Link Time: Election, Margaret Cho, Mooncakes

Melissa Hung
September 9, 2008

I was chatting to an Obama volunteer last night who seemed concerned that people were being won over by Sarah Palin. Really? People bought that lipstick-on-a-pitbull act? There seems to be a little panic in the air among Democrats, and that kind of pessimism is not surprising given that their hearts were smashed in 2000 and 2004. Sure, Palin is giving the GOP a lot of momentum, but at the same time, is she attracting any independents or Dems? I hope not.

Here's a few posts from the last week I found interesting: 

 

 

  • I know I already posted about how blindingly white the RNC was. Here's some numbers behind that at  SepiaMutiny about how "the delegates were even whiter than they appeared on TV. It seems the camera not only adds ten pounds, it also increases the amount of melanin in the room."

 

 

And in non-election news:

 

  • Good interview with Margaret Cho at GiggleSugar. I love how Margaret never shies away from talking about race (or anything, for that matter).

 

  • Another study with some startling news about Asian Americans and mental health: Participating in Religion May Make Adolescents From Certain Races More Depressed. In a nutshell, the study found that among adolescents who attended church often, Asian Americans and Latinos reported more symptoms of depression than whites and blacks. Asian Americans had the highest number of depressive symptoms. There's a gender angle on this too. Girls of all races and ethnic groups were more likely to have symptoms of depression then boys.

 

  • Here's an interesting story at the New York Times about an issue that some of us have probably dealt with or thought about -- how to pass on your heritage to your children: In Any Language, a Full Plate. The story follows a couple (a Chinese American woman and Korean American man) and their two children.

 

 

Categories: 
Culture
News and Politics
News and Politics
Contributor: 

Melissa Hung

Founding Editor

Melissa Hung is the founding editor of Hyphen. She was editor in chief for the magazine's first five years and went on to serve in many other leadership roles on the staff and board for more than a decade. A writer and freelance journalist, Melissa has written for NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants.

Suggested Reads

How a Catholic Nun Convinced Me to Give Hindi Film Another Chance
Another Asian Dog Meat Article? Question Your Foreign Correspondent
On Shattering Barriers with 22-Year-Old Emma Eun-Joo Choi

Comments

Comments

Anonymous wrote on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 7:23pm
another great link: this one re. how nothing white people do can possibly be seen as pathological.http://www.alternet.org/rights/98915/what_privileges_do_mccain_and_palin...
Lisa Lee wrote on Fri, 09/12/2008 - 2:26pm
a coworker shared this link with me and it made me feel better:http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/palin_doesnt_matter_nu...
Anonymous wrote on Fri, 09/12/2008 - 9:09am
There are more mooncake comments than one about Palin. Don't get me wrong those mooncakes looked good, and everyone should just start stuffing usb drives into those plastic foods you see in the display windows of Japanese restaurants.Anyway, I'm a little worried with this election and what Palin has brought to the race. I feel we are caught up in such a bipartisan war it's sickening. The right is using the tactic of taking away all credibility of the media, and as much as I dislike corporate and TV news outlets there needs to be a sense of value on behalf of citizens when they think of the role that journalists play in our society.People are being fed sound bites and internet memes and they are basing their votes on that. Is hope for change (a phrase now both candidates are using) enough? I pretty much grew up in a post 9/11 and Bush empire and I hate it. It makes me sick to know that I have been living with an administration that uses fear mongering as their main tactic. But what makes me even more sick is that there are young and old people who are asking for more of this or who wondering (still!) who should they vote for.We need to engage in conversation not with the people who are already supporting Obama but with those who aren't. It's through regular discussion, debate,and sharing of news sources that we can free ourselves from this era of doublethink.
Anonymous wrote on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 9:29pm
lipstick on a pitbull?......Have you actually met a pitbull before? I've been working with all different types of dogs for years, and the only time I've been bitten was when I was handling the little yappy chihuahuas and poodles.
Anonymous wrote on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 4:54pm
Thanks Vin.Giles, Re: Margaret. At least she has an opinion and voices it, unlike some other famous Asian Americans. Perhaps that's a pretty low standard to have in our celebrities, but I am thankful that Margaret called Gwen Stefani on her yellow fever.And true, the NY Times article was pretty fluffy. It was more a slice-of-life. I think I was smitten with the fact that the pet fish is named Darth Beta. Darth Beta!
Anonymous wrote on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 2:46pm
mooncake flash drive is many things. all awesome.not impressed with margaret cho. a lot of opinions; not a lot of race analysis.also disappointed with the NYT article; then again the original article may have been more in-depth and the editor may have cut out all the interesting stuff. the family is cute though.
Lisa Lee wrote on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 1:40pm
this makes me seem totally shallow that i am not commenting on the awesome articles and the various issues of race and politics, but, OMG I WANT ONE OF THOSE MOONCAKE USB FLASH DRIVES!