James Lee, a militant environmental activist, was killed by police after taking hostages at the Discovery Channel HQ this afternoon.
I completely missed the ongoing news drama today (work, work, work), so I’m a little late blogging on this.
Turns out that earlier this afternoon, a gunman stormed into Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Springs, Maryland. The gunman had silver cannisters taped to his torso (believed initially to be explosives), and took three male hostages in the lobby of Discovery Channel HQ. Apparently the gunman’s grievances involved believing that humans are “filthy, destructive, polluting creatures” responsible for destroying the environment, and that the Discovery Channel encourages “the birth of more parasitic human infants” — (I guess he was talking about reality television shows like Birth Day aired by Discovery Health that follow pregnant mothers about to give birth).
Oh, yes, and the gunman was an Asian male named James Lee. Great.
When I first caught the headline half an hour ago on the CNN homepage, I experienced the familiar feeling of holding my breath and hoping that this Lee wasn’t Asian. Sadly, I was wrong. As we learn more about James Lee, the more we see the familiar story of an Asian guy with severe mental issues falling between the cracks, and losing his life because of it. In fact, it’s a little eerie how similar Lee’s story is to that of Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech gunman who slaughtered over thirty college students in 2007.
Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman of the Virginia Tech Massacre.
The similarities extend far beyond the shared demographics of the gunmen (sorry Angry Asian Man, I am making the connection — but hopefully I’ll demonstrate that it’s not just an easy comparison based on the whole race thing…). Both Lee and Cho displayed a marked hatred of humanity. In Cho’s case, he railed against fellow college students, whom he described as “brats”, “charlatans” and “snobs”:
“You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn’t enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren’t enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn’t enough. Your vodka and cognac weren’t enough. All your debaucheries weren’t enough. Those weren’t enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything,” MSNBC.com quoted Cho as saying.
Lee’s manifesto and other writings are also available online, through blogs, forum posts, and his MySpace page. In them, Lee also demonstrates a strong antipathy for humanity, advocating forced sterilization to decrease the human population and railing against “anchor babies” (…way to go, Republicans and Fox News…). He writes:
Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what’s left of the planet with their false morals and breeding culture.
Both Lee and Cho used new media to release their twisted rants to the media. Cho sent a “multimedia manifesto” containing videos, text and photographs to MSNBC on the morning of his rampage; it was actually dropped into the mail while Cho walked to the building where he staged his rampage. Lee’s writings are collected from years of blogging and forum posting, but are nonetheless both public and multimedia in nature. In both cases, it’s clear that Lee and Cho felt unheard and used whatever means they had at their disposal to force a dialogue on their issues.
Both Lee and Cho demonstrated mental health issues in their final, violent stand-offs (although, arguably, what kind of gunman doesn’t have mental issues?). Importantly, both Lee and Cho had encounters with mental health professionals, and in neither case were Lee or Cho properly diagnosed and treated. Cho was assessed by psychiatrists in 2005 – two years before the Virginia Tech massacre — and identified as potentially posing ”an imminent danger to himself or others”, yet he was recommended only for outpatient treatment. Cho failed to comply with that order, and it was never followed up on, allowing Cho to slip through the cracks and spiral further out of control due to lack of therapy and mental care. Lee was arrested in 2008 after a protest on the sidewalk outside of Discovery Channel headquarters where he threw money in the air causing a public disturbance. While in jail, Lee was assessed by psychiatrists but claims he was not diagnosed with any mental disorder.
”I told them my idea of saving the planet,” Lee was quoted in the Gazette. ”They couldn’t find anything wrong with me.”
Manger said hostage negotiators negotiated for almost four hours by phone with Lee while police officers watched and listened to Lee on the building’s surveillance system.
“At times during the negotiations, he was calm, but I wouldn’t call him lucid. The conversation was indicative to me he was dealing with some mental issues,” he said.
Cover art for Daniel Quinn's book, "Ishmael".
