By Livia Soong

A Bully Free Zone sign at a school in Berea, Ohio. (Photo: Eddie S.)

A national dialogue on school bullying has been reignited with the recently release documentary “Bully,” Lee Hirsch’s moving and troubling film about the misery some children inflict upon others.

Sure, the Weinstein Company film doesn’t say anything that hasn’t been talked about before and there is a debate on whether it’s an award-winning documentary or an extended public-service announcement.

Despite personal feelings about the documentary, the national issue seems to persist and remedial action doesn’t seem to be working.

The $1.1 million documentary is pertinent to everyone, especially to the Asian-American community because studies have shown they are some of the most bullied in U.S. schools.

By Debbie Chong

According to a 2007 CNN article by Elizabeth Cohen, Asian-American women have the highest suicidal rates for females aged 15-24.

Below are several factors that Cohen discusses. I added my own commentary when relevant.

1) Asian immigrant parents set high academic and career expectations for their children + the “model minority” myth.

When I was little, my grandma and dad would often remind me how hard they worked so that my sisters and I could have an education and well-paying job. One time I came home with a 99 percent score on a test. Instead of saying “good job,” my dad asked, “What happened to the other 1 percent?” My classmates also subscribed to the model minority myth, poking fun at me whenever I got less than a perfect score. As a result, I always felt like I needed to succeed to make my parents happy and to avoid teasing at school.

2) Asian-American parents are stricter with daughters than sons.

Growing up, sometimes I felt my parents were being overprotective. I know it was because they cared about me, but I often suspect that they would have been more lenient if I were a boy.

3) In Asian cultures, one generally does not question one’s parents. According to Cohen, this feeling of helplessness turns into depression for girls and rebellious behavior for boys.

When I was little, I assumed that whatever my parents said was to be obeyed. I usually didn’t talk back, partially because I feared additional lecturing or punishment, and partially because I felt guilty after hearing about how comfortable my life was compared to previous generations.

4) Asian Americans are a visible minority and may be dissatisfied with their physical appearance.

Growing up, I was one of the only Asian faces in my classes. I hated looking different and used to be insecure about my height and eyes and hair color.

5) Young Asian-American women may inherit or mimic suicidal behavior from parents, especially their mothers.

I would like to add another factor:

6) Many Asian Americans face pressure to maintain family honor and status. This could explain why we may be reluctant to seek counseling or confide with friends about personal issues. We may fear that others will find out about our dysfunctional families or shameful problems and we will lose credibility and respect in our communities’ eyes for not being “normal.”

Do you agree or disagree with Cohen’s analysis? What other factors do you think contribute to depression and suicide in young Asian-American women?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

This article was originally posted by UCLA’s Pacific Ties.

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hardboiled: Young Asian American Women: Under Double Pressure

MAASU: Suicide Rates of APIA Students – Unheard Death of Ka Vang

Protesters at the Million Hoodies Union Square in New York demand justice in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. (Photo by David Shankbone)

Many opponents of hate crime legislation argue that hate crimes are no more harmful than ordinary crimes. I beg to differ. Hate crimes are a constant reminder that prejudice is not only alive and well but also thriving in American society.

As dozens of residents take to the Los Angeles streets today in tribute to Trayvon Martin, the black 17-year-old fatally shot by a neighborhood watchman in Florida, it’s hard not to realize that a post-racialized American is far from our reality.

Martin serves as a current reminder that we live in a racialized world. For the Asian-American community, there was a reminder in the Vincent Chin case.

This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the murder of the 27-year-old Chinese American beaten to death in June 1982 by two white autoworkers who went virtually unpunished for the crime.

Students at the University of Southern California are asked about Vincent Chin in connection a documentary on Chin presented by the Asian Pacific Americans for Progress in association with Tony Lam Films.  (Courtesy of Vincent Chin Film)

“The decision was made to go public because we felt we had to fight and let everyone know the anger and sense of injustice that we had suffered,” explained Jim Shimoura, a civil rights attorney on the Chin case.

