DEADLINE Volume 7 | Issue Ten
IN THIS ISSUE: Senior Spotlight: pg. 1 Netflix Nook: pg. 5 Game Review: pg. 7 Cooking w/ Dragons: pg. 9 Race Relations: pg. 13
TIME IS NOW
Senior S Thukim Nguyen Hey, dragons! This is our last Senior Spotlight for this school year, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Thukim Nguyen and Angela Chen. Thukim Nguyen is a person with a select few hobbies and interests. She enjoys playing video games such as Fortnite and League of Legends. She likes assembling petit blocks, which are similar to lego sets, but are a lot smaller and cheaper. Her biggest pet peeve is students who aren’t appreciative, respectful, and treat their professors/teachers harshly—forgetting about their perspective and looking at both sides. During quarantine, she began embroidering and learning how to embroider different things. She was interested in this hobby for a while and wanted to make gifts for her friends before college. She’s also been reading old novels and watching nostalgic tv shows that reminded her of her childhood. Thukim committed to Sacramento State University with an expressed interest in nursing. She plans to finish her remaining pre-requisite classes and apply to various nursing programs. She hopes to become a registered nurse, and eventually become a pediatric nurse practitioner. Healthcare is the field she chose because helping others was always something she wanted to do. Before, she considered becoming a pediatrician or a teacher. With nursing, it gives her endless career advancement opportunities she can choose from, such as becoming a professor/lecturer, etc… Her dream is to become a nurse practitioner because it will give her the option to go to med school and get her Ph.D. There are a variety of paths to choose from with nursing, which made the practice appealing to her. “I genuinely think it is also because I am extremely indecisive, so having options brings me peace. To me, it seems like a win-win situation because I have options all while helping others and doing what I enjoy at the end of the day.” This year she wishes to become the best version of herself. She hopes that by the time college comes around, she will become the person she is content with. Like everyone, she hopes to do well in college since it will be a new and challenging environment. By the end of senior year, she wishes to have in-person graduation that would make the past four years of high school worth it. “Everyone is constantly changing for the best and the worst, but this year I want to change for the better.” The expectations of her senior year have drastically changed now that she’s a senior. She expected to have fun and make tons of memories,
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Spotlight Thukim Nguyen but the circumstances have changed, and this year was lonely. However, even though she didn’t make many memories on campus, she made many fun moments with her family. Quarantine gave her the chance to spend time and become closer with her family and helped her learn the value of the time you spend with your loved ones. “You never know when someone will be gone, and covid taught me to value those you choose to spend time with.” Thukim’s experience at MCHS evolved her to become a different and better person as the years passed by. As a freshman, she said that she was naive and went through a “cringey obnoxious” stage in her life. However, being in a college setting helped her mature and adapt to the competitive environment. Delta College helped her find her passion for nursing. Because of Delta, she had the chance to attend guest speakers and webinars where nurse practitioners would speak about their experience in the field. With the help of Delta, she got to make connections and garner more knowledge in this career path. “People make mistakes, and I am glad that I was able to identify my faults and make changes for the better.” Thukim’s advice to the underclassmen is to find a major that best fits you but also find your “why” first. Find your interests and if you have a career in mind, find out why you want to pursue it. The best way to put it is to make sure you are not pretending to love a career based on people’s opinions and expectations of you. If you do, you’ll lose a sense of yourself because that path doesn’t fit you or wasn’t your dream. Create a balance between school and your personal life, where you can study but still have fun with your friends and take breaks. Do not compare yourself to others, and don’t worry about what other people think about you. You must focus on yourself and become the person you wish to be in the future. If you are having any struggles or personal problems, reach out to friends or anybody because it is okay to call for help. “I regret not doing a lot of things in high school, so hopefully you will take those chances and make the most out of being young in high school.” Thank you, Thukim, for giving us thoughtful advice and a chance to share your experience at Delta and MCHS. We know that you will do amazing in your future career, and we wish you the best of luck.
