Review: 'House of Ho' shines a light on some of the darker aspects of being Asian American

'House of Ho' centers around Houston's Ho family.

REVIEW

Frankly, I was surprised to see House of Ho return for a second season. The credo for most Asian American families is to avoid airing their dirty laundry in public. The Ho family of Houston dares to go against that stereotype.

The draw of reality shows, is that your personal life with all its flaws, becomes public domain and examined under a microscope -- no matter how embarrassing or sensitive it might be. At the end of the last season, I wasn't sure if the Ho's had the courage to go where most families would circle the wagons.

It takes a certain amount of courage, and a certain amount of chutzpah, to submit oneself to the ever-present camera lens. To be honest, in the case of eldest son Washington, it takes a lot of overblown sense of self-importance to pull the show together by inserting himself into every family squabble and/or new relationship. It was Washington's idea to make the the reality show about his family in the first place.

FYI: House of Ho streams on HBOmax. 

"I saw the success of the Kardashians and thought, 'My family is pretty interesting, too!'" Washington says when speaking about the idea for the series. "I had a few friends in Hollywood that were producers, made a few phone calls and they said, 'You might have something here.' Then Crazy Rich Asians came out and showed me that there was a market for this."

When we last left the Ho's of Houston about a year and a half ago, with the pandemic taking hold, a second season was uncertain. Boyfriend Nate, a successful chiropractor, had just very publicly proposed to Judy Ho, oldest child of Binh and Hue Ho, who created a family empire after migrating to Houston from Vietnam in the 1970s. And American-born Lesley revealed in the first season finale of her husband Washington's drinking problem that threatened their marriage. Since then, a lot has happened, and not all of it has been good. 

In House of Ho, season 2, we explore further the patrimony that exists in Asian cultures, ie. the propensity for Asian American families to dote on their sons at the expense of their daughters; and bringing to the forefront the toxic masculinity that is nurtured by the patrimony. Much of the tension arises when when that Asian value collides with the values of the modern American woman.

When revealing the biggest lesson he has learned, Washington tells Mediavillage the topic of toxic masculinity revealing a change may be in the offfering. "Vulnerability is courage," he says. "Being an Asian male, I thought vulnerability was weakness, but having to be on-camera, being honest, and being my authentic self has really changed my life for the better."

"As an Asian male, especially born into a business family, a lot of the ways we celebrate is drinking, partying, entertainment," he added. "I'm very proud of myself that I could step out of that and inspire other Asian males that's not the only way to celebrate. I'm so happy and proud that I have such a great family, a great production team, a great network that supports my sobriety. One of the greatest things that my team at HBO Max did was provide me support throughout filming, and that was just something huge for me."

What differentiates the House of Ho from Netflix's Bling Empire, which focuses on the L.A.-based Asian Americans in the same 1% tax bracket as the Ho's, is that the House of Ho focuses on family interactions and intergenerational conflicts rather than the problem of having too much money and not using their fortunes to satisfy their own selfish needs, real and manufactured.

What both shows share is that they destroy the stereotype of the Asian American family being quiet and subservient to the white upper-class even at the expense of exposing the dark side of chasing the American Dream at any cost.

Although dubbed a reality show, House of Ho and Bling Empire present only one facet of the AANHPI communities. Seen by themselves, the two shows present a distorted view of Asian Americans. The Asian Americans that inhabit the worlds of House of Ho and Bling Empire presents a side of AANHPI folks that is as far from the reality of most of Asian Americans. The Ho's represesnt AANHIP about as much real as the Kardasians represent Armenian Americans.

But, you know what? That's OK. People need to be exposed to all different kinds of AANHPI in order to get a clearer picture of who we are and who we aren't. I've yet to see a TV program that depicts a complicated three-dimensional Asian American.

"For all Asian males out there, we can make music. We can be in the mainstream. We shouldn't be afraid. My kids might want to be in Hollywood and be in acting, in the arts one day. But at least now they can come to me and ask me how I did it or how did we create this show," says Washington. 

"For all Asians around the world, we're not supposed to always be the lawyer or the engineers or the doctors. And if you're not, it's OK.," he continued. "That's my message is that it's OK to be yourself, be human. It's OK to fall. It happens. We are not perfect and no one else is. Love yourself, love your family, love your community and we'll all be OK as long as we're not being Ho's, right?"

For audiences, we're left with the question: Is that an honest revelation or was it all for the cameras for the sake of looking good to the vast audience out there? Will the Ho family continue to survive after the travails of Season 2? Will HBO continue to allow itself to function as Washington's personal therapeutic journey?

Washington  is brave enough to be himself and he may rub people the wrong way. He's certainly not role model material, but he's OK. I'm OK. You're OK. House of Ho is OK, too.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

Increases in gun sales and suicide make for a deadly combination for AANHPI communities.

The rise in anti-Asian hate spurs increased gun sales by AANHPI. 

Last July, Sania Khan, a Pakistani American photographer who had recently moved to Chicago, was allegedly shot and killed by her ex-husband, Raheel Ahmed. Add their deaths to the growing number of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who die from gun violence.

Rising gun sales and the rising suicide rate is proving to be a deadly combination for the AANHPI communities.

Exploiting the increase in hate crimes against AANHPI communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the gun industry is targeting those communities as potential new gun buyers and future pro-gun advocates, according to a 2021 study from the Violence Policy Center (VPC).

“If the same right-wing forces that fostered this environment now encourage members of the AAPI community to take up arms as a self-protection measure, that would be the ultimate deadly irony, Varun Nikore, Executive Director of the AAPI Victory Alliance. "The vast majority of Asian Americans are immigrants, or children of immigrants, who are learning what it means to be an American. For far too many, being American means being able to pick up a gun to solve all of their problems. This is a lesson Asian Americans should not and must not learn.”