The killing of Chin and Martin sparked and continues to ignite a public outpour of support and outrage that hauntingly mirrors one another.

In response to the courts slap-on-the-wrist punishments for Chin’s murderers, diverse groups of people flooded the streets holding up signs that demanded justice. Signs that read “Chin Up for Justice,” “A Job is a License to Kill,” and “$3000 for a Human Life?”

On Monday, in the City of Angeles, one march for the slain teenager was dubbed the “1 Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin,” to highlight the ridiculous notion that wearing a hooded sweatshirt, which Martin was at the time of the murder, can evoke justifiable suspicion. Click to watch video footage of the march.

“I’ll bet you money, if he didn’t have that hoodie on, that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way,” Fox News host Geraldo Rivera said Friday. Click to watch full video clip.

People were livid by the insinuation that Martin was partly to blame because of what he was wearing. Rivera later tweeted that “critics of my hoodie comments think they’re mad at me but they’re really mad at the undeniably unfair reality of young male black/brown life.”

I agree that it is this undeniable reality of young men of color that needs to be addressed. However, you shouldn’t be justified in killing someone because of what they are wearing any more than you should be justified in killing someone because of the color of their skin. These two prejudging justifications are one in the same – both beyond the spectrum of reasonable human dignity. Playing off of the protest signs in the Chin case, a hooded sweatshirt shouldn’t give someone else a license to kill.

George Zimmerman, 28, called the police about following a person acting suspiciously in his gated community. Zimmerman was told to stop pursuing Martin, but he did not.

The self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman claimed he shot Martin in self-defense.  But why would any person feel threatened by a young man whose arsenal consists of a bag of Skittles and some ice tea?

With that said, a hate crime is undoubtedly tough to prove, which leaves me fearful that at the end of this tunnel Martin and his family will not find justice.

In the call to police, Zimmerman didn’t immediately described Martin as suspicious black man. Martin was simply a person acting suspiciously who, after being asked by police, happened to be black. Was that characterization brought on by the fact that he was a young black male wearing a hooded sweatshirt in a predominately white neighborhood? We will never truly know. Listen to 911 call.

The heart of the problem lies in the fact that our socially constructed racialization of different minority groups is invisibly subconscious and deeply engrained in our society. Although it allows us to live blissfully in blindness, our rose-colored submission to the myth of a post-racialized America doesn’t allow us as a society to deal with our internalized racism.

As Americans, we need to realize that racial hierarchies and stereotypes still prosper. We are all part of an audience constantly being fed a social narrative that tells us what we should think and about whom we should think it.

Nonetheless, we are not totally powerless. It is our responsibility to realize that this narrative exists and figure out how to counter that narrative in our everyday lives.

We shouldn’t assume that people with tattoos are gangbangers. We shouldn’t assume that people speaking Spanish aren’t Americans. We shouldn’t assume that black teenagers wearing hooded sweatshirts are dangerous.

As a society we have built tall walls with bricks of racial biases and it’s imperative that we acknowledge and understand these walls in order to tear them down.

Related stories —

Huffington Post: Trayvon Martin March in Los Angeles Brings Hundreds of People Downtown

Los Angeles Times: Geraldo Rivera Sort of Apologizes for Hoodie Remarks

Rafu Shimpo: From Vincent Chin to Trayvon Martin

By Michelle Banh

How many big-name Asian Pacific American (APA) athletes can you name?

Tiger Woods, champion golfer, drives the ball down range during the inaugural Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am Tournament, part of the AT&T National PGA Tour event, July 4, 2007, at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Woods donated 30,000 tournament tickets to military personnel to attend the event honoring soldiers and military families. (U.S. Navy photo)

Tiger Woods, Michelle Kwan and Michael Chang are some of the names that come to mind. Considering these athletes’ sporting events (golf, figure skating and tennis, respectively), it is no surprise that most APA athletes have careers in sports outside of what Americans consider the holy trinity: football, baseball and basketball.

