Ryan Pangilinan
By Ryan Pangilinan
Northwest Asian Weekly
“Once again, Maynard Avenue South fills with droves of flush-faced Asians, headed home with car keys dangling from one hand and a carton of chow mein in the other.”
That’s the final line from Erika Hobart’s expose, “Seattle’s Ragin’ Asians,” which was printed in last week’s issue of Seattle Weekly. This story was so popular that it was the cover feature. The feature was complete with an illustration of unidentifiable Asian faces drawn onto fish, no doubt a riff from a subject who was quoted as comparing Asians to tetra fish. Classy, right?
As a writer, I’m not really in any position to criticize Hobart, or even use my position as a regular contributor to the Northwest Asian Weekly to speak for Seattle’s Asian community. I can only speak for myself.
This article first came to my attention via Facebook, when a few friends of mine posted a link to this article and people started commenting about it by the hundreds.
I picked up a copy over the weekend and read it about four times before deciding that I hated it.
There are a few reasons I have a bone to pick with Hobart and this story, ranging from how terrible it makes Asian youth look to a blanket questioning of her overall reporting of this story. More than anything, I wonder how this story even got pitched in the first place.
The scenario I’ve built up in my head is akin to the following:
SEATTLE WEEKLY FEATURES EDITOR: Guys, we need an edgy cover story! We need something that will shine light on an unknown subculture and that people will find sexy and appealing.
NAMELESS WRITER: How about something about Trekkies?
EDITOR: That’s Trekkers, and no, we missed that boat since Star Trek came out.
HOBART: How about doing something about Asians? They’re so funny with the cars they drive, and their long and unpronounceable names! There are so many of them in Belltown and Pioneer Square!
EDITOR: Perfect! Go with it!
Whether the pitch actually happened in this fashion remains to be seen, but many people have also shared this thought. That’s the impression that I had while scanning the 125 comments that were plastered on Seattle Weekly’s website.
The comments expose a range of feelings. Some were hurt, some felt shame, and some praised Hobart. When it comes down to it, a few web board miscreants shared my big question: What was the point of this article?
Before writing this op-ed, I decided to reread the article just to make sure that there wasn’t anything special that I was missing. Other than the general bland tone of the article, I can’t say that I see anything particularly wowing about it.
Here’s the thing: It’s not about the fact that Asian American 20-somethings have a nightlife of their own, it’s that every 20-something does.
I think part of the appeal when it came to pitching this story is that many people, be it older editors or readership, live in this backwater universe where Asian youth are ultra studious people with no sense of fun, humor, or style. Why are we still being marginalized after so many years? Well, that’s a question for America at large to examine and not up to us as Asian Pacific Islanders (APIs) to explain or defend.
Asian youth subculture does have a strange sexy appeal that perhaps white people in the Eastside (or perhaps the older API generation) find fascinating. However, if Hobart were to apply her spin on this story to other cultural groups, how would that go exactly?
If she followed Latinos or Blacks, it would no doubt be construed as racist. If she followed white kids (urban hipsters or suburban bred) around, it would be somewhat similar but with less of a “gawk” factor.
It’s easy for me to lay the blame on Hobart and leave her subjects out of it, but the thing is, they were just being themselves — they were being kids, albeit irresponsible, but kids nonetheless.
Whether I agree or disagree with what Junior Pham and his friends were doing that night isn’t the point. The point is how Hobart had the power to mock Pham and basically turn a singular evening into a case study for the rice rocket set.
This story brings into fruition my biggest concern that we, as a minority, are still in a zoo. In essence, Hobart’s article says, “Hey look at these funny kids and their funny accents. Look, they pee in public places!” It was basically a dog-eating commentary, sending us back to the days of Long Duk Dong.
What I personally find offensive is that at Northwest Asian Weekly, we’ve strived to present the Seattle Asian community for what we are as individual people, whether some of us are accomplished businessmen, beauty queens, interracial romantics, fashionistas, or nerds.
One of the goals of the paper is to distance ourselves from getting tagged with stereotypes and generalizations.
And yet for all the hard work and passion that goes into a publication like this one, there’s something like “Seattle’s Ragin‘ Asians” that is published and basically puts us back into the freak show.
There’s so much more I could write about this topic, like the fact that Hobart doesn’t even touch on groups that aren’t segregated. What I will say is that if it was the Seattle Weekly’s goal to humiliate an ethnic group in Seattle, congratulations. You guys did a bang up job. ♦
Ryan Pangilinan can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
Erika Hobart thinks she is a god?? Erika Hobart thinks she is above everybody? Erika Hobart is narcissist
erika is half asian!!!!
Yes, she is a half Japanese. Luckily, I do not have Japanese blood.
Is this Seattle Weekly columnist a non-asian or what? She still uses the “ragin’ asian” moniker in her column making a mockery of Seattle’s asian community. Asian businesses, esp. restaurants and bistros should stop advertising in the Seattle Weekly if the editor continues to run her column under “ragin’ asian”. They wouldn’t dare to do this to the black community, trust me.
We let Erika follow us around because we thought her article was going to be about the asian nightlife and asian culture in Seattle like she intended to do, but instead, she discriminated not just my family and friends, but the entire asian community. She twisted up everything we said and made us sound like a bunch of wild animals which people referred us to on some of the comments. We’re educated people who like to let loose and have fun. Hobert, did the things we did that night. We showed her a good time, let her sleep over because she was too drunk to drive and this is what we get.
Yikes.. what kind of person Erika Hobart is? Perhaps she is the one who needs more education.
Right on Ryan! Thank you for your response to the Weekly’s piece of crap.
Here’s the rap, generalizations and stereotypes will always exist as long as there is an overwhelming majority of ppl out there continuing to perpetuate them. So what are we to do about this? Nothing. Unless you have a stick of chalk big enough to draw a line to separate the fully assimilated, college educated, white-washed asian americans from the rest of the “other” asians. There will always be behavioral/cultural norms within each respective culture that western society will view in some negative way and even mock. It can’t be helped, in fact some revel in it and openly praise it. That’s just reality. If the article was simply about a couple of asians going out for a night of drinks then yes, there was no point. Seeing as how certain behaviors documented in the piece are pretty exclusive to the asian culture say otherwise.
While I see your point, the fact remains that we are still an underrepresented minority and that white America doesn’t care to KNOW us, which is why articles like this are so disheartening. People who might know one or two Asian people will pick this up and say, “Oh, I knew that’s how those savages act!” When white teens probably do the same thing. To be idle is cultural suicide and I would rather take a stand and fight stereotypes. Sitting on the sidelines is weak and breeds indifference.
I agree with Ryan. Erika Hobart writing gives a completely biased information which is mostly not correct about Asian. What I know about Asian, most of them are religious and they do not go to places mentioned in Erika Hobart’s writing. Erika Hobart is far from being fair and objective. I hear she is Asian herself, and she was raised in Asia, so I am completely amazed that it seems Erika Hobart does not know any facts about many Asian. I never met Erika Hobart, but after reading her writings, I think I hate Erika Hobart. I can imagine Erika Hobart personality from what she wrote. I think Erika Hobart needs more education and knowledge.