NY Times: When a president says, 'I'll kill you.'

NT TIMES/Screen capture

One of the men who is part of the killing spree of alleged drug dealers in the Philippines.

THINK DONALD TRUMP is bad?

The New York Times issued a new video about the thousands of vigilante killings of people alleged to be drug dealers in the Philippines. Thousands have been killed without the benefit of trial with a jury. Police, military and paramilitary groups have all been given permission to conduct extrajudicial killings for the sake of safety and security.

NY TIMES SCREEN CAPTURE
Photojournalist Raffy Lerma's 'Philippines Pieta.'

It follows photographer Raffy Lerma of the Philippine Daily Inquirer whose photo of one of the drug war victims could be titled the "Philippines' Pieta" and brought the world's attention to what's occurring in the Philippines.

In the bone-chilling 15-minute video, Duterte says, "Hitler e massacred 3 million Jews ... now there are 3 million criminals (inaudible) ... I'd be happy to slaughter them."

Watch the video here. WARNING: graphic scenes.

NY TIMES SCREEN CAPTURE

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte:"I'd be happy to slaughter them."

The U.S., which used to have more influencel in the way the Philippines conducted its affairs, has lost its higher moral ground with the selection of Donald Trump as its Chief Executive. But even before Trump's electoral college victory, Duterte had already cursed out President Obama and his human rights advocacy; and pivoted away from the U.S. and sought China's assistance, shifting the delicate balance of power in Asia with the needle moving towards China.

RELATED:

• What's with the Philippines' pivot to China?
• An inside look at the Philippines' war on drugs

Duterte, whom some have called as the Trump of the Philippines, is an early frontrunner for Time Magazine's Man of the Year. The poll, which opened on Friday (March 24), saw Duterte at the top spot with 4 percent of the votes as of Sunday (March 26).

On his heels was Pope Francis with 3 percent of the votes.

###

NYT: An inside look at the Philippines president's deadly war against drugs

Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Brehulak

THE NEW YORK TIMES published a grisly photo essay by Daniel Brehulak today (Dec. 7) that takes an intimate look at the war on drugs encouraged by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

"I have worked in 60 countries," writes Pulitzer Prize winner Brehulak, "covered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and spent much of 2014 living inside West Africa’s Ebola zone, a place gripped by fear and death. What I experienced in the Philippines felt like a new level of ruthlessness: police officers’ summarily shooting anyone suspected of dealing or even using drugs, vigilantes’ taking seriously Mr. Duterte’s call to “slaughter them all.”

"He (Duterte) said in October, 'You can expect 20,000 or 30,000 more.'”

WARNING: The photos are graphic and not for the weak of heart.

The photographer said in his 35 days in the Manila area, he went to 46 crimes scenes and viewed 57 victims of homicide.

So far, 2,000 alleged drug dealers or users have been killed by the police alone. (That's KILLED, not "arrested" or "jailed.") That doesn't include the killings by so-called self-anointed vigilantes made up of a mixed bag of off-duty military, police, private security or rival drug dealers - who have taken Duterte's words to heart or simply want to eliminate the competition.

RELATED: NYT needs to expand definition of Asian/American

Last Friday (Dec. 2), President-elect Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Duterte during which Trump praised the Philippines strongman, according to Duterte.

“If you listen to how Trump talks to me now, I have already turned into a saint,” Duterte said in a speech at the presidential palace.

By contrast, he said, Obama pictured “the Philippines – well of course, including me – to be murderers and everything.”

Duterte said Trump told him: “You’re doing great. I know what’s your worry about these Americans criticising you. You are doing good, go ahead.”

The Philippine president said that Trump invited him to visit him in New York City or Washington D.C.

Reports of the phone conversation drew a reaction from the White House. “The position of this administration, the current U.S. government, is simply that extrajudicial killings are entirely inconsistent with the notion of the rule of law and the commitment to upholding basic, universal human right," said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. "Signaling a willingness to backtrack from those values is bad for our individual relations, but it also degrades our ability to exert our influence around the world."

The Trump team did not make any statements about the conversation with Duterte.

###

NY Times: When Linsanity happened

Restaurateur David Chang was interviewed in the New York Times video about Jeremy Lin.

THE NEW YORK TIMES put together yesterday (Oct. 25) a video (see below) about Linsanity that talks about the impact basketball player Jeremy Lin had on all Asian/Americans that goes way beyond the basketball court.

He's not the greatest b-ball player, not even among the elite, but his play is good enough for the NBA and there are times when he can be spectacular. But it is his mere presence in an arena where you rarely see Asian/Americans that is significant.

You talk about a bamboo ceiling, Lin's journey is circuitous but something that will be talked about for generations!

