The impact of 9/11

In Monisha Das Gupta’s chapter “ Of Hardship and Hostility”, the author’s argument is that the rise in the levels of violence that driver’s experienced and their economic losses derived in large part from the industry’s transition to leasing in the 1970’s and punitive policies in the 1990’s that promoted negative images of an increasingly immigrant and predominantly Muslim workforce. This chapter examines more how structure inequalities shaped the experiences of taxi drivers after 9/11. The things that taxi drivers had to face were horrible; those who could not work after 9/11 were ineligible for unemployment even if they were citizens. In the short Article American Tragedy, is a perfect example of white supremacy. I agree with Naunihal Singn that if this case had been that of white churchgoers and the murderer Muslim it would have been all over the news for months. In the third article by Anne Burton, “A Tragic History of Hate Crimes Against Sikh’s In The U.S.” connects to the two other reading. They connect in the way that they have all been affected horribly after the 9/11 tragedy. Discrimination has worsened significantly after 9/11. Sikh’s are being confused with Muslims and Arabic’s because they wear a turban. Going around and assaulting people calling them Osama Bin Laden is NOT funny but it is a huge hate crime. Some of these individuals, Sikh’s, Muslim or even Arabic’s are not to be blamed for 9/11 because they wear a turban, to some being American is all they know, and wearing a turban is the only thing their families brought from their cultural beliefs. Seeing these images of all these different young or older man being beaten is really hurtful and sad because after all they’re for the same reason as many of us are, to capture the American Dream.     

 

-Karina Leyva

Korean Americans and the L.A. Riots

In this week’s tweet video “young, black men” in NY choose to target “older, Asian woman” because they have virulent hatred and jealousy of their success. They don’t like the fact that Asians have been accepted more in society than African Americans. In the reading by Angel Oh’s “An issue of Time and Place: The Truth behind Korean American’s Connection to The L.A. Riots,” speaks about the four LAPD officers accused of assault in 1991 videotaped beating of African American, Rodney King. Relationships between the Korean and African American community were strained after the riots, as many stores owned by Asians were severely looted and destroyed. However from my understanding and past learning, many Korean store owners denounced police violence and displayed a willingness to march alongside African Americans to show a semblance of solidarity in the wake of the violence. Angel Oh’s article also speaks about People v. Soon Ja Du case, which a Korean Immigrant was tried for first degree murder for the killing of an African American teenager. Du shot the girl because she thought she was going to rob the store where she worked. Du was guilty of voluntary manslaughter but the judge granted her probation, which caused an outcry of injustice in the local African American community. This relates back to the comment I made of the tweet of Asians being accepted more in society then blacks because if the killer had been a black man there is no way they would have let him get away with probation. Both cases happened so close in time that there were break-ins and looting in stores owned by Korean Americans. African Americans were already mad since Korean Americans and immigrants started to move to local neighborhoods and felt they were “taking their jobs in local stores.”

-Karina Leyva

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Angelo Ancheta’s “neither Black Nor White”

What the author means by “neither black nor white” is that he is stating the grocer is Asian American. He states that “the grocer’s transformation is an example of many dilemmas that Asian American’s have to face regarding race”. The grocer was expected to declare a different identity for himself but felt forced to choose between black or white even though he is really Asian American.