A politically incorrect memoir by Ying Ma
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Description
As China opens itself to the world and undertakes historic economic reforms, a little girl in the southern city of Guangzhou immerses herself in a world of fantasy and foreign influences while grappling with the mundane vagaries of Communist rule. She happily immigrates to Oakland, California, expecting her new life to be far better in all ways than life in China. Instead, she discovers crumbling schools, unsafe streets, and racist people. In the land of the free, she comes of age amid the dysfunction of a city’s brokenness and learns to hate in the shadows of urban decay. This is the incredible story of her journey from China to an American ghetto and how she prevailed.
Praise
“Direct and unvarnished, this book describes the endless possibilities of a free society that allows its citizens to chart their own destiny. Ying Ma takes her readers to dark corners where poverty, crime, and racism reign, all the while reminding us that even amid a sea of hate, individuals can choose to believe in kindness, decency, personal responsibility, and racial equality.”
– Ward Connerly, Founder and President, American Civil Rights Institute, and author, Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences
“A beautiful account of a young girl’s encounter with the insidiousness of authoritarianism in China and the tragedies of inner-city America. Ying Ma boldly details some of the worst imperfections of American society, all the while showing, with her own example, why freedom is worth choosing.”
– Xiao Qiang, Adjunct Professor, University of California at Berkeley; Founder and Editor-in-Chief, China Digital Times; and prominent Chinese human rights activist
Preview
The following article served as a blueprint for one of the chapters in Chinese Girl in the Ghetto and offers a preview of the China portion of the book.
“China, 1984,” Wall Street Journal Asia, April 25, 2008
The following interview features an extensive discussion of the politically incorrect policy implications of the book and offers a preview of the book’s stories about the brokenness of inner-city America.
Frontpage Magazine Interviews Ying Ma about New Book, April 15, 2011
Reviews, Recommendations and Interviews
The John Batchelor Show, a national radio program, interviews Ying Ma about Occupy Oakland and Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, November 14, 2011. (Listen here. Note: The discussion takes up the first ten minutes of the podcast.)
The John Batchelor Show hosts Ying Ma for an extensive interview about Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, November 12, 2011. (Listen here. Note: The discussion begins at minute 18:15.)
America’s Morning News, a nationally syndicated morning-drive radio news show, spoke to Ying Ma about the dark side of Chinese state capitalism and Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, November 7, 2011. (Note: The discussion begins at approximately minute 15:46 and ends at 21:00.)
The Young America’s Foundation hosts Ying Ma at the Reagan Ranch Center for a talk about China, state capitalism, the free market, conservatism and Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, October 22, 2011.
FoxNews Radio Station in Minnesota Interviews Ying Ma about Chinese Girl in the Ghetto and China, September 28, 2011. (Note: The discussion begins at minute 14:40 and ends around minute 34:35.)
The Armstrong and Getty Show, one of Northern California’s top morning radio shows, interviews Ying Ma for a full hour about Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, September 14, 2011.
The Heartland Institute talks to Ying Ma about her book and the Chinese economy, August 26, 2011.
The Armstrong and Getty Show, a top morning radio show in Northern California, interviews Ying Ma about Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, August 16, 2011 (Note: The interview begins at minute 9:40.).
National Review Senior Editor Jay Nordlinger Recommends Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, July 29, 2011.
Nationally Syndicated Columnist Mona Charen Reviews Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, July 8, 2011 (see review in The Washington Examiner or on National Review Online, RealClearPolitics or Townhall.com).
A National Review Online Symposium Recommends Chinese Girl in the Ghetto for Summer Reading, July 1, 2011.
American Renaissance Reviews Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, July 2011.
SF Bay Area’s KTSF Interviews Ying Ma for Chinese Evening News, April 26, 2011.
The Cornell Review Reviews Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, April 14, 2011.
Chinese Internet Site Sina.com Makes Announcement about Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, April 14, 2011.
Veteran White House Reporter Recommends Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, March 25, 2011.
Any plans for a speaking engagement in Sacramento? After listening to your interview on the Armstrong and Getty radio show, I would be very interested in seeing/listening to you in person.
Hi there, I’ll be giving the keynote address at this conference on Saturday: http://www.norcalwomensconference.com/. Please feel free to sign up if it interests you.
Great interview on A&G. Ditto on local speaking engagements in Sac or Bay Area. Good work.
Really enjoyed the interview on A&G. Enthralling . . . excited to read the book
Many thanks to all for the kind words. I will be giving a book talk on Tuesday, 9/20 in Menlo Park. Please see here for details: http://www.cornellnorcal.com/article.html?aid=606. For announcements of other upcoming book talks, please stay tuned to my Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/ChineseGirlintheGhetto, or my Twitter page, https://twitter.com/GZtoGhetto. Hope to see you guys at some point.
I appreciated listening to you on the Davis and Emmer radio broadcast here in Minnesota. I wish you success with your book.
Bruce Johnson
Eagan, MN
Thank you, Bruce.
When I subscribed to Blockbuster, I watched a half dozen or so movies made in China and I was fascinated by them. My favorite one was about a teacher who came to a small town and fell in love with a girl. I cried at the end because the teacher had died and everyone was grieving the loss of someone whom they had loved and respected so much. This was not a recent movie, but more of a classic. Nevertheless, it showed some of the modernization of China in the cities with the older traditions and way of life in the rural areas.
My own wife is from Japan and so I guess I have an appreciation of Asian cultures and people. I was struck there in Japan how the modern Japan could exist side by side, sometimes, next to humble people toiling in the rice paddies. America is such a relatively young country, but I get the sense that it has been strongly influencing and exporting it’s own culture to the world. In Japan, I would see commercials on the television with a few words of English and Japanese singers doing their best imitation of American pop singers. It seemed so beautiful to me, maybe because I believe that America represents how all of the cultures can come together and blend together as one.
I long for the day when there will be no longer racism nor any other barriers that divide us as brothers and sisters under one God, our Heavenly Parent. Please tell me if you will ever speak in Minnesota.
Thank you for all that you are doing. Perhaps, now, I better buy your book!
Sincerely,
Bruce Johnson
Eagan, MN