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Senior S Angela Chen Angela Chen has many hobbies everyone relates to, especially during quarantine. Her hobbies include sleeping, binge-watching Netflix and anime, shopping at Trader Joe’s, and scrolling on TikTok for hours. Over quarantine, she started painting and drawing, expanding her creative side. She enjoys listening to music with artists like Machine Gun Kelly, Sam Smith, James Arthur, and Post Malone. She dislikes ASMR and soap-cutting videos because they aren’t satisfying to her. She is very passionate about school and getting a higher education to become successful in the medical field. She also really loves animals and hopes to become a veterinarian to help care for animals in the future. After graduation, she hopes to attend either UC Irvine as a Public Health Science major and go the Pre-Med route towards podiatry, or Cal Poly Slo as an animal science major and go the Pre-Vet route. She chose podiatry and animal science because these careers best interest her. Her love for animals began from having dogs of her own and volunteering at animal shelters and vet clinics. Over time, she grew to enjoy learning about animals and the sciences. Her interest in podiatry began because it isn’t a career not a lot of people would consider. She viewed it as a great profession to pursue that could help others and leave an impact in their lives. “I think that whatever career I end up choosing, it’ll be a career where I can help something or someone.” For her senior year, she hopes to graduate, be happy with her decisions, and attend college with no regrets. She expected her senior year to be filled with fun moments with her friends and a chance to bond with everyone before college. Now that she is a senior, things didn’t work out in the end when it comes to attending school on campus with everyone. However, she hopes, at least, there would be an in-person graduation to finish the year. MCHS helped her grow and evolve in many ways. Being in a competitive setting, helped her progress to become productive and pushed her to study hard in school. Surrounding herself with people that had the same drive and personality helped her become motivated and strive for success. “If I didn’t attend MCHS I doubt I would’ve had the same opportunities such as volunteering at a vet hospital or working at a podiatrist office, and I probably would’ve never thought of those careers.”
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Spotlight
Angela Chen Angela’s advice for the underclassmen is to work hard and not to leave MCHS with regrets. Make sure to not stress yourself out with classes or grades because as long as you’ve tried your best, you’ll be fine. Spend these next few years having fun and making memories with people around you. “Have fun and enjoy your high school years because it will go by in a flash.” Thank you, Angela, for giving us an insight into your experience and your plans. We wish you the best of luck in any career you decide and hope that you will achieve your ambitions and dreams. To conclude our final article of this year, I want to thank you to Deadline for giving me the chance to write articles and conduct interviews with amazing people. I appreciate everyone who supported this segment and can only hope for the continuation of Senior Spotlight. It was fun being a writer for Deadline these past two years, and I will forever be grateful for this experience. Thank you.
By: Danielle Tuazon 4
Netflix Nook Arlene Hickman
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This show is only one season currently, but there are plans to film a second one. It only took me a couple of days to finish the series, as there were only a little over 7 hours of watch time spread out through 8 episodes. The plot is very easy to follow and is appropriate for most audiences (it is rated TV-14). This series revolves around a group of friends solving supernatural crimes for a very ominous Dr. Watson and eventually for his partner/ associate Sherlock Holmes. This group is composed of sisters, Beatrice and Jessie, Spike, and Billy. If you enjoy shows about mystery crimes you might enjoy this, although the show is not centered on solving crimes. The majority of the plot revolves around the friends and their troubles, such as their struggle to pay for the cellar they rented. One thing that surprised me was the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. While I assumed that since the show was not about Holmes, and therefore wouldn’t make him a complex character, I was mistaken when it was revealed he was a drug addict. I have not read the original Sherlock Holmes novels, but I do not believe Sherlock was in and out of rehab between solving cases. My favorite element of the show was the diversity of characters. The main friends are of all different races, and the two sisters have different fathers of different races. There are complex and complicated family uniquenesses, which gives an interesting point of view. With the prospect of a second season, I expect it will be better than the first. The eighth episode ends with tons of loose ends and cliffhangers for watchers. I suspect that after the mixed reviews this show has received, along with some criticism, this show has the potential to be great next season. To be completely honest, this was not my favorite show or movie I have watched on Netflix and I don’t see myself watching it again for entertainment value. I am not a fan of mysteries which is probably the reason for that. But, with that being said, I do recommend it if you like mysteries since the acting was pretty good, and the show was overall a good watch.
