Solemn Remembrance of Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day for most immigrants, but it is a day for Native Americans to remember about the beginning of demographic change in America. According to an article in San Francisco Chronicle, Native Americans will come to visit the statue of Massasoit, who was the Wampanoag leader who met the pilgrims came to America in 1620, located in Plymouth, Massachusetts tomorrow. This event started since 1970 and is a sign of bringing the awareness of Native Americans who are neglected for a long time in the nation. It is not just limited to Native Americans, other ethnic groups also express their unsatisfying demonstrations on the civil rights for minorities.

Article: Native Americans to hold 50th National Day of Mourning - San Francisco Chronicle

Racial Discrimination Incidents in Syracuse University

Sometimes doing nothing about it is even worse than explicitly express racial discrimination. This article from Wall Street Journal reported several incidents happened in Syracuse University in New York, where there were no crime happening, but the threats by white supremacists were frightening to the African American and Asian students studying there. The most shocking fact was the reactions of school administration. They are not enthusiastic on finding who did this and stop these things happening again, but only tell their students to calm down. Does that really help solving the problem?
Article: Blint-Welsh, Tyler. "Cuomo Calls for Monitor to Probe Racist Incidents at Syracuse University." The Wall Street Journal. 

Food Museums

The writer of this article was talking about the elevating attention to food issues. Recently, there is a new museum in Lyon, France about French cuisines. The writer mentioned about similar museums and exhibitions around the world, and how these exhibitions started with devoted to a food brand and now become a cultural event. Like in the United States, Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) that they found a permanent place in New York to exhibit about American food culture, including domestic food culture and various blends with other cuisines such as Chinese American food. As people start caring food security today, there will be similar events in the future to reinforce the understanding of food.

Article: Song, Vivian. “At Museums Around the World, a Focus on Food.” The New York Times. 

A Decreasing Domination of Irish and Italian influence in Boston

Things change where people cannot clearly identify even though it is the digital age now. Boston, a well known city dominated by Irish descendants learned in class, is experiencing some kind of diversity in the municipal government. The elected positions in the government are quietly replaced by Americans with different ethnicities where it was highly dominated by Irish and Italian descendants in the past. This article in the New York Times is trying to tell the readers that the world is not what we used to know. The society is evolving. There will be something more interesting happens in the future that people can’t imagine.
Article: Boston, Long Led by White Men, Votes in New Guard - The New York Times

Racial Discrimination to Native Americans Today

The Racial Discrimination in the United States seemed endless. After finding a photographic article about the Alcatraz Island in 1969. There is another article illustrating the racial discrimination to Native American athletes in Arizona today. Arizona has the largest indigenous population in the United States. However, their reserved land were often invaded by the government by turning them into internment camps in World War II or selling them to the mining companies. Today, the Native American volleyball players were harassed by the audience and were called "savages." It is hard to believe that the United States still cannot achieve some kind of mosaic, where racial discrimination remains to the people who are not "white."
Article: Native American volleyball players were called 'savages.' They walked out of the match for safety reasons. - The Washington Post

Alcatraz Island: Struggle for Native Americans from being Assimilated

This article showed that the myth of "melting pot" in America is really just a myth. Native Americans are always forgotten by the society. If the New York Times didn't really report about it, I would have thought that Native tribes are history and does not really exist anymore. In November 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans occupied Alcatraz Island in the Bay Area, showing that there are still Native tribes exist in America and they resisted to be assimilated by the American society created by the immigrants. The situation in the United States is more like mosaic, which is how Canadians use to describe their society. Mosaic deems the cultural differences between the ethnic groups but conflict will arise if is not well dealt.
Article: Occupy Alcatraz: Native American Activism in the Modern Era - The New York Times

Somali-Americans in Minnesota

The actual condition of Somali-Americans is so different from what President Trump said. Originally, I was skeptical on the conditions of immigrants in the inland areas of the United States. There are rumors that people from inland areas are not friendly to non-white Americans. But it is not that case. The New York Times interviewed Somali-Americans in Minnesota about their feelings about immigrating to America. They said it is like home compared to the unrest in Somalia. The possible reason of being targeted might be Rep. Ilhan Omar's distinctive presence in the Congress. Just like other ethnic groups in the past, I believe time could silence discrimination.
Article: 'This Creates Fear': Trump Rally Turns Spotlight on Minnesota's Somali Community - The New York Times

Ex parte Endo: A Late Justice to the Japanese Americans in Internment

The Ex parte Endo case was a late justice to the Japanese Americans in World War II, which greatly showed that Justice won't be absent, but simply too late on its way. When reading Daniels' Coming to America, other ethnic groups, such as Germans and Italian immigrants in the United States, could be differentiated as "good" or "bad", why can't the Japanese be treated in the same way? In this case, Endo was a Nisei, which means second generation Japanese Americans, didn't travel to Japan, didn't speak Japanese, her behavior was totally American, which was no different than the European descendants in the United States. Endo and her parents were forced into internment just because of their ethnicity, and relocated a few times. They ended up staying in Topaz Relocation Camp in Utah, from 1942 to 1945. At the same time, Mistuye Endo, without any consent, served as the chief plaintiff of Ex parte Endo. This case was argued a few times in the district court and finally went to the US Supreme Court in 1944. It was ruled unanimously that the government cannot detain citizens who are loyal to the United States, and finally ended the incarceration of the Japanese Americans. Overall, the justice was too late that Endo and her parents left Topaz when the war almost ends.
Article: Overlooked No More: Mistuye Endo, a Name Linked to Justice for Japanese-Americans - The New York Times

