What do you think of the media’s coverage of Obama and Asians?
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
First, let me apologize for how slow/down this and our other blogs have been over the last few days. I’ve got some major database issues and am working on getting it fixed - thanks for bearing with us in the meantime. It’s been tortuous, I know.
I wanted to find out if anyone caught the special on race and gender CNN did this Friday as part of Anderson Cooper’s show? If so, what did you think?
I’m glad they included Jane Junn from Rutgers - I thought her analysis on a lot of issues was really level-headed and thought-provoking, especially the stuff about how the Italians and the Irish used to be racialized too, but now we would laugh at the idea of “the Italian vote.” (She also just wrote a piece on race and gender for the 360 blog.)
By the way, CNN has been catching a lot of flak about that awful piece they did on February 8th about the Asian-American vote. You know, the one that was almost entirely filmed in an Asian grocery store in Seattle and basically concluded that Asians are too racist to vote for a black dude? 
And lastly, check out this piece from Time Magazine, with the ominous title “Does Obama Have an Asian Problem?”
What do you think of the way the media has been handling the issue of the Asian-American vote? On the one hand I’m pleasantly surprised to see that it’s being mentioned at all. On the other hand, it’s frustrating to see how clueless many reporters seem about the immense diversity among Asians in the U.S.
What are your thoughts?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Cynthia wrote:
So Asians are finally being acknowledged, even if some people think it’s in a “racist” way. However, you HAVE to admit that older Asian Americans probably do have a “black problem”, or at least are more likely to than the younger population (what Alan Shum in the Time article says is very true. Many Chinese are really racist. A white male is a gwai lo, or if under 35/young looking, a gwai jai and a white female a gwai poh or gwai mui. A black person (male or female) is a hak gwai. Sometimes a black woman would be a hak poh or hak mui. I’ve never heard a black man being called a hak lo/jai though.) My mother and her Chinese peers are all on Camp Hillary and would vote for her if they were US citizens. She even criticized a white friend of hers for going Camp Obama. I find nothing wrong with talking about this as an issue as the media rarely talk about minority on minority discrimination.
The attitude of criticizing the media for saying that Asian Americans tend to be on Camp Hillary and saying it’s racist/ignorant to do so, IMHO, is very multigeneration Asian American, and I think is very ignorant as well. We seem to forget that aside from say, Hawaii and parts of California, most Asian Americans have a direct relative who is an immigrant or is an immigrant him/herself.
Would like to see what exactly the “Asian issues” are though. Language classes? Immigration laws? Want to see if it’s all that different from Hispanics or if issues are closer to the white middle class. I also want to know if Asian issues in the US are any different than the ones up here where we don’t seem to focus all that much on race when it comes to elections.
Mod Note: Cynthia, this one comes way too close to violating comment policies. You cannot generalize entire groups, regardless of your personal experience. We are leaving this one as is, but subsequent comments in this vein will be deleted.
Posted 20 Feb 2008 at 10:50 am ¶
lunanoire wrote:
Prof. Junn did not get enough time to speak. Her perspective was more nuanced than the average talking head on tv. She offered a greater historical perspective than many of the other panelists as well.
Posted 20 Feb 2008 at 11:54 am ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
I’m noticing that Obama pretty much swept Hawaii (a state that has a significant Asian population) and I didn’t hear one peep from newspeople as to why they voted the way they did.
Hmmm…
Posted 20 Feb 2008 at 11:07 pm ¶
MV wrote:
Maybe its not so much an “Asians-being-racist thing,” but I think immigrants in general sort of consume the values the existing racial power structure in the U.S., as projected by media in other countries. Besides hip hop culture and U.S. sports, what other ways do racialized people from other countries appreciate black people? Read “On the Backs of Blacks” by Toni Morrison: http://www.time.com/time/community/morrisonessay.html
She lays it down; Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, etc.; the ways the denigrated darker people in the States are caricatured has the global village trembling with racial fear.
Black people don’t get a good rep in the States, so imagine the horrible rep they get in other countries.
Too bad CNN just plain sucks. I thought Prof Junn had the most profound thing to say at the end of the panel, but Anderson Cooper had to shut it down. I don’t dig that.
Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 1:34 am ¶
luckyfatima wrote:
i was gonna say that, too. i was listening to a BBC radio program about Obama and Hawaii and two Hawaiians, who I am presuming to be of East Asian decent because of their last names, were saying how much Hawaii loves Obama and views him as a native son. They actually ran out of polling paraphernial because so many people turned out to vote for him. So many Hawaiians wanted him and voted for him, and the majority of Hawaiians are of some mix of East Asian decent.
I guess no one took the Asian angle on the Hawaiian thing because that would take the spot light off of all the terrible Asian and Latino anti-black racists that the US media has been focusing on as of late. I still think this is a hat trick devised to focus on PoC on black racism then touch white on black issues.
Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 2:47 am ¶
CantBelieveWhatIRead wrote:
The TIME piece was terribly misinformed and biased. Firstly, quoting from the article, 69% of Latinos support Hillary and the 75% of Asians support Hillary. It seems both minority groups overwhelmingly support Hillary. Why doesn’t anyone suggest that Latinos support Clinton because of the warm perceptions of the Clintons in their ‘home countries’ in Central/Latin America? or that they do because they don’t like blacks? It sounds just as ignorant to say that about Asian Americans as it is to say that of Latin Americans.
Secondly, it would be interesting to conduct a comparison of the Asian American population in the US vs. the Asian American VOTING population in the US. In the CNN and TIME pieces, the image of Asian Americans is primarily as immigrants. (CNN’s piece was done inside an Asian supermarket and people interviewed had heavy accents while TIME’s piece refers to people who fled unstable governments and cling to perceptions from their ‘home countries’) A huge percentage of the Asian population in the US is comprised of immigrants, but I would tend to think that the Asian Americans who take the time/know how to vote may not have the same profile as the people these pieces have been focused on. The term “perpetual foreigner” jumps to mind here…
Thirdly, who is Alan Shum and couldn’t they have quoted from a more reliable source? It’s true that in Cantonese, terms used for white and black people can be offensive when translated literally. However, these words are not official terms, they are slang terms, that while commonly used by some people, can not really be used to prove racism for an entire group of people (whether it be a group of Cantonese people or other Asian people who may not even use such terms in their language). Plus, how many of the ‘racist Chinese’ referred to in the article are not also racist against Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos? How many of these would support a female president based on their familiarity with female leaders in these other Asian countries?
While it is more convenient to group everyone together, especially given that the Asian American population in the US is still relatively small compared to other groups, is it really fair to imply that they are such a homogenous group?
I sincerely hope people can distinguish between real journalism and these shoddy, sensationalized stories. This type of piece only serves to promote ignorance
Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 3:05 am ¶
RakuMon wrote:
MV said “Black people don’t get a good rep in the States, so imagine the horrible rep they get in other countries.”
For what it’s worth, they love him in Obama, Japan:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world/asia/19japan.html?em&ex=1203656400&en=4f5b3282a5574463&ei=5087%0A
Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 11:49 am ¶
Mary wrote:
I live in Hawaii and there was NO mention in the local press about Asians not wanting to vote for Obama based on race. This whole “thing” about Asians not liking Obama is media made.
Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 2:15 pm ¶
Elton wrote:
“Does Obama Have an Asian Problem?” is pure, unadulterated speculation. It’s not fair to ask some Asian guys off the street to make generalized, pseudo-psychological guesses–”warm perceptions of Bill Clinton,” “Chinese people are really racist at times”–about why ALL ASIANS are voting for Hillary and against Obama.
This is the problem with combining “man on the street” reporting with racial generalization. We all come away with stronger concepts of whatever stereotype the news corporation wants to advocate.
As a native Arkansan, my warm perceptions of Bill don’t necessarily transfer well to Hillary. And as a Cantonese-American, calling a black person a hak gwai isn’t necessarily an insult, nor does the literal translation of “China” as “Middle Kingdom” necessarily carry a subtext of superiority. But that’s just my opinion–I don’t claim to speak for all Asians.
Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 10:54 pm ¶
anon wrote:
@Elton, please. The middle kingdom is racist, but they’ve been on top/in the middle for so long they don’t know it. Chinese and Japanese act like the white people of Asia.
Some Asians voted against Obama because he’s Black (and thus, will, according to their strategist logic will have a hard time winning), but most voted for Clinton because the Clinton machine has deep roots in Asian Democrat fundraising. They are out there. Obama is not.
Obama didn’t even try very hard to get the AA vote. That’s why he didn’t get it. If he tried, he would have made some headway, but they obviously didn’t think it was worth it.
I’m J-A and voted for Obama. I’m a liberal who supports grassroots organizing. If I were voting by race, to advantage the Asian position, I would have voted for Clinton, because they’ve demonstrated support.
Posted 22 Feb 2008 at 1:59 pm ¶
SuddenWorld wrote:
Time or CNN or any other news media source follow the axiom proposed by the beginning of Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
In media ratings terms, that line translates into “controversy sells,” and bringing up the issue of race is always a guarantee for frenzied feedback. I’m not so naive as to say that it’s not a factor in the way Asians vote; in fact, I think race will always be a factor for any pluralistic society in matters of politics.
I suppose what I do find offensive about the news media’s supposition is that Asian Americans are somehow not able to vote for a candidate on a broader-based criterion, including stances on issues, political records, character assessment, etc. I myself am a Korean American, and I have very specific reasons why my voting inclination predisposes me towards Obama versus Clinton. And as readers have already pointed out, what’s up with CNN characterizing Asian Americans as recent immigrants with a tenuous command of the English language?
That being said, I can see how race might become an unfortunate deciding factor for some Asian Americans, especially those only recently naturalized as voting citizens. Consider that many Asians come from largely homogeneous cultures. Plurality is not en vogue in the homeland (and like many countries, countries like China, Japan, and Korea indulge in their fair of jingoism), and so to develop such a sensibility regarding other ethnic groups requires a cultivation over several generations. Think how long it’s taken supposedly progressive white Democrats to consider a black man as a viable Presidential candidate!
And I would also argue that Asian immigrants view whites as being the dominant sociopolitical power, which would not an unreasonable assessment. I think anecdotally of instances when my first generation (I take the term to mean first to be naturalized in the US, versus first to be born in the US) elders would reference “American” as meaning “white.”
The implication would be that there would no percentage in supporting a black candidate who would be perceived, whether rightly or wrongly, as someone who would use any power gained as an elected official in disproportionate favor of his/her equally underrepresented minority constituency.
Frankly, I think any ethnic minority candidate would face this particular dilemma when trying to appeal to voters outside his or her ethnic demographic. Minority voters would consciously or unconsciously buy into the notion of each minority group having to wait for its turn at the proverbial table (or even engaging in some interethnic scuffling to get ahead in the line), where the power brokers are, for the most part, white.
It speaks to the inherent privilege that whites have in being the dominant ethnic group in the U.S. Because their place in power is so pervasive, they can “afford” to see things on a universal level. Minority voter would attribute a white candidate with “neutrality” on ethnic issues, simply because they’re at the top of the sociopolitical ladder relative to all minorities.
The assumption for a minority candidate is that s/he would have had to have pandered to his minority base on some level, at the cost of addressing broader issues that concern all minorities. If whites are “better” at transcending race, it’s only that they have only begrudgingly have been able to share power through a longer turnover thinking through the generations. Bear in mind that racial apartheid was alive and well in the U.S. a mere 50 years ago.
If Obama gets elected, it will be a milestone in bucking such provincial thinking, but true racial progress will be measured in all individuals reaching across ethnic barriers, not just our politicians, and being able to attribute our motivations beyond ethnic identity.
Posted 22 Feb 2008 at 6:43 pm ¶
forgotusername wrote:
I suppose it’s not politically correct to say it, but in my, and many black people’s experiences - racism from Asians and Latinos is significant…significant
Posted 24 Feb 2008 at 8:49 pm ¶
Torontonian wrote:
I don’t want to be lumped in together with those Asians who are straight-out racists. If you’re black and you have experienced racism from Asians, fine. You would know, and I also hear negative remarks about black people by Asians.
