Asian American lawyer named U.S. Attorney for Maryland

ROBERT K. HUR

By Brittney Le
ASAM NEWS

LAST WEEK, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Robert K. Hur as Maryland’s U.S. Attorney, reports WBOC TV 16. The 45-year-old Asian/American will be succeeding Rod Rosenstein, who left the post to become deputy attorney general.

The Korean/American barrister was nominated by Donald Trump in November and was supported by both Republicans and Democrats. The Baltimore Sun reported that Hur’s confirmation for his new position was delayed by unrelated questions about the Department of Justice’s probe of the 2016 presidential election.

“Marylanders have been anxiously awaiting confirmation of our next U.S. Attorney,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md, adding that he is confident Hur would “focus on protecting Marylanders across our state.”

Hur has served as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General since June 2017. He has degrees from both Harvard and Stanford and has clerked for Chief Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist. He also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for Maryland from 2007 to 2014, prosecuting gang violence, drug trafficking and firearm offenses, and white-collar crimes.

“Working together with local, state, and federal partners, I’m confident we can move forward on the pressing issues facing our state,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md..
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SUNDAY READ: Aikido-like strategy thwarts Trump's anti-immigrant agenda

BY USING a technique or strategy employed in Asian martial arts, the Democrats have twisted Donald Trump into a position he doesn't like, but is forced to accept.

The battle over immigration, which includes DACA and a radical overhaul of America's immigration policies, is also a battle of fighting philosophies by pitting traditional western values of having a winner and a loser in every confrontation; versus the eastern philosophy of winning by having your opponent think they've just scored a win, also.

By leaving DACA off the table in the wheeling and dealing preceding this budget bill, Democrats essentially removed Trump's biggest bargaining chip in order to get all that he wants in the immigration policies he proposes, which includes cutting immigration in half, removing family reunification (maligned by Trump as "chain migration") as the key priority for immigrants and allowing immigrants with "special skills" to remain in America and bring their families to the U.S.

REACTION: Trump signs bill even though his wall didn't get fully funded

Democrats are hoping that the court ruling that mandates DACA to remain in effect will buy them time to work out a simple up-and-down vote on DACA without all the rigamarole that would be involved if linked with Trump's harmful immigration policies.

Aikido, perhaps provides the best example of what is happening on the budget bill. Faced with a clash of views over immigration/DACA, instead of having a physical confrontation, by using only the gnetlest of movements, rechannel the opponent's (Trump) energy to send him hurtling past his objective, neutralised without his chief weapon (DACA) to use against the Democrats' unwillingness to vote for his immigration plan meant to slow people coming from Asia, Africa and Latin America, thus putting off for decades the inevitable colorization of America.

In Aikido and other Asian-originated martial arts, conflict is seen as unavoidable, but in the the cut-throat arena of western capitalism where the Trumps of the world operate, we're too quick to assume that any given conflict is also a contest – a zero-sum game, in which one side wins by making the other lose. 

Treat a friendship, job or marriage like a contest, and you've already determined how you'll respond: by trying to score points until someone admits defeat. (Often, that'll be you. And even if you "win" a battle with a partner or friend, the damage to the relationship may feel like a loss.) 

"You know why on some days it seems as if everybody's winning but you?" the authors of Aikido In Everyday Life ask. "Because you've bought into an imaginary, arbitrary system where everything's a contest and there are no ties – just sudden-death playoffs." You can only lose a contest once you've agreed to play by its rules.

The point of Aikido isn't to pretend that conflict doesn't exist, or that you should claim the moral high ground and refuse to fight. It's that there are other ways to fight. You could use the tactic they call "doing nothing": pause, temporarily offering no response while your opponent exhausts his arguments, or even starts to argue himself round to your side. 

Or you could choose "aiki", the highest principle of aikido, which translates roughly as "blending" with the attacker, then turning his or her energies away from confrontation to resolution. How? First, seek "confluence" with your opponent, for example by conceding that his feelings are understandable, or that she might have a point. Then, use the surprised pause that follows to take the lead, reframing the problem as a shared one. 

