The AAYA! Blog

The 5 Circles of Immigration Hell

Hey ya’ll, if you got the time, check out this article from Cracked.com. The article was written by an Australian man who immigrated over to the US in order to be with his American-citizen wife. This article gives a good depiction of the long, arduous immigration process. At the end of the article, the writer even jokingly suggests that it’s easier to just pay someone to smuggle you into the US. 

Have fun reading~

- Phil Jeng

Oriental

Akron High School, located in Ohio, had a dragon as their mascot. This is awesome right? They must be like the Akron Dragons, or something cool like that. Instead, the teams’ names weren’t as P.C. as Akron Dragons.

Nope, their teams were the “Orientals.”

Now when you apply the term Oriental to an OBJECT or STYLE (not a person, that is just offensive), it means that object has come directly from the Orient or has Asiatic influences, or as it is known now, East Asia.

However, Asiatic is a much more preferred term nowadays, so there’s no gray area where a misunderstanding might occur.

I sincerely doubt that most kids at Akron High even have lineage from the Orient.

I believe as long as you use the term Oriental correctly, it wouldn’t be offensive. But most people use it incorrectly or with ignorance and/or ill-will. I mean, calling your teams “Orientals” and painting a dragon on your helmets? That is not okay.

Luckily, Superintendent David James has banned the name, according to an anti-discrimination policy that forbids any name or symbol that stereotypes groups based on race and sex or anything that can create a racially hostile or discriminatory environment.

James will create a new process for a new nickname. I hope they keep the dragon though. Dragons are badass.

Original Article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/27/akron-changing-orientals-team-nickname.html 

- Phil Jeng

NYC Hate Crime Spree

It’s amazing to see that in such a cosmopolitan city like New York, hate crime still thrives.  

Between March 31 and April 5, five Asian women (ages 50-71) were assaulted in near Manhattan’s Chinatown. Three suspects have been arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, but two are still at large. Oh, but here’s the kicker: the suspects are all juveniles. The three that were arrested are: a fifteen year old male, a fifteen year old girl, and a twelve year old girl. What the hell is going on?

Let me remind you, these kids didn’t even rob the victims. They just picked targets and went apeshit, with no other motivation but to harm innocents. Why they picked Asian women to attack, I don’t know. Maybe they perceived Asians as weak. Maybe they have their own racist beliefs that drove them to do it. Maybe they were just in Chinatown and decided to be assholes. Countless possibilities, but none could ever justify their actions.

Should the suspects be tried as juveniles? Personally, I believe they should be tried as adults. They had a specific target: middle aged Asian women. They did not once, not twice, but five goddamn times. The crimes also took place over two weeks. This kind of crime spree has strongly premeditated elements. If they could plan out these assaults, they certainly should’ve understood the consequences.  

At least their parents know better. They’re the ones who called the cops.  

Original article and surveillance footage: http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/116699/three-juveniles-charged-with-string-of-manhattan-bias-attacks

- Phil Jeng