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Posted by Andrew on Thursday, August 11 @ 10:00:00 EDT (11088 reads) |
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By Andy Doan
AndyCat
July 28, 2005
You will never know what it's like to be the only kid with black hair and
slanted eyes in your kindergarten class.
You will never know what it's like to be called Chinky Chinaman on the
playground at 5 years old.
You will never know what it's like to ask your 1st grade teacher about
Vietnam.
Only to have her tell you that all humans are created equal.
(Please.) |
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The Other Side of the Model Minority Myth
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, July 19 @ 13:14:13 EDT (8741 reads) |
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OmegaSupreme writes "By Daniel Hyukjoon Choi
©1992 Yisei Magazine
Spring, 1992
"So the Nisei generation kept their minds off the fact that they were Japanese, in order to become good nursery-men, good physicians, bankers, good photographers—whatever they became. It is [in] an era of relative prosperity that the Nisei created that the Sansei can ask themselves the question "What is my identity?" They didn’t have a problem of identity in the Nisei generation because they were too ambitious, they had a goal for themselves; they didn’t have a problem. They had too much work to do. It’s the college-educated, affluent Sansei who have an identity problem. I think it’s funny as hell."
-S.I. Hayakawa, former President of San Francisco State College, 1971
"Precisely because Asian Americans have become economically secure, do they face serious identity problems. Fully committed to a system that subordinates them on the basis of non-whiteness, Asian Americans still try to gain complete acceptance by denying their yellowness. They have become white in every respect but color."
-Amy Uyematsu, "The Emergence of Yellow Power in America," GIDRA, 1969. " |
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New Report Dispels Model Minority Myth
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What Does It Mean to Be a Chinese-Canadian?
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Posted by Andrew on Thursday, January 20 @ 10:00:00 EST (5890 reads) |
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OmegaSupreme writes "©2005 By Senator Vivienne Poy
Speech for Chinese-Canadian Cooperation Society and Chinese-Canadian Women's Co-operation Council
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
June 14, 2000
Friends,
First of all, I would like to thank the Chinese Canadian Women's Cooperation Council and the Chinese Canadian Cooperation Society for inviting me to speak this evening. You must wonder why I choose the topic of "What it means to be a Chinese-Canadian." You must think, "That’s pretty obvious – after all, that’s what we are!"
However, have you ever thought what it means to be ethnic Chinese in Canada, or have any of you ever been asked, either by your children or friends? Are we ethnic Chinese who just happen to live in Canada? Or are we supposed to be "Canadian" and give up our Chinese heritage? And if we keep our heritage, does that mean that we are not going to be accepted by Canadian society?
" |
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, December 21 @ 10:00:00 EST (4315 reads) |
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OmegaSupreme writes "By Shaun Tanaka
©2003 Ricepaper Magazine
October 2003
Canada prides itself on democratic principles of equality and fairness, and on the constitutional assurance of a cultural mosaic. Yet, our society is divided according to colour and ethnicity. This reality is pervasive and intractable, despite a resounding, collective denial by citizens, government and institutions alike. The margins of acceptability are constantly maintained in our every day lives: “SWM seeks SWF.” “Joe,” a White man in a plaid shirt, affirms in a television ad that yes, he is Canadian. Meanwhile, I constantly have to answer ubiquitous questions such as “Where are you from?” or “Well then, where are your parents from?” or “Which one of your parents isn’t an ordinary Canadian?” As if to be Asian, is to be from somewhere else. " |
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The Model Minority: Not Just One Stereotype
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Posted by Andrew on Friday, October 29 @ 10:00:00 EDT (9746 reads) |
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Jung-Eun writes "By C.J.