Instead of fighting Trump's anti-immigrant views by attempting to block all his proposals, the Democrats have given him some money for border security, but not enough for the Damned Wall,  give additional money for ICE, but not enough for the full-fledged Gestapo and not enough for the thousands of new detention beds for would-be deportees.

By not including DACA in the budget, the Democrats have removed Trump's hostage, that he wants to exchange for his lamely disguised racist immigration policies.

When faced with such hardline opposing philsophies, ask yourself: is this conflict a contest? It probably needn't be. Every thrust needn't have a parry or riposte.

Trump's aggressiveness was turned against him and he still doesn't know what happened.
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Skater Nathan Chen finally gets his gold medal

SCREEN CAPTURE

Nathan Chen finishes his near-perfect routine.

WITH HIS disappointing Olympic performance still fresh in his memory, American Nathan Chen won the World Championship in convincing fashion, almost 50 points above his nearest competitor.

"I felt the pressure, but I used what I learned from the Olympics and tried to bring it here,” Chen said, “’Having that experience will propel me in the future better than if I had done the short program better.”

The 18-year old successfully repeated his Olympic long-program feat of six quads that almost put him with reach of the medals podium but falling short in fifth place. This time, his competitors were the ones making the mistakes: 14 sprawls, splats, and tumbles among five competitors as they attempted the all-mighty quad. There were three falls by silver medalist Shoma Uno of Japan, who matched his Olympic silver, and two by Mikhail Kolyada of Russia, who took bronze.

Skating last, Chen said he knew the others made mistakes and that gave him the confidence to attempt six quads knowing he had a little cushion in case he made an error.

Fellow American Vincent Zhou, the youngest skater on the Olympic team, fell three times in the final skate, tumbling to 14th place after a strong short program put him within striking distance of the podium.

By winning the world championships on Saturday, Chen became the first U.S. male singles skater to do so since Evan Lysacek in 2009 and the youngest man from any nation since Yevgeny Plushenko in 2001.

“I can’t even begin to describe how angry I am at myself for letting such an important FS [free skate] get away from me,” tweeted Zhou.

Even though Olympic gold medal winner Yuzuru Hanyu and bronze medalist Javier Fernandez, did not compete at worlds, Chen said he values this victory no less.

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Chen and Zhou in position to medal at skatings' World Championship

Nathan Chen

LOOKING very much like the Nathan Chen we expected to see at the recently concluded Olympics,, Nathan Chen sits atop the standings after the short program at the World Championship in Milan, Italy.

Fellow U.S. Olympian, Vincent Zhou, the youngest member of Team USA, skated the best short program of his life and is in third place in the men's figure skating competition.

Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada is in second heading into Saturday’s free skate.

Chen, the gold medal favorite in the Olympics, seeks to redeem himself after finishing a disappointing fifth the Olympic Winter Games in PyongChang, South Korea last month. He fell repeatedly while attempting his quads in his short program putting him in 17th position.

In the Olympics long program, Chen attempted a comeback with a record-breaking six quads to zoom back near the top but it wasn't enough to place him on the medals podium.

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Trump signs budget even though his wall didn't get fully funded

SEN. RAND PAUL

Sen. Rand Paul , who urged a veto, doubts if anyone has read the 2,232 page budget bill before voting on it.

DONALD TRUMP said today (March 23) he has signed the 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion spending bill that the House and Senate approved Wednesday (March 21), funding the government through September and preventing a government shutdown.

The announcement came hours after the president threatened to veto the bill because it did not provide enough funding for the Damn Wall on the Mexican border or a final resolution for immigrants brought to the country as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Let's get this straight: Trump doesn't care about the DACA immigrants. First, he was the one who rescinded DACA simply because it was initiated by President Obama and set up an artificial deadline for a Congressional fix. Trump was only using DACA as a bargaining chip to pass his harsh, radical reform of immigration policies and to build his Damn Wall.

“While this agreement includes funding for many important programs for Hawaii and the country, I am deeply disappointed that it does not protect the 1.8 million Dreamers Donald Trump unnecessarily put at risk when he canceled DACA," said Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono.

"The president created this crisis, and he has sabotaged every effort we’ve made to protect Dreamers," she said.

