interview with spoken word artist Kelly Tsai:
http://openthecity.org/?p=1222
Kelly Tsai's "The Ballad of a Maybe Gentrifier"
http://kellytsai.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-a-maybe-gentrifier
Thoughts?
Friday, February 11, 2011
Specialized High School Admissions
Flipping through my Google Reader tonight, I stumbled upon a New York Times City Room blog post about the decrease in black and Hispanic students in the Specialized High Schools. In particular, my alma mater, the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, accepted 12 black and 13 Hispanic students out of a class of 937 students.
Do you know that feeling you get when you realize that another year has passed? Almost one year ago to the day (on a Friday, in fact) City Room printed the same story, when just 7 black students were admitted. I remember feeling the same shock, reading this article while sitting on the same sofa. So much has happened in the last year in my own life, but if I use these two articles as benchmarks, it seems like nothing has changed at all.
It's time to reform the Specialized High School Entrance process. We applaud ourselves for being a merit based institution (and I'm privileged to have had the opportunity to attend this great public school), but the ethnic makeup of the student body speaks to the vast inequalities in the public school system that Stuyvesant only perpetuates. Stuy, the "crown jewel" of the Specialized High Schools, is effectively only accessible to white and Asian students. Equal treatment unfortunately does not always lead to equal outcome. Equality and justice are two different things. It's time to begin the discussion about enacting progressive admission policies that provide opportunities for qualified, dedicated black and Hispanic students to join the Stuyvesant community in large numbers.
Do you know that feeling you get when you realize that another year has passed? Almost one year ago to the day (on a Friday, in fact) City Room printed the same story, when just 7 black students were admitted. I remember feeling the same shock, reading this article while sitting on the same sofa. So much has happened in the last year in my own life, but if I use these two articles as benchmarks, it seems like nothing has changed at all.
It's time to reform the Specialized High School Entrance process. We applaud ourselves for being a merit based institution (and I'm privileged to have had the opportunity to attend this great public school), but the ethnic makeup of the student body speaks to the vast inequalities in the public school system that Stuyvesant only perpetuates. Stuy, the "crown jewel" of the Specialized High Schools, is effectively only accessible to white and Asian students. Equal treatment unfortunately does not always lead to equal outcome. Equality and justice are two different things. It's time to begin the discussion about enacting progressive admission policies that provide opportunities for qualified, dedicated black and Hispanic students to join the Stuyvesant community in large numbers.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
On Chinese Mothers (aka 我爱我的妈妈）
An essay titled "Why Chinese Moms are Superior" by Yale Law professor Amy Chua appears in today's Wall Street Journal, and has already drawn over 300 comments online. The essay is incredibly simplistic and shamelessly makes caricatures out of the "Chinese mother" and the "Western mother." Where to begin?
Chua is a second-generation Chinese-American, whose parents are academics that immigrated from the Philippines. She describes her strict parenting style as a replica of her mom's parenting style, the "Chinese mother" parenting style. She has not allowed her daughters to:
• attend a sleepover
• have a playdate
• be in a school play
• complain about not being in a school play
• watch TV or play computer games
• choose their own extracurricular activities
• get any grade less than an A
•
WHAT? If this was "Chinese," how would that work for all the other students who can't be No. 1?
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin
• not play the piano or violin.
HOLY CRAP. Does it get more stereotypical than this? I admit that my mom is at times a toned down version of this "Chinese mother," and many of my Chinese-American friends would probably identify with one or two of these bullet points, but this is not an average Chinese mother. This is a super-concentrated version of a many different strict mothers, boxed and labeled as a "Chinese mother."
My Chinese momma did not immigrate to get an education, and did not come with one either. She worked in a garment factory in Chinatown where she was paid by the number of zippers she sewed and the number of buttons she attached. As I was growing up, she bought test prep books and encouraged me to do them, but there was no way she could make sure I was doing the practice problems correctly. As I chose my own extracurricular activities, and watched TV, and played computer games, we sometimes bickered but I was able and am still able to convince her that I know what's good for myself.
I look back fondly on all the lunar calendar Chinese holidays that I celebrated at home, where my mom would buy delicious roast meat from a butcher, and prepare fish and vegetables for the many Buddhist deities. Before eating the too-big-to-fit-on-one-table meal, my brother and I would pour rice wine in three mini cups and say prayers to the God of the Heaven, the God of the Earth, and our grandfather. These prayers were typical: health and prosperity for our family and friends. But, a tongue in cheek "年年考第一," meaning "Be the best in school every year," always finished our prayers. I was never actually No. 1, but that was okay.
What I find unsettling about Chua's analysis is that she creates a freaky dichotomy between Chinese mothers and "Western" mothers. (A side note: as a woman who was born and raised in America, how is Chua not a Western mother herself?) Aren't all good parents concerned about their children's academic success? According to Chua, "If a Chinese child gets a B—which would never happen—there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion." (cough cough Model Minority MYTH)
I get that Chua is proud of her kids - the WSJ essay has a picture of one of her daughters playing piano at Carnegie Hall and - but their "success" is probably as much a product of her strictness as it is a part of the privilege of having educated parents, non stop private lessons etc. In my observations, "success" requires neither crazy strictness nor abundant resources (although the latter must be nice). Students range from the "successful" to the not so "successful," parents (yes, even Chinese parents) range from the strict to the super lax, households range from loaded ($$$) to paycheck-to-paycheck, and the equation that puts all these factors together is not so simple. Chua's essay is not an apt description of the "Chinese mother," but a long congratulation for herself, and plug for her new book.