This ominous gun-buying trend could lead to a rise in suicides in AANHPI communities, a leading cause of death among that group, especially among young adults.

GUNMAKERS TARGET AANHPI MARKET

“Much like the tobacco industry’s search for replacement smokers, the firearms industry is seeking replacement shooters," says Josh Sugarmann, Executive Director, Violence Policy Center. "The targeting of Asian Americans is just the latest example of how gunmakers will cynically exploit any tragedy to fatten their bottom line, regardless of the lethal real-world impact of their actions.”

The study, How the Firearms Industry Markets Guns to Asian Americans, was released last year by the VPC, MomsRising, Newtown Action Alliance, AAPI Victory Fund, and Asian Americans directly impacted by gun violence.

The firearms industry and gun lobby are currently targeting minority communities in their marketing in response to long-term stagnation in the traditional gun market of white men.

An April study from the Annals of Internal Medicine, which surveyed more than half a million Californians, found that people who live with handgun owners are shot to death at a higher rate than those who live in gun-free homes. Women made up 84% of victims.

Data on firearm use by AANHPI is limited, as the group, even though they make up about 7% of the US population. However, AANHPI communities have historically had low gun ownership rates.

HIGH SUICIDE RATE

What is alarming though, is what the rise in gun ownership might mean to AANHPI communities, which have a high rate of suicide, especially among young adults. It would be like pouring gasoline on a fire.

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From 2015 to 2019, FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report documented justifiable firearm homicides committed by Asian Americans. By contrast, more than 3,000 Asian Americans died in firearm suicides, homicides and accidental shootings during the same time period. Among Asian American youth, the firearm suicide rate rose by 71% over the last decade – the largest growth of any racial or ethnic group, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Before the pandemic hit US shores in 2020, young AANHPI had among the lowest rates of suicide for any demographic. According to Everytown, during that same period, young Asians and Pacific Islanders have the fastest-growing firearm suicide rate of any racial/ethnic group.

There are many factors elevating this risk of suicide, such as discrimination, ethnic marginalization, and acculturation. AANHPI youth harboring thoughts of suicide also indicate family conflicts and school pressures as significant stress-inducing factors.

Additionally, AANHPI are known to seek help at the lowest rate in comparison to other demographics, as evidenced by research showing that AANHPI adolescents are three times less likely than their white peers to have a mental health diagnosis or have received treatment prior to dying by suicide.

It is safe to assume that the additional pressures caused by the pandemic and the epidemic of anti-Asian hate from March 2020 when the pandemic was declared to the present day has only added to the stress.

Although there is no hard data to support the increase in gun purchases by AANHPI, there is anecdotal evidence that this trend is real.

Time magazine reports that at Jimmy’s Sportshop in Mineola, N.Y., where guns and pepper spray have been flying off the shelves since the pandemic, gun purchases by Asian buyers have surged 100% due to recent fears of attacks, according to Jimmy Gong and Jay Zeng, the shop’s Chinese American owners.

Al Allen, owner of Double Action Indoor Shooting Center and Gun Shop in Madison Heights, near Detroit, told Detroit News he's forced to shut down his store for two hours each afternoon to restock — "and the merchandise is going out as fast as we can bring it in," he said.

Allen said more Asians are buying guns from his shop than at any time in the 30 years he's been in business. "I'd say right now, Asians are about 35% of our customer base, and it's usually maybe around 8%," Allen said.

Today, youth firearm suicide has reached its highest rate in more than 20 years. As students continue to navigate changes in school learning environments — a result of the ongoing challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic — there is concern that the anxiety and loneliness already felt by many young people will continue to increase. This comes at the same time as an unprecedented surge in gun sales in the US, raising concern about the already growing rates of firearm suicide.

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the lives of teens and young adults well beyond the direct impacts of the illness itself. Experts are concerned that social isolation, along with fear surrounding the virus, can increase feelings of anxiety and loneliness,4 two factors that elevate the risk of suicide for people of all ages, according to Everytown, a gun-control advocacy group.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) collected during the first half of 2021 found that one in five high school students seriously contemplated suicide and nearly one in 10 attempted suicide in the past year. Another recent CDC study uncovered a disturbing rise in the rate of ER visits for suspected suicide attempts among young people ages 12 to 25 during periods of the first year of the pandemic.

Students and families have had to adjust to a new normal as campuses resume in-person learning in the midst of this pandemic. 

LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG YOUNG

Looking at youth and young adults, however, in 2019 suicide ranked as the leading cause of death for AANHPI young people, ages 15 to 24. Almost a quarter, 24%, of those suicides were by use of a firearm.

Consequently, the pandemic’s negative effects on mental health will likely continue as spikes in coronavirus cases due to variants have contributed to ongoing uncertainty. This ready access to guns is deeply concerning given that nearly three in four firearm suicides by young people take place in or around a home and over 80% of firearm suicides by children (age 18 or younger) involve a gun belonging to a family member.

But the gun industry has not shown any indication of abandoning their marketing strategy of selling guns to AANHPI communities. 

The gun industry frequently focuses on the self-defense use of firearms, a surefire draw for those AANHPI who have lost faith on the courts or law enforcement to protect them. The VPC study rebuts these false claims, citing unpublished FBI data showing that in 2019 alone, across the US, AANHPI committed only two firearm justifiable homicides and that, for the five-year period 2015 to 2019, AANHPI committed only 37 firearm justifiable homicides. During this same five-year period, 3,076 Asian/Pacific Islanders lost their lives in firearm homicides, suicides, fatal unintentional shootings, and other gun deaths: a ratio of 83 to one.

Using data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study also reveals that in the decade from 1999 to 2019 more than 10,000 Asian/Pacific Islanders died from guns in the United States.