The fate of 130,000 Asian Dreamers out of the 700,000 to 800,000 young people in the DACA program, are still in a holding pattern after a federal judge ruled that the program must continue to operate until Congress can come up with a bill to resolve their uncertain status. Besides the Dreamers, hundreds of thousands would-be DACA participants who didn't join the program, await the legislation that would settle their status.

RELATED: 

• What did Congress just pass for immigrants?
• Dreamers still in limbo

“DACA recipients have been treated extremely badly by the Democrats. We wanted to include DACA, we wanted to have them in this bill,” Trump said. “The Democrats would not do it." He neglected to say that he was the one to set an artificial deadline for the program's end and that he nexed bipartisan proposals that included relief for the DACA participants..

Trump was clearly irked by the reduced level of border security funding. While Republicans and Trump have said the bill funds Trump's "wall," it was far short of the $25 billion they initially wanted. Instead only $1.6 billion will go to the wall. After displaying the temperment of a spoiiled child that didn't get what he wanted during the bill's signing, by Wednesday night, Trump tweeted that he “Got $1.6 Billion to start Wall on Southern Border, rest will be forthcoming.”

Democrats and some Republicans sought to extend the DACA program but Trump reportedly did not want to give the undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship as part of that deal, as Democrats wanted.

At least one Democrat preferred a Trump veto. "I agree with Rep @Jim_Jordan. Republican leadership didn't just drop a 2300 page spending bill at night. They also forced a rule waiver that made rank & file Members of Congress vote for the $1.3 trillion bill in less than 24 hours. That is outrageous," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA, who has opposed Trump in almost all other matters.

“This bill reflects priorities that are very different from the president’s. In many ways—and particularly on education, affordable housing, healthcare, and clean energy—it is a strong repudiation of Donald Trump’s misplaced priorities," said Hirono. "I hope this bill connotes a sustained Congressional commitment to stand up for our families and communities."

Among the other items included in the bill:

Gun violence prevention: Modest steps to address gun violence by strengthening the background check system to prevent dangerous individuals from owning a gun -- and explicit language that says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can conduct gun violence research.

Health care: A $3 billion increase in funding for medical research -- while not defunding Planned Parenthood.

Child care and education: A $610 million increase for Head Start, a program that helps educate kids whose families live below the poverty level.

Climate, environment: A rejection of this White House's plan to cut the EPA by 30%. This bill will increase funding by $763 million, including $300 million each for Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Funds.

2020 Census: A funding increase of $1.4 billion -- more than double what the flawed administration plan requested -- to make sure we accurately count our population, and don't leave anyone behind.

Opioids epidemic: A $3.2 billion increase in funding to fight the latest scourge.

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TGIF Feature: Aziz Ansari laying low, but 'doing great'

Aziz Ansari

ASAM NEWS

TWO MONTHS after being accused of pushing a woman into having unwanted sex during a date, Aziz Ansari remains out of the public eye.
However, Adam Scott, who appeared alongside Ansari in NBC’s Parks and Recreation says the fellow actor “is doing great.”

“I don’t know what to say on the record about Aziz,’ Scott said to Vulture. ‘I don’t want to say anything that could be misconstrued.”

RELATED: Accusations against Aziz Ansari sparks debate

Ansari has not made a public appearance since the accusations. He even skipped the Screen Actors Guild Awards despite being up for a nomination in the Best Acting category for Master of None.

In an interview in Babe, his date accused Ansari of continuing to pursue sex despite her cues to the contrary.

“I know I was physically giving off cues that I wasn’t interested,” she told Babe. “I don’t think that was noticed at all, or if it was, it was ignored.”

Ansari has acknowledged going on the date and said he was “surprised and concerned” after the accusation which she made the next day to him in a text.

He said “he took her words at heart” and continues to support the #MeToo movement.

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Federal budget battle over immigration

Border wall prototypes get no funding.

REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS neared agreement on a $1.3 trillion spending bill today (March 21) that undercuts Donald Trump’s $25 billion request for a wall along the Mexican border and turned down his administration’s request for increased funding for immigrant detention facilities and additional border patrol agents.

At the center of the debate is the huge increase sought by the Donald Trump administration for the Department of Homeland Security to build Trump's Damn Wall, expand the number of beds for immigrant detainees and to hire more federal agents to patrol U.S. borders and the increasing the ICE raids in the nation's interior.