Special to ModelMinority.com
September 13, 2004
On March 3, 1991, Rodney King, an African American man was brutally beaten by police officers. This incident was caught on tape and the beating was shared across America through mass media and the national press. The jury for the trial of the officers acquitted all four. The eruption that followed in many cities was anger against the blatant racism of white America. But the vehement attacks fell on a third party, the other minorities in multiethnic inner cities, Latinos and Asians. The reasons, such as anger and frustration, at the existing system of justice, for such displaced reactions, are not far removed from the, black and white, conflict although the victims of such were not primary actors of the incident. In the infamous case, the 1992 L.A. riots, the African American community burned and looted the Korean American community. Many argue, the real motivation underscores a complex set of circumstances; social, economic, class, race, and poverty. In any case, stereotypes play an important role as it connects the two races, African Americans and Asian Americans, to the dominant white America.
" |
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From Philly to Boston: Rethinking the Model Minority
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, September 18 @ 10:00:00 EDT (7482 reads) |
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chea writes "By Charles Chea
Special to ModelMinority.com
September 15, 2004
When I first arrived at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, transferring from Drexel University in Philadelphia, I had my eyes set upon the vast collegiate connections and resources that Boston had to provide. As an outsider to Boston, I saw it as the stereotypical liberal hub of academia that it is perceived as by most outsiders. I had high hopes of finding a family of Asian Americans activists whose experience and expertise I could be a student and friend of. " |
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One Woman's Struggle for a Korean Identity
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Posted by Andrew on Friday, August 27 @ 10:00:00 EDT (7369 reads) |
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sonny1 writes "©2002 By Ryan Teague Beckwith
Paper for "Race & Ethnicity in the New Urban America"
Prof. Sig Gissler, Columbia University
Kristin Rutherford didn't discover that the correct term for her ethnicity is Asian — not Oriental — until she was a freshman in college.
"I had a friend who was half-Chinese and had grown up in Beijing," she said while eating lunch recently at a diner on Manhattan's Upper East Side. "I used the word in passing and she corrected me. ... She said, 'Oriental only refers to rugs and lamps.' It makes sense to me."
As a Korean adopted by a white family in rural Connecticut, Rutherford didn't know anything about her ethnic heritage until she was an adult. She didn't eat Korean food or learn the Korean alphabet until she was 20 years old. Her parents, she said, were always uninterested in Korea and its culture." |
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A Newfangled Version of Suzie Wong?
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, August 17 @ 10:00:00 EDT (5494 reads) |
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angryindian writes "American Neo-Asian Eugenics
©2004 Rev. Sequoyah Ade
August 2004
In 1993 mainstream American news periodical TIME published what many considered a groundbreaking special issue entitled “America’s Immigrant Challenge.” The cover showcased an image of a woman that would come to represent in the eyes of most U.S. residents a vision of what is to come in regards to the ever-increasing mix of multi-racial relationships within an unrestricted multi-ethnic environment. Utilising the revolutionary Morph 2.0 imaging program, the “experts” developed an ethno-racial collage from a selection of diverse subjects, (American Aboriginals, or Indians if you prefer were noticeably but not surprisingly left out of this selection) arriving at what readers could reasonably assume is the face of the near future: an Amer-Asian female with exotically tanned like skin.
As the e-mails and calls to TIME’s editorial offices flooded in, many within their self-described sophisticated readership hailed the issue as a milestone in American race relations signaling the effective end to the “race problem” and the heralding of a new age. Perhaps, as many openly and gleefully suggested, a new race of people was on the horizon. Combined with the American ideals of justice and fair play they argued, America has graciously opened the door to a one-race nation leading an increasingly globalised planet as the sole benevolent superpower. One people, one race, one ideal. What the responses to TIME’s issue on the whole did not query however was the concept of “ideal”. Exactly what standard is being utilized in this melding of peoples and why is the range of qualifying factors so limited given the immense diversity of the human species in terms of not only race and ethnicity, but in regards to cultural and spiritual paradigms as well? What I intend to argue in this essay will not sit well with most people who regard themselves as colourblind and accepting of all peoples and cultures. I present a challenge to these folk to examine their choices and positions in regards to the American racial politic and how those decisions effect the development of common social relations as well as the entire framework of economical, militarial, theological and political convention that defines and dictates how power is distributed here in the U.S. and around the world. I will also delve into the role Asia, Asian cultural and philosophical mores and Asian women in particular factor into this concept of one-racial idealism. " |
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Football Hit by Culture Blocks
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, June 15 @ 10:00:00 EDT (6907 reads) |
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WWu777 writes "By Winston Wu
Special to ModelMinority.com
March 19, 2004
The things I like about Taiwan are the good weather (sunny and warm most of the year), friendly kind good-natured people, hospitality, and great food always around the corner. Also, the family values and family bonds there are unparalleled to anything we have in the states. However, here are some deep observations about its other things.