“Historically, Asian Americans have owned very few guns, which is precisely why we have experienced low rates of gun violence," says Gloria Pan, Vice President, MomsRising. "Safety through gun ownership is a myth that gun manufacturers peddle, and one Asian Americans must not succumb to because every credible study has shown that more gun ownership in a community only leads to more gun-related injury and death."

Not surprisingly, the firearms industry and its financial partners in the National Rifle Association never acknowledge the harm guns inflict on our nation, and on communities of color in particular. 

The VPC study concludes: “For any American, regardless of race or ethnicity, bringing a gun into the home increases the risk of death or injury to the owner or a family member. If the marketing efforts targeting the AAPI community gain traction, the impact will be measured not only in dollars and cents in gunmakers’ coffers, but in increased death and injury among Asian Americans.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

Michelle Yeoh to receive inaugural "groundbreaking" award at Toronto filmfest

Michelle Yeoh in some of the many roles she has played in her career.

Actress Michelle Yeoh will receive the inaugural Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award from the Toronto International Film Festival.

"Michelle Yeoh is the definition of groundbreaking," said Cameron Bailey, TIFF CEO. “Her screen work has spanned continents, genres and decades. This year she delivered a performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once that shows her limitless abilities. We're so proud to honor her with the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award."

FYI: More details about the Toronto International Film Festival

Long a favorite of AANHPI moviegoers, Yeoh is finally receiving the accolades she deserves from the international film industry. The recognition from the prestigious film festival, often a bell weather of Oscar winners, might boost her chances for an Academy Award  nomination for Best Actress.

Spanning a nearly 40-year career, Yeoh, 60, is one of the most accomplished and versatile actors in the world. She has broken barriers and inspired generations of audiences with her performances, including her most recent lead role in the hit Everything Everywhere All at Once, as well as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Crazy Rich Asians, among others.

Yeoh is an internationally recognized, Malaysian-born actor who rose to fame in 1990s Hong Kong action films before going on to shatter conventions and star in myriad globally acclaimed blockbusters. Recently announced as the first Asian artist to receive the American Film Institute Honor, Yeoh has appeared in more than 70 features and television series.

Many thought she would land a supporting nomination for the Jon Chu-directed Crazy Rich Asians in 2019. She was also skipped over for her role in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In her long career, she’s built up a fair amount of goodwill and overdue status up till now, when she once again stars in one of the year’s surprise box office hits. Yeoh’s range is showcased as her character navigates through the multiverse playing different versions of herself.

The TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award is presented by BVLGARI and recognizes a woman who is a leader in the film industry and has made a positive impact for women throughout their career. The inaugural award is inspired by TIFF’s Share Her Journey initiative, which was created to address gender parity in the film industry, to champion women at every stage of their creative journey, and to shine a spotlight on women creators making a significant difference in the industry.

The recognition she will receive at the TIFF, which runs Sept. 8 to 18, follows the honorary doctorate she received from the American Film Institute last Spring.

"What [is special about] this moment in my career is having so many people who look like me, especially the younger generation [of Asian actors], come up to me and say, 'Finally, I can see myself doing all these kinds of things because you are doing it,'" she told People magazine.

"We have to stand up for ourselves and be courageous enough to have a voice. We deserve a voice," Yeoh added. "I think at this point in my career, that is what I'm really enjoying: the fact that we are getting more opportunities and the opportunities we deserve."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

Women's Equality Day marks passage of the 19th Amendment which gave (white) women the right to vote

Today (Aug. 26) is Women's Equality Day, commemorating the adoption of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote ... if you're white.

Because of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, Asian women were not allowed to become citizens, therefore, did not have the right to vote.

Nevertheless, some Asian American heroes like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee were part of the Suffragette movement that lobbied politicians and demonstrated in the streets to gain that right.

Lee was born on October 7, 1897 in Guangzhou (Canton City), China. Her father, Dr. Lee Towe, was a missionary pastor and he moved to the United States when she was four years old. Lee stayed in China with her mother and grandmother, and she studied Chinese.

When Lee was 9-years old, she won an academic scholarship called the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship that allowed her to relocate to the United States to attend school. The Lee family moved in 1905 to New York City's Chinatown. Lee became involved in activism and women’s rights very early on.

By the time she was 16-years old, she was already accepted to Barnard College. Suffragettes reached out to the Chinese-American community to get their opinions about the Chinese suffrage movement’s success in getting the vote in China. Lee and other Chinese women met with leaders of the Suffragette movement in Chinatown.

The Chinese women believed that women's suffrage in the US would open the door to repealing Exclusion Act. Those hopes were dashed when in 1920 the Act was renewed and extended to include other Asian ethnicities.

Lee so impressed the white women leaders, she was invited to lead the suffrage parade on horseback in New York City. Held on May 4, 1912, the parade started in New York’s historic Greenwich Village and was attended by almost 10,000 people.

By 1917, women in the state of New York were granted the right to vote. Three years later, the 19th Amendment was passed that gave women the right to vote across the country. However, Lee and many other women of color still could not vote. It would take another almost 25 years for Lee to be granted the right to vote with the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943. However, she continued to advocate for women’s suffrage and equal rights.

Lee died in 1966 at the age of 70. It is unknown if Lee ever attained United States citizenship and exercised her right to vote, but her activism ensured many other women had the ability to do so.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

AANHPI college students will benefit from Biden's relief plan for student debt.

Almost 70% of Asian American college students leave school with thousands of dollars in debt, according to data collected by Education Data Initiative.

Students of all races and ethnicities are breathing a sigh of relief after President Joe Biden announced he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, delivering financial relief to millions of Americans. Biden will cancel up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants.

