DISGRASIAN OF THE WEAK! ‘Too Asian?’
Vintage othering: 'Those Asian-American Whiz Kids' actually have some pretty sweet 'dos
Asian folks are used to being pointed to as sinister bell curve destroyers. ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, we hear ya, everybody: we work too hard, study too often, score too high, achieve too much, and ultimately make everybody else’s mediocre asses feel shitty and look like shit. Let us loose and we’ll raise the bar too high. Leave us unchecked and we’ll take over everything–the schools, the companies, the communities!
Fine. We kick ass at stuff. Fine. Whatever.
So were we surprised when Canada’s Macleans OnCampus published an article last week called “Too Asian,” which griped about how Canadiasian students and their Hardass Asian work ethics have created environments at merit-based schools–like the University of Toronto–that are arguably soulless, party-free, achievement-heavy and unfun? That non-Asians are hesitant to attend such colleges because they’re basically flooded with almond-eyed robots? That, well, something needs to be done before the Asian-Canadian academic vibe cuts too deeply into the heart of the University spirit–historically defined by binge drinking, regrettable lays and texts from last night–causing a national cardiac arrest that may unravel society-at-large? (I mean, in the un-edited original version, at least, which is no longer available at the source but can be found here.)
Eh, not really. Annoyed, sure, shocked, hardly.
But let’s back up a bit. I did in fact just mention that the original version of this xenophobic opus is no longer available on OnCampus. A strong response from readers (aided by giants of the blogosphere and students like Anita, the machete-tongued gal who brought the piece to our attention) calling out the publication for their imbalanced and lazy reporting likely led editors to order up the highly-revised version that now sits at the URL. But rather than standing up and owning the piece, responding to commenters, or acknowledging in print: hey, we realize our first draft was a bit inflammatory; we’ve neutered our version, sorry!, Macleans quietly made some changes and said nothing.
That, my friends, is the true disgrace. These are the times, there is no shortage of material going out on the Web, everyone’s got an opinion, true journalism is more a mythical Pegasus than a shining stallion. We can’t stop people from printing words. Mediocre (or should I just say non-Asian?) words or not.
But is it too much for people to print words that they can stand behind? To be accountable for the blather they dispense so flippantly all over the virtual globe? We certainly don’t think so. If you’re gonna say something, whether you’re calling somebody a cheesedick or supposing that there are too many Asian folks at certain schools, you sure as hell better be ready to deal with the results.
And if Macleans is too small of a cheesedick to understand that, they really are fucking mediocre.
Source
You GO, Anita!
Filed under: Canadiasian, Changing Tunes, Cheesedicks, College, Edits, Hardass Asian Study Habits, Integrity, Macleans, Model Minority, No Takebacks, Party Schools, Racist Article In Macleans, Too Asian, Words Are Powerful
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Hey! That’s Masi Oka of “Heroes” fame.
I’m going to be the whiz kid girl in the pigtails next Halloween.
This is further proof (to me) that all the debates over affirmative action and higher education were never about meritocracy, even though this article isn’t about affirmative action per se. Instead of celebrating that standards are being raised, these dopes are worried that white people might feel uncomfortable on campus if there are too many people of color around. You can’t win – if your SAT scores aren’t perfect, you don’t deserve to be there, but even if they are, if you’re not white you also don’t deserve to be there.
My Amah used to say: Racist is as racist does.
(Apologies to Tom Hanks).
Ah, this a great time to compare cheesedicks, the cheesedick being Kanye West who can’t own up to calling Bush out about Katrina. I find it funny that now, he’s trying to act like what he said was wrong, or that he doesn’t think Bush is a racist. Maybe his agents are breathing down his neck about being apologetic so he can appeal to a more mainstream audience, or for good PR before his album drops.
But yeah I totally feel ya. I personally don’t even have a problem with that article (based on what I’ve read about it, I haven’t actually read the article itself). My problem is how everyone shits their pants the second RACISM is implied. Then the discussion basically stops there. Oh well, so much for honest dialogue.
BTW there is a tumblr blog that was created by two McGill students called AsiansNotStudying
http://asiansnotstudying.tumblr.com/