placed any blame on Mr. President. That is because I am a firm believer that he is merely a puppet president - with the puppet master being the strongly conservative corporate base of the Republican Party. The puppet master has managed to exert their influence by flooding Congress with a plethora of lobbyists, whose sole purpose was to coerce the Republicans to vote on the side of big businesses - thus resulting in the fantastic gains that Wall Street has experienced - despite declining confidence in the housing market, remarkably high oil prices (at least up until a few months ago), and a ballooning budget deficit that was the result of massive tax cuts for the wealthy. I mean, how can one justify the $10 billion dollar profits of Exxon/Mobil (of course, my numbers could be wrong, but it is at least somewhere in the ballpark) while middle class Americans are struggling to heat their homes? Why does it take a borderline leftist dictator from Venezuela to help the lower class heat their homes, yet our president sits idly by and watches as his corporate masters make unimaginable sums of money?

Nevertheless, I do not dislike Bush because like I said, he has virtually zero power when it comes to politics. One needs only to take a look at Dick Cheaney to realize that his strong personality and quiet demeanor demonstrates the power struggle at the top of American Politics. The only problem that I have with Bush these days, is the afore-mentioned link that I posted above.

The Iraq war has gone on for nearly four years, with no end in sight. As I mentioned earlier, the U.S. Army is fighting an un-assuming enemy, and quite frankly, lack the man power to fight the growing insurgence among the Sunni's, Shiite's, and Kurds - who, some have speculated, are in the middle of a Civil War. To protect his own Hubris, Bush has elected to send an additional 20000 troops - something that Rumsfeld disregarded in the beginning of this struggle - in hopes of stabilizing Iraq - so that the Iraq's can stand up and fight for their own country. This, as speculated by many, is a last attempt of the Bush administration to quell the insurgency. If it works (highly doubtful), Bush will be regarded as a savior. If it fails (most likely), he will leave the resulting turmoil to the next president, which all signs point to will be from the Democratic Party.

Mr. Bush has long disregarded the will of the American people, and the Checks and Balances of the United States government that our founding fathers have put in place to assure a fair and just governing process. In electing to send more troops without the support of the majority of Congress, House of Representatives, and the American people, he is effectively demonstrating his dictatorial powers that Saddam Hussein was once shunned for possessing. Rather than openly sending his troops to, for example, execute Kurds in his own country, Bush is sending troops with the intent of "hunting down and killing the terrorists" in another country, as he outlined in his recent speech in the White House Library. Are we so blind as a country to not be able to draw this parallel? Probably not - but we do lack the mobilization power to stop this president from dissenting into a last ditch attempt in saving his hubris.

Allow me to put this into perspective: The president and his administration manipulated CIA intelligence to allow for the invasion of Iraq - citing weapons of mass destruction. When that failed, we turned to the ever-reliable trope of fighting a global war on terrorism. We invaded a sovereign country under false pretenses, imprisoned their leader, and brutally turned a cheek when he was executed in disgusting fashion. Now, we are stuck in Iraq, fighting an enemy that didn't exist before the invasion. If I were an ordinary Iraqi citizen, and all I hear on the (presumably) Al-Jazeera network that there is a foreign presence invading my country, wouldn't I be inclined to take up arms to fight for my own country? Killing terrorists without addressing the root of the problem, is akin to cutting grass - it will eventually grow back. The Bush administration may be far-sighted when it comes to America's foreign policy, but they are extremely short-sighted when dealing with terrorists and potential terrorists.

Like I said, I don't dislike Bush. He is a man that has run out of options, and wishes to have one last attempt at saving his face - and the fate of the Republican party. The result, though, is a global struggle for American to remain dominant in their military- and a future that is uncertain with regard to our foreign policy, growing debt crisis, and and economy that is waiting to crumble under the weight of the deficit, and international conflicts of ideology.

basketball

I just spent the night being coerced into possibly joining the Knights so I can play basketball with a little more frequency than my usual once/month guest appearance. Of course, I'm excited to get a little exercise outside of the weightroom and the football field. But it occurred to me tonight, as I was running around aimlessly on the basketball court, that I don't have the faintest idea as to how to play basketball. I mean, I can dribble on occasion, shoot with even less frequency, and on a good day, maybe block someone. But those skills are the equivalent of knowing how to run, and thinking that you would be good at football! Well, that might be a little far-fetched, but my point is this: after over 10 years of actually playing playground basketball, being cut from my middle school and high school freshman teams, I have regressed into the junky pick-up basketball-er. With that said, I'm going to bed. Unfortunately, there's nothing else exciting to report. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to put the ball in the basket with a little more frequency. So much for being Jordan...