Biden action could affect up to 43 million people including current students and those who have been struggle to pay off their student loans years after graduation and those who took out loans and for whatever reason, didn't earn a degree.

“All of this means people can start finally to crawl out from under that mountain of debt. To get on top of their rent and their utilities. To finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business.”

"This relief is targeted," said Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice. "It will only go to borrowers whose income is less than $125,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a household — meaning that the relief will go to those who need it the most." 

The Department of Education estimates that, among borrowers who are no longer in school, nearly 90% of relief dollars will go to those earning less than $75,000 a year. No individual making more than $125,000 or household making more than $250,000 – the top 5% of incomes in the United States – will receive relief.

FYI more details of President Biden's plan to provide relief on student loans, click here.

Additionally, borrowers working in public service -- that includes medical professionals working for county healthcare, lawyers in government offices, social service employees -- are entitled to earn credit toward debt relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. But because of complex eligibility restrictions, historic implementation failures, and poor counseling given to borrowers, many borrowers have not received the credit they deserve for their public service.

Even though the majority of Asian American students take out loans for college, they 

Student loan debt by race and ethnicity

That fact that borrowers of certain races and ethnicities face exceptional obstacles in their quest for advanced education is universally accepted among academic financial specialists, says Education Data Initiative. Some of the highlights of a report by EDI, include:

• Black and African American bachelor’s degree holders have an average $52,000 in student loan debt.
• 45% of this debt is from student loans for graduate school.
• 40% of Black graduates have student loan debt from graduate school while 22% of White college graduates have graduate school debt.
• Over 50% of Black student borrowers report their net worth is less than they owe in student loan debt.
• At 52%, Asian student borrowers are the most likely to have a net worth that exceeds their student loan debt.
• Asian bachelor’s degree holders are the most likely to have paid off their student loan debt.
• 59% of Asian student borrowers still have educational loan debt.
• 67% of Hispanic and Latino student borrowers have educational debt.
• 70% of White and Caucasian student borrowers have student loan debt.
• Four years after graduation, 48% of Black students owe an average of 12.5% more than they borrowed.
• After that same period, 83% of White students owe 12% less than they borrowed.

Wait and see

Before students begin celebrating, Biden's action will likely be challenged in court. The basis for Biden's action is the HEROE's Act, which was instituted after 9/11. It allows for debt cancellation when it's "in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency."

The "emergency" in this case is the pandemic.

"I have the authority under the HEROES Act to ensure that folks are not worse off after the pandemic than before," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told CBS News. "And we're exercising that to provide targeted loan relief to those who are struggling. We know the pandemic exacerbated disparities. And what we're doing here is making sure we're addressing some loan forgiveness and taking a system that's broken so that more students can have access to college and continue on with their lives."

If the legal basis for Biden's student loan relief is challenged, the case might very likely wind up in the Supreme Court, which already has shown that it is not friendly to initiativesthat might benefit the Democrats.

Yuh-Line Niou mulling running against Democrat candidate, says Washington Post

Daniel Goldman, left, and Yuh-Line Niou.

Tuesday night, former federal prosecutor Daniel Goldman, declared himself the winner of New York's Congressional District 10 Democratic Primary, beating his closest rival, Yuh-Line Niou, by about 1100 votes.

Within hours, the Associated Press and other mainstream media, dubbed Goldman the winner after 95% of the votes counted 

With about 7,000 absentee ballots still to be tabulated, Niou has not conceded. While most observers believe it would be difficult for Niou to make up the difference as the uncounted votes will be split among the 13 Democrat candidates.

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that Niou, who is the current Assemblymember for the area, is considering running against Goldman in November as a candidate for the New York Working Families Party.

In the primary, progressive voters were split among Niou, Rep. Mondaire Jones and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who finished who are expected to come in second, third and fourth, respectively when all the votes are counted.

As of now, Goldman, heir to the Livi-Strauss fortune, has 16,686 votes; Niou,15,380; Jones, 11,777; and Rivera, 10,985. Assemblymember JoAnn Simon is standing in fifth spot with 3,991 votes.

In the final days of the campaign, Niou teamed up with Jones and Rivera in joint appearances and attacked Goldman, who spent millions of dollars of his fortune to finance his campaign. Observers assume that the progressive voters who went with Jones and Rivera  in the Primary, would transfer their votes to Niou if she decides to run against Goldman in November.

The New York Working Families Party hasn’t said whether the party will have a candidate in November, but it endorsed Niou's candidacy for the Democratic Party Primary. After Election Day Tuesday, it continued to praise Niou and noted that there were votes that still hadn’t been counted.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

In New York's Congressional District 10 race, Niou still has not conceded

Yuh-Line Niou campaigned all over her district, including Chinatown, on voting day.

UPDATED: 12:45 p.m. PDT, August 24.

ANALYSIS

Early Wednesday morning, former prosecutor Dan Goldman declared himself winner for the Democratic candidate for Congressional District 10 around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, but rival Yuh-Line Niou didn't concede.

"We’re going to keep working until every vote is counted," Niou tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "But no matter the final result, I'm so proud and grateful to all of you who supported with your time, money, and energy! We showed that a dedicated crew of volunteers can stand up to big money. More to come soon!"

She punctuated her tweet with a heart emoji.

“It is quite clear from the way that the results that have come in that we have won,” Goldman, 46, asserted at his Election Night party in Soho. “I want to say a deep and heartfelt thank you to the other candidates in this race.”

Hours later, the Associated Press called the race for Goldman, an heir to the Live-Strauss fortune, who was criticized for his lack of local roots and legislative experience. He funded well-financed campaign from his personal fortune.

As the top two vote-getters in a crowded field, Goldman led New York Assemblymember Yun-Line Niou by the slim margin of two percentage points. 

