Monthly Archives: November 2010
The woman warrior
“I feel that all this Twittering and social Facebook is better than nothing,” Kingston said, “but we really must have some time when we are physically in the same space and able to look directly into each other’s eyes and perhaps touch each other.”
Because, she says, everyone has a story to tell. “When you take an ordinary life and go deeply into one’s own history,” she says, “that’s when the most incredible myths and stories come up.”
Maxine Hong Kingston. Story here.
Heroes and history
When John Hashimoto enlisted in the Army at the age of 20 during World War II, he did so because he didn’t want to be taken to an internment camp with the rest of his family.
“It was like a concentration camp,” Hashimoto, now 91, said of Manzanar, the internment camp in Lone Pine for Japanese Americans, where his parents and siblings were taken in 1942. “I thought maybe I’d do myself a favor, but I didn’t really.”
His family remained imprisoned while Hashimoto was overseas in Italy and France fighting in the war. His brother-in-law served in the 100th Battalion and his two brothers became military intelligence officers and worked as interpreters in Japan.
At the same time the U.S. imprisoned 120,000 American citizens of Japanese descent after the attack on Pearl Harbor, about 26,000 Japanese-Americans joined the war effort. Those who served in the 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C., next year.
The 442nd team/100th Battalion became the most highly decorated unit in the history of the U.S. military.
Story here.
What does cultural competence look like?
I have long maintained that teaching cultural competence through the use of fact-learning about specific populations is deeply flawed and limits thinking. You know, those books with the special sections on “African Americans,” “Asian Americans” and “Hispanic Americans.”
There are times when I think some facts about specific cultures are useful. For example, I think it’s helpful to know that some people don’t wear shoes inside the house. But you wouldn’t need to know that little factoid if you were an observant sort. And even if you were not, you could simply gracefully remove your shoes when asked.
I used to naively believe that educated people were less racist. Read the rest of this entry
My cultural competence
I ate a large serving of green bean casserole yesterday. Then I said it was delicious and asked how it was made. (“Oh, all it has in it is Velveeta cheese and Ritz! You just mix them all up and pop them into the oven!”)
William Hohri, 1927-2010
Hohri worked for redress for Japanese Americans who were sent to concentration camps during World War II. Additionally, he was one of the activists who worked towards Iva Toguri’s pardon.
His leadership brought a new sense of courage, pride and activism to the Japanese-American community. He inspired others to become civil rights activists on broader issues. He helped bring truth to the historical account of this era in American history in a way that makes us all stronger.
Many people who never before had the courage to speak about their wartime experiences suddenly found a voice. Cathartic healing occurred as people shared their experiences in the hope they could help prevent having similar injustices ever inflicted on others.
Hohri was a transformational agent in helping the AJA community find strength, dignity and honor from such sad experiences. A prolific writer, scholar and philosopher, he challenged people to think, to act on their beliefs, to be fearless in their approach to life, and to challenge injustices around them.
Obituary here.
(The New York Times obituary ends, “Mr. Hohri used his $20,000 payment from the government to buy a Japanese car.” Just another one of those WTF closers we see so often.)
Go. Read.
Tam Phan came to the United States from Vietnam when he was six years old. He later became involved with a gang and spent 17 years in prison. He turned his life around and is now pursuing a master’s degree in urban policy and administration at Brooklyn College and is working at the Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that helps ex-convicts reenter society. But Tam Phan has been given a final deportation order, and his only recourse is a pardon from New York Gov. David Paterson.
Whatever I remember
Edited to summarize: Adults should not repeatedly tell children they are stupid and worthless in both their words and their actions. And other adults should not stand by and allow this behavior. And then when adults are old and only have one person who has ever been there for them, they should not think that an inheritance can be used like a whip. Because if you never got anything, you’re not afraid of not getting it. The end.
I have a new neighbor
She is white and has an Asian toddler. Yeah, there’s a lot of information on the internet. But you can only lead a horse to water.