Finally — and perhaps weirdest and most disturbing — both Cho and Lee appear to have some sort of connection with the name “Ishmael”. Ishmael is Abraham’s son in the Hebrew bible and the Qu’ran, who was hated and eventually exiled based on the circumstance of his birth. “Ishmael” is also the name of a 1992 novel by Daniel Quinn (and is referenced in two subsequent books) that recounts a dialogue between a gorilla (Ishmael) and a human. Through their interaction, the unnamed narrator of the book learns of Ishmael’s belief that humans have a responsibility to care for the planet and its inhabitants, rather than to pillage and consume it.
In 2007, it was revealed that Seung-Hui Cho wrote “Ax Ishmael” on his arm immediately prior to his rampage, and that his “multimedia manifesto” had a return address to “A. Ishmael”, suggesting that Seung-Hui Cho was trying to reinvent himself in reference to either the biblical figure or the 1992 Quinn novel’s primate protagonist. Jason Godesky of Anthropik Network (who has read Quinn’s novel and is familiar with its themes) argues that Cho’s actions indicate he never read “Ishmael”, and that he carried himself in direct conflict with the book’s message of peace and self-discovery, fueling further controversy over whether Cho’s “Ax Ishmael” alter-ego referenced the Hebrew bible or Daniel Quinn’s book.
Lee said he began his crusade to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego and reading ”Ishmael,” a novel by Daniel Quinn about a gorilla that tells a man what it is like to live in captivity in a world where humans exploit natural resources.
Lee said he then felt an ”awakening,” watched former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary ”An Inconvenient Truth,” and decided he had been doing too little to protect the environment.
Now, I’m not saying that Daniel Quinn’s book causes Asian men to go on shooting sprees. What I am noting is how the name Ishmael, whether in reference to the Hebrew bible or Daniel Quinn’s gorilla, symbolizes alienation, oppression, powerlessness, and moral redemption, and how these themes resonated with both shooters. Could it be that Asian males suffering from destructive mental health issues specifically — and uniquely – identify with these same themes?
In any event, if there was any more evidence needed that there is a huge health disparity between Asian Americans and the rest of the population, this is it. Less than ten years ago, findings from one of the first and most comprehensive studies conducted on Asian American mental health were published by the National Institute of Mental Health. In it, Asian Americans are identified as having lower rates of mental health concerns – but that is coupled with substantially lower rates of seeking treatment. (This begs the question — do Asian Americans have lower rates of mental health, or lower rates of being diagnosed with mental health problems?)
Usage of mental health treatment is reduced in Asian American populations, from API Info Net. Click image for source.
Researchers have identified several potential factors that appear to discourage Asian Americans from seeking mental health treatment, including cultural stigma and language barriers. Other studies have shown that, despite the lower rates of mental illness among Asian Americans, the suicide rate in the APIA community (5.75 deaths out of 100,000) is higher than that of other ethnic groups. Furthermore, elderly Asian American men experience a suicide rate nearly four times the overall community average (27.95 deaths out of 100,000), and the suicide rate amongst Asian American women rankest highest amongst females of any other ethnic group.
In short, this is a problem, folks. A real problem. A we-can’t-afford-to-ignore-this problem.
Thankfully, unlike with the Virginia Tech Massacre, no one was killed in today’s hostage situation except the gunman, James Lee. But it would still be a tragedy to forget the lessons that could be learned from today’s drama: we should not learn to hate or fear Asian males (or to stereotype them as violent offenders prone to shooting sprees), or to subscribe to Lee’s misguided beliefs involving forced sterilization. But, rather than to fear the inevitable comparisons between Seung-Hui Cho and James Lee (and to lament yet another story that paints Asian folks as the bad guys), we can instead use this incident to start a national dialogue about mental health issues that are proven to exist within the Asian American community precisely because we don’t like to identify those patterns or associate ourselves with those problems.
Hopefully today’s events can teach us to be more cognizant of mental health issues and how they are socially and culturally stigmatized — particularly in the context of the Asian American community. We can and should do more to raise mental health awareness amongst Asian Americans, and to support and promote non-profit and federal efforts to improve diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in Asian American patients.