Despite most of mainstream media giving the race to Goldman, by mid-morning Wednesday, Niou has yet to issue a concession speech.

“Tonight’s results aren’t yet what we hoped to hear. But we will not concede until we count every vote,” Niou told her supporters in the early morning Wednesday. “Because what we can do together is too important to give up this fight. Our vision is that we sent a powerful mission and powerful message this election. We sent the message that things can get better, that things can change, that people can take back control of their government.”

Although not all the votes had been counted at press time, Goldman, a Tribeca resident who was endorsed by the New York Times, had 16,686 votes, or 25.8% of the ballots. Niou had 15,380 votes, or 23.7%.

 Niou was the top vote-getter in Brooklyn. However, Goldman won the Manhattan part of the new district that included old Chinatown. In a race this close, every vote counted. She may have been hurt by last-minute attack ads from a mysterious, last-minute PAC, calling the progressive candidate as anti-Israel because she refused to condemn an anti-Israel bill in the state legislature. 

The New York Progress spent $225,000 on ads attacking Niou. “Attention voters: Yuh-Line Niou supports antisemites and opposes Israel,” the mailer reads. “She is too extreme for our community.”

“I myself have never boycotted Israel," said Niou. "But I think it’s really important to make sure they have rights to free speech. I think the (anti-Israel resolution) is important because I have so many friends who are obviously fighting for the human rights of Palestinians.”

Niou was initially running for state Senate but when District 10 emerged from the remapping process, she quickly threw her hat in the ring. If the Taiwanese American  had won, she would have been New York's second Congressional representative joining Rep. Grace Meng in the House of Representatives.

They led a field of 13 candidates vying for the Democrats' nomination to run against Republican Benine Hamdan, a partner in an investment firm.

District 10 is a newly carved district covering lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. It encompasses two Chinatowns.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

'Grey's Anatomy' gets real; Harry Shum Jr, Midori Francis added to cast.Ha

Harry Shum, Jr, left, and Midori Francis join cast of long-running 'Grey's Anatomy.'

The newest class of interns at Grey Soan Medical Center will add two Asian Americans to the cast of Grey's Anatomy in the show's 19th season.

Finally, with the addition of Harry Shum Jr and Midori Francis, the staff at the fictional Seattle hospital is starting to reflect real life. In the past, the show has been criticized for not casting enough Asian Americans in more prominent roles despite the hard-to-ignore presence of AANHPI medical personnel in most real-life US urban hospitals.

Shum and Francis will play first-year surgical residents at Grey Sloan, which was ordered to disband and rebuild its teaching program in the Season 18 finale.

Shum will play Daniel “Blue” Kwan, who is described as sharp-witted, impatient and brilliant. He is generous by nature but competitive to a fault, naturally gifted, and used to winning at everything. The character's back story hints at a family crisis that interrupted with his career plans and now he’s got a lot to prove.

Francis’ character, Mika Yasuda, is described as a middle child with eight siblings. She is used to being overlooked and underestimated (for many AANHPI, that sounds very familiar) and uses it to her advantage. Mika is dealing with overwhelming  med school debt (that sounds familiar, too), but she’s scrappy and confident she can make it in the hospital's residency program and rise to the top.

Most recently, Francis played Alicia, the leader of the Essex College Women’s Center, on HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls. She will continue with that role in the series' second season. Francis began garnering notice for her lead role in Netflix's Dash & Lily, for which she earned an Emmy nomination.

Shum launched his career as a series regular on the cult-favorite Glee. He cemented himself as a romantic figure in the groundbreaking film, Crazy Rich Asians, where he played Charlie Wu, a potential love interest of Astrid Leong, played by Gemma Chan. The CRA sequel will center on the budding romantic relationship between the two.

Despite being cast regulars, the backstories of the characters played by Lynn Chen, left,
and Alex Landistill still needs to be told.

The two Grey's newcomers will join regulars Lynn Chen, whose role as Dr. Michelle Lin, head of plastic surgery, wasn't fully fleshed out in Season 18; and Alex Landi, who plays the oversexed 3rd year resident, Dr. Nico Kim.

As we discuss Asian American cast members, we should remember that Grey's Anatomy brought Sandra Oh some Hollywood cred for her portrayal of BFF Dr. Cristina Yang. The Emmy-nominated Oh left the security of the series in 2014 to expand her acting resume.

We also cannot forget the Asian American actor who has been with the series for all of its 18 seasons and presumably into the 19th. Kathy C. Han, a nurse in real life,  appears in almost every important surgery scene as the reticent scrub nurse Bokhee. In those 18 seasons, she probably has spoken a only a dozen words.

Despite numerous cast turnovers with actors coming and going, Grey's Anatomy, created by executive producer Shonda Rhimes, remains ABC's top drama for the coveted 18-49 demographic favored by advertisers. 

With the addition of the new characters, there is an opportunity for Rhimes to help develop the Asian American characters. Since Oh's departure, the Asian American characters have not really been explored and turned into 3-dimensional characters like Dr. Cristina Yang.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

The question of the day is: How will Asian Americans vote in New York's primary elections?

Tuesday, Aug. 23, is New York's Primary. Polls open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The Asian American vote is being courted in New York's primary, August 23 

ANALYSIS

New York City voters have a chance to elect another Asian American to Congress but Yuh-Line Niou is running against big money and big names to represent two Chinatowns.

On August 5, 2022, Senator Anna M. Kaplan (D-North Hills) joined Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE), Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and the Korean American Sanctuary Church Network (KASCN) for a rally in support of the New York State Asian American History Education Bill, which seeks to combat Asian hate through improved education.

Recognition of a specific issue such as teaching Asian American history is an example of how the state's political powers are recognizing the emerging influence of New York's Asian American community. Eighteen percent of Kaplan's Senatorial 7th District are Asian Americans who sought the suburban lifestyle offered on Long Island.

