Category Archives: Local Locos
Daily Texan Posts ‘Apology’ for Racially Insensitive Trayvon Martin Cartoon
The University of Texas at Austin is my alma mater, so it thoroughly disappoints me when something like the racist Trayvon Martin cartoon is born in our hallowed halls, is published in The Daily Texan, is pulled off the site (not due to the public’s reaction but due to server issues), is put back on the site, continues to spread a crappy message and be a failed attempt to make the students and faculty of UT think about the media and racial issues.
What’s worse is that Daily Texan student adviser Doug Warren, who has spent 30+ years in journalism posted an “apology” on the site today that has been swiftly removed, though the page still pops up on the Interwebs if you search for it. I’ve taken the liberty of making some marginal notes. Just “take a deep breath” before you click on this thumbnail…
The newly minted journalists and self-appointed judges of racism might want to ask themselves what is more “yellow”–actual journalists using neutral language to relay facts, or cartoonists who use racial slurs that drive traffic to their online newspaper?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Texan Fil-Am Paul Qui Wins Top Chef–and Hearts All Over the Country
Tyson Cole and Austinites celebrating Paul Qui's win at Uchiko in Austin (Source: Statesmen.com)
Paul Qui won Top Chef! Which I’m ECSTATIC about because he totally reps me as a Texan, a Filipino American, and general lover of Japanese and Southeast Asian cuisine.
I really hope that Paul not only challenged stereotypes about Asian Americans (especially in a field as competitive as the restaurant business), but also that he changed people’s perceptions of Texans and the food we cook and eat (it’s not chili and BBQ all the time!).
Arguably the most endearing thing about Paul is that he stayed humble throughout the entire competition. In these final episodes of the season, we saw him give shouts out to his grandfather, who emigrated to the Philippines from China, and his parents, who emigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines.
Many of us in the AAPI community are intimately familiar with his story, which makes Paul’s victory even sweeter for those of us who, y’know, enjoy living the American Dream vicariously through supertalented people…
You’re a badass, Qui. But how hard will it be to get a table at Uchiko these days? Ah, but there’s always East Side King. I just hope Bourdain–or anyone–won’t be filming wherever I’ve got a hankering for some eats.
P.S. Check Best Week Ever’s funny recap of the Top Chef season finale.
Popularity: 1% [?]
How I Got Othered by The Fuzz on the Way to Chick-fil-A
Here’s how it went down:
It was an average Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m., and I’m on my way to Chick-fil-A to redeem my free breakfast coupon, when all of a sudden I see some flashing lights in my rear-view mirror. “Oh snap,” I say to myself, while simultaneously shutting off my iPod (which had been on blast in my car) and taking a right into a gas station parking lot.
An officer exits his popo-mobile and saunters up to my rolled-down window. And this is more or less the conversation:
Officer: Do you know you were speeding in a school zone, ma’m?
Me: No, sir, I didn’t realize that.
Officer: Yes, ma’m. Goin’ pretty fast too. Kids are back at school, y’know, so you’re gonna hav’ta be aware of that. Where were you headed this mornin’?
Me: Just gettin’ some Chick-fil-A breakfast before work. They’ve got this sweet free breakfast deal going on right now. You should check it out!
Officer: OK, ma’m, one second. Walks back to his car, comes back to my car, starts asking me for personal info to put on the ticket he’s begun to fill out.
Officer: Is this how you say your last name? He pronounces my last name the Texan way.
Me: Yessir.
Officer: OK.
He looks me in the eye.
He looks up at my dyed blonde hair.
He looks at the ticket and pauses for a few seconds.
He circles something and hands me the ticket.
Officer: I put you down for a slower speed than you were goin’, but you were goin’ pretty fast. Please be careful next time.
After he walks away and I’m done cussin’ up a storm, I look at the ticket and let out a hearty laugh.
I’m “Other”!
This has never happened to me on paper before. Sure, I’ve gotten speeding tickets in the past, but they’ve only ever had “Asian” circled. Granted, back then I had normal black hair and a much more palpable fear of authority figures, combined with a sharper ability to feign deference. And the majority of my past tickets were received in the DFW area, which has a much larger population of Asian Americans. But still…
A flurry of questions swirled in my mind, ranging from expectedly pessimistic:
- Did he circle “Other” because I don’t look “Asian”?