Unfortunately, efforts to protect young immigrants known as “Dreamers” have fallen to the wayside, according to several reports, but Democrats appeared likely to sign off on $1.6 billion in border wall funding, albeit with certain conditions, The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources.

Congress has until Friday, March 23, to work out how to fund the government for the next six months or face another government shutdown.

Democrats, whose votes in the Republican-controlled Congress are needed to pass the spending bill, are pushing back against the $25-billion Damn Wall that they see as a waste of money.

Interestingly, there is no resolution for the DACA program in the budget debate. Trump blames the Democrats for opposing a legislative solution to the fate of 700,000 to 800,000 Dreamers.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, called Trump a liar said it's not true that Democrats are not helping to end the standoff over the fate of Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program recipients — undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

“The President constantly accuses the Democrats for not supporting DACA when he's the one who created the crisis to begin with and he's the one who defeated the bipartisan bill that would have protected 1.8 million Dreamers,” said Hirono. “But you know, we all know that he lies every single day, so that's that.”

More than likely, court orders to maintain the DACA program until Congress could come up with a bipartisan solution, have reduced the urgency for legislative action. especially when its fate is linked Trump's immigration reform proposals, Trump bogged down the efforts for a DACA resolution when he linked the program's fate with his radical immigration reform proposals.

Although during the election campaign candidate Trump claimed that the wall would cost only $12 billion, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internal report in February put the cost at $21.6 billion, but even that may be a major underestimate if you factor in the legal costs of lawsuits by civil rights groups and private landowners along the border.

A coalition of 83 Latino, African/American and Asian/American members of the House of Representatives also wrote this week to congressional leaders urging them to “reduce funding to DHS’s detention and deportation machine.”

Republicans need to weigh the cost of Trump's border war vs. the massive increases to the national debt, the latter of which most GOP congressional representatives campaign against.

Republican leaders need Democratic votes in both chambers to pass the bill so Democrats have some leverage. They have rejected calls for increased funding for detention facilities and 850 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

According to Roll Call sources, there wouild be a $1.6 down payment for a border barrier but it would be for “fencing” only, not a concrete wall, and would provide for just 33 miles of new barriers, not the prototypes inspected by Trump last week amidst fanfare and protests at the California-Mexico border.

Trump lost out on his bid for more money to house 10,000 more undocumented immigrants in detention facilities and to hire 850 more Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. The measure also would not cut off federal funds for so-called sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal authorities on immigration law.

Additionally, the budget measure, as of Wednesday, would not cut federal funding for sanctuary cities and states, jurisdictions that limit cooperation with ICE officials despite Trump's heated rhetoric against California's status as a "sanctuary" state.

There are other major items in the budget, which is beginning to look like a bipartisan bill.  That's something Trump needs to realize, in business, the art of the deal is a  win-lose situation all the time. In politics, the art of the deal via compromise, is to reach a position where it is win-win.
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Spelling lesson turns into a lesson against bigotry

Jennifer Thompson

A ROUND OF APPLAUSE to Jennifer Thompson for joining the fight against racial bias, 

The North Carolina mother said her first-grade daughter Emily received the word “gook” in a 10-word spelling assignment, reported the Gaston Gazette.

Jennifer Thompson is having none of that and turned the spelling lesson and lesson of race relations

Thompson was shocked when her 6-year-old daughter brought home a spelling list that included “gook,” a racist slur used denigrate and dehumanize people from Southeast Asia.

Merriam-Webster defines “gook” as “an insulting and contemptuous term for a nonwhite, non-American person and especially for an Asian person,” and describes the slur as a variation of the word, “guck,” which is defined as “oozy, sloppy dirt or debris.”

The term was first used in the Philippine-American war to describe the language being spoken by Filipinos without even understanding the number of dialects they were hearing. To the American soldier, it all sounded the same.

The racist slur continued to be common slang in the American military to describe the Asian enemies, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Last week, the word created a teachable moment that the mother neither intended nor wanted for a first-grader.

