Residents March Against Racial Violence
Bridges to the New California
New California Media, Compiled and Edited by Pueng Vongs, Posted: Nov 04, 2002
"Bridges to the New California," produced by Pacific News Service, is a weekly report on the news and views of in-language and English-language ethnic press based in or circulated in California's ethnic majority communities.
Sikhs Target 'Hitman' Video Game
Ashfaque Swapan, India-West
Sixty-five Sikh organizations in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom have mounted a protest against "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin," a new video game that the groups charge is racist and "shows a deliberate lack of decency and sensitivity to Sikhs," reports India-West.
A petition demands an apology from U.K.-based video game maker Eidos, which makes many popular video games, including the best-selling "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." Hitman 2 features India as one of the locations for the violence. The Sikh groups say one scene is obviously based on the Golden Temple (Harmander Sahib) in Amritsar, a sacred site for Sikhs.
"Such a graphical portrayal of violence within the sacred grounds of any religious place -- whether a temple, a church or a mosque, is completely unacceptable," the petition says. The petition also takes issue with the mention of Dalits as "untouchables," which it calls an offensive term. One of the villains in the game is Zip Master, man with a shaven head and wearing a long saffron tunic. He has his hands clasped in the traditional Indian greeting, "namaste."
Jews Mentoring Indians in Politics
Larry Ramer, Forward
Established Jewish political organizations are allying with fledgling Indian political groups to boost Indian Americans' influence on foreign and domestic policies, reports the Forward. The groups are emphasizing the growing relationship between the homelands and the common threat of Muslim extremism.
The powerful pro-Israel group, American Israel Public Afffairs Committee, has been has been helping such groups as the newly formed Indian American Political Action Committee (INAPAC) on how to lobby members of Congress and raise money.
While the communities are coming together on domestic matters such as hate crimes legislation and immigration issues, some Indian groups disagree how closely they will work with Jewish groups on international issues. INAPAC indicated it would coordinate efforts with Jewish groups to back anti-terrorism legislation and pro-Israel candidates. Kapil Sharma with the Indian American Center on Political Awareness said that each group should be educated about the other's issues, specifically Kashmir and Palestine, "but we won't pick up each other's agendas, we won't be actively fighting for Israel," said Sharma.
Latino Groups Protest Mexican Doctors
Olvia Angulo, El Tecolote
In response to a cry for more bilingual doctors, a new program will bring 60 Mexican doctors and dentists to work in low-income and rural Latino communities in California - without support from major Latino advocacy groups, El Tecolote reports.
Groups like National Council of La Raza, the Mission Neighborhood Health Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund said the Mexican doctors might provide substandard care in California's Latino communities. But supporters of the program, such as Bay Area physician Alberto Perez, a Mexican, said medical professionals from his country are just as qualified as U.S. doctors. The Mexican physicians and dentists will receive a six-month orientation at the beginning of their stay in California. "Mexican doctors are more competent to serve in the Mexican community," said Arnold Torres, executive director of California Hispanic Health Care Association.
The program, part of new legislation approved by Governor Gray Davis, will bring Mexican doctors to communities such as Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Ventura, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo counties between July 2003 and Jan. 1, 2004.
Blacks Fear Stigma From Sniper
George E. Curry, National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA)
After the arrest of two African American sniper suspects, many in the black community are worried about how the arrests will reflect on them, reports the NNPA, a black newswire.
Reaction among Bay Area blacks ranged from relief that the suspects were apprehended to uncertainty over the guilt of the suspects to fear of indictment as a race. "When blacks perpetuate these crimes, we are all held accountable for this," says Julia Hare, a psychologist in San Francisco. "No black man, middle-aged, will be safe. But when Timothy McVeigh hit the federal building, young white males didn't have that feeling. There was no profiling of white males at all.
Others African Americans lament that race should not be a factor at all.
"My first concern was the people killed, not who the sniper was-black, white, grizzly or gray," said Glenda Ochman in Durham, N.C.
Japanese American Sports Hall of Fame
Donal Brown, Nichi Bei Times
Japanese American sports legends recently lit up the now-quiet Pacific Bell Park at the first induction of the Japanese American Sports Hall of Fame, reports the Nichi Bei Times.
For its inaugural year, the Japanese American Sports Hall of Fame honored five athletes who helped break barriers. Among those inducted were Fremont-based Kristi Yamaguchi, the first woman of color to win the Olympic gold medal in figure skating in 1992. Wally Yonamine was also the first Asian American to play professional football and the first person of color to play for the San Francisco 49ers in 1947. Yonamine went on to play professional baseball for the Yomiuri Giants, who last week won their 20th Japan Series title.
Other athletes included Wat Misaka, the first person of color in the NBA; Tommy Kono, the first Asian American world-class weightlifter; and Ann Kiyomura Hayashi, the first woman of color to win a Wimbledon title.
Filipinos Vow to Monitor Absentee Voting
Manila Bulletin USA
Filipino American community leaders are trying to boost their chances for absentee voting in the Philippines by funding a mechanism to safeguard the ballot from U.S. Filipinos, reports the Manila Bulletin USA.
Prominent entrepreneur Loida Nicolas Lewis and former newspaper publisher Alex Esclamado promised visiting Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that they would spearhead the fundraising for a U.S.-wide election watchdog. "Because of your (dollar) remittances you should really be given the chance to have your voice heard," Arroyo told the leaders.
While one-third of all Filipinos overseas are in the U.S., two-thirds of the $6 billion that immigrants send back to the Philippines annually come from U.S.Filipinos.
Initiative Will Hurt Black Population
San Francisco Bay View
The editor of the San Francisco Bay View is blasting the Prop. N/Care Not Cash initiative because he says it will further decimate San Francisco's black population.
Activists estimate that 85 percent of the city's approximate 14,000 homeless are black. The Mayor's Office of Housing says 67 percent of the city's homeless are in the Bay View-Hunters Point area.
If Prop. N becomes law, thousands from the BayView will have their General Assistance checks slashed from $359 a month to $59 a month, says Willie Ratcliff. "Many of them will die," he says.
More than 20,000 blacks - 23 percent of the population - have already left San Francisco in the past decade, he adds.
Residents March Against Racial Violence
Sing Tao Daily
A group of residents from the Portola-Silver Terrace district marched last week to end frequent incidents of violence between blacks and Asians in the area, reports the Sing Tao Daily.
The recent melee that broke out at Thurgood Marshall High after Chinese students attacked a black student points to a larger, on-going problem of racial violence in the area, say some Chinese residents. In a recent incident, a female Chinese high school student was sent to the hospital after being attacked by three African American girls who yelled racial epitaphs at her. They later attacked an elderly Chinese woman nearby.
More Chinese residents and businessowners, who cited language as a major barrier, are now coming forward with their experiences of racial attacks, says Dwayne Jusino with the Community Alliance of Portola-Silver Terrace. Residents have also recently set up a hotline for Chinese victims of attacks.
About 40 community members -- mostly Asian and Latino -- marched from a black church with hopes of ending the violence. Jusino, who helped organize the march said that church, schools and police should work together to address the issue.
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