I've discovered a little paradox. Obviously, the young people here (like in Japan) are very very introverted, shy, and reclusive to the nth degree. It seems that only the old people here are outgoing and little kids too. Somehow, it seems that when people (especially girls) here reach the age of 12 or 13, they suddenly become ultra-introverted and cliqueish until they are about 30 or so, then they start to open up again. What I don't understand though, is this. Here, there are statues and temples to Buddha and Confucius everywhere. So obviously, they are seen as cultural and historical idols here. Now, both Buddha and Confucius taught that nothing in extremity is any good, not even a good thing like love. The middle way, or a balance of it, is the best. So why are people here so introverted, shy and reclusive to such an extreme degree, that it seems unnatural and abnormal? Don't they know that such extreme behaviors are never good?" |
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Asian Community Has Double Vision of Eyelid Surgery
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Posted by Andrew on Sunday, April 11 @ 10:00:00 EDT (23578 reads) |
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By Jean Lee Scheidnes
©2000 Columbia News Service
March 2000
NEW YORK--Asian Americans are identified by their eyes more than any other
feature. So, for this community, cosmetic surgery on the eyelids goes to the
heart of identity politics and ethnic pride. Eyelid surgery is the country's
third most popular cosmetic surgery, surpassed only by liposuction and breast
augmentation, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The society's board-certified plastic surgeons performed 120,001 cosmetic
eyelid surgeries in 1998, twice the number performed in 1992. Cosmetic eyelid
surgery, blepharoplasty, is usually meant to reduce signs of aging, but among
younger Asian Americans--especially those of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese
descent--one method of blepharoplasty has gained significant popularity.
The majority of Asians have upper eyelids that appear to be taut from brow to
lashes, rather than segmented by a crease. Asian blepharoplasty patients often
request the creation of an upper eyelid crease, or "double eyelid,"
which uncovers a portion of the natural eye contours, making the eyes slightly
larger, rounder and more amenable to makeup, as well as exposing more of the
eyelashes. |
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Mandarin Use Up in Chinese American Communities
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Tennis Player Seen as Outsider in Vietnam
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, December 13 @ 10:00:00 EST (2395 reads) |
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By Margie Mason
©2003 Associated Press
Dec. 11, 2003
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - She is Vietnam's top-ranked female tennis player.
Still, Noel Huynh Mai Huynh is criticized by the state-run press and jeered by
Vietnamese crowds who do not accept her as one of their own.
It's a personal struggle symbolic of the lingering resentment and distrust
between communist Vietnam and the hundreds of thousands who fled the south at
the end of the Vietnam War nearly 30 years ago.
"I play tennis for my family," Huynh said during a break from
practice at the Southeast Asian Games, a regional competition that runs through
Saturday. "There's a lot of pressure because I know a lot of people, they
don't like me very much."
Huynh, 18, was born in the U.S. territory of Guam. She is the first Viet kieu,
or overseas Vietnamese, to receive dual citizenship from the communist
government to compete for Vietnam.