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Hello Dragons! In this issue, I will be giving my review on the free mobile game, Fresh bread! Fairy Bakery. I’ve been playing this game for a week now, and have gotten addicted to its interactive gameplay. It’s a relaxing simulation game where you own a farm and a bakery. The art in this game is in 8-bit style and it is very cute! Unfortunately, the game is only available on the Apple App Store for iOS users. (Lucky for you iPhone users!) I highly recommend trying this adorable game out! When you first play the game, you will need to complete the tutorial. The tutorial will show you the ropes on how to farm, bake, sell, decorate, etc. I like this game because you can keep busy with other tasksas you are waiting for things to grow/cook. Similar games that I’ve played before with the same concept have some downtime. This meant that I would need to check on the game later for something to finish before I can proceed. Fairy Bakery does not have this problem, since it kept me occupied when I decided to play. In my opinion, the game gets grindy (which makes it time-consuming) at the beginning. It took me a while to get enough gold to upgrade my equipment. I had to bake a lot of the basic, beginner bread to have enough income to start buying upgrades and decorations. The decorations are really cute! Sadly, I think the decorations aren’t enough to fully transform your bakery. Every bakery somewhat has the same look and layout. I wish there was an option to change your bakery’s location and theme. (For example, a beach bakery!) With the pace of the game, it would take around two weeks to start fully decorating your bakery with the furniture that you want. To increase the rate of income, you will need to upgrade your farm, kitchen, and display. In addition, you will need to keep buying ingredients from the shop to make higher quality bread to earn more money. I would give the game an average rating of 3.5/5 stars. Overall, the game is very simple, but a little time-consuming. It honestly depends on how much time you want to invest in this game. As for myself, I didn’t want to play this game for hours, but most of the time it made me feel like I had to. The art mostly encourages me to keep playing this game, but I highly doubt I will be playing it a while. I really did enjoy playing this game when I was bored though. At first, I liked doing the tasks to maintain the bakery, however, it became a predictable routine. Although there was really no goal or end to this game, the game was a great way to pass time. I hope you guys give this game a try!
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Thank you dragons for reading Deadline. I will be going off to college, so this is my last article. I hope you guys enjoyed my content ^^. If you guys are interested in joining the Deadline team, you can do so by enrolling in Student Activities. You can also give suggestions by reaching out to us through our social media! Thank you MCHS for the wonderful 4 years! Signing out, Nora Taing 8
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For this issue, I made chocolate crinkle cookies, which are cookies that actually taste a lot like brownies. This recipe is super easy to make, but it is very messy.This recipe does take quite a bit of time though, because it has to refrigerate for so long.
INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder 1 cup of white granulated sugar 1/4 cup of vegetable oil 2 large eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup of all purpose (or plain) flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar (also called powdered sugar) WEBSITE:
https://cafedelites. com/fudgy-chocolate-crinkle-cookies/#wprm-recipe-container-40263
INSTRUCTIONS: In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, oil, and white sugar together. Once they are combined, add in the eggs one at a time and mix. Once that is completely mixed, add in the vanilla extract. Using another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until fully combined. Once the dough forms, cover it and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight. (I refrigerated it overnight, and it made it a lot easier to bake with.) Once the cookie dough has been refrigerated, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Next, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper so the cookies don’t stick to the tray while baking. Roll the cookie dough into balls that are about 1- 2 tablespoons (depending on the size you want). Then add the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Roll the cookie dough in the powdered sugar to coat them. Then place them on the cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will be really soft when you take them out, but they harden once they sit on the tray for a few minutes.
These cookies turned out delicious. I have made this recipe before, and they turn out delicious every time. The recipe is actually very easy, but be careful because it is super messy from all of the powdered sugar. Also, be careful because the dough is very sticky, so it will also be very messy when you are rolling the dough into balls. I liked that they were really soft on the inside, but sort of crispy on the outside. If you love chocolate, then you should definitely try this recipe!