A Witness of 20th Century

This article illustrated the experience of a Chinese Immigrant lady, Cecilia Chiang, who recently had her 99th birthday. I found this article from the food section of the New York Times. I thought it would be talking about how Ms. Chiang retained the original flavors of Chinese cuisine in the United States. However, when Ms. Chiang recalled her past in Beijing, and her experience as an immigrant in San Francisco, there was a heavy historical context in it. The life from an upper-class girl, where she was not allowed to approach any kitchen stuff, to the life that she had to making a living using the dishes she remembered back in China. Ms. Chiang remembered her 99 years of life. Her life was just like a collection of history that should be treasured.
Article: Cecilia Chiang, a Pioneering Restaurateur, Marks a Century of Flavors - The New York Times

Yickwo v. Hopkins: An Early Landmark Victory Against Racism

Chinese immigrants were once a clear target of white supremacy in America. In the 19th century, it was impossible for Chinese immigrants to assimilate into American society due the differences in appearance and culture. When I was studying supreme court cases about the Civil Rights Movement, the case of Yickwo v. Hopkins (1886) was introduced as a landmark victory that many Civil Rights case referred to this court decision. This articles I found online is interesting, it introduced how the Chinese went into the laundry business after the gold rush. Many Chinese originally refused to wash clothes because it should be women's job for laundry. However, the foreign miners' tax imposed to the Chinese forced them to change their career. Later, an anti-laundry legislation to the Chinese immigrants in California has forced them to appeal it to the court and finally overturn this legislation unanimously. This case might not change much about the situation of Chinese immigrants in America during 19th century, but at least the immigrants could still make a living in a place far from their homes.
Article: Yick Wo: How A Racist Laundry Law In Early San Francisco Helped Civil Rights

Chinatown tong wars in San Francisco

This article was talking about the tong wars in San Francisco presented me how brutal the conflicts were among Chinese immigrants back in the 19th century. It was ridiculous that how woman became the source of a conflict and ended with deaths and casualties. On the other hand, the Chinese Squad, employed by the San Francisco government, were no different than the tong members. They often break into tong headquarters and destroy the furniture inside. It was their way to scare tong members away from battling. However, American tongs surprisingly worked together in supporting Dr. Sun Yatsen for overthrowing the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was probably because they hated Qing Dynasty than anybody in China. The tongs in America consisted with people from Hongmen, who claimed to restore the previous Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in China, and some remnants of Taiping Rebellion (1851-1872).
Article: Chinatown tong wars- The San Francisco Examiner

Curry: Food That Travels Through Colonization

Today, the article about Japanese curry bricks in the New York Times resonates me as a curry lover. Curry is a food that is unable to bypass among the countries that was heavily influenced by the Great Britain, while it was in its peak of influence. In the mid-19th century, British Empire officially colonized India, and the recipe of cooking curry flew across the Indian Ocean to the East Asian nations in the 19th century. During this period of time, Japan was facing Meiji Restoration. The Japanese assimilated many European dishes into their own style, including the Curry. Even though many Southeast Asian countries have their unique curry recipes, the Japanese is the only country that converted curry into bricks where we can simply enjoy curry instantly. I have to say, the Japanese contributed much in making instant food in the last few decades.
Article: The Secret to Japanese Comfort Food on Demand: Homemade Curry Bricks- The New York Times

How a writer back in 19th century viewed Chinese immigrants in California

For Chinese Immigrants, California is often the best location to live in the United States because it faces the Pacific Ocean. The coastal cities of California are closer to their homeland. Mark Twain, a famous American writer, wrote some observations about Chinese immigrants in California when he was traveling to the American West during the 1860s. He described that the Chinese immigrants always herd together. In their ethnic community, these immigrants often provide washing, ironing, and catering services that were relatively cheaper than the ones from White Americans. Overall, Twain had positive views on Chinese immigrants. He stated that the Chinese immigrants were able to find themselves a job to do, and worked very hard in their careers. In this article, Twain compared Chinese immigrants with the White Americans. Therefore, I think Twain just wanted to use Chinese immigrants to criticize the behaviors of White Americans, who have higher status in the United States.
Article: Mark Twain’s Observation About Chinese Immigrants in California

Vietnamese Rice Rolls: Banh Cuon

Last weekend, I went to the Vietnam Town in San Jose with my sister. We ate Vietnamese rice rolls, where it should be called Banh Cuon, according to the article in The New York Times. It was a fresh experience for me, because I only know Pho in Vietnamese cuisine before. As a Cantonese, I never thought that Vietnamese food actually shares a lot of similarity with the Cantonese. In Hong Kong, I often eat Cheung-fun, something similar to Banh Cuon during the Yumcha session. The article also mentioned they are relatively similar. However, making Cheung-fun is not easy. It requires some skills to make Cheung-fun in Yumcha restaurants. My sister said, Banh Cuon is more like a casual formula of making Cheung-fun, which makes it easier to make in the household. It was interesting to see how immigration from other countries affected the meals in the United States. The various cuisines in this country showed its complicated ethnic history in its 243 years of establishment.

Article: The Art of Banh Cuon, Vietnamese Rice Rolls- The New York Times