Over a cup of coffee ... Harvard's affirmative action; on 'tough' Asian moms; Eric Liu on the meaning of patriotism

Small pleasures: A good cup of dark roast coffee and taking the time to read. Back in the backyard this Sunday, enjoying life ...

Asian Americans are near the center of the debate of what the future of America might look like. Part of that raging debate is the idea of affirmative action.

It's not a black or white issue (pun intended) and there's no easy answer because Harvard, as prestigious as it is, can't be excused for some of the flaws of admissions process. The AAPI communities are split on this.

The judge in the affirmative action case against Harvard was supposed to issue a ruling in early 2019 after hearing the arguments for and against in December 2018.

Well, here it is - September and still no decision. Jay Caspian Kang wrote a piece for The New York Times Magazine goes over the history of that case, what's at stake, and what could happen after the judge gives his ruling.

No matter which side of the argument the judge rules forg, it's going to the US Supreme Court. With the conservative majority on the High Court, the nature of affirmative action will be affected: Thumbs up, or thumbs down.

Read Kang's think piece, here.

NYT GRAPHIC / RONGHUI CHEN

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NPR has had this story out for a couple of weeks but I haven't been able to get to it until today.

To siblings Flip and Christine Cuddy, Susan Ahn Cuddy was "Mom."

But she was also a Korean American lieutenant in the U.S. Navy who trained pilots to shoot down enemies during World War II.

It wasn't until historian John Cha's biography of Susan was published in 2002 that her children learned about many of their mother's accomplishments. Read about this "tough" mom, here.

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Part of my Sunday was spent watching CBS's Sunday Morning. This show is always a shot in the arm and gives me hope, something that isn't always so obvious the rest of the week.
It is always a great way to start a week. 

In case you missed it, Eric Liu had an inspirational segment this morning (Sept. 1) that deserves to be shared with all your social media contacts.

A former speechwriter for the Clinton White House Liu is also an author of "Become America" he muses about true patriotism. He basically reinforces what I've always believed. Democracy is a participatory process. It doesn't work if citizens  just sit on the sidelines hoping everything is going to be OK.

He says, "True patriotism doesn't require that we all join the military. It does require us all to show up more, contribute more, participate more, be more useful to more people. To vote, volunteer, serve, listen, learn, empathize, circulate power rather than hoard it."

"Circulate power," I like that phrase.

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Fraternity hazing death: Asians are the loneliest Americans

"ASIANS are the loneliest Americans." The haunting line rings true for Asian/Americans trying to find a place to fit in in the American mosaic.

An article, "What a Fraternity Hazing Death Revealed About the Painful Search for an Asian-American Identity" by Jay Caspian Kang for the New York Times, is about the death by hazing of Chun Michael Deng, a college freshman struggling with identity and who was seeking membership in an Asian/American fraternity based in Baruch College, NY.

His quest for acceptance ended up in his death in 2013. He died from his injuries after fraternity brothers waited too long to contact authorities after the 18-year old  lost conciousness during a hazing ritual.

Kenny Kwan, 28, Charles Lai, 26, Raymond Lam, 23, and Sheldon Wong, 24, pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter as accomplices and hindering apprehension for concealing evidence, according to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. The four men were originally charged with murder.

Chun Michael Deng

More than 30 other fraternity members are awaiting court proceedings in connection with the death after a Monroe County, Pennsylvania, grand jury recommended charges. The fraternity, Pi Delta Psi, is also charged with murder, and is scheduled to begin trial this November, according to court documents.

In the New York Times, Kang writes:

Asians are the loneliest Americans. The collective political consciousness of the ’80s has been replaced by the quiet, unaddressed isolation that comes with knowing that you can be born in this country, excel in its schools and find a comfortable place in its economy and still feel no stake in the national conversation. The current vision of solidarity among Asian-­Americans is cartoonish and blurry and relegated to conversations at family picnics, in drunken exchanges over food that reminds everyone at the table of how their mom used to make it. Everything else is the confusion of never knowing what side to choose because choosing our own side has so rarely been an option. Asian pride is a laughable concept to most Americans. Racist incidents pass without prompting any real outcry, and claims of racism are quickly dismissed. A common past can be accessed only through dusty, dug-up things: the murder of Vincent Chin, Korematsu v. United States, the Bataan Death March and the illusion that we are going through all these things together. The Asian-­American fraternity is not much more than a clumsy step toward finding an identity in a country where there are no more reference points for how we should act, how we should think about ourselves. But in its honest confrontation with being Asian and its refusal to fall into familiar silence, it can also be seen as a statement of self-­worth. These young men, in their doomed way, were trying to amend the American dream that had brought their parents to this country with one caveat: "I will succeed, they say. But not without my brothers!'

Good stuff, right? For most of us, as we float between the worlds of black and white, trying to find out where we fit in, uncertain that we can fit in. Some of us take on the characteristics of African Americans, appropriating their slang, music and dance; others lean towards Latinos, learn some Spanish words, dance the salsa and wear their colors; still others, become bananas or coconuts, taking on the attributes, clothing styles and listen to the musical icons of the dominant culture. 

It's a long read, well written and contains some interesting insights. It's worth some of your time this weekend.

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