assimilation

LOS ANGELES, CA - Visual Communications is proud to present a special screening of the 1916 Chinese American film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010, 3:00 pm, at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, in Little Tokyo, to celebrate the release of a limited-edition DVD anthology by renown filmmaker Arthur Dong.

The earliest known Chinese American feature film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON was directed in 1916 by Marion Wong of the Mandarin Film Company in Oakland, Calif. One of the few films directed by a woman at that time, the 36-minute silent film is about the assimilation of Chinese in the United States. It stars the director, her sister-in-law Violet Wong, mother-in-law Chin Shee and Harvey Soo Hoo.

THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, A 1916 CHINESE AMERICAN SILENT FILM, WILL HEADLINE NOVEMBER 6 DVD RELEASE SCREENING AND RECEPTION

LOS ANGELES, CA - Visual Communications is proud to present a special screening of the 1916 Chinese American film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010, 3:00 pm, at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, in Little Tokyo, to celebrate the release of a limited-edition DVD anthology by renown filmmaker Arthur Dong.

The earliest known Chinese American feature film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON was directed in 1916 by Marion Wong of the Mandarin Film Company in Oakland, Calif. One of the few films directed by a woman at that time, the 36-minute silent film is about the assimilation of Chinese in the United States. It stars the director, her sister-in-law Violet Wong, mother-in-law Chin Shee and Harvey Soo Hoo.

Since the Asian American film burst onto the scene thirty something years ago, many of those filmmakers, such as, Christine Choy, Wayne Wang, Mira Nair, Ang Lee, Justin Lin and among others are now comfortably part of the American cinematic mainstream.

Each year, hundreds of filmmakers from around the Asian Diaspora submit their short films to Asian American film festivals. They have given us stories of immigration and assimilation, adversity and triumph, motivation and inspiration of all genres: narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, music video.

Common reoccurring themes include identity politics, alienated youth, hypersexualization, math nerds, over-achievers, stereotypes, suburban alienation, and kung-fu waiters. 
Been there? Done that?

Tell us YOUR Asian American story.

What can be more depressing than a story like this to remind us of our current society and the state of human morality. It is important that we should continue to advocate against human trafficking and foriegners who go overseas to find Asian wives or sex touring for Asian women (or in this case, Children too).

Typically, these are the types that have the imperialist mindset, they prey on those who are inpoverished and live in difficult conditions. The circumstances that exposes a vulnerability can be said without reference, human trafficking or sexual exploitation of Asian women.

We have similar issues that exist in first world countries only that these  problems exist on a another level. In the social context, racism comes  intertwined with stereotypes, race sexual fetish, Asian fetishism, Pedophilia, Asiaphiles, Sexism, Rapists, murders etc all that commonly share the same basis on the grounds of racism.

It's never been easy to be part of the huddled masses. The Statue of Liberty may not be choosy about the wretched refuse she allows in the door, but Americans haven't always been so hospitable. Immigrants from Ireland landed in the U.S. in the 1850s only to find shop windows festooned with signs reading "No Irish Need Apply." The Chinese toiled to build our transcontinental railroad in the 1860s only to see the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act signed in 1882, suspending further immigration. The unwritten rule was simple: pretty much anyone was welcome, except the newest group — or at least the one arriving in the greatest numbers — who would have a harder go of things. All that's changed, though, right? In our new postracial world, haven't we risen above such petty prejudice? Actually, no, we haven't. But the good news is, we're doing better than you might expect.

VisualizAsian.com - Continuing with our AAPI Empowerment Series at visualizAsian.com, our next guest is Phoebe Eng, author of "Warrior Lessons: An Asian American Woman's Journey into Power," Vice Chair for the Ms. Foundation for Women and head of Creative Counsel, an organization that connects artists and entertainers with social causes.

LIVE INTERVIEW IS ON TUESDAY, JUNE 23 at 6 PM PDT (9 PM EDT) on VisualizAsian.com, Register here

Text version

One of the most public manifestations of race is the choice of one's partner or spouse. This very individual and personal aspect can sometimes produce a lot of public discussion. Studies consistently show that Asian Americans have some of the highest "intermarriage" (also known as "outmarriage") rates among racial/ethnic minorities -- marrying someone else outside of their own ethnic group. But as always, there's more to the story than just the headline.

