Monthly Archives: July 2011
‘Latinos accuse agents of racial profiling’
Story here.
Latino residents — legal immigrants and U.S. citizens — say they increasingly are being pulled over, questioned and even detained because of their ethnicity. They say federal agents are engaging in illegal racial profiling as residents go about everyday activities — from waiting at bus stops to doing landscaping work to going for a walk.
But spokesmen for both U.S. Customs and Border Protection, also known as Border Patrol, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say they don’t use racial profiling.
Once upon a time right now
A black high school student did everything she was supposed to do, graduated at the top of her class, and then found herself “co-valedictorian.”
The article’s author details similar cases. Larry Christopher, 1973:
… Larry Christopher was determined to have the highest grade in his class and was set to be named valedictorian of his Stephens, Arkansas school. In a sudden unexpected maneuver, administrators at Stephens High School decided to factor in grades from correspondence courses an 11th grade white student had taken between her sophomore and junior years in order to deny Christopher his spot as top senior in his class.
Adrienne Brown: Read the rest of this entry
Ugh.
Walked past here on the way to the water taxi and the way men were “interacting” with this statue was revolting. As if Marilyn asked to have guys pretending to lick her and stroke her legs. Kids witnessing the scene were perplexed, although one young boy screamed “I see her underwear!” As did a number of adult men.
On the plus side, Chinatown was nice again. :)
‘No bias, no bullying, no intimidation’
And no intention.
You remember the story: Rutgers student Tyler Clementi asked roommate Dharun Ravi for exclusive use of their shared dormitory room. Ravi agreed, but then spied on Clementi using his webcam. (He had previously outed Clementi.) Later he attempted to do it again, inviting others to watch as well.
Clementi committed suicide.
But of course Ravi did not mean to hurt Tyler Clementi in any way. That’s what Ravi’s attorneys are arguing. All he did was out Clementi through twitter, announce Clementi’s use of the room for a romantic interlude, turn on his webcam to spy on the couple, announce what he saw and send out tweets inviting others to watch.
That’s all.*
*Regular readers know this is sarcasm. This footnote is provided for the angry hordes who will comment about what an asshole I am. Which I sometimes am, but probably not right at this moment.
The power of the systemic -ism is such that when Ravi’s attorneys argue that of course he didn’t mean anything by it, many people will nod along.
Four stories
Friends, family mark 100th birthday of a Florin hero: Bob Fletcher assumed responsibility for three Japanese American family farms during World War II. He harvested the crops and paid the mortgages. Doris Taketa, who was forced into the concentration camp when she was 12 years old, was at the party.
Nearly seven decades later, internees and history project visit Manzanar: The photograph of Fumiko Hayashida is one of the most lasting images of the camps. In April 2011, 100-year-old Hayashida returned to Manzanar.
The next two stories are old (the second is from 2008) and deserved blog posts of their own. However, I still don’t have any idea what to write. Read them yourself and maybe you’ll see what I mean.
A gentleman of war: I keep meaning to write about this guy, who was Japanese/white and who changed his last name from Nishimura to Westdale, as did his siblings. Westdale still ended up with the segregated 442nd.
An Internment Camp Within an Internment Camp: Joe Morris Sr.’s passing reminded me of this story. The residents of Poston concentration camp were held on an Indian reservation so that they could build infrastructure.
Best bike story ever
I’ve fallen off my bike about three times in the past two years. Nothing spectacular. And the most interesting thing I have to report is that I have been running into the ni hao man on a regular basis. He appears to be entertaining himself by asking me questions in simple Chinese.
This guy got hit by a bear. Maybe the only story that’s as good is the guy who hit a bear while biking. Both are okay. The bikers are okay too.
Non-Chinese Chinese?
Instead of “Asian English.”
In Chinese, it reads “膽小和迅速增長的妓女.” Which is a tart of another sort. This photograph is reportedly from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and you can see the whole series here. The other languages (at least the ones I have a passing acquaintance with) aren’t very good either.
If they were able to get it right, maybe we would say they write “awfully Chinese.” Instead of “awful Chinese.”
One commenter says this type of ridiculous Chinese can be seen all over New York. ;-D
In their best interest
Subtitled: Fuck you, Louisiana
It has long been my opinion that “birth certificate” is a misnomer, since quite often in the United States this document isn’t a certified record of facts at a child’s birth but rather a document that often serves multiple purposes: proof of citizenship, family relations, gender, birthdate, identity, etc.
In some states your birth name, gender, hometown, race, date of birth and parents can be amended on the certificate. (Undoubtedly there are additional allowed changes that I’m not aware of.)
When children are adopted or born via surrogate, the birth certificate lists the adoptive or intended parent(s).
Unless, apparently, you are a gay couple with a legally adopted child trying to obtain an amended Louisiana birth certificate. That’s the problem faced by Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith. Read the rest of this entry