As New York voters go to the polls today, focus has been put on the Asian American electorate, which voted overwhelmingly Democratic in 2020. However, Republicans were able to sway enough of those voters to switch allegiances in the New York City mayoral race to raise alarm bells among Democrats.

While Manhattan and Queens voters went with Democratic candidates, the city's outlying districts voted for Republican Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa lost to Eric Adams but the signs of a wavering voting constituency were evident.

Even districts represented by an Asian Democrat, such as that of Queens Assemblymember Ron Kim, saw the rightward shift. “Education policy is certainly a part of that frustration. Working immigrant families believe their sacrifices and hard work are discounted by the Democratic Party establishment,” Kim said. “If you ignore us on education policy, you’re going to get a backlash.”

This growth in Asian voter participation in NYC was also spurred by community groups like the AAF-led AAPI Power Coalition. Their in-person, in-language, and culturally relevant outreach helped to mobilize so-called “unlikely voters,” — so much so that Asian voters who were outreached to increased their turnout by a whopping 73%. 

That successful outreach and result reveals the incredible political potential of the Asian community to shape the City they call home.

Over the last decade, Asian Americans have been the fastest-growing voting bloc in New York City—accounting for almost 18% of the city’s overall population. Over 27% of eligible Asian voters cast their ballots in last year’s mayoral primary, driven by strong grassroots organizing, an increase in Asian candidates, and the community’s reaction to hate crimes. 

This represented not only a record turnout in New York City’s 2021 mayoral primary, but also the highest Asian turnout in history for a local New York election, according to an analysis by the Asian American Federation. 

Turnout by Asian voters surpassed Black voters, at 26.5 percent, and Hispanics, at 17.4%. It's a dramatic shift since 2013, when Asian voters had the lowest turnout rate of any major racial group at 16.3%. White voters still had the highest turnout overall last year, with 36.4% of them casting primary ballots.

Authors of the report say the new stats dispel the myth that Asian New Yorkers are unlikely voters — and urge politicians to spend more effort courting the emerging group.

“We are a very powerful voting bloc,” said AAF ED Jo-Ann Yoo, noting that Asian Americans make up more than 10% of the population in 28 of the 51 City Council districts. “Our elected officials, no matter who they are…it’s to their peril if they ignore us.”

Yuh-Line Niou is running for Congress in New York's District 10.

DISTRICT 10: Yuh-Line Niou is running for Congress

A test of the Asian American electorate's emergence wil be in the contest for Congressional District 10. In the newly remapped Congressional District 10, Yuh-Line Niou has a chance to become New York's second Congressional representative. District 10 represents two Chinatowns, Manhattan's and Brooklyn's.

When the new Congressional maps were drawn up, it created an electorate with more than 20% Asian American voters. Already an Assemblymember, Niou was running for the NY Senate. When the new District 10 was created, the Taiwanese American saw an opportunity. She switched from running for the state Senate to the new US House seat. 

Niou's chances increased dramatically when former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped out of the race. The winner of the Aug. 23 primary will likely win the House seat in November because Democrats are the overwhelming majority of registered voters.

“I feel like it would have almost been like a disservice not to run, in some ways,” Niou, told Politico. “We really need to make sure that we have representation, because when we do have that representation, it changes a lot of the perspective and the lenses that we legislate in.”

Even with de Blasio's departure, Niou still faces some better known and well-funded  Democrats, frontrunner, Dan Holtzman, a Democratic stalwart for years and who has a personal fortune of $23 million and the endorsement of the NY Times; City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera; former House Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman and Rep. Mondaire Jones.

Jones candidacy is interesting is that he won his District 17 seat in New York City's northern suburbs in 2020. However, with the new districts, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Patrick Maloney decided to run for that district, leaving Jones out in the cold. Jones chose to run for the newly created District 10, which he has never represented. However, as the first openly gay black Congressmember, he has the backing of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

It is a crowded and competitive field of candidates. Niou won her Assembly races with overwhelming majorities and her Assembly district lies entirely within the newly drawn Congressional District 10. A strong base, recognition of her local roots,  her popularity among progressives, her army of energetic, young volunteers, plus the two Chinatowns, could give New York a second Asian American representative in Congress.

“I see myself as the underdog, but I also see myself winning,” she said. “There’s a lot of erasure, especially when women and women of color run. There’s a lot of focus on when big names are running — or like when, you know, it’s men.”

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

Although in the minority, Republicans noticed the cracks emerge in the Asian American community over the school admission policies instituted by the NYC school board. In an effort to increase the diversity of its competitive high schools that prepare students for college, the school board launched policies that some thought discriminated against qualified Asian American students. 

The other high-profile issue was the perceived lack of action on the part of the NYPD to protect Asian Americans from the attacks in public places and a reluctance  by law enforcement officials to label the attacks as hate crimes (because of legal interpretations) fostering an atmosphere of fear, but, more troublesome was the promoting the perception that local government officials dominated by Democrats are ignoring the issue of anti-Asian hate.

The GOP hammered those wedge issues enough to almost nullify the tendency to vote for Democrats in the Chinese American community.

Noting the swing to the right by Asian voters after New York's 2021 elections, As a  forewarning to the 2022 midterms, Congresswoman Grace Meng, the only Asian American House member from New York, tweeted a warning to Democrats, “our party better start giving more of a shit about #aapi (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) voters and communities. No other community turned out at a faster pace than AAPIs in 2020.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

After 11 years, Gov. Newsom's pardon allows deported Cambodian American to return home

Sophea Phea, second from right, is welcomed home by her family.

Eleven years after being deported to Cambodia, Sophea Phea returned home to family and friends in Long Beach, Calif.