“We had to explain to Emily why she could not say the word and not to use it,” Thompson told the Gaston Gazette.
After Thompson contacted the teacher, the unnamed instructor told her that the students were learning words with similar sounds such as “look,” “took” and, yes, that racist slur.

“They said they were going off the word sounds and not necessarily the meanings,” Thompson told the paper.

Gaston County Schools schools spokesman Todd Hagans told the Gaston Gazette that the inclusion of the slur was merely “an oversight by the teacher” and that “she never meant to be insensitive.”

The slur will not appear in future spelling lists, he said.

Thompson said she told the teacher that her child would not be spelling the word on any test and would not be using it. She said the teacher told her the child would not be penalized for skipping that word.

Thompson told the Gazette that she was so concerned about the word because it could normalize a hateful word.

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Man who killed his 'bully' neighbor wants death penalty

PASCO COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE

Qiu Feng Ke admits to killing his neighbor after being harassed for two years.

ASAM NEWS

A FLORIDA MAN who is accused of killing his neighbor says he’ll plead guilty if he is promised the death penalty, reports TampaBay.com.

Qiu Feng Ke told Fox 4 in January that he killed his neighbor, Edward Lee Tudor, who he accused of adult bullying,

Ke offered to plead guilty in a March 13 letter to Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Mary Handsel, reported TampaBay.com.

“Death sentence is a win-win for every side involved in this case,” he said in that letter.

What Ke is offering to do may not be allowed under the law.

“You cannot plead guilty for the death penalty,” Stetson University College of Law Professor Charles Rose said.

He said only Florida juries can recommend the death penalty.

Ke say he has been angered by incessant noise coming from Tudor’s home for two years. He blamed his neighbor for banging his walls and yelling profanity.

Ke is accused of continuing to shoot Tudor as the man begged for his life.
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Professor awaiting deportation hearing released from detention

SCREEN CAPTURE

Kansas professor Syed Ahmed Jamal was greeted by his wife outside the Pleatte County Jail Tuesday.

THE COURTROOM broke out into applause when a judge freed the Kansas professor being detained by ICE as a prelude to his deportation.
U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark said Tuesday (March 20) that though the government was entitled to detain Syed Ahmed Jamal for a reasonable period of time, his lack of a criminal history and his strong ties to Lawrence favored his release.

Jamal, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years and taught chemistry at the college level, had overstayed his visa and was detained by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in front of his home on Jan. 24 as he was preparing to take his daughter to school.

Although he is out of jail, that doesn't end the deportation proceedings against Jamal. The father of three is still waiting to hear whether he'll be deported.

The judge's ruling is a major legal victory for Jamal, 55, whose plight drew national attention after he was arrested on Jan. 24 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the front lawn of his Lawrence, Kansas, home as he was about to take his daughter to school.

ICE tried to deport Jamal Feb. 13 when, without notifying his attorneys, put him on a plane back to his home country. His legal team scrambled and was able to get a court to issue a stay of the deportation order until his hearings are over. Jamal was taken off the plane in Honolulu, HI, and returned to the Platte County Jail where he has been since.

The Kansas City community, neighbors and friends have rallied around Jamal''s plight.

A bill has been introduced in Congress that would override the deportation order and allow Jamal to remain in the U.S.

As he left the Platte County Jail, his wife and children were there to greet him. His 7-year old son said, "Dad, I haven't seen you in forever!"
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Larry Kwong: first minority in NHL passes away

Larry Kwong

ASAM NEWS

THE FIRST MINORITY to play in the National Hockey League has died at the age of 94 in Calgary, reports the Calgary Herald.
Larry Kwong played for the New York Rangers against the Montreal Canadians in 1948, just a year after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color barrier.

His total time on the ice was just 1 minute, but his impact remains even today.

His popularity inspired two different nicknames, the China Clipper and King Kwong. As the top scorer of his minor league team, the New York Rovers.

Kwong’s close friend, Chad Soon, has vivid memories of Kwong’s New York minute.

“He took a train to Montreal and I think the starting lineup for the Canadiens had five Hall of Fame players,” Soon said to CBC.” “He was doing flips is what I remember him telling me. (His chance) didn’t come until the third period. With just a few minutes left, he finally got the tap and was over the boards.”

