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“When Hate Hits You – Combating Anti-Asian Sentiment” workshops at PCC and UA

by on Oct. 11, 2010, under Education, Life, Politics

Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Workshops: “When Hate Hits You – Combating Anti- Asian Sentiment”:

“Learn about the history and causes of anti-Asian sentiment, how to recognize the difference between hate crimes and hate incidents, how to respond to hate crimes, and engage in dialogue about real-life scenarios that depict anti-Asian sentiment.” The legacy of the 1982 beating death of Vincent Chin in Detroit, Michigan will also be discussed.

Tuesday, October 12
1:30 pm to 3:00 pm, workshop at Pima Community College, West Campus, Room AG-19, Tucson,
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm, workshop at University of Arizona, Nugent Bldg, Room 205, 1212 E. University Blvd., Tucson

Workshop presenter:
Bill Yoshino, Midwest Director, Japanese American Citizen League, jaclmro@aol.com

Local Tucson organizer: Ross Iwamoto, marross@comcast.net

As a 3rd generation Asian American who has been verbally “hit” by hate words – such as “Chink”, “Gook”, “Jap”, this workshop will be illuminating and hopefully, beneficial. Many people tell me that they can’t believe that we Asians/Pacific Islanders experience “hate crimes” or discrimination, but it does happen here in America (and elsewhere), along with the other racial/ethnic groups.

Sponsors:
Pan Asian Community Alliance
Japanese American Citizens League – Arizona
Chinese American Citizens Alliance – National
Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Tucson Lodge
Pima Community College Alliance

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  • Carolyn Classen

    Reminder: these workshops today, 1:30 and 5:30 p.m.

  • Carolyn Classen

    Joe doe, it’s people like you that almost force me to censor comments but I won’t– so others know that hateful, racist, name-calling people like you still exist.  Do not comment on my blogsite again.

  • fraser007

    I didnt see his comment. Maybe thats good but I picked up on two words on the comment highlight section above. Anyone who would make comments like that in your blogsite needs to be **** ** *** ****. Your blogsite is a breath of fresh air.

    • Carolyn Classen

      I just reported him to our editors, and they must have deleted Joe doe’s comment right now.   Thanks Fraser007 for your support.

  • http://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-Sonorans/144198198931412 Three Sonorans

    Arizona is the home for the new Civil Rights movement. Racism is allowed to be out in the open which wasn’t the case before. Minutemen and neo-Nazis hunting brown people out in the desert like animals…
     
    Asians and Latino immigrants share something in common… remember when the auto factories started shutting down and people blamed the Japanese… buy American and all that? It’s their fault always, not our fault for making inferior products at a high cost (which includes labor).
     
    Welcome to Arizona 2010…

    • http://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-Sonorans/144198198931412 Three Sonorans

      Actually, I remember watching a doc on how during the 14th amendment times, immigration WAS being debated…namely the “Asian takeover” of California… I think Daily Show covered it.

    • fraser007

      Oh god here we go again.

      • ado1

        . . . My thoughts exactly.

  • Carolyn Classen

    About 40 students/faculty/staff/community leaders listened & participated in this JACL workshop tonight.  Hate crimes, hate incidents, the history of discrimination against Asian Americans, the murder of Vincent Chin were all discussed, including Asian American stereotypes and what communities can do to combat anti-Asian sentiment.  I told the group tonight about what just happened this afternoon then reader Joe doe used derogatory racists terms in his comment on this blogsite.  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again, as it is considered a “hate incident.”

  • ado1

    Carolyn, it seems these days every group wants to jump on that ol’ victim bandwagon.  I don’t advocate the use of pejoratives by any ethnic group to belittle or disparage another group, but I also don’t believe that doing so rises anything to the the level of race hatred either. It seems as a society we are becoming so over sensitized to anyone calling us names we are becoming a nation of wimpy, politically correct,  ‘bots.  Apparently no one is able to handle any name calling these days without pulling out that race hatred card and calling a workshop that educates people about their group being on the receiving end of perceived hatred because someone somewhere referred to them with a racial epithet and that must of course mean they are the hated.  It don’t take a workshop for anyone to know it’s mean spirited and wrong to call names.  It also doesn’t mean anyone is guilty of hatred or that any group is receiving hatred because name calling may have happened.  Name calling has been around as long as recorded history.  It will take more than a workshop to eliminate it.  Better to just toughen ones skin a little.  My paternal grandfather was called a Mick.  My other grandfather got called a Pollack regularly(Never mind that he was actually an ethnic, native born,  Slovenian.).  I don’t think either of them went home crying racial hatred because of it.



    So, just to help out those who like to spend their time fretting about being hated,  the link that follows should help them easily identify what all those hateful names mean. . .  :-)



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs

    • Carolyn Classen

      Ado1, the instructors at the JACL workshop last night (Bill Yoshino & Christine Munteanu) said that name-calling those “ethnic slurs” to someone (i.e. like the ones I listed above in my blog) would be considered a hate incident.  They defined a hate incident as “name-calling or using racial slurs, hate speech, the distribution of racists leaflets or other disrespectful non-threatening behavior that is not illegal.” But you can respectfully disagree.

      • ado1

        Well O.K. Carolyn, I suppose they are within their rights to define name calling any way they see fit, as we all are.  I would choose to define name calling as mean spirited and  disrespectful,  but I would have to stop short of calling it hatred.

        • Ernie McCray

          Every single time I’ve been called a nigger it seemed to be mean spirited and disrespectful and literally overflowing with hatred. For what other reason would someone call somebody a name like that – especially when that somebody had done absolutely nothing to deserve being called a name?

          • Carolyn Classen

            Right Ernie, seems to me the last time I was called any racist name it wasn’t from someone because they liked me (a total stranger) or my looks.

    • leftfield

      I think the name-calling is a “gateway drug”;  it gives permission to see someone as the “other”.  When children hear adults saying these things, the message they receive is that it is “ok”.  

      • Carolyn Classen

        Right Leftfield, and name-calling especially tied in with ethnicity/race is not okay in our society.

    • Ernie McCray

      Gay youth get that all the time regarding being called fags: “Better to just toughen ones skin a little.” Of course, it’s great when someone can shake name calling off – I’ve certainly done it over my 72 years – but what about those who can’t? What about all the gay people who contemplate suicide to escape from constantly being harassed and called names? Don’t they deserve society making a “politically correct” effort to eradicate name calling so that no one has to “jump on that ol’ victim bandwagon?”
      We should never stop trying to create a better more loving world.

      • Carolyn Classen

        I agree wholeheartedly with you Ernie, that name-calling is hurtful, harmful and could lead to serious consequences, as it has recently with gay youth.

        • leftfield

          We should never stop trying to create a better more loving world.

          Pretty much says it all in a few words, doesn’t it? 

          I apologize for going off-topic (ever so briefly), but I saw the Tucson icon, Ernie Menehune, at this year’s TMY festival last weekend.  Ernie sang a couple of songs and then gave the stage to a really wonderful Hawaiian dance group.  I mention this because you mentioned Ernie before and I believe you are from Hawaii, Carolyn.  I hope you had a chance to see them.  This was the first time I had really seen such a performance and I was really taken by the story-telling and expression in the dances. 

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