Case in point: “To all Asians and Asian-Americans”

Those are not the same group of people — the latter is a subset of the former. It is up to the individual to choose to identify themselves by race or by country. An Asian-American has every right to identify herself more as an “Asian” or more as an “American.” So when you proclaim, “You’re Asian,” you’re undermining the experiences of Asian-Americans who prefer to view the world through a less racial lens, who value their identity as “Americans” above simply being pigeonholed into a racial category.

Jimmy Kimmel’s joke “attacked” a country, not a race. All the reasons why Kimmel’s joke is xenophobic, or views China as a threat – those are not RACIST perspectives, but nationalist perspectives. They center on China as a COUNTRY, not Chinese or Asians as a race. Conflating the two concepts, and reducing every hostile remark as “racist,” is socially unproductive and intellectually disengaging.

A far more appropriate analogy would be if they replaced “everyone in China” with “everyone in England.”

This blog entry in reply to the Kimmel incident is yet another instance of an Asian-American wanting to downplay racial discrimination against his own race in an effort at distancing himself from a social ill which appears too large to tackle and with the belief that, by not defending himself and others against it, he is somehow not a part of that sociologically weaker group. This approach is further strengthened when he makes claims AGAINST that weak group.

- To all Asians and Asian-Americans: You’re Asian. Show SOME dignity when those around you try to mistreat you and/or your social status.

Sure, this kid doesn’t know what he is saying, but I guarantee he is just repeating what he’s probably heard his parents say. The fact that this part was left in shows that the producers probably guessed that many of their viewers feel this way, too.

And if he had said “All Jews“ or “All Blacks” I would argue the same thing. ABC probably shouldn’t have aired it, but who gives a shit. There’s no such thing as bad press, and it really is a situation where everyone wins.. Check the Chinese blogoshphere and see how far over their heads the comedy is; check the Western blogosphere and you’ll find no shortage of Al Sharpton wannabees screaming bloody murder.

Hey, if it drives traffic do it! Tao knows this! hahaha

…oh, no. He didn’t.