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Memes
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Lost in the Wild
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Freaks
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Dandelion
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Dear Maria, Count Me In
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Chocolate
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Telepathy
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We Made It
WALK THE MOON
Jordan Clarke
Ruth B.
All Time Low
The 1975
BTS
David Hugo
Feel free to send us your favorite songs: tinyurl.com/mchsmixtape 12
Race Relations Across the World The world is full of distinct races, ethnic groups, and cultures, some closely intertwined, others uniquely different. All of these unique cultures come with their own flair, their own unique backstory, but unfortunately many come with their own dark side. With race relations being brought to the forefront of the world, I wanted to look at race relations and racism across different communities across the world. From the complex racism in Europe to the mixed ancestry in Latin America, to the colorism of South Asia I wanted to take a look at it all with some words from our own classmates.
The same colorism is prevalent across the Muslim world. Muslims are extremely diverse due to the widespread of Islam. From the south Asians of Indonesia, to the Arabs of the Middle East, and the Africans of Somalia, Islam is extremely diverse. This diversity is something to be celebrated and the large majority of Muslims are proud of the diversity within their religion. Many organizations, such as the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, say that the Quran unites them all. While on paper, Islam sees all Muslims as equal unfortunately the culture sees otherwise.
To begin, I wanted to take a look at my own experiences. For some background, my family comes from India but half of my family have been in the country since 1945. Before that, they were natives to what is today Pakistan. Ethnically, I am Punjabi and have become quite well versed in the culture of racism in the Indian world. One thing that is important to understand across all cultures and communities is the effect of colonialism. Colonialism brought with it colorism. Colorism is the discrimination between a race and ethnic group against those with darker skin. Colorism is the most prevalent form of discrimination not only in India, but in South Asia as a whole. Coming from north India, where people tend to have lighter skin tones, I have seen firsthand how casually derogatory remarks are thrown around. Skin lightening creams are widespread and common all across SouthAsia in every supermarket. I know this firsthand as growing up these whitening creams were regularly applied onto my skin. This is especially prevalent in South-India where people are predominantly Dravidian and have darker skin. Colorism towards them is not only widespread but common and unfortunately accepted in many parts of the community. A politician was even caught telling two sisters that, “You look like a south Indian but your sister looks Indian.”
In speaking to people in our class the issue of colorism comes up yet again. This like anything is a byproduct of colonialism and the pushing of the European beauty standard. The same person also said that the culture has a long way to go when it comes to moving forward in regards to race and race-relations, but things are at least progressing and the new generation, especially children of immigrants, are beginning to become more open. One of the more complicated regions when it comes to race is Latin America. Latin America includes countries in the Americas which speak latin-based languages, most notably Spanish and Portugese. The most prevalent countries include Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, etc. In speaking to some people whose families come from Latin America many say that they identify themselves as Latino or, racially, mestizo. The terms Mestizo and Latino encompass a large group of people. Like always, colonialism played a huge part in shaping and forming the society of Latin America.
South Indians are treated as second class citizens in their own country. This divide is only further deepened when the language barrier is taken into account. North Indians are seen as “superior” while south Indians are looked down upon.
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The people of Latin America are a mix of many races. Most commonly, they are a mixture between Native Amarindian and Spaniards with often some African ancestry. People I have spoken to have said that many people don’t know their race. “They assume being Mexican is their race which is why they’re confused when someone tells them they’re racially black but ethically Mexican, or when someone tells them they’re white and they refuse to believe it.” Discrimination against those who are black and have darker skin is common. “...Growing up in an interacial family... her mom was called derogatory slurs and her father was treated unfairly at work.” Discrimination against native populations is also common, but according to a source, “Its ironic since most Mexicans are part indigenous.” This indigenous racism is unfortunately directed towards Central America which is majority indigenous. This racial mindset is a carryover of the colonial mindset which has ingrained into peoples minds. This mindset can also affect how people look at other countries. Latin America as a whole is extremely diverse racially. Many countries in the south, such as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and South Brazil, tend to be more European compared to their counterparts. This can cause the mindset to form that these people are more “normal” and “superior” compared to other countries. This mindset culminated in many horrific incidents none more prevalent than in Argentina.
