just wondering

[PnaiAqui]

im just curious... why is yellowworld called yellowworld?

[achtungbaby]

Hello. The name of the site has some history with the phrase "yellow peril"...

[quote:5550b259f4]From 1850 to World War II, Asians immigrating to the United States were largely subject to the labor needs of a rapidly industrializing nation and to the struggle between labor and industry. In the late 19th century, Asian immigrants came to the United States to support the growing agricultural and railway industries. Chinese workers constructed the western half of the first transcontinental railroad deemed critical to linking the emerging U.S. markets and providing a gateway to the Pacific. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the Chinese were followed by the Japanese and the Filipinos and, in smaller numbers, by Koreans and Asian Indians.

As the numbers of Asian immigrants increased and they made the transition to small businesses or to tenant farming, tensions mounted and public opinion turned against them. Chinese were portrayed as the "yellow peril" and Asians were labeled as "foreigners" or "aliens". It was in this period that the worst racist laws were enacted to place restrictions on land ownership, citizenship, occupations and most importantly, immigration. [/quote:5550b259f4]

[SunWuKong]

hey AB, do you worry about the name sounding uninviting to south asians or other asians that do not consider themselves "yellow"? or do you want this site to specifically cater to people who consider themselves "yellow"?

[achtungbaby]

I probably need to do a better job of emphasizing somewhere on the site that the term is definitely not an exclusionary one. It's a reminder that all Asians -- whether yellow or light brown or whatever -- have a long history of having suffered persecution and discrimination, and like a lot of other phrases that have been turned around to empower, that shared experience can be made positive. (end of rhetoric)

"Asianworld" was just too bland :D.

[kasia]

maybe this won't sound too p.c., but honestly, i don't think we have much in common with south asians aside from the fact that we are minorities.

with other east asians, the one commonality that really brings us together is that the white society treats us as the same. thus, we might as well fight collectively.

on the other hand, white society rarely places south asians and east asians in the same category.

...i don't know. i do believe that we should back one another up--but when it comes to worrying about whether they feel excluded, i don't think it's a big deal.

let me know if i'm wrong.

[SunWuKong]

yes, a very grey area...
it's obvious that east asian cultures don't have much in common with south asian cultures. and i have south asian friends who feel that "brownies" are always excluded from what east asians consider "asians". but this doesn't mean that they don't have just as much a claim to the asian american identity as east asians.

[tapestrybabe]

Me, i always say that there isn't enough Asian culture in my town. But really, that's not really true. Cuz if you take the south end of my town.. the South Paterson and Clifton border.. there's this huge Arabic community-- when it comes to its grocery stores, restaurants, and everything is written in arabic when it comes to its store signs...

And even tho they are considered Asain, i dont feel i have that strong connection with them... its not the same feeling to me.. when i view other koreans.. or when i interact with the workers at my chinese take out restaurants.

Yes, we're all asian american...
we should stick together, to fight collectively...
But when it comes to identifying who i connect with more...
it depends where they come from...

[SunWuKong]

[quote:8e0e53507a="Tapestrybabe"]Me, i always say that there isn't enough Asian culture in my town. But really, that's not really true. Cuz if you take the south end of my town.. the South Paterson and Clifton border.. there's this huge Arabic community-- when it comes to its grocery stores, restaurants, and everything is written in arabic when it comes to its store signs...

And even tho they are considered Asain, i dont feel i have that strong connection with them... its not the same feeling to me.. when i view other koreans.. or when i interact with the workers at my chinese take out restaurants.

Yes, we're all asian american...
we should stick together, to fight collectively...
But when it comes to identifying who i connect with more...
it depends where they come from...[/quote:8e0e53507a]


i always thought arabs consider themselves middle eastern and not asian?

[tapestrybabe]

[quote:aa7826501e="SunWuKung"]
i always thought arabs consider themselves middle eastern and not asian?[/quote:aa7826501e]

yeah, thats what they refer to themselves.... but with the front cover article.. Who exactly is Asian American? (http://yellowworld.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=97&mode=thread&order=0&thold=-1)... it brought me to questioning.. my statement about how i feel that there is lack of asian culture in my town. Cuz as it was stated in the article.. the definition of whose Asian American can be seen as too narrow... cuz it leaves out West Asians-- such as Arabs, Israelis, and Iranians... Me, i think i was just trying to question myself when it comes to my perception of the Asian Americans living here, and its culture that exists in my town..

[SunWuKong]

[quote:a8bc6a4494="Tapestrybabe"]yeah, thats what they refer to themselves.... but with the front cover article.. Who exactly is Asian American? (http://yellowworld.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=97&mode=thread&order=0&thold=-1)... it brought me to questioning.. my statement about how i feel that there is lack of asian culture in my town. Cuz as it was stated in the article.. the definition of whose Asian American can be seen as too narrow... cuz it leaves out West Asians-- such as Arabs, Israelis, and Iranians... Me, i think i was just trying to question myself when it comes to my perception of the Asian Americans living here, and its culture that exists in my town..[/quote:a8bc6a4494]


well if some people must use a geographical technicality to argue that the definition is too narrow, then so be it, but in my opinion that is kind of ridiculous considering that middle eastern people themselves do not identify with being asian.

[hanin515]

Well it appears that most people native to the continent of Asia do have more yellow pigment in their skins than natives of Europe or Africa. So it seems acceptable to think that all Asians belong to Yellowworld. If you want to differentiate groups from different regions of Asia why not resurrect the now politically incorrect word Oriental-American to designate those of us from the extreme east end of Asia, Southeast Asian-American for those of us from ASEAN (Myanmar eastward to Indonesia), Sothasian-American for those of us from Tibet southward to Seychelles and Sri Lanka, and just plain Middle-Eastern-Americans for those of us from the western portions
of Asia inasmuch as West-Asian-American would not be acceptable. This
will really confuse evryone else on the planet!

[PnaiAqui]

south... east... west... north...n so forth... so confusing! Why do we feel the need to divide ourselves when we're all from the same region/continent? And, what's up with the yellows and the brownies?? No matter what color we belong, I think we have at least one commonality. And, umm... what if im not yellow nor brown, but a combination of the two? hehe... i'm not sure if i'm making any sense. haha. oh welz.

[tapestrybabe]

Well, i posted a question concerning about Arabs being part of the whole Asian American identity in Live Journal's YellowWorld (http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=yellow_world&itemid=115160) And here's one response...

[i:1bf6138feb] But they are considered Asian Americans, right?[/i:1bf6138feb]
Technically, Afghanistan would be a part of the continent of Asia. So is Russia. (Look up "asia" in Yahoo, and you will see all the countries it lists.) It wouldn't bother me if someone referred to an Afghan-American as an Asian-American. While people living in the Middle East may have cultures and physical features very different from those in the Far East, I think it's rather snobby for "yellow" Asians not to accept the brown folks as being Easterners, as well.




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