Children of Men

Future based movies have always managed to peak my interests because of the correlations that can be drawn to them. In the 1980's, I remember this one movie, "2000", that featured psychotic cyborg teachers out to destroy their ill-behaved students. Then there was "Johnny Mnemonic", who could, at the time, download a whopping 4 gigs into his head for storage! And who can forget the "Back to the Future" trilogy - cheery, beautiful portrayal of the future-filled with hover boards and self-drying jackets. Why do I bring these movies up? Well, because I could draw zero correlations with any of the above movies, because quite frankly, the writers' vision was shortsighted and imagination lacking beyond the usual sci-fi drama (that is not to say that the movies weren't wildly entertaining).


With that said, the one movie that I could draw obvious connection between the present and soon to be future is "Children of Men", starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore. Without a doubt, I can't recall being as disturbed with any movie in recent memory than this one. The movie covered many contemporary issues that afflict our society today: mass genocide, illegal immigration, warfare, homeland security, class-ism, and terrorism, and maybe even abortion - all conveniently lumped together into a movie based not too far into the future. There is just so much that I want to dissect about the movie, but that might yield a longer post than what I had originally cut out for. Instead, I merely want to express my thoughts regarding some of the topics covered.

First of all, the movie forces one to reassess the things that we consider important in our lives. As Americans living in a sheltered bubble of flat screen tv's, fast food, and poor dietary choices - we are not exposed to the pain and suffering of other countries - suffering like the genocide in Darfur, tsunami victims of Indonesia, famine in Africa, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and closer to home, death and destruction in New Orleans. We are not exposed to these societal woes because we have the choice not to. This society can be so pre-occupied with meaningless things like materialism, Friday night plans, perhaps even making crap tons of money (and I am not exempt) that we for the most part, fail to truly cherish those things that should matter - relationships, friends, families, and the mere fact that we live in such a sheltered environment at the expense of millions more around the world. We take simple aspects of our lives for granted everyday - safety, trust, access to health care and clean drinking water - that we are blinded from the true things that matter.

The movie thrusts the viewer in the middle; surrounded by the atrocities of war and yet, Clive Owen and the character he plays is immune to the death around him. Could this be a metaphor for Americans now; who are enjoying economic prosperity, low taxes, and cheap oil prices - all while U.S. soldiers fight and die for a cause that the majority of Americans no longer believe in, because we are preoccupied by the things that don't matter? Are we, as Americans generally intolerant of illegal immigrants because of their perceived ill-effects on the general public - effects that are perpetuated by special interest organizations (i.e. the government) to divert our attention from the more pressing issues of neo-colonialism that most people don't bat an eyelash towards? We have turned inward as a society because we fear those perceived threats that could potentially knock us off that pedestal of first-world conveniences - thereby exposing us to the rest of the world. Do we deserve it?

Lastly, in a somewhat related topic, I have been emailing my college professor back and forth since graduation, and he has since moved to the west coast because my college cut funding for the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Nevertheless, he recently spent a couple of weeks in the Nevada dessert, and has seemingly been imposing his Zen-like views onto me, and for the most part, I agree with him. He mentioned that the rocks in the desert took 20million years to crystallized, and yet, we as humans only have a mere few decades to create a meaningful life. He also eluded me to the fact that the serenity infused in him as a result of his experience in the desert, has forced him to reevaluate those things that are illusion (created by his desires) and those things that are real (relationships, family, etc...). How I manage to get into these conversations via email is beyond me. What is important, though, is that I agree with him. He urged me to do things that are fun and meaningful, because our existence on this earth is finite - why not take it to the fullest?