Last month, I predicted for Jeff Yang’s summer blockbuster round-up that The Expendables (co-starring Jet Li) would be the best movie of the summer. Although I planned to see the movie on opening night, I only managed to make it to the theatres last Monday night — which was all the better since the movie’s first two weekends were jam-packed.
And yes, it was well worth the wait. The Expendables was fuckin’ awesome.
The incredible thing about The Expendables was how it knew exactly who its audience was — 25-34 year old males — and adapted itself accordingly. The Expendables is best described as a campy eighties action flick with post-millennial special effects.
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is an aging special forces-type guy who heads a gang of mercenaries, along with his lieutenants Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and Ying Yang (Jet Li — yes, his name is a play on yin and yang). Sure, they’re mercenaries, but they’re “mercenaries with morals” — they apparently only get hired to save innocents from bad guys with big guns. The movie establishes this point clearly within the first few minutes of the movie: the mercs are hired to save some hostages from some pirates. Shortly after Stallone and Statham ruthlessly execute five pirates (using handguns and knives respectively — it’s a running gag), they are aghast when Gunner (Dolph Lundgren) wants to hang one of the pirates from a noose.
“We don’t do that,” says Stallone’s character, moments before Jet Li attempts to stop Lundgren with his fists. After the dust settles, Gunner is fired from the crew for being too cold-hearted. And, so we know that the Expendables are “good mercenaries”.
What follows is some completely meaningless events to get the team of Expendables to the final, climatic fight scene. We can’t really even call it a plot — it’s more of an excuse to move the characters to the fight scene. It had something to do with Angel from Dexter leading a massive army of faceless soldiers (aka cannon fodder for the Expendables) to take over a small South American island, and working with Eric Roberts to rule it with an iron fist and a ton of cocaine. Angel’s daughter is Stallone’s love interest, and she needs a-rescuing. But who cares, right? Within fifteen minutes, we know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, and all we care about is how the good guys will destroy the bad guys.
Much like the “A” Team, the Expendables each have a silly name, a field of expertise, and a personality quirk. Stallone is the strategist (yes, that is probably ironic) and the gunner, Statham is the knife expert with a superfluous white knight subplot, and Li is the stealthy martial artist who inexplicably wants more money. Hale Caeser (Terry Crews) is the heavy weapons expert (AA-12 baby!) who names his weapons after women, and Toll Road (Randy Couture) is the MMA specialist who preaches the virtues of psychiatric therapy. Mickey Rourke plays Tool, Stallone’s mentor and retired war buddy.
On the villain side, we have Angel and his army of red shirts. Eric Roberts is his business partner, an ex-CIA agent turned drug kingpin; Gary Daniels (kick-boxing champ) plays The Brit and Stone Cold Steve Austin plays Paine, Roberts’ bodyguards.
Just like ’80’s action flicks, The Expendables doesn’t concern itself with race consciousness or stereotypes. Yes, the black guy is a fast-talkin’ brutish dude with biceps bigger than my thighs. Yes, the Asian guy is money-grubbing. Yes, the plot involves White guys saving brown people from other White guys. Yes, the only Expendables who even remotely get a nod at character development are the White guys in the lead. Yes, none of the women have agency, and are little more than props to help the boys demonstrate the size of their cojones. And the movie can be justifiably criticized for these points — this was, after all, a problem with all 80’s action flicks.
In fact, I was disappointed in the treatment of both the female characters in this movie. Charisma Carpenter’s entire point in the movie was to suffer domestic violence and be rescued. Giselle Itie spends most of the movie captured and being tortured, or otherwise powerlessly angry. And there’s really no excuse for this — even 80’s action flicks had powerful heroines. Why couldn’t there have been a sexy but bad-ass female Expendable?
But, when it comes to the race stuff, there’s something a little charming and tongue-in-cheek about how it’s done. The stereotypes are there, without a doubt. But, Terry Crews’ Hale Caeser steals every scene he’s in, and I guarantee that he will be considered the most bad-ass of the characters by anyone who watches the movie. Racebending’s review suggests that Crews doesn’t get his own characterization, but I would argue that none of the Expendables excluding Statham and Stallone, get any real chance to develop a personality. Crews is forgettable for the first hour, but so is Couture — and, unlike Couture, Crews is unmissable in the last thirty minutes.