To the casual sports observer, it’s rare to ever spot an APA logging game time in these three all-American athletic events. For decades, Americans considered the “Asian” physique far too diminutive and feeble to match the likes of Caucasian and African American counterparts on the field or on the court. However, the corporate attitude has moderately improved in recent years as more APA athletes are being drafted to the professional leagues: National Football League, Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association

According to the 2010 Racial and Gender Report Card, the NFL boasted 39 APA players, making up two percent of the league. MLB followed close behind with 23 APA players—1.2 percent of the league—while the NBA came in with just three players, totaling one percent. In the 2011 RGRC, MLB surpassed the NFL with 2.1 percent of its baseball players citing APA heritage.

While these statistics are encouraging, they are still low compared to those of other racial groups.

“There is promise, but not yet prominence, for people of Asian descent in American sport,” said Richard Lapchick, chairman of the DeVos Sports Business Management Graduate Program at the University of Central Florida.

According to the 2011 RGRC, Caucasians have dominated MLB and African Americans have overwhelmingly monopolized the NFL and NBA since 1990.

So what are aspiring APA athletes to do when the racial standards of these all-American sports seem stacked against their favor? How can APAs hope to attain the glory and recognition the American dream has come to associate with making it big in the NFL, NBA and MLB?

For many APA athletes, the answer lies in redefining and expanding what people consider an all-American sport.

Essentially American sports, like football, tend to pit one athlete against another in a battle of brute force. In these sporting events, physical strength and stature translate into success more readily than would cerebral qualities like mental focus and finesse. APA athletes, however, strike a fine balance between the two as they excel in more individualized sports like golf, figure skating and tennis.

Tiger Woods, of Thai heritage, could not have made it to the top of the golfing arena had he not capitalized on the value of his intense mental strength and focus.

“His [Woods’s] mental game is every bit as good as his physical game. If he’s seven shots out, he still thinks he can win,” said professional golfer Bob May.

At the 1998 national championships, Chinese American Michelle Kwan stepped onto the rink in spite of a foot injury that could have derailed her whirlwind figure skating career.

“She [Kwan] just went out there with such determination and focus that nothing phased her,” professional figure skater Peggy Fleming recalls, “and she went out and skated a brilliant performance.”

Many of Kwan’s fans consider this performance the program that defined her lifetime.

Michelle Kwan performs her signature spiral at a practice session at the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo: Kevin Rushforth)

During the 1989 French Open, 17-year-old Chinese American Michael Chang embarked upon an over four-hour long match against Ivan Lendl, number one ranked tennis player in the world, knowing that the odds were against him. Even though Chang demonstrated speed and athleticism, he had to rely on strategy and mental strength to get him through the excruciating remainder of the match when severe muscle cramps set in early on.

“Michael showed that with patience and mental toughness you could get close to players who were supposed to beat you, and even beat them,” said former Grand Slam champion Tony Trabert.

With their blend of physical and mental prowess, these historic APA athletes evoke in Americans a rallying spirit that is truly irrelevant of race and ultimately at the heart of every all-American sport.

As consumers of sports media, we must contribute to the effort of such APA athletes by using our buying power to advocate sports that operate blindly with respect to the race of its players.

By choosing to support other sports like golf and figure skating where APAs have a fair chance at success, you communicate to corporate big shots at the NFL, MLB and NBA, that racial profiling needs to end in their recruitment techniques.

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USA Today: Michelle Kwan Elected to World Figure Skating Hall of Fame

Agence France-Presse: ‘Tiger Woods of Bangladesh’ Leads in Delhi

Los Angeles Times: Jeremy Lin has Lunch with Writer of Offensive Headline

By Eileen Tse

The crime-fighting Sailor Moon. Photo: Flickr

Aside from the yellow Power Ranger (RIP Thuy Trang), Sailor Moon was probably your first exposure to an Asian face in mass popular culture, even though we were probably too young to realize that Sailor Moon was a Japanese property imported over and dubbed for an American audience.

