關於 racial passing ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

Decided to turn my series, #iamnotavirus, into a more permanent piece by charring and burning portraits on bamboo weaves.

#Iamnotavirus started from France with the Twitter hashtag #Jenesuispasunvirus to push back against racism related to COVID-19. There have been reports of people punched in the face, spat on and turned away based on their Asian ethnicity. In my piece, portraits of seven Asians are charred onto bamboo weaves. These were victims, including a two-year-old Asian-American girl who was stabbed in Texas, a 23-year-old Singaporean student who was punched in the eye in London, and Malaysian-Singaporean students who were hit in Melbourne. All are mask-wearing – an object that is fundamentally viewed differently in the West versus Asia. The mask represents stigmatization, ostracism, otherness, racial “passing” and shame. Newspaper clippings are weaved in, featuring headlines of racial attacks and “Chinese Virus” proclamations. #Iamnotavirus pokes holes in the mishandling of the coronavirus by the leaders and media through the reality that racism is alive in 2020 and should be confronted.

Photography by Danielle Soong.

[時事英文] 美國影集: 菜鳥移民 (Fresh Off the Boat)

最近在美國一個電視劇名稱為 Fresh Off the Boat (菜鳥移民）英文原直翻為「剛下船」。全劇改編自台灣移民第二代美籍名廚師黃頤銘 (Eddie Huang) 的自傳 (memoir)。黃頤銘因在紐約曼哈頓開刈包 (steamed sandwich) 專賣店 Baohaus 聲名大噪，美國廣播公司ABC更將他的回憶錄改編成情境喜劇影集《菜鳥移民》。黃近日受訪稱，他的使命是對抗社會的刻板印象 (fight against stereotypes) 和打破種族藩籬 (break down racial barriers)。

美國雖然有6%的亞裔人口，但電視頻道20年來缺乏美國亞裔主題的情境喜劇(Asian-American television situation comedy)，菜鳥移民在多齣少數族裔演員擔綱的電視劇大受歡迎後，引起高度關注。

這部影集在播出2集後，整體反應算是不錯 (the overall response remains positive)，對於大部分的觀眾來說，整部戲其實透露及分享著許多正向思維，而主要賣點 (main selling point) 是以亞裔美籍人士作為主要角色 (features Asian-American in leading roles) 並深入探究他們所熟知的生活點滴。即便如此，劇中有一幕，家中的母親收到他人所贈送的一籃免費玉米片貪婪地把整盤子放進入她的籃子裡，意謂著亞裔的美籍女性會想盡辦法爭取到的一切好處。因此，一些亞裔也擔心它會加深負面刻板印象 (reinforces negative stereotypes)。於是，觀眾們對於整部作品的看法相當多元，同學們可以在下方觀看相關評論和反應 (comments and feedback)。

其實這部作品勾起了老師過去居住在美國20多年的許多回憶，當然其中也曾經歷過不少種族歧視或偏見 (racism or prejudice)，所以自己在觀看這部劇的過程中，有著更深刻的體會和感受 (a deeper understanding)；畢竟，種族歧視這項議題絕非三言兩語就能道盡。不過這樣的經驗當然是因人而異 (varies from person to person/affects individuals differently)，每個人都有可能面臨過不同層面的歧視，或甚至完全沒有碰過歧視。

華裔美籍人士在美國的歷史一直頗具爭議 (highly controversial)，多數人會將其歸咎於美國早期的排華意識 (anti-Chinese sentiment)，像是”黃禍” (Yellow Peril) 這類的用語。黃禍是殖民主義時期美國和歐洲殖民主義國家煽動對華裔具有偏見的一個用語，強調華人對帶歐美社會帶來的危機。而 “排華法案” (The Chinese Exclusion Act) 是美國總統切斯特•艾倫•阿瑟於1882年5月6日簽署的一項法案，允許美國暫停華人移民美國，是在美國通過的第一部針對特定族群的移民法 (first immigration law targeting a specific racial group)。另外，1942年珍珠港事件 (Pearl Harbor) 發生以後美國政府對約11萬居住在美國太平洋沿岸的日裔美國人的扣留，轉移和囚禁 (The Internment of Japanese Americans; detain, relocate, or imprison)， 在所有被囚禁的日裔中，62％是美國公民。一個相對較新的發展美籍華人陳果仁 (Vincent Chin)。1982年6月23日，在美國密西根州底特律被克萊斯勒公司一名車間主管羅納德•艾班斯及其繼子邁克爾•尼茲用棒球棍毆打致死。1979年，由於日本汽車公司的衝擊 (impact of the Japanese auto industry)，底特律的汽車製造工業陷入低谷，不少工人被解僱 (many autoworkers were laid off)，其中就包括邁克爾•尼茲。因而造成了底特律汽車工人對日本人的仇恨 (hatred for the Japanese)，而最先遭受到種族歧視的卻是美籍華人。

