[590] in peace2
This is disturbing
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Zhelinrentice L Scott)
Sat Mar 17 01:11:56 2001
Message-Id: <200103170611.BAA28429@all-night-tool.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@MIT.EDU
Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 01:11:37 -0500
From: Zhelinrentice L Scott <zlscott@MIT.EDU>
Dear All,
Aimee asked me to forward this to you. What should we do about this?
This is vitriolic and completely degrades our community.
please send replies to peace-makers@mit.edu
subvert the dominant paradigm,
Zhelinrentice Scott
zlscott@mit.edu
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To: mit-talk@MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 19:16:32 -0500
From: William T Hafer <williamh@MIT.EDU>
courtesy of the Harvard Crimson.
enjoy.
>>>> > Asian American campus leaders:
>>>> >
>>>> > I just wanted to share with you what The Harvard Crimson (Harvard
>>>>College's
>>>> > esteemed campus daily) deems passable as Op/Ed material these days
>>>> for its
>>>> > weekly magazine (released 3/15/01). Please forward this on!
>>>> >
>>>> > --------------------------
>>>> >
>>>> > http://www.thecrimson.com/fm/article6U.shtml
>>>> >
>>>> > The Invasion.
>>>> > By Justin Fong
>>>> >
>>>> > It's not as if I dislike all Asians-some are good people, I'm sure. But
>>>>with
>>>> > the exception of Kaity Cheng '03, Sujean Lee '03, and Yo-Yo Ma '76, most
>>>> > Harvard Asians can be pretty frickin' lame. Yes, the Asian people at this
>>>> > college make me sick. I know that, as you read this, my inbox will be
>>>> > filling with complaints and death threats from kim86@fas, chen47@fas and
>>>> > lee3847@fas. I will be called a "racist," a "bigot" and some derogatory
>>>> > Chinese epithet. Those who know me will take this with a grain of
>>>> salt and
>>>> > swallow the milligram of truth I am about to offer. Others will bite
>>>> their
>>>> > thumbs at me and attempt to scare me with their evil stares. I'll accept
>>>>the
>>>> > burden, for I believe that criticisms of a group of people are best
>>>>received
>>>> > from "within." (Apparently, some people still believe I am "Asian"
>>>> because
>>>> > my package is less than heavy duty, my eyes are poopy brown and my last
>>>>name
>>>> > happens to sound like an onomatopoeia.) Despite these superficial
>>>> > observations, I abhor being classified an "Asian."
>>>> >
>>>> > Let's start with a short exercise in blatant stereotyping. Your common
>>>>Asian
>>>> > at Harvard: grading group one; an economics or computer science
>>>>concentrator
>>>> > (also pre-med and advanced standing); spends his or her time at
>>>> > bananarepublic.com or some exclusively Korean club in Boston that none of
>>>>us
>>>> > would ever hear of; active on campus in an AAA sense; bitches about
>>>> all of
>>>> > those "Asian-American issues" because they are such a troubled
>>>>demographic;
>>>> > makes your gringo accent sound stupid in your section in Vanserg; hangs
>>>>out
>>>> > with Asians; hangs out only with Asians; walks to class with Asians;
>>>> plays
>>>>a
>>>> > stringed instrument in addition to the piano; eats dinner at a table full
>>>>of
>>>> > Asians; talks on his or her cell phone (made in Asia), in an Asian
>>>>language
>>>> > with Asians; has Asian parents; eats Asian food preferably in Asian
>>>> > restaurants in Asian districts of Asian Boston; complains that General
>>>>Wong'
>>>> > s Chicken is not sufficiently "authentic."
>>>> >
>>>> > What I have written thus far can be applied to a large portion of the
>>>> > Asian-American population. This homogeneity makes me more nauseous than
>>>> > eating fermented fried pigs' feet on a stick with poop sauce. Some of
>>>>these
>>>> > folks just blend and mold together to the point that I can't even tell
>>>>them
>>>> > apart. They dress the same, they have the same friends, they take the
>>>> same
>>>> > classes-a fifth of our school seems to be a swarm of clones at times. The
>>>> > stereotypical Asian male is a scrawny, impotent, effeminate brainiac (The
>>>> > Goonies, any Manhattan private school) or an evil ninja warrior (Street
>>>> > Fighter II, Pokemon). At this school there is little kung-fu and much
>>>> > nerdiness. The Harvard Asian is of the first type: a computer science or
>>>> > economics geek who lacks enough confidence to talk to anyone who isn't as
>>>> > fundamentally weak and anti-social. Occasionally, one encounters Asians
>>>>that
>>>> > just don't seem to communicate verbally. Normally, they are coming in or
>>>>out
>>>> > of Maxwell Dworkin. They give blank, stoic stares as they walk by, and
>>>>offer
>>>> > nothing. These are the same people who approach an empty row in lecture
>>>>and
>>>> > sit on the end seat as to make an inconvenience for the rest of the us,
>>>>but
>>>> > a convenience for them at the end of class.