more vigilant to their own biases. Younger generations especially are having the tough conversations with their traditional families about this racism. These are the first steps to properly moving forward to a more equal society. As a whole, racism is still alive and well, but in talking to my sources one thing is very clear, it is not here to stay. People are becoming more aware, more alert, and more vigilant to their own biases. Younger generations especially are having the tough conversations with their traditional families about this racism. These are the first steps to properly moving forward to a more equal society. Special thanks to Lizabeth Gaona, Dahyana Arroyo, and Jena Tufail for their contributions to this article. Hello everyone! This will be my last article in Deadline and I wanted to thank everyone for reading and coming this far! This was my first year in Deadline and I’m sad it’s going to be my last. I want to thank everyone for kind words and helping me along the way. Please consider joining Deadline, let your creativity flow!
Argentina, like other South American countries, was once a colony of Spain and thus had a large number of Black Africans land upon its shores. By the late 1700’s early 1800’s the country’s population was close to 50 percent black. This number may seem like Argentina today is racially diverse, but it could not be farther from the truth. Today Argentina is the “whitest” country in South America. European descendants account for close to 97 percent of the population, close to half being descendants of Italian immigrants. Unlike other Latin America countries Argentina did not undergo the process of mixing and intermarriage. Instead many Argentinian today believe that their ancestors never took part in the Atlantic Slave trade. The President of Argentina Carlos Menem once said, “ In Argentina Blacks do not exist…” As a whole, racism is still alive and well, but in talking to my sources one thing is very clear, it is not here to stay. People are becoming more aware, more alert, and
By: Jaskaran Bajwa 14
THE MODEL MINORITY myth the entire Asian American demographic into one general monolith without taking into account existing diversity and disparities among them. For example, “Burmese Americans experience poverty at a rate nearly triple the national average, while Japanese Americans have a poverty rate less than half the average.”
[A #StopAsianHate Seattle Protest Pictured Above]
Even with the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, it seems like the Asian American community cannot escape the tropes of the model minority myth, a flawed idea that claims Asians have been able to overcome racial obstacles by simply “working hard.” Coined in 1966 by sociologist William Peterson in a generalizing New York Times Magazine article, the term continues to not only weaponize the Asian community against other minorities but serves to erase the issues AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) citizens are continuously facing. Many figures in today’s political sphere are guilty of perpetuating this false narrative. A 2017 essay published in the New York Magazine, for example, sprailed from an analysis behind the Democrats’s sympathy towards Hillary Clinton to an examination of Trump’s policies before ending on this troubling and flawed conclusion: “Today, Asian-Americans are among the most prosperous, well-educated, and successful ethnic groups in America. What gives? It couldn’t possibly be that they maintained solid two-parent family structures, had social networks that looked after one another, placed enormous emphasis on education and hard work, and thereby turned false, negative stereotypes into true, positive ones, could it? It couldn’t be that all whites are not racists or that the American dream still lives?” The inherent problem with this idea is that it groups
Different ethnic groups within the Asian community have different immigration histories and experiences. Perpetual use of the model minority myth has disregarded how selective U.S. immigrant laws were prior to the 1970s, commonly giving preference to Asian immigrants, especially East Asian immigrants, who were highly educated and wealthy. It wasn’t until immigration reforms in the U.S. and political, economic, and social upheavals in Southeast Asia that “large numbers of unskilled immigrants and refugees [came] to the United
[Vietnamese Refugees Approaching a Rescue Ship Pic-
States.” Fleeing political instability, war, and genocide, this Asian demographic experienced a life quite different from their more privileged counterparts, often struggling through poverty and discrimination in an unfamiliar land. Unfortunately, the stereotypes derived from the model minority myth caused others to dismiss the difficulties Asian refugees were facing, and these immigrants endured hardships with little resources or aid to support them. The results of unequal resources can still be seen today. According to a Seattle report, 1 in 3 Asian Americans are hindered by their limited English proficiency (LEP). 15
Some of the highest rates were found among Southeast Asian ethnic groups. 52 percent of Vietnamese Americans , for example, were found to be LEP.
tions of the model minority narrative. Acknowledging the diversity of the Asian experience would show that unequal circumstances lead to unequal outcomes.
