Soong-Chan Rah: Another Angry Asian Man?
Reading “Prof Rah’s” The Next Evangelicalism is like gargling with salt. It stings in the throat but at the same time clears the sinuses of the stuffiness and congestion of poorly thought-out racial dialogue. Sure, we like to talk about color-blindness, and melting pots, and model minorities, but do we know what we’re really saying when we talk about these things? Surely the Church – that glorious multicultural reality – is exempt from these faux-pas assumptions… Or is she? Perhaps a little deconstruction is in order – and maybe that aint such a bad thing.
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While I thought some of the acting was kinda kitschy and predictable, (yo holmes, I’m from the South Side, I represent) I found this movie pregnant with so many important themes. Faith, Place, & Race are three of them (and also happen to be the title of this blog) but it wrestles deeply with issues of urbanization, neighborhood, culture, and so many things. David Swanson gives a more complete review, titling it “urban exile” and I think that captures the essence of Gran Torino; being stuck in a place with people you don’t like and making the most of it. Staying put. And this is faith. What’d u think of the movie?
Listen to this rhetoric coming from the Republican party re: Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor:
“White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.” – Newt Gingrich
“a reverse racist” (comparable to KKK leader David Duke) – Rush Limbaugh
“picked because she’s a woman and Hispanic, not because she was the best qualified.” – Curt Levey
“a Latino KKK without the hoods or nooses.” (on National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Hispanic advocacy group) – Tom Tancredo(Colo.)
These were in response to Sotomayor’s comment: Read more…
I’m gonna be honest here as the past several posts have been on racial issues. While it’s important for me, I should say it’s not the only thing I think about. But I’m sure a little book that’s making BIG waves has something to do with it (see previous post). Rah’s book is influential; and people are talking about it everywhere and it’s lighting up the blogosphere. So naturally there’s a lot more chatter about race issues. But a small detail has gone unnoticed – anyone recognize that’s it’s “Asian / Pacific-American Heritage Month”? Holla. Read more…
I’ve been making my way through Korean-American author Soong-Chan Rah’s recent new work The Next Evangelicalism. Now careful here, reading it is like gargling with salt – it stings on the way down but clears the sinuses of quaint tokenisms and so-called “color-blindnesses” that perpetuate faulty systems. Basic premise: while the de facto representation of American evangelicalism is predominantly a Caucasian playing field, the fact of the matter is, “American evangelicalism” is fast becoming non-white. I think this is no mystery, and just today heard this sentiment expressed, by a Caucasian brother for that matter. What’s the big stink then? Why the ranting against the establishment, when folks recognize the nation over this phenomenon of “the browning of America”? Read more…
OK, so this made me really upset today.
How far do we still have to go? Is it still necessary to work through some of our deep racial issues that surface in our political cartoons? Apparently so. So tell me; in your view, is cartoonist Sean Delonas a racist for depicting this image of our pres. or is he just making light of a recent monkey slaying incident? And shame on you New York Post for letting this get past your editors.
The small town of Tulia, Texas will unfortunately be back in the spotlights soon in infamy – what with the upcoming 10-yr anniversary and the pending movie directed by John Singleton and starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry, scheduled for release this year. It’s a convergence point – where politics, nationalism, and drugs combine to rear the ugly head of racism – in an incident where a community unfairly indicted 46 blacks for alleged cocaine distribution – w/ very little due process and with the very spotty testimony of one unrealiable witness – a corrupt bounty hunter of sorts. It’s upsetting to say the least, all the more so as some of these townsfolk claim to be religious, but it’s not my role to re-tell the story.
Any of my friends from TX got the (real) scoop on Tulia?
Atif Irfan and his wife, Sobia Ijaz, were among nine passengers removed from a flight Thursday after commenting on the safest place to sit. (By Phelan M. Ebenhack For The Washington Post)
I’m all for deconstructing prejudices but there’s an oft-missed dimension of prejudice that is not adequately addressed, namely, fear.
As much as we can wax progressive in cross-cultural ideals let’s face it; we’re really terrified of the ‘other’ are we not? For example, what happens when this xenophobia is mixed with, say, fear of flying? All of our progressive ideals get tossed out the window. In light of 9 Muslims getting booted off a plane – sure it’s discrimination – but it reflects a national sentiment and deeply-rooted fear since 9/11. What we need is dialogue – more voices from the Muslim community – and more talking to address this issue of fear. I’ll be the first to admit; ever since 9/11 I’ve hated flying more than ever. Anybody else echo that sentiment?
My prediction – and I hope I’m wrong – is this latest round is going to be the longest, most acute, persistent case of xenophobia ever.
Intrigued that Clint Eastwood has chosen to tackle the subject matter of Asian-American racism; while it’s not his first venture into the Asian genre (Letters From Iwo Jima) I think this one will take a unique twist. I’m looking forward to watching Gran Torino. Above all, don’t visit the wikipedia page, the person who put it up completely spoils the film. At any rate, any body see it yet? What’d u think? And pls, – no spoilers… for those who might be interested, here’s the synopsis (sans spoiler): Read more…
The recent trampling of a Long Island, NY Wal Mart worker on the morning of Black Friday has elicited a lot of commentary about our economic mess, consumerism, and why we ought to Buy Nothing (Day). While I’m deeply saddened, probably the only fresh perspective I can offer would be as a former Long Islander looking in and my misgivings about the whole “Buy Nothing Day” idea. Read more…
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