As Asian Americans continue to climb the corporate ladders, something continues to prevent them from breaking through to the top.

By Harsh Vathsangam

The bamboo ceiling has made the promotion of APAs to senior managerial roles at top companies a rare occurrence. Art: Margaret To.

Stereotypically Asian Pacific Americans are known to enter careers as meticulous engineers, life-saving doctors, and mad scientists. But how many Asians become CEOs?

Although Asians make up only 5 percent of the U.S. population, according to a study by the Center for Work-Life Policy, they’re highly represented at some of the most prestigious universities, making up between 15 and 25 percent of Ivy League enrollment.

Yet the impressive credentials and achievements that have caused them to be dubbed “the model minority” aren’t reflected in senior leadership positions.

Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc., recently released a report that stated Asian Americans constitute only 2 percent of board members in Fortune 500 companies, and within these companies there are only nine Asian American CEOs.

The numbers point to a phenomenon known as “The Bamboo Ceiling,” a term that refers to the fact that while Asian Americans find no problem in acquiring prestigious academic degrees, they find it difficult to take the next step up and into senior managerial roles at top companies.

Why can’t Asians break through that bamboo ceiling? It’s certainly not for lack of interest. The CWLP researchers found that 64 percent of Asians compared to 52 percent of their Caucasian counterparts aspire to hold top seats at a company.

Asian family values have stressed hard work, avoiding confrontation, and humble respectfulness. Although these characteristics are positive on their own, these cultural values don’t necessarily match up with success in the cutthroat corporate world.

A popular argument is that these very same characteristics that put Asians on the top of college admissions stacks can work against them when gaining a foothold in corporate America. With these values as the cornerstones of their academic successes, thoughts such as putting one’s ideas forward in meetings, self-promotion, or taking credit for achievements end up being alien concepts.

The result? Often, silence is mistaken for arrogance and unwillingness.

A reason could be lack of mentorship. The CWLP study also found that only 46 percent of Asians say they have a mentor in their professional life compared to more than 60 percent of Caucasians. You can find strategies to help with breaking the bamboo ceiling here.

Another possible cause is that Asian culture places emphasis on eldercare, an activity that could for better or worse take time away from career advancement.

Taking a look at the issue from another perspective reveals more. There are now 61 Chinese and eight Indian companies in the Fortune 500.

With that said, companies with a largely Asian top brass are steadily rising up the rankings and making their presence felt. These numbers are only slated to increase. Conversely, according to Fortune magazine, the number of American companies on this list has been declining from 197 in 2002 to 133 in 2011.

I find myself asking how is it that these companies with Asian CEOs who have the similar cultural values are thriving. But, there is a key difference. It is important to note the distinction between Asians working in Asian companies and Asian Americans working in U.S. companies.

Thus, I argue that it has more to do with the clashing of cultures than any innate inability to perform. Asian Americans need to understand these significant cultural differences and recognize the corporate atmosphere in which they operate if they hope to break through the bamboo ceiling.

Or perhaps we should all book one-way tickets to corporate Asia?

Related Stories —

Science: Breaking through the “bamboo ceiling” for Asian American scientists

NPR: Looking at the ‘bamboo ceiling’

Cornell Chronicle Online: Model minority? A ‘myth of the American dream,’ says panelist at Asian American discussion

Inside Higher Ed: ‘The Myth of the Model Minority’

In the past 50 years, Asian characters in television and film have made small strides towards an honest interpretation of real APAs, but the clichés are not behind us.

By Jeffrey Ledesma

Best

Gold: Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), “Grey’s Anatomy”

The ever-intimidating Dr. Yang is anything but subservient. Photo: ABC.

Hands down and scalpels up, I had to give the gold medal to the fictional surgeon on ABC’s hit television series the number one spot. Yang is a bad-to-the-bone doctor who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She goes against the grain and defies the subservient Asian woman stereotype.

