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Thanksgiving Reflections: An Ode to a Korean-American Mother

 

Like most good, loving, and respectful daughters, I gripe about my mom all the time. So recently, when three of my friends began to share lighthearted stories about their “overbearing” mothers while we huddled together on a crowded subway platform, I knew I was well qualified to contribute my own. “My mother is ridiculous,” I started. “This one time in high school–”

“–But your story is understandable,” one friend interrupted. “You have a ‘tiger mom’. Our mothers have no excuses.”

I stared blankly, completely annoyed and unsure how to respond, while all three of my buddies on the platform

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Thanksgiving and the Conundrum of Cultural Racism

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we thought we would serve up some leftovers early with this post from last year on the subject. Enjoy!

Every time I try to write about culture, I end up stuck with a lot of big words. For instance, the word conundrum. A conundrum is a problem for which the solution is a matter of conjecture. In other words, we can only guess at how to resolve a conundrum.

Our white supremacist culture is a conundrum. I’m not talking here about the culture of cross-burning and white sheet-wearing. I mean culture as in the collective … Read more “Thanksgiving and the Conundrum of Cultural Racism”

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Food Stamps Thanksgiving

I’ve gone on a rant about the short-sightedness of most criticism of programs like food stamps before. But, with Thanksgiving coming up it seemed to me appropriate to get back on my soap box.

About 45 million people in the U.S. receive food stamps. That’s about 14 percent of the American population. For 6 million Americans, food stamps is their only income. 55 percent of food stamp households include children. 14 percent include a disabled member. 9 percent include someone over the age of 60.  And if you don’t think this is a racial justice issue, a quarter of … Read more “Food Stamps Thanksgiving”

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Thankgiving and the Conundrum of Cultural Racism

Every time I try to write about culture, I end up stuck with a lot of big words. For instance, the word conundrum. A conundrum is a problem for which the solution is a matter of conjecture. In other words, we can only guess at how to resolve a conundrum.

Our white supremacist culture is a conundrum. I’m not talking here about the culture of cross-burning and white sheet-wearing. I mean culture as in the collective racist beliefs of our society  reduced over generations to common sense.

Here’s how Merriam-Webster defines culture:

a : the integrated pattern of human … Read more “Thankgiving and the Conundrum of Cultural Racism”