Racebending notes that Jet Li’s Yang never wins his own battles (even though the other Expendables get their own fight scenes) — however, I think this was a running joke of the movie. Yang complains several times that the other Expendables keep stepping in to ”rescue” him — when he was perfectly capable of taking care of the fight himself. The other Expendables think of Li as weaker, but Yang repeatedly disputes this point and even gets angry at Stallone for saving him in his first fight scene.
Further — and hopefully I don’t get flamed for this — the one scene where Li makes short jokes about himself was hilarious. Offensive, but hilarious. Jet Li is smaller than the other Expendables (and we see Crews make a quip about that in the trailer), but Li’s character actually runs with it. He argues to the effect that because he is shorter, he has to work harder than the other Expendables, and therefore should be paid more money. To me, this was using a stereotype, but also reappropriating it to the benefit of Li’s character — we end up appreciating Li’s good-natured humour about his stature. Further, I also liked how Li’s money-grubbing was contrasted with his character’s integrity — Yang is the one who goes toe-to-toe with Gunner at the beginning to save the pirate, and he’s the first mercenary to join Stallone on the suicide mission to the final fight scene.
And how about that final fight scene? I’m not going to give away its awesomeness, but let’s put it this way: if you grew up on vintage 80’s action movies (and you miss them now), and liked the recent Rambo sequel, than you will love this movie’s action scenes.
In summary, The Expendables was total schlock — and that’s what made it so damn awesome. Fuck, yeah!
Are you a sexy, yet sensitive, Asian American man who just hasn’t received the kind of lovin’ deserve? Fear not — Hyphen Magazine has just the outlet for your good-lookin’, yet dashingly philanthropic, self. I’m re-posting this announcement, for those of you who missed it last week:
Hyphen Magazine is having its annual Mr. Hyphen contest November 6th, 2010! We are on our MEGA search for contestants: Asian/Pacific Islander American men who are involved in their communities. This is great opportunity for our fellow leaders be recognized for their empowering work and raise money for a charity that concerns them. We would love for you to pass this announcement along to any friends, family, or community members you know via email, Twitter, Facebook or word of mouth! This link includes all information, contest rules, and the application itself!
The deadline is Friday, September 17th, 2010.
What are you still doing reading this blog? Go apply!
I stumbled upon this article earlier this week detailing a paper recently published by two University at Buffalo researchers on health disparities that disproportionately disadvantage Asian Americans. Here’s an excerpt:
In their paper, “Barriers to Health Care Among Asian Americans,” UB School of Social Work professors Wooksoo Kim and Robert H. Keefe write that Asian Americans cannot be carelessly lumped together with such easy stereotypes as “well adjusted” or “successful.” In addition to the many Asian Americans who have assimilated well and become accomplished professionals, able to enjoy all the accompanying benefits, millions of Asian Americans still face daunting obstacles that stand in the way of quality health care, the UB researchers say.
Their conclusions are based on analysis of previous research into health care disparities among U.S. racial and ethnic groups, including Asian Americans, and upon U.S. Census data.
Four major barriers — language and culture, health literacy, health insurance and immigrant status — create vast differences between some Asian Americans with access to good health care and those who endure these barriers as best they can, the researchers conclude in their study, published this summer in Social Work in Public Health.
“Previous researchers (who studied selective nationalities or regional groups) may extrapolate from their findings to form a model they believe is representative of all Asian Americans,” explain Kim and Keefe. “This limitation not only fails to flush out differences among the Asian-American groups not being studied, but the one group under study is unlikely to be representative of its own ethnic Asian-American population.”
All these factors “perpetuate the myth of the well-adjusted Asian American,” the researchers find.
“Asian Americans are considered a ‘model minority,’ which prevents many Asian Americans from getting help when they need it, and this study addresses that issue,” Kim explains. “There is a dire need to expand our knowledge regarding better health care services for Asian Americans. I hope health care providers and policy makers become more cognizant of the needs of 12 million Asian Americans in this country.”