Kwong was sent back to the minor leagues and never got a chance to play in the NHL again.

“I think there was a slow burn there, where he was seeing players of lesser ability were getting the opportunity and he wasn’t,” said Soon.

Kwong’s devotion to hockey kept him into the game. He played in senior leagues in both Canada and Europe and became a scoring star.

In 2013, Kwong was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.

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Why it's OK for an Asian American actor to play an idiot

JASON MENDOZA is not too bright, but people love him.

“He’s not your typical hardworking nerdy Asian stereotype,” Manny Jacinto says of his role in The Good Place. “He is the complete opposite and it pushes forward a sense that not every Asian is going to be smart and hardworking.”

The writers wanted the character to be easy, going and simple minded because they noticed that "there are no dumb Asians in mainstream media," the Filipino/Canadian actor tells Mochi in an interview. Jacinto is no dummy.

Jason is "not defined by his ethnicity, so you don’t hear him speak Tagalog or Mandarin or whatever it may be. He’s really, at the end of the day, a person, just like any other individual,” says Jacinto.

In contrast to Jason, Jacinto has apparently given some serious thought about his good fortune landing the role in a hit series.  “I want to be able to inspire the next kid, the young kid, to have somebody to look up to in a sense, that they can be this or be that,” he says. “That was the biggest part for me—for Asian males specifically to not just be an Asian nerd or an Asian martial artist.”

“It really kills me how Asian males are being emasculated, especially in TV and film,” he says. “I’ve definitely been a victim of discrimination and that’s one of the biggest reasons that I stay in this game—so I can change that.”

“Bottom line: We are actors first. We are creators first. We are artists first,” he says. ”And by taking hold of that identity rather than being an Asian actor, we can do a lot more.”

This doesn't mean his background gets erased or ignored — just the opposite. Jason Mendoza gets to be Filipino/Canadian, and a huge Blake Bortles tan who has a fondness for EDM and favors the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Like all of us, Jacinto and the character he plays are the intersection of a lot of weird and wonderful things. Why shouldn't TV show all of that?

Representation matters, Jacinto tells GQ magaine. "Seeing someone like you, with your skin color, spiritual background, age, sexual orientation, or disability is no small thing. It can inspire, change minds, and move people to act. Every role on every show gives Hollywood another chance to get it right. Not just for top talent, but for the children ... (and adults) watching and wondering if anyone sees them too."

In one episode, Jason laments to a costar played by Kristen Bell, “Everyone here thinks I’m Taiwanese. I’m Filipino. That’s racist. Heaven is so racist.”

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Nat'l Council of Churches launches initiative to fight "entrenched" racism in U.S.

On April 3-5, 2018 the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and its partners will gather in Washington, D.C. for a historic event to launch its Truth and Racial Justice Initiative. 

"As we mark 50 years since the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, we will commit to do our part to eradicate the entrenched racism that grips the United States and paralyzes our ability to see every human being as equal," reads a press release.

On the rally website the group states:

"The time is now! The National Council of Churches is committed to eradicating the entrenched racism that grips the United States and paralyzes our ability to see every human being as equal. In partnership with others, we confront this systemic evil in which even church people and structures are complicit and complacent. We challenge our communities and ourselves to join in truth-telling conversations leading to actions that right the wrongs, and thereby, with God’s grace, bring healing and wholeness to all people, and unity to the nation."

"We challenge ourselves and our communities to join in truth-telling, leading to actions that right the wrongs, and, with God’s grace, bring healing and wholeness to all people, and unity to the nation.

• AWAKEN ourselves to the truth that racism is ever-present, deeply rooted in American culture, and profoundly damaging to our communities.
• CONFRONT racism, speak truth to ourselves, our communities and institutions, and stand against injustice.
• TRANSFORM the hearts, minds, and behaviors of people and structures that shape society.

Interiior Secretary doesn't understand how 'Konnichiwa' was an insult

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke doesn't understand his racist gaffe during a hearing.

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR Ryan Zinke thought he was being welcoming by greeting Rep. Colleen Hanabusa with a Japanese greeting "Konnichiwa."

During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing today on the Department of Interior’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal, Secretary Ryan Zinke responded to Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) by making a racially insensitive comment in reference to her Japanese heritage.