Silver: Michael “Mike” Chang, Jr. (Harry Shum, Jr.), “Glee”

Mike moonwalks onto the number two spot because he’s a football player who can dance like nobody’s business. While it isn’t hard to find an APA on the football team and busting a move on the dance floor, it’s rare to see one doing both on television.

Bronze: Kumar (Kal Penn), Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

Although Penn’s character is extreme, the portrayal is extremely funny and not what’s expected in East Indian roles. Unlike Dr. Rajesh Ramayan “Raj” Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) of “The Big Bang Theory,” Kumar can talk to girls without drowning himself in alcohol (although alcohol isn’t prohibited) and that is worth a medal in my book.

Worst

Gold: Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), The Hangover

Most APAs would not be proud of any association with Mr. Chow. Photo: Warner Bros.

Mr. Chow highlights the stereotypical emasculation of Asian men. When the three Caucasian protagonists find Chow’s shoe in their car, they comment on how unusual that it is “a men’s size six.” This is later followed by Chow jumping out of the trunk, naked and yelling in a cookie-cutter Asian accent, “You gonna f*** on me?” Overall, it’s distasteful portrait of Asians.

Silver: Ms. Swan (Alex Borstein), MADtv

While Ms. Swan makes me laugh every time, she gets the laughs and the silver medal by pulling from a bunch of stereotypes: slow speech, hard to understand, distrusting, and cheap. My mom would get mad if people saw her this way – so this is for her.

Bronze:  Tricia Takanawa (voiced by Alex Borstein), “Family Guy”

Takanawa speaks in a nasal monotone cadence that Borstein has described as “all presentation and no substance.” She was revealed to be Japanese in “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story,” but will always be know as “Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa.”

Don’t agree with the ranking? Think another APA character should be thrown into the mix? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

By Andrew Dang

Staff artist Andrew Dang illustrates different paths by which APA students come to choose majors and later careers.

How does your own journey compare? Was there a Tiger Mom in your midst or were your choices driven by childhood passions? Share your story with us by leaving a comment below.

Most people picture the American Dream as a house surrounded by a white picket fence. For APAs, however, the American Dream is something quite different.

By Tiffany Banh

For most people, the American Dream is summed up in three words: freedom, opportunity and prosperity. The premise remains constant for APAs, but their American dream focuses more on the journey towards success. With little family history in the United States, APAs tend towards ambitious goals as they try to accomplish more in the time that they are given. Their goals range from providing themselves with better futures to moving up the socioeconomic ladder as they make names for themselves in America. In the end, APAs create their own American dream as a measure of success.

APA students from USC describe how they see the American dream:

The journey to success is an important aspect of the American dream for APAs. Photo: Flickr.

1. Jessica Liou, sophomore: “I think the American Dream is an expectation that you strive to make a reality when you immigrate to America. The expectation is that you have a plethora of opportunities to make a better life and living for your family and yourself.”
2. Christopher Liu, junior: “I think the American Dream is having the freedom and ability to achieve anything you want to achieve.”
3. Johnny Jung, sophomore: “The American Dream is the idea that all Americans, given a great deal of initiative and effort, can achieve and experience all the opportunities that America (the world) has to offer. However, in reality, the American Dream proves to be a ‘myth of meritocracy,’ as the ideal never quite meets the realities of America’s social systems.”
4. Andrew Ju, sophomore: “[The American Dream is the idea] that anyone can achieve any measure of success regardless of how little they start with as long as they seek opportunities, work hard, and don’t give up. The sky’s the limit because America is the land of equality and opportunity. [The dream was] designed originally for people with little opportunities and resources.”
5. Jonathan So, sophomore: “[The American Dream] is the notion that anybody can change the conditions of their life and bring themselves up the socioeconomic ladder based purely off of hard work. My family came pursuing the notion of the American Dream, and they have been successful in doing so. I think that it has affected me in my upbringing, but I believe it’s a notion that’s a little bit naïve to take in. Social factors and issues, as well as political greed, play into the fact that it’s merely an unreachable dream for many individuals.”