美國民眾對亞裔美國人普遍有聰明、勤奮、不關心政治的印象 (intelligent, hardworking, and apathetic toward politics) ，被美國媒體稱為「模範少數民族」(model minority)。諷刺的是，亞裔這個平均教育程度和收入都高 (high average income and education)、也是奉公守法的公民 (law abiding citizens) 卻讓部分美國人有著負面的印象，有一部分的原因是來自於當代的大眾媒體，對於亞裔人士的描繪多半是就美國自身的觀點和角度在看待亞洲人，而非踏踏實實、證據確鑿地對於東亞的文化、習俗和實際的行為做描寫。在許多影視作品中，我們不難發現亞裔常常扮演黑幫 (Triad members/gangsters)、偷渡客 (illegal immigrants)、功夫高手 (martial artists/kung-fu masters) 和電腦駭客 (computer hackers) 或是木訥呆板的書呆子的角色 (nerds and geeks)。然而，21世紀早期，亞裔的美籍演員跳脫了過去帶有偏見的角色定位 (started to appear in non-stereotypical roles)，開始在好萊塢的電影或是影集當中嶄露頭角。

當然，如果單就幾個美國歷史上的事件來針對亞裔美籍族群的歷史下結論的話，其實不太公平，畢竟絕大多數的美國人現今也已敞開心胸，接納了亞裔美人了。除此之外，亞裔形象不佳的另一個原因是多數亞裔只關注與自己的事業與家庭，很少參與公共活動，與其他族裔的互動機會是非常少的 (have little interaction with other races)。亞裔要改變其自身在美國主流文化中的形象，除了要尊重美國的主流文化和價值觀外 (respect mainstream values)，更重要的是積極融入社區生活 (participate in community activities) ，透過互動才會有機會改變其他族裔對亞裔根深蒂固的刻板印象。

最後，我猜同學們現在會想詢問的是: 那我會在美國遭遇到類似的種族歧視嗎? 老師認為多少還是會有一點點，但是至少不會再面臨到那些歷史上較為激烈的種族歧視了。雖然社會不斷地進步以及亞裔人士在美國主流媒體版面上逐漸地活躍 (active in mainstream media)，你還是有可能偶爾會聽到一些無心之語(passing/casual remarks)，像是你是功夫大師、鋼琴家或是數學天才…orz.

減少種族歧視 (reducing racism and prejudice) 的其中一個方法就讓自己深入地去了解他們的文化，這並不是在鼓勵你們崇洋媚外 (fawn over all things foreign)，而是希望同學們去尊重那份自己已經置身其中的文化意涵。第二個方法就是協助他們了解你自身的文化，並且要對自己有信心，即便上述的方法可能沒有辦法徹底免除掉所有種族歧視的情況，但還是能夠有效地幫助你盡量避免它的發生。

這裡有一些觀眾對於Fresh Off the Boat (菜鳥移民) 這部影集的評論和看法，可以瀏覽一下，然後整理出一些屬於自己的觀點: http://goo.gl/Oah91W

EDIT: After watching the entire first season, I found the show to be highly amusing and educational. I highly recommend it!

Sources:
http://www.cna.com.tw/search/hydetailws.aspx?qid=201501310004
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/15/1/16/n4343697.htm
http://www.ktsf.com/hudson-yang-talks-playing-eddie-huang-in-fresh-off-the-boat/
http://www.history.com/topics/chinese-exclusion-act
http://www.chinesebiznews.com/index.php/component/content/article/60-2008-09-23-18-33-03/15777-2014-04-20-08-41-44.html
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2014/06/20/old-yellow-peril-anti-chinese-posters/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-h-wu/the-case-against-vincent_b_5237359.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Japanese_sentiment_in_the_United_States
/wiki/Portrayal_of_East_Asians_in_Hollywood

READ THIS. EVERY MALAYSIAN SHOULD. WE TAKE OUR CITIZENSHIP TOO FOR GRANTED. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE VOTING FOR. DON'T BE STUPID.

DAAAAAAHLINGK.

Somewhere in time...a Malay family sheltered a Chinese woman during the Japanese Occupation, claiming that she was a blood relative, to throw Japanese soldiers off her scent. An Indian family adopted and raised a Chinese girl whom a fortune teller had warned would bring bad luck to her birth family. A Chinese man secretly paid for the school fees of his poor neighbour's bright Malay son. Scores of
films were bankrolled by Chinese producers, helmed by Indian directors, featuring Malay stars--and watched by all races.

And yet what we learned in schools was how fraught racial relations were 'back then'. We were told how the 60's 'racial riots'--Singapore in 1964 and Malaysia in 1969--were eruptions of deep-seated racial tensions. But we weren't reminded of how these riots came in the wake of highly contentious elections, where politicians had stirred crowds with their poisonous rhetoric.

So when politicians today say that things are better than they were before, it's only to give themselves a passing grade on their nation-building report card, and to obscure the role they once played (and still play) in creating (and destroying) an equal society free from prejudice and hatred. Far better for us to reject this imposed selective memory, to admit that we've gone wrong, and then work at reclaiming our humanity.