Wu, Frank H. - Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White

I keep meaning to blog this book, because I really liked it. More importantly, it, along with Tatum's book, gave me a good framework to think about race in America. Bonus points for not forgetting that there are more than two races here. It's rather self-serving, but I was glad that Wu concentrated on Asian-Americans.

He goes into the standard "racism = prejudice + power" and explains how it's an institutional thing in the beginning, and then he moves on to arguments specific to Asian-Americans. Namely: why do Asians complain about racism, what with the whole "model minority" thing and all? I wanted to hug Wu for giving such a cogent explanation on how the model-minority myth is a double-edged sword, at best, and I wanted to hug him even more when he discussed how it impacted not just Asian-white relations in America, but also Asian relations with other minorities and how it set minorities off against each other.

He addresses issues such as Asians living in Asia vs. Asian-Americans, affirmative action, the history of racism against Asian-Americans in America, and multi-racial people. I did, however, want to fault him for concentrating more on East Asians than all Asians, though he does write about non-East-Asians as well and how they fit into the dynamic and how they often get left behind in "Asian"-American coalitions.

I didn't always follow his arguments, particularly when he reached the bit on racial profiling, but in general, Wu is compassionate, even though you can tell how angry he is about the state of affairs.

I'm not adequately expressing just how excited I was while I was reading this. There were so many times I wanted to jump up and say, "Yes! Yes, that's it!" and it was so helpful to read this during IBARW. Wu also notes that he is a professional Asian-American; he hates that it is necessary for someone like him, and he dislikes having to be a spokesperson, but he also sees the necessity of it. So part of my admiration for his work was tinged with regret that it was still needed. But mostly, I admire that he can write about this topic at all, and I'm even more impressed with his call for coalitions, not just within the Asian-American community (and to have that community welcome all Asians and not focus solely on East Asians), but also among all people of color and white people as well.

Links:
- minnow1212's review

Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi - Death Note, vol. 06-07 (Eng. trans.)

To be quite frank, I don't remember much of vol. 6, and I'm not very tempted to reread. The business arc that's been going on bores me to death. But luckily, things get more exciting in vol. 7!

( Spoilers for vols. 6-7 )

Heroes 1x01-1x02

So far, the writing isn't so great, and I'm already having problems with facial recognition because of all the blonde women, but the scope is so big that I still get excited. Also, there are people of color! There were lots in the commercials as well, which was nice.

Characters I like:

Hiro, aka Japanese space/time bender - I am still annoyed by just how many stereotypes of Japan the writers attempted to fit into two episodes, along with the continuing portrayal of Asian men as harmless geeks, but Hiro is just so earnest and charming and happy that I can't help but want to hug him

Mohinder, aka Indian genetics professor - He is hot. Also, he has the most interesting story so far, given that he is doing things rather than things happening to him

Characters I am on the fence about:

The rest of them. Although Claire the invincible invulnerable cheerleader is sort of winning me over. I am very blah about the brothers.

I would also like to tell the writers that one of the first symptoms of major depressive disorder is in fact NOT delusions of grandeur culminating in suicide. In fact, delusions of grandeur is probably the exact opposite of one of the first symptoms of major depressive disorder. *rolls eyes*

And Hiro's salaryman friend doesn't sound like a native Japanese speaker, though the accent isn't that obvious. Hiro sounds very Japanese to me, but then, I probably can't tell. Also, that street shot of Tokyo didn't much look like Tokyo, imho.

Anyhow, I'll keep watching, just because there are things like the end of the world and people with superpowers, at least until I get too bored.

( Spoilers for 1x01-1x02 )