A pardon in 2020 from California Gov. Gavin Newsom paved the way for Phea's return to the US. Just earlier this year, an immigration court finally restored her status as a permanent resident. After almost 11 years in Cambodia, she reunited with her family.

"I'm sharing my story to illustrate the effects of deportation on the Southeast Asian community, specifically of refugees who've grown up in America after our parents fled the Viet Nam War," she told the Asian Law Caucus. 

"It’s not justice if despite growing up and spending all of our lives in America, if we commit a crime, serve time for it, and pay our dues to society, we still get kicked out of the country that is our home."

Prior to her deportation, Phea had never set foot in Cambodia. She was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, where many Cambodians fled to escape the genocide and carpet bombing of their country in the 1970s. As refugees, she and her mother came to the US when Sophea was a year-and-a-half old. The family eventually settled in Long Beach.

When she was 23, Phea served a year in prison after being convicted of credit card fraud. After serving her time, California’s prison system transferred her directly to ICE. After nine months in ICE detention, Sophea was released because Cambodia did not issue travel documents that would allow ICE to deport her. 

But ICE was relentless. Four years later, without warning, she was suddenly deported early one morning without any luggage or clothes. Like so many Southeast Asian refugees who are doubly punished by California’s prison system and ICE, Sophea had no connection to or familiarity with Cambodia.

In spite of all the injustices she’s faced, Phea gradually created a life in Cambodia. She became a teacher, and started organizing with other people to help Southeast Asian refugees who were also deported and advocated for their right to return home to the US.

As Phea returned, another Cambodian refugee was being deported. Phoeun You, who had completed his sentence of 25 years in San Quentin state prison, was deported by ICE Tuesday. There are other former refugees in ICE detention fighting to remain in the US.

A bill, AB937, known as  the VISION Act, passed the state Assembly and awaiting action by the Senate, would end the practice of the sending refugee parolees directly into ICE custody. 

"As immigrants, we carry enough torture and trauma from the past," says Phea during an interview by her legal team in Asian Americans Advancing Justice.  "I think it's important to convey the fact we were raised in America, and as humans, we make mistakes. 

"If we have already served time for our missteps, how is it just to deport us to our parents' homeland that we do not know? Most of us have never seen the country our parents desperately escaped from," she continues. "This double punishment is inhumane, and it happens solely because we didn’t have that piece of paper that says we’re US citizens– even though we were basically adopted by America."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

FACT SHEET: How the Inflation Reduction Act helps Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities

President Biden hailed the Inflation Reduction Act as one of his major accomplishments.

The historic Inflation Reduction Act was signed by President Biden August 16. "The American people won, and the special interests lost," Biden said, noting that pharmaceutical companies had lobbied against measures to lower prescription drug costs for people on Medicare.

Voting along party lines. last week, the US Senate passed the historic Inflation Reduction Act with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. 

"Not a single Republican in Congress voted for the package," said Harris. "Not a single Republican voted to lower the cost of prescription drugs, reduce health insurance premiums, make investments to address the climate crisis, tackle inflation, or require the wealthiest corporations to pay their fair share."

Although the impact of the IRA might not be felt immediately by the general public, its passage was applauded by AANHPI leaders.

“Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families face significant barriers to health care that were only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Juliet K. Choi, president and CEO of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF).

"The Inflation Reduction Act will allow AA and NHPI families and elders to worry less about the high costs of insurance premiums and medication. For many, this means worrying less about choosing between paying for food or medicine. This law could not have come at a better time."

“By making healthcare coverage more affordable, the Inflation Reduction Act ensures that Southeast Asian American community members who depend on marketplace coverage can continue to access life-saving healthcare, particularly those with pre-existing conditions and chronic ailments," said Quyên Đinh, Executive Director.

"We also celebrate the IRA’s historic provision to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time. This will undoubtedly benefit Southeast Asian Americans elders who rely on Medicare by ensuring they have access to more affordable medications. The IRA is a step towards universal healthcare for all and eliminating health disparities.”

Following is the Fact Sheet provided by the White House and the impact the IRA will have for the AANHPI communities.

From the White House Briefing Room

By signing the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden is delivering on his promise to build an economy that works for working families, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) families. The Inflation Reduction Act lowers prescription drug costs, health care costs, and energy costs. It’s the most aggressive action we have taken to confront the climate crisis. It’ll lower the deficit and ask the super wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share. And no one making under $400,000 per year will pay a penny more in taxes.

President Biden and Congressional Democrats beat back the special interests to pass this historic legislation that lowers costs for Americans and their families, advances environmental justice while building a cleaner future, and grows the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.

LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will lower health care costs, including prescription drug costs, and expand health insurance coverage for AA and NHPI families.

Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors: Americans pay 2-3 times more for their prescription drugs than people in other wealthy countries. Nearly 1 in 4 Americans struggle to afford prescription drugs, and high prices contribute to racial and ethnic health inequities. The Inflation Reduction Act will help close the gap in access to medication by improving prescription drug coverage and lowering drug prices in Medicare. 

The law:

• Caps the amount that seniors will have to pay for prescription drugs they buy at the pharmacy at $2,000 a year, giving peace of mind to seniors who no longer have to worry about spending thousands and thousands more on prescription drugs.

• Caps the amount that seniors will have to pay for insulin at $35 for a month’s supply.

• Provides access to a number of additional free vaccines, including the shingles vaccine, for Medicare beneficiaries.

• Will further lower prescription drug costs for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of high-cost drugs and requiring drug manufacturers to pay Medicare a rebate when they raise prices faster than inflation.

