I've been meaning to write about a bothersome comment that came up on a sweet Father's Day article written by Rice Daddies' Jeff Yang that appeared on SF Gate a few weeks ago; however, I've been reluctant to post about it on KM because I felt it was not my business; that it was a RD thing, and I didn't want to add fuel to a fire that had been put out weeks ago.
I am copying the full text of the offending comment, below, so you can see for yourself:
Like much of the writing that emerges from those who identify as Asian these days, the essentialism of this article is deeply disturbing. In the first place, I would challenge the notion that there is a monolithic Asian community (indeed, many Asian communities are deeply hostile to each other, i.e. the Japanese and Korean). Why do so many Asian-American identified writers, from self-proclaimed Asian supremacist Kenneth Eng on down, labor under the notion that their ethnicity permeates every fiber of their being, that it somehow impart some special, essential quality to everything they do, including fatherhood? Such thinking smacks of bourgeois nationalism. Surprise Jeff - fathers of all ethnicities want their children to be happy, to grow up healthy and to succeed in life. Also Mr. Yang, the fact that you only profiled heterosexual fathers when many Asian gay men have also adopted children or are rearing their own with their partners demonstrates a homophobic selection process.
Although I am part of a Korean-American mom's blog (as opposed to an Asian-American one), I find this comment to be deeply disturbing and offensive. I resent being called a bourgeois nationalist because I believe there exists a real commonality amongst all Koreans, and, to a certain degree, all East Asians. I also take offense to the notion that a writer who omits mention of gay parenting is a homophobe.
Please help me articulate why this comment seems to be such a blatant bitch-slap to the important work we are doing to build community among parents who share a common Asian heritage. What are your thoughts on Jeff's article and/or on this commenter's criticism of the possibility of a pan-Asian culture?