Although the essay has many gems, the last paragraph is the best. She writes:
"Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away."
Woah, my Chinese momma did all of these POSITIVE things, "Western" and "Chinese," without being batshit crazy. So please, no superficial, simplistic distinctions between Chinese mothers and "Western" mothers please.
Chua is a second-generation Chinese-American, whose parents are academics that immigrated from the Philippines. She describes her strict parenting style as a replica of her mom's parenting style, the "Chinese mother" parenting style. She has not allowed her daughters to:
• attend a sleepover
• have a playdate
• be in a school play
• complain about not being in a school play
• watch TV or play computer games
• choose their own extracurricular activities
• get any grade less than an A
•
not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama
WHAT? If this was "Chinese," how would that work for all the other students who can't be No. 1?
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin
• not play the piano or violin.
HOLY CRAP. Does it get more stereotypical than this? I admit that my mom is at times a toned down version of this "Chinese mother," and many of my Chinese-American friends would probably identify with one or two of these bullet points, but this is not an average Chinese mother. This is a super-concentrated version of a many different strict mothers, boxed and labeled as a "Chinese mother."
My Chinese momma did not immigrate to get an education, and did not come with one either. She worked in a garment factory in Chinatown where she was paid by the number of zippers she sewed and the number of buttons she attached. As I was growing up, she bought test prep books and encouraged me to do them, but there was no way she could make sure I was doing the practice problems correctly. As I chose my own extracurricular activities, and watched TV, and played computer games, we sometimes bickered but I was able and am still able to convince her that I know what's good for myself.
I look back fondly on all the lunar calendar Chinese holidays that I celebrated at home, where my mom would buy delicious roast meat from a butcher, and prepare fish and vegetables for the many Buddhist deities. Before eating the too-big-to-fit-on-one-table meal, my brother and I would pour rice wine in three mini cups and say prayers to the God of the Heaven, the God of the Earth, and our grandfather. These prayers were typical: health and prosperity for our family and friends. But, a tongue in cheek "年年考第一," meaning "Be the best in school every year," always finished our prayers. I was never actually No. 1, but that was okay.
What I find unsettling about Chua's analysis is that she creates a freaky dichotomy between Chinese mothers and "Western" mothers. (A side note: as a woman who was born and raised in America, how is Chua not a Western mother herself?) Aren't all good parents concerned about their children's academic success? According to Chua, "If a Chinese child gets a B—which would never happen—there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion." (cough cough Model Minority MYTH)
I get that Chua is proud of her kids - the WSJ essay has a picture of one of her daughters playing piano at Carnegie Hall and - but their "success" is probably as much a product of her strictness as it is a part of the privilege of having educated parents, non stop private lessons etc. In my observations, "success" requires neither crazy strictness nor abundant resources (although the latter must be nice). Students range from the "successful" to the not so "successful," parents (yes, even Chinese parents) range from the strict to the super lax, households range from loaded ($$$) to paycheck-to-paycheck, and the equation that puts all these factors together is not so simple. Chua's essay is not an apt description of the "Chinese mother," but a long congratulation for herself, and plug for her new book.
Although the essay has many gems, the last paragraph is the best. She writes:
"Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away."
Woah, my Chinese momma did all of these POSITIVE things, "Western" and "Chinese," without being batshit crazy. So please, no superficial, simplistic distinctions between Chinese mothers and "Western" mothers please.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
hello chinatown, do you remember me?
happy new year!
After too much time away from home in 2010, it feels so good to be home for winter break. It's crazy to think that since last winter break, I've been home for 5 days. The past two weeks have been super relaxing and full of chinatown sisters, long conversations, hanging out with mom, and college essay editing for my brother. Yay for three more weeks at home!
Since it's a new year, and since I haven't blogged in forever, I've decided that it's time for a change -- more posts. lots more posts. One of my resolutions is to write more - blog posts, creative pieces, and political pieces. In the busyness that was 2010, I forgot about the incredibly soothing activity that is writing. Woops! Here's hoping that 2011 will be full of writing, fun CS classes, and time with friends and family.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="19 and forever young "]
[/caption]
After too much time away from home in 2010, it feels so good to be home for winter break. It's crazy to think that since last winter break, I've been home for 5 days. The past two weeks have been super relaxing and full of chinatown sisters, long conversations, hanging out with mom, and college essay editing for my brother. Yay for three more weeks at home!
Since it's a new year, and since I haven't blogged in forever, I've decided that it's time for a change -- more posts. lots more posts. One of my resolutions is to write more - blog posts, creative pieces, and political pieces. In the busyness that was 2010, I forgot about the incredibly soothing activity that is writing. Woops! Here's hoping that 2011 will be full of writing, fun CS classes, and time with friends and family.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="19 and forever young "]
[/caption]
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