The lack of resources has disadvantaged the majority of the Asian American community. Language barriers affect almost all aspects of a person’s life, from academic achievement to employment. People frequently cite and celebrate the repeated statistic where “47 percent of Asian American adults have bachelor’s degree or higher,” but when scientists expand beyond surveying only Japanese and Chinese Americans and gather a more inclusive demographic of Asian ethnicities, they often find numbers such as this: “ . . . by ethnicity, only 11 percent of Laotian, 16 percent of Cambodian, and 26 percent of Vietnamese Americans have bachelor’s degrees or higher—rates lower than other communities of color.”
It would force the mainstream media and policymakers to recognize the ramifications U.S. atrocities have had on minorities today, and that is an action that seems to be often too frightening for racists to take. However, that doesn’t mean that Asians aren’t excused from encouraging this trope either. Despite the damage that the model minority myth has wrecked on the Asian American community, many Asians still unfortunately subscribe to this narrative because there is a certain privilege associated with its ideas. After all, the myth allows U.S. naturally born Asian Americans to blend into American society and culture more easily, and it allows us to escape some of the blatant and brutal racism that other POCs face—such as police brutality. But, Asians nevertheless must recognize that for all the assimilation we attempt, we will still be viewed with a perpetual foreigner status. Historically speaking, Asians are often used as tools to divide minorities when convenient and discarded when circumstances enable people to express their racism freely.
This is likely due to the poverty rates that wreck Southeast Asian groups who came to the U.S. as refugees. As stated by an NBC article, “Southeast Asian groups, such as Cambodians, Laotians, and Hmong suffer much higher rates of poverty than other groups, such as Indian or Japanese populations, which can impact college achievement rates.” In fact, recent data in Arizona has found that the “unemployment growth rate among Asian Americans is second only to African Americans . . . nearly 40 percent greater than the total population.”
Asians being blamed for diseases and illnesses is not a new phenomenon. In the past, Americans have commonly used Asians as scapegoats for malarium, smallpox, leprosy, and other such viruses, often citing the “exotic foods” that Asians eat as “evidence.” Obviously this idea is still prevalent today, even prior to the pandemic, and has played a role in anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic. People have always poked fun at Asians for supposedly “eating dogs.” Now, during
And that is only the tip of the systemic issues plaguing the Asian American community. The model minority myth’s only purpose is to invalidate other POC’s—especially black citizens’—racial experiences. It’s a method that permits people to ignore black people’s struggles by utilizing Asian stereotypes to deny the influence that slavery, segregation, and other historical injustices had on social and economic opportunities. Talking about how the majority of Asians live paycheck to paycheck, talking about how the lack of resources hindered many Asians from attaining academic success, talking about how Southeast Asians are often disproportionately swept into gang culture due to war-induced trauma and economic difficulties, talking about how Southeast Asian refugees “are at least three times more likely to be deported on the basis of an old criminal conviction, compared to other immigrants” —would tear down the basic no 16
[An illustration published in the May 26, 1882 San Francisco Illustrated Wasp issue that depicts three ghoulish figures labeled—left to right—malarium, smallpox and leprosy, with one of the ghoulish figures carrying a stash that says “Chinatown.” Here, it’s clear that the art intends to blame Chinese people for the diseases.]
accusations being baseless in evidence. Now, the narrative seems to be shifting again. A few days ago (as of the writing of this article), the Senate has passed a COVID-19 Hate Crime bill in order to demonstrate their stance against anti-Asian sentiments, and while the legislation seems good at first glance, many Asian activists have pointed out how the bill only increases the power of police officers, granting law enforcement more jurisdiction over hate crime charges. The bill is deceptive; it establishes rehabilitation efforts for perpetrators of hate crimes, while not addressing key obstacles that makes it significantly more difficult to charge someone with a hate crime in the first place.