Huynh was 4 years old when her family moved back to Ho Chi Minh City,
formerly Saigon, in 1989. She did not speak Vietnamese then but has since
mastered the language and now considers herself more Vietnamese than American. |
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A Korean Adoptee's Search for Her Identity
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, November 29 @ 10:00:00 EST (6561 reads) |
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seoulone writes "By SeoulOne
Special to ModelMinority.com
November 29, 2003
I grew up in a practically all white community in West Virginia, much like many other Korean adoptees have done. I'm 21 and have just recently been exploring my Asian heritage. I felt bitter in the beginning. I was bitter that I had spent so much of my life so distant from Korea and so isloated from the Asian American community. There was only one Korean boy in my high school, two Korean girls, and one hapa (Korean/Jewish) girl. I struggled with depression practically from birth until half a year ago, close to alcoholism, kicking a coke habit and having ended a 7 year "experimentation" with drugs.
As I began my search for my Asian identity I looked in the mirror and I saw a Korean face, but I knew I knew nothing of Korea or Korean American traditions, culture or values. I felt embarrassed and angry that I was only Korean on the outside- a banana as some say. I was angry that American society assumed I could assimilate so easily, the same society that housed people who called me chink, gook, and slant eye. I was angry at Korea's adoption system for thinking I would not suffer from being torn from my Korean heritage. " |
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Discussion Explores Asian American Issues
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Korean American Growing Pains
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‘Ohana House is First Center for API Queer Community
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Posted by Andrew on Saturday, September 27 @ 10:00:00 EDT (1903 reads) |
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Anonymous writes "Press Release
Asian Pacific Islanders for Human Rights
September 2003
“I remember when I first came out,” recalls Patrick Mangto, “I went to the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. I was amazed by the programming and level of support that they offered the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community. I felt that I had found a place where I belonged.”
But happiness quickly fell to dismay.
“I realized that they could help my gay identity. However, they could not address my concerns from an Asian perspective. For example, they couldn’t help me create a coming out process that was inclusive of my family. When a person comes out from a Western perspective, it is perceived as an individual act. Whereas coming out from an API viewpoint, it is a courageous act of acceptance by the family which may be stigmatized by the rest of Asian society. If they could not help me on such a fundamental level, I realized that there was a tremendous need within the community.” " |
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Posted by Andrew on Sunday, September 21 @ 10:00:00 EDT (2467 reads) |
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By Gish Jen
Time Asia
©2003 Time Inc.
August 18, 2003
On my family's first visit to China in 1979, my sister got sick in Nanjing
and had to be hospitalized. This was a special worry as, being Chinese-American,
we were not able to get her into the best hospital in town. That hospital was
for white foreigners—for "real" foreigners, including
"real" Americans. We were, according to local officials, Overseas
Chinese, who had to use the Overseas Chinese hospital. Argue as we might, there
was no convincing anyone that such minor details as being born in America and
carrying an American passport made you a true American. Blood, it seemed, was
blood. |
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Posted by Andrew on Sunday, August 10 @ 10:00:00 EDT (2484 reads) |
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A cadre of young authors reflects the widening mainstream of the
Asian-American experience
By Susan Salter Reynolds
©2003 Los Angeles Times
August 5, 2003
When Julie Shigekuni, author of the recently released "Invisible
Gardens," was interviewing to teach a first-time course in Asian-American
literature at the University of New Mexico, she says this is how she was asked
about the insights she would bring to the class: "Amy Tan has already
written the Asian- American experience.
"Why should we hire you?"
Tan also haunts Mako Yoshikawa, author of the May release, "Once
Removed" (Bantam), an explosive novel about two estranged sisters, a
Japanese-American and her American stepsister, who find each other after 17
years. "I feel uncomfortable with the Amy Tan legacy," Yoshikawa says
almost reluctantly, like countless young women who say, yeah, I'm grateful to
Betty Friedan and all, but jeez, isn't it time to move on? |
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The Reverse American-Asian Identity Crisis
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Make Way for the Model Minority
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You Can Go ''Home'' Again
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Posted by Andrew on Tuesday, July 01 @ 10:00:00 EDT (2364 reads) |
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By Christine Wong
San Francisco Chronicle
January 13, 2002
Living in the United States is a luxury. Clean water, huge cars, IKEA.
