Chicago Reporter, (Chicago, IL,) April 2001

Keeping Current

By Stephanie Williams

People of Asian descent play a significant role in shaping the American experience, although the mainstream media have been slow to acknowledge it, writes William Wong in his new book, ãYellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America.ä The 60-year-old journalist uses essays, columns and commentaries to provide an insiderâs view of the mosaic of experiences of Asian Americans.

Wong, who has written for the San Francisco Examiner, The Wall Street Journal and Asian Week, reflects on the intricacies and breadth of contemporary Asian Americans. ãThe overriding theme of this collection is the courage, forbearance, tenacity, survival skills, and humanity shown by people from east and southeast Asia who never allowed racism and hatred to deter them from winning a rightful place in the American sun,ä he writes.

In one essay, Wong, an Oakland, Calif., native of Chinese descent, discusses the impact of Tiger Woodsâ victory in the 1997 Masters golf tournament. ãLittle was made of the fact he was the first person of Asian descent to break the Mastersâ color barrier,ä he writes. Woods identifies himself as ãCablinasian,ä a mix of African American, Asian, Native American and Caucasian. Wong explains that ãWithin Asian American circles, in fact, there is an unspoken burning desire among some to capture the attention and respect of the American public.· To do so would mean validation of oneâs worth in this society, which has had a history of excluding and disrespecting people of Asian descent.ä

Woodsâ victory meant ãsomeone who had even a partial Asian background had triumphed in an endeavor that had heretofore been the province of well-to-do white men, most of whom are so used to their station in life they figure itâs a birthright,ä writes Wong. ãYellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian Americaä is published by Temple University Press in Philadelphia.

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