Thoughts or opinions on (Asian Pacific) American dream? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

Asian students have consistently been top scorers on standardized tests.

By Yimu Xue

Asian students are known for their test-taking abilities and school smarts. These academic pressures, however, have instilled a negative tradition as cram schools train students to take standardized tests without teaching them meaningful information. Photo: Flickr.

It was a brisk January morning as I shuffled into line at Irvine Valley College, my local community college. There were a few glum faces I recognized from my high school, deeply wrinkled with worry and cheeks rosy from the cold. Step by step, we all entered a large auditorium-like classroom as volunteers ushered us into seats in a pattern and provided us with pencils and Scantrons.

This was it. This was the time for which we had spent the last two and a half months preparing. Countless Saturday afternoons had been lost to practice slaying the monster that lay in front of me.

A jarring voice over the PA system jolted some weary students alert: “Open your test booklets, and begin. You have 25 minutes for this first section.”

Cram schools have become increasingly popular in the United States in the Asian Pacific American community. These after-school and supplemental educational programs structured on the concept that practice makes perfect have become standard amongst students whose parents insist them on attending. Asian students attend cram schools almost as if it is second nature, especially during high school with important tests like the SAT and ACT.

Like America, in Asia it is common practice to send children after-school to an extra-curricular activity.  Children take art lessons, practice music, play soccer. However, on top of that, children are expected to attend supplemental educational programs that instill good study habits and ensure their progress in school is up to par and even beyond average standards. It is no wonder that young Asian children are stereotypically depicted as bookish, studious, and quiet – they rarely have time to socialize when they are being inundated with quizzes on English vocabulary.

Many a Tiger Mother have insisted on their children being over-prepared to not only maintain their competitive academic edge in their school but also to compete with the top students in the nation. Some invest thousands upon thousands of dollars every year to ensure that their children are getting the best education outside of what is offered in public schools.

“In a public school setting, our children’s individual needs aren’t being met,” one Asian mother notes. “It’s up to us, as parents, to ensure they have the best education for the best future possible.”

Study habits are drilled into children as early as pre-school as they repeatedly are tested on their times tables and English vocabulary words. Students studying at Kumon (the Kumon Method), the world’s largest after-school math and reading enrichment program, are given the same tests over and over again until they have committed everything to pure muscle memory. Seven times eight equals fifty-six is no longer a mathematical equation – it’s a reflex.

Hoards of students flock to test prep centers and cram schools year-round to prepare for a variety of tests. College preparatory courses are offered along with courses in various subjects.

Cram schools demonstrate a large ethnic divide. Stuveyesant High School, one of New York City’s best public schools that accepts only the top 3.7% of students who take the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, has a student body made up of 72% of that 3.7% at their school.

It can be argued that Asian students are better at “being coached” to take tests. This is a false statement – everyone gets what their parents pay for.

When I joined the 2100 club at the Elite Educational Institute to prepare for my SAT in November 2007, my base score was a 2090 – after I took the SAT for the first time, I received a 2150. Most people would be very pleased, but I felt disappointed that I just spent $1500 of my mother’s hard-earned wages to improve a mere 60 points, and only 10 points above the score they had guaranteed me. With devout studying techniques and extreme discipline, I vowed to not waste any more money on something that guaranteed an individualized experience when in fact I was thrown into a bundle of teenagers desperate for an Ivy League acceptance letter.

I ended up with a 2320 (750 Critical Reading, 780 Mathematics, and 790 Writing). I scored a perfect score on the Math Level 2 Subject Test, and well above 700 in all my other subjects. It seems that I have been well trained in my testing techniques.

However, all these standardized tests seem to indicate is who paid the most to prepare themselves the best. Asian students have demonstrated their capabilities in over-preparation – however, we must think about what effect this has on the future of our community. With standards so high and college admissions expecting the top scores coming from Asian students, what will happen to those who do not follow the traditional route and take standardized tests without the preparation that cram schools provide?

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