Tag Archives: Asian Americans

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news

Emil Guillermo: William Hung as the passive aggressive subliminal racist tool of Fox

William Hung just won’t go away nicely.  He’ll gladly extend his 15 minutes of fame. Only it comes at all our expense.

I don’t know folks, but when I saw William Hung being used by Fox on the “American Idol” finale,  I just felt sorry for him.

Stepin’Fetchit  Asian style? Does that need to be memorialized, or just forgotten?

Whenever a non-Asian wants to feel superior to an Asian or Asian American, there’s William Hung as the bad, off-key singer to allow others to feel superior.

He’s the anti-Tiger Asian.

He’s like the antidote to those who are sick and tired of getting  beaten by Asian Americans in school or  on the job.

They can proudly say, “Well, we’ll always have William Hung to kick around.”

And sure enough, Hung will be there on demand, cheering with his arms up.  And Ryan Seacrest will be there patting him on his back,  whispering in his ear.

Read my whole column, including the first one I wrote in 2004, when Hung first burst on the scene, click here to link to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog.

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Iowa? Asian American’s knew how to caucus; Why I think Donald Trump lost; And the sign to look for when Bernie Sanders has really broken through.

 

Cruz’s edging Trump, or Sanders in a dead-heat with Clinton, will be the main  headlines in the mainstream.

Where will you read about how Asian Americans weren’t totally invisible on Monday night?

I talked to three Asian Americans who were all engaged and energized by the grassroots process on display in Iowa.

See my piece here at NBCNews.com.

Now as for Trump

There was a sense that something wasn’t quite right with the Donald when I saw him on a Sunday morning show and he was saying: “I have heart. If people have no money, we have to help people.”

What happened to America’s wall candidate?

He was talking about how government should help poor people who can’t afford health care. And it was a sign that the businessman who has been  callous, bombastic and vulgar on the campaign trail was starting to soften up.

Too little, too late.

Trump  needs to soften up even more.

 

 

When Trump attacked Cruz in Iowa, Cruz deflected the ad hominem approach. He should thank Trump, because it gave  nasty, bad guy Cruz appear nicer and more above the fray than he normally does.

It made him electable. Look what happened on Monday.

Trump’s blunder wasn’t missing the final Iowa debate. It was giving the otherwise nasty pit bull Cruz the opportunity to look sympathetic.

That could be an unpardonable sin.

Going forward, I’d bet Trump learns from this, and  turns his approach to the nice Donald–if he really wants the job.

As for Clinton/Sanders, I found Asian Americans, primarily for women. But Sanders’ emergence from a year ago has been impressive. And heading into New Hampshire, the key for him will be making the case to people of color who have been presumed to be in Hillary’s camp. That will be the sign that Sanders has broken through.

See my other pieces on Iowa here at www.aaldef.org/blog

and at NBCNews.com

 

 

 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Obama says regulating guns is our “shared responsibility.” So why don’t we see more Asian American voices included in the gun debate? That CNN Town Hall was like a Lions Club meeting in a white suburb. Asian Americans are 5% of the nation, and 20% of the most noted mass killings since 1984.

Really. What does it take for a little more inclusion.

See my piece on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog

I saw just one Asian American.

It was like watching a network cop drama or legal drama and seeing a juror. Or person walking by.

But we know Asian Americans are not immune to gun violence in America.

(Oh, there’s one! An Asian American in the back? Next to the bald guy….).

See my piece at http://www.aaldef.org/blog

gunshowasiancnn

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, race

Emil Guillermo: “Immigration Interruptus” kept Asian American numbers artificially low for 50 years–and then the racist quotas ended and we all came in.

emilasakid
I often wondered why I was one of the few Asian Americans in my elementary school pre-1965.
There weren’t that many of us due to racist immigration quotas.
The flow of immigration was stopped cold.
The few of us Asian Americans in  school were really the lucky ones.  Our parents got through the political-socio-biological constraints and were able to start families.
But when that dammed up process finally changed, we now have places like my alma mater, Lowell High in San Francisco.
Whole lots of Asian Americans.
And Daly City.
Whole lot of Filipinos.
Asian Americans will be the No. 1 immigrant group by 2065, and we have  the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act to thank for that.
It was signed into law Oct. 3, 1965.
No more  “Immigration Interruptus.”
Happy 50th Anniversary. Let’s party like it isn’t 1964.