- Did he circle “Other” because he can’t recognize an Asian?
- Did he circle “Other” because he’s unsure about whether Filipino Americans (and other groups) count as Asian? Does he even know what a Filipino person looks like?
- Did he circle “Other” because he was too lazy to continue trying to figure out my ethnicity?
to wildly optimistic:
- Did he circle “Other” in protest of racial profiling?
- Did he circle “Other” because he’s a PoC (Latino, in fact) and doesn’t want my ethnicity recorded for statistical purposes, which would reflect badly on Asian Americans, his fellow PoCs, in general?
But I could learn the answers to just a couple of my endless questions, these are the ones I’d ask:
- Why is Ethnicity on speeding tickets–or any tickets, for that matter?
- What good does circling an ethnicity do for the Austin Police Dept., especially when they’re going to circle “Other” anyway in protest or because they just can’t figure a person like me out.
I think I’m going to copy and frame my ticket now. So I can show and tell my future adopted children all about the archaic and superfluous practices of our times.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Fox Sports Cancels The College Experiment After Airing Racist USC Bit
When you assume you can mock an accent, you make an ass out of you and……just you.
A couple days ago, everyone was talking about the racist Fox Sports “comedy” bit involving Bob Oschack trolling the USC campus for Asian kids with accents to ask about their thoughts on Colorado and Utah joining the Pac-1012. The joke? Oschack wanted to give the newest members of the conference a “good, old-fashioned All-American welcome” from Asian kids whose first language is clearly not English. Not ROFL-ing yet? Apparently someone at Fox Sports did. Watch the video below–only if you want to end up with a firmly furrowed brow.
Well, at least no one outside the network approved. Apparently Fox Sports is now cancelling The College Experiment because of the above video, which shouldn’t really be news because, well, what did you really expect was gonna happen? Oschack opens up for Margaret Cho on tour?
It’s amazing to me that White people still think that White people making fun of foreign accents is a hoot. Actually, the people you’re mocking rarely even register that you’re being funny. Really. I tried to show my parents a hilarious HappySlip video (made by funnywoman and master of the Pilipino accent Christine Gambito) once, and they thought they were watching a reality show about Filipinos. My sister and I were literally doubled over on the couch, our bellies tight, tears streaming out of our eyes. And our mother and father sat perfectly still with stone faces, frozen lips, eyes and bellies. No offense, HappySlip. It’s just that Mom and Dad don’t really “get” why their normal, everyday way of speaking is side-splittingly hilare. (For the record, I do.)
So, if anyone wants to make the argument that I need to “lighten up” and “take a joke,” just know that I can. I only prefer it to be delivered by the right person in the right context. Not from some guy who wants to amble around the foreign students’ hangout spots like a creeper.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Florida’s immigration bill calls Canadians, Europeans and specific Asians “legal”
I’m not sure why, but Florida is all jelly of Arizona and wants to copy its totally bunk immigration law. With one small addition that will make immigrants from predominantly white countries, as well as those from a select few Asian countries, exempt from any potential crackdowns.
Via SFGate.com:
“Race, ethnicity, and national origin cannot be used in making arrests. It’s immoral, illegal, and unconstitutional,” [Florida Sate Representative Wiliam Snyder] said in a recent radio interview.
That’s all good except his bill explicitly exempts Canadians and Western Europeans, who need only show a passport to be “presumed to be legally in the United States”.
On page 3 of the draft legislation being circulated and put up for debate by Snyder, there is an explicit provision that states: Even if an officer has “reasonable suspicions” over a person’s immigration status, the bill says, a person will be “presumed to be legally in the United States” if he or she provides “a Canadian passport” or a passport from any “visa waiver country.”
Here’s the list of visa waiver countries whose people would be considered “legal” by the State of Florida if the law is enacted:
Andorra, Hungary, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, San Marino, Brunei, Japan, Singapore, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Denmark, Liechtenstein Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, South Korea, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain France, Malta, Sweden, Germany, Monaco, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands, United Kingdom
All you other POCs are shit outta luck. You’re not on the guest list.
Get to the back of the line! OK, OK. You can get ahead of the Commies, but you’re definitely behind Anyone Who Speaks More Good English Than You.
This bill is whack, yo. If you live in Florida, please call your local representative about this.
Popularity: 1% [?]