American Born Chinese

The inevitable problem with these blogs is that I'm inclined to write about anything that crosses my mind. In the past few days, I've contemplated writing a long rant about my strong desire to go postal on the head office of the MBTA for their inadequate service and quite frankly, a lack of motivation to change any of their services to save money for their patrons. I've also contemplated ranting about the Celtics (who I just watched lose to the Cav's on some awful calls and a LeBron 3/4 court bank shot in the closing seconds of the 3rd quarter), whose metaphor for this season is wholly embodied by one Gerald Green: so much potential and yet, they still suck.

But of course, I am a positive person, and those two topics would have had negativity oozing out of my ears. With that said, I've decided to give my two cents about a recently completed book (and I use that term loosely), which I finished on my bus ride home yesterday. Juvenile as it may be, American Born Chinese is a reflection into the author's personal experiences growing up (in comical form, of course). I would be lying if I were to say that I was unable to relate to any of the main themes in the book..oh, I mean comic strip: themes of adolescent insecurities stemming from a wholly misunderstood bi-culturalism that exists for American Born Chinese.





Skimming the well drawn comics seemingly transported me back to the days of Lincoln Eliot's playground where my adolescent naivety sheltered me from any negative vibe I might have been getting from my classmates. Quite frankly, I thought I lucked out in terms of the cultural teasing; or maybe I have managed to block out all memories of those negative feelings when I was a kid growing up in a new environment in Newton.

It's amazing how his experiences transcend among all Asian Americans, particularly mine (except I don't have parents that are college educated...nope, not even high school). As I moved through the book, i began recalling some of the events that I might have forgotten: the desire to fit in (translation: being white), the jitters from first cross-cultural dates in middle school (he got that section down pat!), and even perhaps the solitude consuming me because I was ostracized for being different among the overwhelming majority (oh wait, that was college!). But of course, me being me, I was able to quickly forget (probably my best defense mechanism), and it's certainly nice to know that these experiences are not unique to myself (in fact, I'm damn sure. It's just fun to see it in a comic strip.). I found myself chuckling inside as I was reading through some of the scenes. The book is in fact, quite impressive - both for the upbeat message that it holds (be yourself, Asian children), as well as the mindfulness for it's older audience (the inclusion of the Chin-kee story does just that in portraying the media-cultivated image of the stereotypical Asian man).

If you want to know what I'm talking about, feel free to purchase the book! It is a fantastic teaching tool for young children to reveal the perhaps unknown coming of age experiences of most Asian boys who have had to deal with being a drastically different small minority. Find it at http://www.amazon.com/American-Chinese-Gene-Luen-Yang/dp/1596431520.

Happy new year, everyone (soon to be the year of the pig in Chinese astrology, a.k.a. my year). As part of my new years resolution, I wanted to start a blog to reflect my views and contemplations over a multitude of different topics. To spare the general public from the petty stories presented by Xanga, I'll try my best not to bore everyone with mindless details of what I might be doing on any given day, but rather, give insightful thought and intuitive input to the events that occur around me. For this particular entry, though, it will not be the case because I'm laying out the groundwork for 2007.

Anyway, my original intent of this blog was to track my new years resolutions for 2007. 2006 was a relatively stagnant year that included among other things, my breakup of a nearly 3 year long relationship, endless weekends of bar hopping and people meeting, trips to Miami and Chicago, law school applications (including the dreaded LSAT preparation time), and quite frankly, A LOT of time for self reflection (most probably having to do with my thought process in drafting NUMEROUS law school application essay topics).

There already appears to be much promise for 2007. Of course, I would need to get the ball rolling for all of these events to actually materialize. So far, the agenda includes: Randy Ray's wedding in Houston in February, possibly a road trip from LA to Seattle with Ching and Co. in March, my daring escape to Asia in April, (if granted) a corporate law internship in NYC (cross my fingers!) for the summer (and if not, more travel!), Mike's bachelor party in August, Law school commencement in late August, and Mike and Fi's wedding in September.

Therefore, I can only hope to capitalize on these promising events laid out for the upcoming year. This blog will hopefully keep track of these events, and record my thoughts and feelings along the way. Here is to an exciting and fun-filled 2007, and to new beginnings...