The Public and Private Sides of Ethnicity

'Our Child Only Speaks English and It’s Not Okay' By Tim | Friday, February 13, 2009

My 3 year old daughter used to yell “Stop Daddy”, whenever I talked to my mom in Chinese. She didn’t like feeling like she was left out of the conversation, and she let us know in no uncertain terms. It was partly my fault she never learned to speak Chinese, as her other parent is a Caucasian, English-only speaker. If she was going to learn it was going to require my talking to her in Chinese, which never happened often enough.

So obviously it touched a nerve when fellow 8asians blogger, Ernie sent me this article titled “Our Child Only Speaks English and It’s Okay”. I have to commend Bonnie Gray (the Chinese American author of the article) for being able to rationalize the decision to not teach her child Chinese in addition to English.

The intersectionality of race and gender inequality generate a variety of oppressive structures or “scattered hegemonies” that cannot be adequately understood by focusing exclusively on their gendered or racial components. There is a simultaneity to structures of domination which generate forms of racial oppression that are gendered and forms of gender oppression that are racialized. In this presentation I discuss those forms of racism that denigrate the masculinity of Asian males, which I refer to as gendered racism. The exaggerated and derogatory images of Asian American masculinity serve to glorify those forms of masculinity associated with white males. I examine the specific forms of gendered racism that second generation Korean and Vietnamese American males face, and describe how these demonizing myths and images shape the perceptions of Asian American women. In an analysis of 100 interviews with daughters of Korean and Vietnamese immigrants, I find that they frequently juxtapose derogatory images of Asian masculinity with positive images of white masculinity that are circulated in the white-dominated society.

Authors: Kim, Helen. The passage of the 1965 Immigration Act ushered in an era marked by a massive influx of non- white immigrants to the United States. Contrary to previous waves of immigration that included primarily Europeans, the past four decades have seen a surge in non-European immigrants from Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. However, while civil rights and immigration reforms have, on a legislative level, legitimated the entry of previously excluded groups to the US, social acceptance of these “new immigrants” and their children has been slow to follow. Assimilation patterns of European immigrants and their children have historically resulted in an eventual racial blending into the white majority.

The Myth of the Model Minority
Book by recommended by Jessie racismreview.com

"Rosalind Chou and Joe have a new book, just out, that is described as follows in the catalog copy
With their apparent success in schools and careers, Asian Americans have long been viewed by white Americans as the “model minority.” Yet few Americans realize the lives of many Asian Americans are constantly stressed by racism. This reality becomes clear from the voices of Asian Americans heard in this first in-depth book on the experiences of racism among Asian Americans from many different nations and social classes.

“The End of White America?”
Jan 29, 2009
Dialectic

Hua Hsu of The Atlantic writes a very interesting article on social and racial trends in America. I really don’t like the title, as it’s kitsch and melodramatic, but don’t let that dissuade you from reading the piece. I really like the observations he makes on the origin of the lower-middle-class white movement in the 70s.

State of the Union January/February 2009 Atlantic

Alvin Commented
RF: At the end of the day, there is not a general national Asian American pride. I think it has to do a lot with the fact that Asian Americans have adopted assimilation as their way of becoming part of the fabric of American society. This means adopting a set of rules to be successful that were already set in American society that were not set by their own people. They have to play by rules of the system. In a way, you're going to somwhat abandon your self-identity of what it means to be an Asian American. Asian American identity is still not formed yet. If we're not careful, we may be assimilating it away completely. Ten to fifteen years from now what is Asian American won't be Asian American, but is really mainstream preferences.


Here is the interview: A Chat with Roger and Sung

            “Thank goodness you have ssang-ku-pool. Your parents saved a lot of money,” said a close family friend when I was five years old. Ssang-ku-pul is the line above the eyelid, which most every Caucasian has but is rare among Northeast Asians.