Quynh Dinh-Week 6

The documentary "Kelly loves Tony" portrays how strongly culture and traditional perception on gender role have impacted young American Asians in America, especially when they get married. Kelly is trapped in the model figure of a wife and a mother. she is expected to do most of the house chores and stay home take care the baby. Her husband, Tony, quiet doesn't support her in pursuing higher education because to him, women don't need to have high education, and when they become wives, they are supposed to devote their whole life to family and children. This gender stereotype has suffered many women since it limits their ability and opportunity to exert themselves or better up their life. Growing up in American, Kelly represents many of young women who want to break free and change that old stereotype. She is struggling to balance love, education dream, and family at the same time.

Asian women have been always disadvantage. They have to listen to their parents when they are young. And then when they are old enough, they have to live up to other people's expectation. To American Asians who begin to adapt American culture and value self-independence, they have made a good progress of better up their lives. I believe if we, women, keep on pursuing our dreams and make an effort to erase gender stereotype, we will succeed.  A perception can only be maintained if people value and nurture it. Otherwise, it will be forgotten since everyone chooses to discard it. Everything comes down to the question should gender stereotype be preserved?

Masunaga - Week 7

After 9/11 and the sudden priority by the State Department, NIS, etc. to deport non citizen criminals back to their home country, many Southeast Asian communities fell under such scrutiny.  In class we learned primarily about Cambodian Deportees, convicted of felonies and served their time, such individuals were still targeted to be send back.  Many of these individuals are refugees who escape the Khmer Rouge and were very young when they entered the US.  Cases are not taken on a case-by-case basis anymore, so little can be done through the law inorder to end indefinite detention prior to deportation. Also, many crimes that are classified as felonies, there is still a substantial about of grey area.  What is the most problematic is that even though the individuals being deported have served their time in prison, they are still sent back.  It is a punishment on top of a punishment.  It is unfair for the government to take such action against these permanent alien residents who upon their arrival to the US, there was little to no services to help them gain citizenship. Many did not even know they were not full citizens of the US.  With the current immigration reform going through the federal legislature today, I think that deportation will slow because if there is a chance for people to have path to citizenship, it is unwise to spend more money to send people away.  

One question that is concerning is with the exportation of criminal to foreign countries, leads to international criminal networks and the expansion of crime across sea. What does that mean for the state of security in the US? And also does such deportations lead to more sophisticated criminal activities that could be harder to prosecuted and difficult to detect?

Eddie Truong - Week 6

In Walter T. Boulden's article, "Gay Hmong: A Multifaceted Clash of Cultures", he illustrates the struggles that gay Hmong face as they "come out" to the Hmong community. This article reveals the multiple cultural obstacles that gay Hmong endure throughout the process of self-realization or coming to terms with one's self. I'm critical of this article because I recognize that there are many dimensions to queer experiences in the Southeast Asian American community. For instance, while there are struggles in reconciling one's SEA experiences with queer experiences, I observe that there are instances of reconciliation being successful. Gina Masequesmay's “Emergence of Queer Vietnamese America" demonstrates a successful organization that rejects the White, gay organizations in favor of creating their own space that recognizes the double experiences of queer and Vietnamese cultures.

I believe that Boulden's article is an important step towards understanding diverse experiences and increasing visibility of queer individuals in the Southeast Asian American community. However, Boulden develops a narrative that suggests that all gay Hmong are uncomfortable, without exploring additional dimensions to see how gay Hmong have used their own agency to negotiate and reconcile the fierce opposition of queer experiences in the SEA community. Further research should be done in order to find the ways in which gay Hmong empower themselves and demonstrate their own agency in living with multiple identities Are there empowered gay Hmong in the community and, if so, how would they negotiate their visibility in their community?

Here is a website where a discussion forum for gay Hmong experiences is possible: http://www.gayhmongs.g2gm.com/. I believe that this website was mentioned in Boulden's article, but using a different URL.

Nhia Moua - Week 7

Bill Ong Hing's article "Deporting Our Souls and Defending Our Immigrants" discusses the governmental issue of deportation of immigrants from the US.  He asserts that rather than deport the immigrants (many who's spent most their lives in America and do not know the life of their "motherland") the government should implement a system that targets the core of the problem, a "rehabilation approach."  He also argues that relational justice should be considered and that section 212(c) relief should be reinstalled.

This was definitely an interesting reading for me. Whenever I hear about deportation, or discuss immigration issues and concerns, the few things that I always think about to is 1) didn't America start as some sort of immigration nation--the whole idea that settlers came here for better economic opportunties, etc.; (I do not know much about immigration and deportation politics, so this may be naive and ignorant of me to think/say this); and 2) what is America thinking for deporting people who has spent their whole lives in America? (I guess to some extent, Hing is asking a similar question and therefore makes the assertion that America should try and fix the problem that causes these individuals to be deported rather than just deport them and hopes the problem fixes itself). To some extent, I feel like the deportation system only benefits the white and therefore to some extent, deportation is another way in which the white reinforces their power over colored people (almost racist?). Honestly, these are just my thoughts, but like I stated, my knowledge in this area is rather small. 

