Racial Tensions at South Philly High

I grew up in Philadelphia in the 1980’s and am an alumnus of Central High School, one of the city’s public schools. We had our share of racial tensions back in the day but it never got very bad from what I remember.

The Angry Asian Man blog has been chronicling racial tensions and violent encounters at South Philadelphia High School the past few weeks primarily between African-American students and Asian-American and immigrant students. These reports have been shocking me in a “I can’t believe these things are still happening in 2009” kind of way.

What the hell is happening in Philadelphia? Yesterday, 26 Asian students at South Philadelphia High School were attacked and beaten by a gang of other students throughout the day: Asian students under attack at S. Phila. High.

District officials said that ten students have been suspended. (That's it?) No arrests were reported, but students who were outside the school yesterday said they had seen students being led out of the building in handcuffs. Well, that's great -- but how about some actual arrests and charges?

This is just the latest in several ongoing incidents of violence against Asian immigrant students that were reported at the school last year. Can you blame these students -- many of whom came to the U.S. specifically to attend school -- for just wanting to stay home? It beats going to school under fear of getting your ass kicked every day, all day.

This week's spate of attacks began Wednesday, when a Vietnamese student was jumped by 14 students across the street from the school. Yesterday, the attackers were apparently roaming the halls "searching for victims class by class during school."

26 Asian Students Attacked at South Philadelphia High

Asian Students Boycotting South Philly High

Students Speak Out Against South Philly High School Violence

Superintendent Refuses Meeting With South Philly High Students

AALDEF to File Civil Rights Complaint Against Philadelphia School District

Fear and Loathing in South Philadelphia (Philly.com)

Asian Students Describe Violence At South Philadelphia High (Philly.com)

PA Human Rights Will Air Strife On South Philly High (Philly.com)

Skin Whitening All The Rage In Asia

Skin whitening has been around for many years, particularly in Asia. Its popularity has grown in recent years...and has become big business across Asia. It's mostly an issue for Asian women. I first read about this (as it relates to Asians) back in the early 2000's and I have always been a little intrigued by it. This is because I find Asian women to be most attractive in their natural state...in their natural skin tone.

Hear a public radio story (from theworld.org) from earlier this week... which explores this issue. Some of these women are risking their health just to look more white.

What is behind this social craze? Who are Asian women trying to please...or who are they seeking approval from? (I have my ideas on that). Is the White European standard of beauty behind it? I believe that this is probably part of what motivates these women. A Filipina woman offers her take on what's behind this phenomenon, and she provides some very good insight. It's interesting how the "n" word comes up.... but then again it all ties in to the bigger issue of racism and how having darker skin is seen as negative, inferior, etc. Skin lightening products and the topic of skin tone have been issues for Blacks as well. The story regarding Asians just shows how global this issue is.

I also believe that the desire for White/European men has something to do with it. It's probably no coincidence that many Asian women prefer white men... especially if these women are in a setting where White men are plentiful and available. This is what I have noticed over the years just through general observation. Unfortunately this is something that isn't studied extensively. But I wonder what the role of colonialism... self-esteem... Western Pop culture, etc plays in this.