What I found fascinating about the study was how the researchers described a network of factors that create obstacles for Asian Americans. It’s not just one thing or another that makes Asian Americans (or other minority groups) more susceptible to health disparities, but several factors that work together to make it more difficult for Asian Americans to receive the healthcare they need.
The article speaks to the complexity of political issues that affect minority groups in America, and particularly how healthcare professionals and legislators who understand the unique challenges faced by our community can help alleviate these problems.
According to the researchers, attempts to address the issue of uneven health care among Asian Americans need to take these barriers into account.
“The presence of health care experts who are knowledgeable about Asian-American culture and social conditions can help remove, or mitigate, the effects of the barriers to health care for Asian Americans,” the researchers write.
Improving access for Asian Americans also improves the chances other under-served groups will benefit from quality health care.
In the long run, a country with healthy Asian Americans is a necessary condition for a stronger health-care system in the United States, the researchers say. “Health care for Asian Americans cannot be conceptualized without considering health care for all Americans,” Kim says.
It’s that time of year again! Hyphen Magazine is looking for their next Mr. Hyphen. Here’s the call for applicants:
APPLY TO BECOME THE NEXT MR. HYPHEN!
This competition highlights Asian American men who are leaders and give back to their communities. This event is chance to win a $1,000 prize for nonprofit cause you represent, and it’s also the only competition that gives recognition to our Asian American brothers, the recognition that they — and you — deserve!
Cuts sustained by Tila Tequila at Gathering of the Juggalos
Tila Tequila, reality TV star and aspiring musician, was allegedly mobbed Friday night at The Gathering of the Juggalos, a music festival for hardcore fans of Insane Clown Posse. Tequila was performing a set as part of the festival’s Ladies Night.
According to Tequila’s own account of what happened, video of the first few seconds of the attack, statements by law enforcement, and Tweets from festival-goers, the audience was riled up within minutes of Tequila appearance on-stage. Tequila attempted to calm the audience down by baring her breasts, which only seemed to infuriate the audience more. Tequila was pelted with thrown objects, including rocks and beer bottles, causing multiple cuts and bruises all over her face and body. She left the stage to hide in her trailer, which was quickly surrounded by the mob who smashed its windows. Only when she escaped the trailer did the violence die down.
But no one deserves to be physically assaulted, particularly not in what may have been an organized attack by uncaring music fans trying to intimidate and threaten her. Tila Tequila may not belong at an Insane Clown Posse music festival, but girl doesn’t need the message sent in the form of a brick to her head.
Republican and Chinese-American Congressman Charles Djou, from Hawaii, has an opinion piece on the Wall Street Journal today defending the 14th Amendment. The article is protected by subscription access, but VDARE has graciously reposted an excerpt:
“The 14th Amendment is one of the crowning achievements of the Republican Party. Following the Civil War, the 14th Amendment guaranteed due process for every person under the law and helped to reunite a fractured nation. It pains me to think that we may start tinkering with this fundamental fabric of our union.
The problem of illegal immigration is a difficult one, touching deeply held beliefs and emotions. But the president and both parties in Congress have a responsibility to engage in a good-faith effort to reach a consensus on an approach that enforces the law, expands legal immigration, and closes the door on illegal immigration.
In the midst of this complex debate, I have faith that the same political process that created the 14th Amendment can produce sound immigration policy that respects our borders and the people who cross over them. I have faith that “We the people” will ultimately move us closer to a “more perfect union.”
As the son of legal immigrants, Djou recognizes that the issue of illegal immigration can only be resolved by encouraging legal immigration. This must involve reforming the current immigration system, making it simpler to navigate immigration law and shortening wait and processing times for applicants. To me, Djou’s position is a textbook example of why improving political representation for minority communities is important; here, Djou’s racial and ethnic background informs his position on the immigration debate in such a way as to provide diversity of thought even within the Republican party.
That being said, Djou also makes a couple comments that seem ahistorical, at best. First of all, while it’s important to recognize the 14th Amendment as a crowing achievement of the Republican Party, we must remember that the Republicans of the Civil War era are not the same Republicans as today. Furthermore, as VDare points out, the “political process that created the 14th Amendment” included a bloody Civil War that fractured the country. Although America is currently politically divided over immigration, advocating a second Civil War seems a wee bit impractical.