RELATED:

• Jeremy Lin gets real
• What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?
• Fit in or be true to yourself?
• Lin opens up about race

In a commentary accompanying the video, NYT writer Andrew Keh said:

"An absence of reference points for Asian identity in popular culture has helped create a perpetual stream of hackneyed encounters, for men and women, children and adults.

"'In elementary school, it was Jackie Chan,' my friend Daniel Sin, a fellow hoops addict and Korean-American, told me about playing pickup ball. 'In high school, it was Yao Ming. At the gym now, it’s Jeremy Lin. When it first happened, around Linsanity, I thought: Nice. At least I’m a guard now.'”

The remarks by the interviewees that featured some prominent Asian/Americans such as Eddie Huang, Jeff Yang and Randall Park put Lin's ascendancy in the context of where Asian/Americans fit into today's pop culture.

Lin himself has often expressed the burden of being one of the few Asian/Americans in the NBA and the racial taunts and slights that go along with that.

“You can just take the racial element alone,” Lin said on the Brooklyn Nets media day last month. “You can add on so many other factors, but really anything I do is hyper-magnified in a good way or a bad way. People are quick to discount me or say certain things because of my race. And when I do well, people are quick to say he’s so amazing, he’s the truth, whatever, because of my race, because of the way I look." 

"There's this whole thing where it's OK to make fun of certain guys more than it is other guys," Lin tells Pablo S. Torre of ESPN. "And Asians are very easy to make fun of. We're the model minority. So everyone can joke about Asians: They're nice people, respectful people; they won't do anything." He thinks about this dynamic often. "People look at me, and they've always jumped to conclusions. They don't see toughness. But how do you define that?"

Lin is back in the nation's biggest media market that drives much of what is written about across the nation's newsrooms and delivered to U.S.'s readers. You can expect the scrutiny that he receives in New York City, where Linsanity began when he was with the New York Knicks, to only intensify. 

Jeremy Lin's journey is not over but even if he doesn't make the NBA record books or into the NBA Hall of Fame, he's already made his mark in the world. Somewhere on hardwood courts or outdoor playgrounds, there are Asian/American kids dribbling basketballs or  shooting hoops dreaming of becoming a pro-basketball player - just like Jeremy Lin. 

ESPN's Pablo Torre wrote the first indepth article about Jeremy Lin that touched on his race and stereotypes.
Read it here.

###

New York Times: Conversation about Asian Americans continues

A WHITE WOMAN'S racist attack telling a New York Times editor to "go back to China" has sparked a dialogue about race, Asian/Americans and America.

First there was a front page open letter written by the affronted deputy metro editor Michael Luo, followed by a video under the hashtag #ThisIs2016 featuring Asian/Americans and the micro and macro aggressions that they had suffered.

That sparked a response from South Asians and Filipinos who felt slighted by not being included in the video.

For the next chapter, the NYTimes brought together some writers, journalists, academics and one politician to continue #ThisIs2016 part three. The conversation was interesting, thoughtful and provides a jumping off point for the rest of us to talk to our children, our co-workers and with each other. 

Here's a sample:

"Can I ask you all a counter-intuitive question?" asks Anand Giridharadas, author of The True American. "What do you think is our role, as members of these communities, in helping white America adjust to its new role in a new America? There is a view out there that says: 'It’s your problem to learn not to be racist, your problem to let go of privilege.' And there is a different view that says: 'We’re not going to get anywhere near equality and harmony without helping white America get there.' Because it is a 400-year-fact that is ending, and right or wrong, the change is hard."

RELATED: An open letter to the New York Times; expand the definition of Asian American

3:27 PM ET

"As challenging as this is," responds sociologist Anthony Christian Ocampo from Cal Poly in Pomona, California. "I think exercising empathy is a start – empathy for the pain that our fellow community members experience, empathy for those who feel we are excluding them, and even empathy for those who aren’t as “woke” for whatever reason. As writers and journalists, our job is to usher people toward the right side of history. As much as we’d like to just rush them, we can’t."

How do you handle the micro-aggressions that seem to be part of our everyday lives? What do you tell your children about the racism that they will encounter throughout their lives? Is it time to redefine the term "Asian American?" Why do brown Asians and South Asians feel excluded in conversations about Asian America? Was it right for Luo to respond to the white woman's attack?

Unfortunately, the participants didn't come up with any definitive answers because these are tough questions. However,  their discussion will definitely get us talking among ourselves as we - along with the rest of the country - struggle with the changes that are occurring in our society.

The New York Times has devoted considerable time and resources to encourage this dialogue. Hopefully, the newspaper will continue to help answer some of these questions because the issue is not going away any time soon.

I recommend that you read the entire New York Times article moderated by Luo. Be part of the ongoing conversation.

###