>>>> >
>>>> > The stereotypical Asian female, on the other hand, is a super-erotic
>>>> > personification of sensuality (Lucy Liu, Yoko Ono and Mulan)-a sex fiend
>>>> > hottie whose bones everyone wants to jump. Harvard's Asian women are no
>>>> > different. They are out-and-about; many men of different races with the
>>>> > Asian persuasion have capitalized on the local piece of ass. The Harvard
>>>> > Asian community is a segregated community of stereotypes: self-lacking
>>>>males
>>>> > that don't have the courage to talk to anyone unless they appear just as
>>>> > flaccid as that image in the mirror, and a smattering of females that
>>>>exist
>>>> > to satisfy someone's fetish among the brainiacs.
>>>> >
>>>> > Obviously, most of these Asians don't have a problem with this kind of
>>>> > behavior. It proliferates every day. I do have a problem, and I think
>>>> most
>>>> > should. In an institution that rigorously tries to promote community and
>>>> > diversity, this demographic continues to resist and define their own
>>>> > segregated community. Why? Are you all suffering from injustices from the
>>>> > Man? Is it the Wen Ho Lee thing again? Get over it! You're only Asian
>>>> > because you think you are! In your attempt to be individualistic you've
>>>> > actually become quite common and plain.
>>>> >
>>>> > I take that back. I'm starting to like this self-segregation thing after
>>>> > all. What if we took self-segregation even further? Imagine-we could
>>>> > potentially start dividing the school bit by bit. Perhaps we could make
>>>>the
>>>> > Quad an all-Asian thing. We could put Koreans in Cabot, Chinese in
>>>>Currier,
>>>> > and Japanese and any non-Chinese-or-Korean-Asians in Pfoho. We could have
>>>>a
>>>> > whole cast of Asian tutors, the first ever Asian house masters, and quite
>>>> > possibly the first ever Asian Allston Burr senior tutor! Instead of
>>>> buying
>>>> > Blue Bird buses for the shuttles services, we could have a special
>>>> > Mitsubishi model that would be lowered and accessorized with an imported
>>>> > "body kit." (Don't worry, we wouldn't forget the spoiler.) Then we could
>>>> > make sure that no one else ever came to the Quad, except for Asian
>>>> > first-years, of course. Oh yes, and those first-years would be in
>>>>Greenough,
>>>> > Hurlbut and Pennypacker so they wouldn't have to deal with the rest
>>>> of the
>>>> > students. It's so much nicer that way. In fact, we could create a whole
>>>>new
>>>> > admissions office just for Asians. We could even get different e-mail
>>>> > suffixes so they would be lee8769@asian.harvard.edu-much more convenient.
>>>> >
>>>> > There's a serious problem here. I don't mean to be racialismic, but my
>>>>fury
>>>> > at this group of people goes beyond stereotyping and discriminating. I
>>>> > remind my readers that I do not mean to point out every Asian person on
>>>> > campus-obviously there are exceptions to this behavior. I really wonder,
>>>> > what makes these people cluster together so exclusively? Is there some
>>>> > common sense of persecution or victimization? Despite my lack of
>>>>statistical
>>>> > information, I would contend that Asians in America are among the most
>>>> > educated and the wealthiest. I would not argue, however, that they are
>>>>among
>>>> > the happiest-this remains an important distinction. They talk about
>>>> Wen Ho
>>>> > Lee as if he was a figurehead for all of Asia in America-and that when he
>>>> > was "wrongly accused" it meant that there was some return of yellow
>>>> peril.
>>>> > Whenever an Asian is murdered in America, everyone gets paranoid. I think
>>>> > they need to slow their roll and get a grip. Maybe they want to claim
>>>> > commonality and "brotherhood." Beautiful concepts, truly beautiful. But
>>>> > break out! Instead of going to karaoke or the Chinese New Year Banquet,
>>>>try
>>>> > going to an Aryan Nation meeting. This might be a little shock at first.
>>>>But
>>>> > believe me, it gets better.
>>>> >
>>>> > I don't think anyone really appreciates that our campus can be so
>>>>segregated
>>>> > at times. In truth, the Asians represent just one demographic that can be
>>>> > blamed for this crime. But the real problem with all of this is that it
>>>> > perpetuates the stereotypes and the racial divisions that we already
>>>> have.
>>>> > The more the Asians stick to themselves, the more alienated we feel from
>>>> > their community, and the more alienated they feel from our community.
>>>>We're
>>>> > distancing ourselves here. I'm not looking for social harmony or
>>>> whatever.
>>>>I
>>>> > mean, where's the love, my children? Come to papa and show me summa that
>>>> > sugar. Can't we all just get along?
>>>> >
>>>> > Self-hating Asian and philosophy concentrator JUSTIN GEOFFREY FONG '03
>>>>lives
>>>> > in Pforzheimer House. jfong@fas.harvard.edu
>>>> >
>>>> > ---------------
>>>> > SOUND OFF!!!
>>>> >
>>>> > If you find this offensive, let the author JFONG@FAS.HARVARD.EDU and the
>>>> > institution that sponsors his "speech" know it: LETTERS@THECRIMSON.COM.
>>>> > If you're concerned about Harvard University's commitment to fostering a
>>>> > hate-free campus, let Dean Lewis know: LEWIS@HARVARD.EDU.
>>>> > ---------------
>>
>
>
>
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