I’m hopeful that we can reach comprehensive immigration reform without pulling out our muskets.
Yakuza 3 follows the story of protagonist Kazama Kiryu, a retired yakuza who runs an orphanage in Okinawa. Unfortunately, plot events conspire to force Kiryu to return to his yakuza ways, so that he can defend his orphanage from corrupt real estate developers.
Jewish-American reporter Jake Adelstein was joined by three yakuza members (given nicknames for the purposes of the article) to play through the Japanese version of Yakuza 3 and review its authenticity. Although their gameplay was hampered by missing fingers (which apparently makes holding a PS3 controller difficult), the three yakuza members managed to finish the game.
Boing Boing recounts their reactions to various elements of the videogame. Here was my favourite:
FIGHT SCENES
Author’s note: Midoriyama gets very excited during the fighting sequences, standing up from the couch at points and actually lurching towards the screen. Kuroishi never loses his cool playing the game and keeps practicing combinations until he gets it right. Shirokawa curses under his breath, but whenever he wins he yells “Yatta!”. They all agree that the combat is strictly fantasy material, with some exceptions.
S: Nobody ever dies. It’s unrealistic.
K: Kiryu is fighting all the time. He’s gotta be a fucking idiot. No yakuza is going to run around getting into fistfights like that. Especially not an executive type. He’ll wind up in jail or in the hospital or dead, maybe even whacked by his own people for being a troublemaker. These days, he’d probably get kicked out before even going to jail. Guys like that start gang wars and nobody wants that now. When a yakuza gets into a fight, it’s serious business.
M: A real fight–it’s short and it’s brutal. Over in a minute. Nobody goes around trading blows and crap like that. Usually the first guy to punch wins.
K: I like that you can grab things like ashtrays or billboards and beat the crap out of the punks bothering you. Or smash their faces into car windows. That’s what you’d really do in a fight, grab something and use it as a weapon.
S: Why doesn’t he just shoot them?
K: That would be unrealistic. Nobody is going to waste a bullet on some street punk, like the ones that keep bugging Kiyru.
M: If they wanted to make it realistic, he’d pull out a gun and shoot it and miss! Or the damn thing wouldn’t fire. That would be realistic. (They all laugh).
K: Shooting people sends a message.
M: So does shooting anything. Shooting people gets you sent to jail.
K: That’s part of the job description.
I don’t know if this review makes me want to buy and play Yakuza 3, but it sure as heck makes me want to read other video games reviewed by yakuza. Could you imagine? Metal Gear Solid 4 as reviewed by yakuza. Dynasty Warriors as reviewed by yakuza. Super Mario Brothers as reviewed by yakuza. Dance Dance Revolution as reviewed by yakuza. Monkey Ball as reviewed by yakuza. There should be a whole blog devoted to this subject.
From Arizona’s SB1070 to anti-government rhetoric spouted by the Tea Party, this election season, threats to our basic civil liberties abound. Against this political backdrop, it seems more important than ever to remember the civil rights heroes and champions who paved the way ahead of us.
Fred Korematsu was one such champion — if an unrecognized one.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed Executive Order 9066, ordering the round-up and imprisonment of thousands of Japanese Americans along America’s West Coast. Families of Japanese Americans were herded into temporary internment camps, and later into permanent relocation camps that dotted the deserts of the Southwest.
An American citizen who was born in Oakland, California, Fred Korematsu refused to abide by E.O. 9066. As families across the West Coast were forced into barbed-wire camps, surrounded by armed guards, Korematsu refused to report for internment. In 1942, he was arrested and convicted in a federal court for violating a military executive order and forcibly detained at a series of internment camps. But that didn’t stop him from appealing his case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1944 on the grounds that E.O. 9066 was “racist.”
Fred Korematsu, who passed away on March 30, 2005, dedicated his entire life to fighting for civil rights. Now, it’s our turn to honor him.