the pandemic, the “joke” has evolved to Asians “eating bats.” The American opinion on Asian Americans is constantly flipping and switching. Historically, Asians were hated in the U.S. The first Asian immigrants lived in fear of being racially massacred, a common hate crime, and during WWII, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated into internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It wasn’t until two decades later that public opinion started to switch when sociologist William Peterson wrote an article comparing the success of Japanese Americans after the internment camps to Black Americans’circumstances, coining the term “model minority.” The effects of this idea lasted until Southeast Asian refugees fled to the U.S. after the Vietnam War, and White Americans, encouraged by the fear and paranoia of communism and the widely accepted racism, openly harassed these immigrants. For example, when Vietnamese people were able to obtain jobs as shrimp fishers, the Ku Klux Klan trained their members in “commando-style attacks” in order to “[patrol] the [fishing] waters in their regalia, and set boats owned by Vietnamese people on fire.”
Many have also expressed concerns about its possible effect on the Black community. If police officers have more authority over identifying and investigating hate crimes, then they will have more control over who is charged with that offense. Activists have pointed out that because the bill fails to distinguish between levels of violence in a hate crime and because the bill only increases the legal influence of law enforcement, police officers can easily increase legal sentences against Black people by adding a hate crime charge. “You want to think about solutions that are going to bring peace to both [Asian and Black Americans], and increased policing is not going to . . . support the Black community,” Chinese American student, Nikki Chang, expressed in an Ames Tribune article.
Violence against Asians was relentless, and white supremacists even went after children. In Stockton, California, a gun shooter targeted and killed five children simply because they were Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. While the violence didn’t slow, sentiments started to shift when America decided to improve their country’s reputation by highlighting the poor conditions that forced Asian refugees to immigrate to this country. Attitudes switched again after the events of 9/11 when South Asians found themselves being branded as “terrorists.” Then, America suddenly decided that they loved Asians again—until COVID-19. Hate crimes against Asians have surged by 169 percent in the first quarter of the pandemic alone, and foreign Chinese students in STEM have even found themselves racially profiled and interrogated for possibly using the knowledge they gained from American universities to “benefit the Chinese military” despite
This possibility is further supported by the anti-Black rhetoric that rose up when anti-Asian violence finally garnered national attention. Videos where the hate crime perpetrators are Black were sensationalized on the internet even though recent reports found that the “strongest predictor of xenophobic views of COVID-19” is nationalism, which was significantly greater among white respondents compared to every other racial demographics. Despite multiple studies, however, this narrative allows police officers to unfairly charge Black people with hate crime charges with more ease. Many Asian activists and Asian organizations have tried to combat this narrative, repeatedly putting out statements that condemned anti-Black rhetoric, but a combination of the model minority myth, the portrayal of Asian issues in mainstream media, and the 17
already prevalent racism against Black Americans have made these efforts seem naught. And, with the glaring flaws present in the COVID-19 Hate Crime bill, it just feels like Asian issues are being weaponized against the Black community again. [I’m kind of shocked that this is my last article, but it’s been a wonderful ride. A special thanks to everyone who’ve supported me along the way! And, a huge thanks to Deadline for giving me the opportunity to write freely! To the readers, join the team! You won’t regret it!]
By: Chau Anh Nguyen
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MAY 2021
Thank you for reading this issue from MCHS Deadline!
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If you have any questions, comments or concerns please DM us on our Instagram page: @mchsdeadline. We would love to hear feedback from you. While you are reading our digital copy, we have a website available for you to check out. We will continue to accept your song recommendations for MCHS mixtape all year round along with applications to take part in Freshman Interviews! So you may be apart of the next issue! The links for both of those forums can be fond in the linktree on our instagram page. The Deadline team will continue to work hard and come up with new ideas! We hope you will come along with us on this journey! Until the next issue, stay fiery Dragons!
Senior Editor: Chau-Anh Nguyen Senior Editor/Social Media: Hieu Ho Junior Writer/Social Media: Mekhi Randle
Graphic Designer: Charlene Nguyen Graphic Designer: Aashna Singh Webmaster/Senior Writer: Nora Taing Senior Writer: Arlene Hickman Senior Writer: Danielle Tuazon Senior Writer: Jaskaran Bajwa