After hearing her appeal to reinstate funding for a program that would preserve the WWII detention camps for Japanese Americans during which he told the secretary that her own grandparents were placed in those internment camps, Zinke's first response was "Oh,  Konnichiwa," the Japanese afternoon greeting.

Zinke got zinged on social meda for what many Asian/Americans saw as an insensitive remark at best, an insult at worst.

On Saturday (March 17), Zinke asked reporters: "How could ever saying 'good morning' be bad?"

RELATED: Zinke's racist remark mars Congressional hearing

Well, let's count the ways.

First, since it was still morning, the correct greeting in Japanese would be ‘ohayo gozaimasu’ as Hanabusa corrected him.

Secondly, Hanabusa was born and raised in Hawaii, which (in case Zinke needs to be reminded) is one of the states in the U.S.A. She is a fourth-generation American.

“Whether intentional or not, his comments invoke the offensive stereotype that Asian Americans are perpetual foreigners regardless of how long their families have lived in the United States," said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. "What is even more alarming is that Secretary Zinke made this stereotype immediately after my colleague discussed the abhorrent racial prejudice that her grandparents and other Japanese Americans endured during World War II due to government-sanctioned profiling.

“It is absolutely outrageous that Interior Secretary Zinke chose to racialize Congresswoman Hanabusa’s identity after she spoke about the importance of preserving funding for the Japanese American Confinement Sites where nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Rather than greet her like he would any other Member of Congress, he responded to her as if she did not speak any English.

It would have been especially cool if Hanabusaresponded in German, the language of Zinke's immigrant ancestors, "Sprechen wir doch auf Englisch" (Let's speak in English.).

“Secretary Zinke’s remark was both inappropriate for the occasion and insensitive to Congresswoman Hanabusa, who had just imparted a deeply personal story of her grandfathers both being held in internment camps," said the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in a statement. 

"Instead of showing sensitivity toward the subject and Representative Hanabusa, Secretary Zinke chose that inopportune time to share his lack of Japanese cultural knowledge when he responded flippantly, ‘Oh, Konnichiwa’ rather than offer a serious reply to the Congresswoman’s question. His remark also demonstrates the “perpetual foreigner” problem faced by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) tweeted in response: "Nope. Racism is not ok."

The exchange also drew the ire of Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who slammed Zinke for acting "flippant" and "juvenile" in his response to Hanabusa's question.

Hanabusa tweeted Saturday night she wanted to focus on how the "administration ignored one of the most racially motivated periods in American history by defunding the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant program." She also wrote that when Zinke "decided to greet me in Japanese (when no one else was greeted in their ancestral language), I understood this is precisely why Japanese Americans were treated as they were more than 75 years ago."

The most appropriate response Zinke should have made would have been to acknowledge Rep. Hanabusa’s tragic story and respect the history of the incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans as a shameful, a dark chapter in U.S. history that should be remembered as such by this administration.  

"Zinke’s gaffe demonstrates how little we have learned from our history and why the administration must continue to fund these memorials,” concluded the AAAJ statement.
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Missing teen found in Mexico with married man

Sixteen-year old Amy Yu and her mother Mui Luu.

ASAM NEWS

A MISSING Pennsylvania teen who disappeared to Mexico with a 45-year-old man has been found and has been returned to the United States, reports ABC.

The two were found in the Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen.

“I’m really happy. Please let everyone know,” Amy Yu’s mother, Mui Luu, told ABC News. CNN reports that Yu was unharmed and in good health. 

Kevin Esterly

The older man, Kevin Esterly, was also returned to the United States to face charges in Pennsylvania. The family said Yu and Esterly, who is married with four children, knew each other through church and were in a secret relationship for one year. The girl’s mom said the two exchanged hundreds of texts.

A passenger told CNN he was “close to 100 percent” certain he saw Esterly and Yu board a flight to Mexico. The two asked passengers to exchange seats so that they could sit together.

“It seemed odd the way she was leaning up against him and how he was rubbing her leg and it seemed like his hand was quivering a little bit,” said the witness, Frank Castrovinci.