My question that results out of this is: What other systems are in place that perpetuate a white dominate society and how might we, a community of color, work to make the system more fair for us?

Yee Xiong - Week 7

In Bill Ong Hing’s article “Deporting Our Souls and Defending Our Immigrants”, he illustrates how the US government continues to deport “undesirable Asian” under their changing laws and policies over the years. There is a reoccurring theme that the studied individuals share similar experiences such as being deported for their criminalities, regardless of their time served. 

It is disturbing to know how corrupt the US government is and how people continue to turn the other cheek to issues such as this.  Although I do not have personal experiences with any person’s who had to go through this process (regardless if they get deported or not), I feel I have missed out on something extremely important in my life; in a way, this has to do with the K-12 education I received.  In northern California, I grew up receiving a very poor education at the schools that attended; I was never taught about Asian American history nor was I taught that deportation involved a vast majority of people across all ethnicities.  Instead, I was taught it was only a “Mexican problem”; the media thus furthered the idea that it was—clearly disregarding the history of Asian Americans in the United States.  While reading this article, it angered me to know that “criminals” are being deported because of a crime they committed years ago; and because of the changing laws in America, they are getting kicked out of the country as if they are objects that are disposable.

This disturbing action that the United States continues to engage themselves in such as deporting immigrants back to their native land is a huge disappointment.  It is a huge contradictory to what the nation is built on—freedom and democracy.  When the government does not allow its citizen to participate in the democratic process, that is when one should know that the government is corrupt.  It will do anything in order for it to get its own economical, social, political gains.  With that said, which branch of government do you think we should tackle on first to create some change to some policies and laws that affect those who could face deportation today?

Liz Shigetoshi - Week 7

In the article "Defending Our Souls and Defending Our Immigrants", Bill Ong Hing suggests that there is a lack of re-entry programs for Asian American ex-offenders with criminal convictions. He discusses how criminality can lead to deportation despite how long they've lived in or grew up in the United States. Alongside this matter, he questions if Asian American criminal activity is a "fabrication by our institutions just to get ride of the undesirable Asian" and argues that there should be alternatives to deportation.

This article made me wonder: Where has the publicity been on the deportation of Asian Americans? Has there been any? Does the media think it is not worthy to discuss compared to other races (like Mexican)? I'm not quite sure if I've been living in a bubble, or if it doesn't happen much where I'm from, or if AA deportation statistics are lower than other races, or if Asian American deportation isn't televised or brought to public attention.

While reading this article, I thought about the presence of Asian American gangs where I'm from. Since high school, I've heard quite a few inspirational stories of people around my age who have been given second chances under the law and who have fortunately been able to start over with a new chapter in their life. I believe it is absolutely possible for someone to turn over a new leaf if they are given the right push, the availability of resources, and a good go to support system. So provided the need for targeted Asian American rehabilitation programs to exist, I agree with Hing that there are alternatives to deportation and there should be more funding towards building a stronger Asian American community.

Yee Xiong - Week 6

In Walter T. Boulden's article, "Gay Hmong: A Multifaceted Clash of Cultures", he illustrates the challenges queer Hmong people face as they "come out" to the Hmong American community. As a Hmong womyn who identifies herself as heterosexual, I am able to clearly understand how difficult it must be for one to come out of the closet and for one to label themselves as anything else other than heterosexual. This article shows a great sense of struggle queer Hmong people face, however, it is missing something that would add a better appeal to it such as the pros to coming out, the author's relationship with each interviewee, the author's stance on his research and what we can do in order to better understand the struggle of queer Hmong people.

I believe that because the Hmong American community has been built upon a patriarchal system, it is important to stay within the system as a male to receive that advantage. One's gender has a lot of political structures and powers to it if one chooses to stay a male--and in that sense, stay a heterosexual male. But once one has come out of the closet and once one is gay, queer, bisexual, and everything else non-heterosexual, his gender is completely thrown out of the picture and he is automatically seen as "less of a man" because of his sexual orientation. This is a problem; when society starts to judge you based off of your sexual orientation, this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. This hetero-normative society we live in needs to be addressed and acknowledged; this system works the same way racism works and that is to provide an advantage for one certain group over another and if anyone buys into it, they're allowing the system to oppress them. LGBT issues are still quite new in the Hmong American community, but it'll be worth researching into.

A few questions I want to ask you: Some people do not believe queer Hmong people existed in the Hmong community before, (and especially because there hasn't been much research into this) do you believe that this is true? If so, how? And if not, what are some other reasons as to why they wouldn't want to "out" themselves as a queer Hmong person?