However, other than racial appearance, what other characteristics do these people have? How old are they? What exactly is their ethnic background? Are they foreign-born or native-born? Are they liberal or conservative? Are they men or women?
Obviously, racism isn’t innate; it is learned. When people refer to ‘Asians’, it is usually a reference to a racial phenotype, so it includes everyone who looks ‘Asian’. Thus, it is a bit sloppy to refer to the racism by these individuals as a kind of ‘Asian racism’, as Asian phenotypes are not the relevant factor here.
Please be more specific.
Posted 24 Feb 2008 at 10:18 pm ¶
Torontonian wrote:
Also, are you guys familiar with the notorious My Kids Are Perverted by that Gaijin Smash guy, a black American teaching in Japan?
‘You see, Japan’s an island no bigger than California, and information about the rest of the world is filtered. There are so few foreigners here, their only impressions of things outside Japan are from the media. And to be honest, they don’t really give a damn about anything other than America. So try to imagine a country where the national perception of you is created by American movies, music, and MTV. When you stop crying and shaking at the sheer horror of that thought, I’ll be here waiting.
‘Okay? OK. The whole “black men have big dicks” stereotype stretches far and wide, even to the nation’s 12-year-olds. Part of why I’m here is not just to kind-of-sort-of help teach English, but to “broaden cultural perceptions.” Break stereotypes, challenge preconceived notions, all that jazz. That’s fine, but this is one stereotype I think I’m gonna let slide.
‘Still, I am asked “bigu dikku?” a lot. Every 2-3 days in fact, which is amazing considering I was asked this about 2-3 times in my entire life in America, locker room jokes aside. How do you answer that anyway? To a 12 to 15-year-old? I wave them off and say, “No, no, no.” Then they say, “Oh, sumaru dikku?” (trans: small dick) and of course that’s wrong so I have to correct them. It’s just a no-win situation.’
This is to support MV’s point.
Posted 24 Feb 2008 at 10:46 pm ¶
Anthony wrote:
I think the media’s coverage of the Asian/Pacific Islander-American community and its trend in voting for Clinton is problematic, and is in my mind probably due to one or two main factors.
1) One, the news stations/magazines and people doing the reporting are probably fairly ignorant about the APIA community and its issues - especially if their staff consists of middle-aged white people for whom notions of diversity mean a color-blind, Black-or-White approach to race issues. With APIAs being constantly portrayed as the model minority + perpetual foreigner, it’s easy for people to get lazy in their thinking and accept this as a truism, especially when mainstream media doesn’t do much to challenge this perception or allow the voices of strong activist APIAs to be heard. And of course, we’re all affected by it, which leads into my next point.
2) These stories also work to serve white society by playing off the whole model minority image. The perpetual foreigner is reshaped into a good American citizen: in addition to the assumed work ethic and everything, s/he doesn’t like Blacks - perpetuating the racial hierarchy as well as providing fodder to direct attention away from issues of White privilege and racism in Black/White conversations around race, when really inter-group conflict among racial minority groups should be treated separately and not as oversimplified as it’s being made out to be.
It’s a process which makes a sweeping generalization of APIAs as essentially White. By reinforcing the model minority stereotype, all America is going to see it, and it’s only going to encourage continued thinking along these lines for everyone.
In addition to giving them a “basically white” status among Whites and non-APIA People of Color, it will discourage young/liberal APIAs who will not hear the dissenting voices of anti-racists within the community interested in coalition-building. It may even encourage thinking that such behavior (at least in terms of voting) is what’s best for the APIA community.
So basically it’s ignorance on the part of the staff, and possibly a desire to promote assimilation (read: desire to be white) among APIAs.
Interesting how they aren’t bringing in major voices like Angela Oh and other APIAs who spoke out for racial solidarity during the L.A. uprising and other watershed events where the community was able to define itself on its own terms and declare an identity as an oppressed People of Color, rather than as a tokenized model minority. They even had Yul Kwon, who got them to do an entire segment on the community - how hard would it have been to get his voice in there?!
Posted 25 Feb 2008 at 3:43 am ¶