Asian Life in Los Angeles | Asian American Poll

ASIAN LIFE IN LOS ANGELES
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:13:24 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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Why do I need to be patriotic to a society that will never accept me? It just doesn't make sense to spill blood for an unworthy cause. What will they do for you after the war? Make you an honorary white person?

No thanks. I conscientiously object.

What happened to the Japanese Americans being shoved into camps and stinking horse tracks ain't gonna happen to the Chinese Americans. NEVER. You can trust me on that.
peace Friday, August 02, 2002 at 01:00:35 (PDT)

There is no way I am going to leave LA for any other city. I once tried how it was to live with my grandmother's sister's family up in Sacramento. Man, there is nothing up there. I got bored easily. The Chinese up there act like whites and they got no sense of being attuned to Chinese thinking and culture.

Most of all, there is nothing there to enjoy. No nightlife, no decent restaurant, no beautiful women. Only lots of green empty space.

I'd rather live with the smog and traffic.
LA boy for life Friday, August 02, 2002 at 00:44:58 (PDT)

You guys need some clarifications. Many of the racist laws directed against Asians (at least in the case of Chinese) were repealed due to the lobbying efforts of Nationalist China and not some heroic or patriotic acts on the part of individuals.

Many of the court cases against racial injustice towards Asians, involved Chinese or Chinese American plaintiffs. I am not saying that the Japanese or Filipinos did not go to court, but they were more content with the status quo or only tried to find ways to circumvent them.

Yes, there was a lot of "beef" between the early Chinese and Japanese immigrants. They usually settled not too far from each other in vicinity (L.A. and S.F. for example). A lot of it was political baggage they brought over from the old country.

During World War II, some of my uncles (as did many other Chinese, black and whites) had bought some of the Japanese-Americans' stores at unequal value prices. They wore signs on their shirts saying: "I'm no Jap" not only because the U.S. government advised them to do so, but because there already was friction between the Chinese and Japanese here in the USA even before the USA got involved in the war.

The Filipinos also harbored similar sentiments. Prior to the war, the Filipinos were the biggest customers and victims of Chinese gambling dens everywhere throughout California. Many Filipinos resented the Chinese for sucking off their hard earned pay. But, during the war, Chinese gambling dens shut down and many Chinese men found more promising work in the military or to replace the replenished labor force. Filipino men did so as well. Both Chinese and Filipinos in the USA at that time had joined the military in large numbers (but it is rarely mentioned) on the Pacific front. I once went to a reunion party they held and the old Chinese and Filipino veterans would joke on how many prisoners on the islands they had shot in the back of the head, instead of capturing. They had an undying hate for anything Japanese despite their already advanced ages. Now, the Chinese and Filipinos harbored no resentment towards each other.

That was back in the old days. If you now ask many Chinese, Filipino and Japanese elders, they can recount the hate they had for one another.

Although I must say, that younger generations of Asian Americans are working for a better tomorrow. We need it.

It is senseless in this color conscious society.
mindless Friday, August 02, 2002 at 00:39:30 (PDT)

I rarely frequent the San Gabriel area. But, today I took a drive down to East L.A. and then cruised through Monterey Park. I was driving up Atlantic and Garvey when the police pulled on its sirens and told some of us (cars or pedestrians) to freeze. I was scared as hell because my Mexican girlfriend in East L.A. is only 17. I thought I was being busted, so I drove my car into the plaza parking lot. The cops drove up there too, but instead, they stopped 2 young Asian ladies and yelled at them. Man, they were loud! I mean, I had my windows closed and I could hear that guy literally barking at them.

I parked my car and went out to see what was happening. Everyone at the plaza was watching this too. I went over and tried to volunteer as a translator. The cop then asked me if I could speak Japanese? I said NO and walked away. I thought the girls were Chinese. It happened that these 2 were Japanese international students. They had lunch at a Japanese restaurant across the street and crossed when the light turned red. The cops were asking them for their passports and stuff like that. Later, they said they were giving them a ticket or something.

It wasn't a pleasant experience to be in, no matter what your nationality was at that time. I just have the gut feeling that the Asian people in San Gabriel are being served by unfriendly and maybe even rogue cops. At least in Chinatown, more than 3/4 of the cops are Chinese, Vietnamese or other Asian. LAPD are generally more friendly than small town cops. I have yet to see an Asian cop in San Gabriel. Most are Hispanic and some white. I once heard that there was a case of 2 black rapists from South Central L.A. who preyed on young Asian women in the San Gabriel area. It is not known how many women they had raped, but everyone knew that the police in the area did nothing to catch them.

I think the Asian and Chinese people of San Gabriel area needs a voice.

At least back in my grandfather's days, there were Chinese Benevolent Societies and family associations who "ran things" in Chinatown, even issues such as police cooperation. Chinatown back then was more cohesive and political.
We don't need racism and police brutality in this day and age.
Jeffrey Friday, August 02, 2002 at 00:08:35 (PDT)

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