“The Allentown Police Department would like to thank Homeland Security Investigations, Policia Federal Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit and the United States Marshals Service for their help in locating Amy Yu and Kevin Esterly,” Allentown police said in a statement quoted by Lehigh Valley Live.

It’s not clear what charges Esterly will face. “The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape told CNN the age of consent for sexual activity in Pennsylvania is 16.

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Sunday Read: Being always on guard because of one's race can tax workers emotionally and mentally

Illustrative Photo by Sodanie Chea Via Flickr Creative Commons

By Louis Chan
ASAM NEWS

JACKIE YOUNG felt highly valued by her company when she was first hired for a sales position, but that quickly changed.

Jackie connected with people she knew to market a company event designed to increase the corporation’s exposure in the public eye and also to bring in new vendors.

“This event had a great turn out, but when my boss stood at the doorway looking in she turned to me and said, “Why are there so many Chinese?” recalled Young to AsAmNews. “I was quite offended as to why she would think this would appear to be an issue with her, and standing before her (me), a Chinese/American. Less than a third of the public in the room were Chinese, so there really weren’t that many.”

Young explained she had used her “personal connections” as she was taught in training and described one of her friends as a Pied Piper” who invited other friends, some who happen to be Asian and others who were not.

“After I explained this to my boss as she stood at the entrance, shook her head and said “'No, no,' and walked away. That was the first sign to me that she has subconscious bias or should I just say she’s racist?”

Young’s experience mirrors that of other people of color, according to a new report released by Catalyst, a nonprofit dedicated to building “workplaces that work for women.”

The report entitled Day-to-Day Experiences of Emotional Tax Among Women and Men of Color in The Workplace found that Asian, Black, Latinx, and multiracial professionals pay an emotional tax at work when they feel they must be on guard to protect against racial and gender bias.

“Emotional Tax is the day-to-day experience of having to be on guard for experiences of bias and the impact of that on the ability to thrive at work and in life,” said Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon of Catalyst to AsAmNews. “We define it as “the combination of feeling different from peers at work because of gender, race, and/or ethnicity and the associated effects on health, well-being, and ability to thrive at work.”’

Out of the 1569 professionals surveyed, 24 percent of the respondents were Asian with the average age of all respondents 35. Women made up 51 percent. 

One respondent identified as Ying, a 27-year old Asian business woman, was among those who took part.

“Once I was given a writing assignment about defensive driving techniques,” said Ying. “Although I liked the subject, I felt very on guard when it was read aloud to me, as well as everyone else in our meeting. I braced myself for the inevitable Asian/woman jokes. When they did come, I coped with it by smiling and shrugging it off so as not to cause tension.”

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In addition to examining women of color, the report's data reveal the Emotional Tax experiences of men of color in US workplaces: over one-quarter of Asian, Black, Latinx and multiracial men who are on guard anticipate bias because of their gender, and, in general, far more experience Emotional Tax. 

According to the Catalyst findings, Asian men experience a sort of double jeopardy. When they act more assertively— contradicting the meek and passive stereotype—they may be penalized in the workplace while white men are commended and promoted for exhibiting the same behavioral traits.

Among the other findings of the survey are:

• Asian, Black, Latinx, and multiracial professionals pay an Emotional Tax at work when they feel they must be on guard to protect against racial and gender bias. 
• This experience was shared by nearly 60% of the women and men of color we surveyed. 
• Employees who feel on guard are most likely to want to leave their employers and face challenges to their well-being. 
• A majority of those who are on guard have a strong drive to contribute and succeed—suggesting that the loss of their talent would be detrimental to the organization. 
• To retain these valuable employees and address potential reasons for being on guard, leaders must cultivate inclusive workplaces.

"Women of color continue to deal with some of the workplace's most entrenched hurdles, such as pay inequities and near invisibility in top leadership roles, as well as daunting roadblocks that stifle the meaningful dialogue that would help make real progress," says Dnika J. Travis, PhD, Catalyst Vice President for Research. 

"Over time, these daily battles take a heavy toll on women of color, creating a damaging link between their health and the workplace. And because of consequences associated with Emotional Tax, companies must begin to take intentional action to avoid possible harm to their businesses and employees' health and well-being."

(Views From the Edge contributed to this report,)

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