• Lowering Health Insurance Premiums and Expanding Coverage: Almost 1.5 million AA and NHPI people were uninsured in 2019 before President Biden took office and over 1.3 million people of color fell into the Medicaid “coverage gap” and were locked out of coverage because their state refused to expand Medicaid. Since President Biden took office, the uninsured rate has reached a new historic low: 8% and over 5 million Americans have gained health insurance coverage. The Inflation Reduction Act continues the American Rescue Plan’s more generous Affordable Care Act premium tax credits

• The Inflation Reduction Act locks in lower monthly premiums – about 197,000 AA and NHPI people became newly eligible for premium savings last year, with more than 150,000 uninsured AA and NHPI people having access to a plan with a $0-premium plan in 2021

• By continuing the improvements made through ARP, the Inflation Reduction Act will help keep free or low-cost health insurance available. About 120,000 more Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders will have health insurance coverage next year, compared to without the IRA.

COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE AND LOWER ENERGY COSTS

The U.S. Pacific Islands region includes more than 2,000 islands spanning millions of square miles of ocean. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are in every state, especially with concentrations on the West Coast and in Hawai’I, communities are vulnerable to rising sea levels or severe wildfires. And, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who live in large cities like New York City, Boston, Houston, Chicago, and Seattle are also feeling the impacts of climate change most acutely.

The Inflation Reduction Act takes the most aggressive action on climate and clean energy in American history. The legislation will bring down energy costs for families and create thousands of good jobs, all while reducing climate pollution and ensuring that we have a clean, secure future energy supply. It will:

Make Home Efficiency Upgrades More Affordable: The Inflation Reduction Act will make it more affordable for families to purchase energy efficient and electric appliances when they need to replace everyday home appliances and equipment. And, these appliances will save families money on their utility bills in the long run.

• When families need to replace air conditioners, water heaters, or furnaces, they can save up to 30% with tax credits for efficient furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners and more that will save them hundreds of dollars on utility bills.

• Households can save up to 30% with tax credits for home construction projects on windows, doors, insulation, or other weatherization measures that prevent energy from escaping homes and wasting money.

• If low- or moderate- income families need to replace or upgrade stoves or other home appliances, they can receive direct rebates when buying more energy efficient and electric appliances that can lower future utility bills by at least $350 per year.

• Families in affordable housing units will benefit from resources to support projects that boost efficiency, improve indoor air quality, make clean energy or electrification upgrades, or strengthen their climate resilience.

• Overall, families that take advantage of clean energy and clean vehicle tax credits can save more than $1,000 per year.

CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES & JOBS

The Inflation Reduction Act ensures that the clean energy opportunities reach all Americans as it:

• Spurs solar project development in environmental justice communities by providing a 20% bonus credit for solar projects on federally subsidized affordable housing projects and a 10% bonus credit for solar projects in low-income communities.

• Creates a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that will seed state and local clean energy financing institutions, support the deployment of distributed zero-emission technologies like heat-pumps, community solar and EV charging, while prioritizing over 50% of its investments in disadvantaged communities.

• Expands clean energy tax credits for wind, solar, nuclear, clean hydrogen, clean fuels and carbon capture to include bonus credit for businesses that pay workers a prevailing wage and hire using registered apprenticeship programs – so that the clean energy we use creates good paying jobs.

Protect Public Health: The Inflation Reduction Act recognizes that climate change disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color. The law:

• Creates Environmental Justice Block Grants, a dedicated program to tackle pollution in port communities – where air pollution is especially dense and deadly.

• Funds a range of programs to reduce air pollution, including for fenceline monitoring and screening near industrial facilities, air quality sensors in disadvantaged communities, new and upgraded multipollutant monitoring sites, and monitoring and mitigation of methane and wood heater emissions.

• Protects our children and young adults with investments to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants at public schools in disadvantaged communities.

Strengthen Resilience to Climate Change: The Inflation Reduction Act bolsters climate resilience and strengthens the Nation’s infrastructure and economy against natural disaster and extreme weather events by:

• Upgrading affordable housing to reinforce homes against climate impacts, and increase water and energy efficiency.

• Expanding USDA’s Urban and Community Forestry Program with tree-planting projects that help cool neighborhoods, with a priority for projects that benefit underserved communities.

• Advancing transportation equity and resilience with a new Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant program to improve walkability, safety, and affordability, including projects to protect against extreme heat, flooding, and other impact.

Lower Costs for Small Businesses: According to the Small Business Administration, 2 million Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander-owned small businesses in the U.S. generate more than $700 billion in revenues and create 3.6 million jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of provisions that will save small business owners money.

• Small businesses can receive a tax credit that covers up to 30% of the cost of switching over to low-cost solar power – lowering operating costs and protecting against the volatile energy prices that are currently squeezing small businesses. 

• Businesses can deduct up to $1.00 per square foot of a commercial building for making qualifying high energy efficiency upgrades. The per square foot deduction is boosted if the efficiency upgrades are completed by workers who are a paid a prevailing wage and the project employs apprentices – helping businesses save money and providing good paying jobs.

MAKE THE TAX CODE FAIRER

President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ 2017 tax law only made an unfair tax system worse. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is a critical step forward in making our tax code fairer. It will raise revenue by:

• Ensuring that high-income people and large corporations pay the taxes they already owe.

• Cracking down on large, profitable corporations that currently get away with paying no federal income tax.

• Imposing a 1% surcharge on corporate stock buybacks that will encourage businesses to invest.

The legislation’s tax reforms won’t just raise revenue to finance critically needed investments to lower costs and combat climate change, they are also an important component of building an economy that rewards work rather than wealth and doesn’t let the rich and powerful get away with playing by a separate set of rules.

Millions of working families will have better access to the benefits they are entitled to under the tax code and be able to get their questions answered quickly and efficiently, thanks to the Act’s transformational investments in the Internal Revenue Service. And, no family making less than $400,000 per year will see their taxes go up by a single cent.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.