But like rich folks with heart disease, the luxurious lifestyle catches up
with us. Affluence can be a trap: I'm never pushed to talk to my neighbors,
trust people or have a sense of community -- but I always lock my car doors.
When I traveled in China this summer, I had to open up and humble myself.
And I realized there are luxuries even we Westerners can't afford.
I'm a 23-year-old American-born Chinese (ABC) California-girl artist-
iconoclast. I went to China with eight other ABCs -- first gen-ers, sixth gen-
ers, hapas (half-Asian/Pacific Americans), artists, engineers from UC Berkeley,
a party girl from Marin. We're "In Search of Roots Program" interns.
Basically, we're all trying to visit our ancestral villages in China. And if
we're lucky, we might learn a little about ourselves. |
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Paying Through the Nose for Self-Respect
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Posted by Andrew on Wednesday, June 11 @ 10:00:00 EDT (7391 reads) |
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The price to pay for an 'American' nose and eyes is more than the $2,500
By Pati Poblete
San Francisco Chronicle
February 24, 2002
"It's so flat!" my aunt would say as she'd pinch the nonexistent
bridge of my cousin Jamie's nose. Jamie, barely a year old, would let out a
cry and shake her head from side to side trying to free her facial centerpiece
from her mother's grip.
In a strange way, my aunt thought she was helping her daughter out in the
long run by making her look more "Westernized." A flat nose was an Asian
trademark, not American.
When babies are born, family members often gather around and marvel at
their cute button noses, half-opened almond-shaped eyes and silken skin.
In most families, that is.
For many Asian families, however, it's not marveling so much as worrying
about whether that button nose will ever form a bridge, and whether those half-
opened eyes will have a crease in their lids once they're fully open. |
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Growing up Asian American with a Disability
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Organizing Principles: Who is Asian American?
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Posted by Andrew on Monday, June 02 @ 10:00:00 EDT (5819 reads) |
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Asian American identity is experiential rather than biological, grounded
in the present as much as or more than in the past
By Rachel Rubin
Excerpted from Cyberspace, Y2K: Giant Robots, Asian Punks
Institute for Asian American Studies
March 2003
Amy Ling defines "Asian American" in a poem as "Asian
ancestry/American struggle" [Ling 1]. This couplet captures the
duality of experience, the divided heart, that Ling feels characterizes the
lived lives of Americans with Asian ancestry. She continues in this vein
to describe a "tug in the gut" and "a dream in the heart" --
definitions that are wonderfully evocative, but elusively (and purposefully)
non-concrete.
Indeed, the feeling of being Asian American, the varied and internal
processes by which that name acquires particular meaning, for all its
ineffability, is actually much easier to pin down than it is to formulate an
answer that refers to a map. Because while Asia is the world's largest
continent, accounting for more than a third of the world's land mass and
two-thirds of the world's population -- including some 140 different
nationalities -- the term "Asian American" has been mostly used to
refer to American immigrants from certain Asian nations, but not others.
Furthermore, the term's application has not been entirely consistent, so that
"Asian American" can include one list of ethnic groups in the federal
census, another list of ethnic groups in a college's Asian American Studies
curriculum, yet another list in the political rhetoric of an activist
organization or an elected official, and so on. And when it comes to
individuals choosing how to identify themselves, there is a similar range of
usage: some consider themselves to be Asian American while others do not, even
though they or their parents have immigrated to the United States from a country
on the continent of Asia. Finally, the meaning of the term has changed
over time to suit the rhetorical needs of different times.... |
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sir_humpslot: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (09:16) quinn: The Yellow Fever Pages (01:28) quinn: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (17/9) quinn: New Trial Sought After Jurors' Racial Remarks (17/9) quinn: In Our Own Language (17/9) quinn: Satire as Racial Backlash Against Asian Americans (17/9) bwfish: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (17/9) quinn: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (17/9) quinn: Rejecting the Model in ''Model Minority'' (17/9) sowelu: Racial Preferences in the Dating World (14/9) |
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