Comments for Ying Ma

Comment on My Book by Bruce Johnson

Bruce Johnson — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:55:33 +0000

I just watched “Joy Luck Club”. Sometimes it was hard to watch, (so sad to see the abuse of women by their husbands) but it also showed so deeply the dynamic of the mother and daughter relationship in the Chinese culture. I don’t know how much of that is “Hollywood”.

Comment on My Book by wenjuan Zheng

wenjuan Zheng — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:28:25 +0000

Hello Ying Ma,

I have read your book and it is fascinated! I grew up in Guangdong as well; however, as I was born in late 80s, I have experienced something very differently. I saw the golden period where the Chinese economy was booming and people’s material life is getting better and better.

But I am more interested in your youth life in the inner city of American. What strikes me the most is I can feel your anger through the second part of the book. Are you angry at the whole situation that you are in, or specifically the poverty or the discrimination that you have experienced? In fact, what would you address the tension between the two racial communities?

I hope my question is not offensive. I am indeed very interested in this topic! I look forwards an opportunity to meeting you. Would you come to New York City to give a talk? I will pursuit an master at the Columbia University in the coming fall semester and I really hope that I can get a chance to meet you!

Best,

Wenjuan

Comment on Ying Ma Appears on the Fox News Channel by Ying Ma

Ying Ma — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:04:46 +0000

Hi Linda, I just checked it and it’s working. Are you viewing it on a Mac or an iPhone? Sometimes that prevents the video from opening properly.

Comment on Ying Ma Appears on the Fox News Channel by LindaSM

LindaSM — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:02:12 +0000

wanted to share the video w/Gretchen Carlson with friends…won’t open when I click on it.

Comment on Ying Ma Appears on the Fox News Channel by Sarath Rajapatirana

Sarath Rajapatirana — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:42:21 +0000

What an inspiring story and an outstanding message. As an immigrant myself I
fully appreciate her point of view even though
I did not have her difficult circumtances having come to the United States as a graduate student as a Fulbright scholar. It was no hand out but a reward for hard work and effort.

Comment on Chinese Girl in the Ghetto by NS

NS — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:31:07 +0000

I loved your interview this morning and your statement of “freedom’s worth choosing”!

Comment on Ghetto Racism by C. Chen

C. Chen — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:17:18 +0000

I am very glad that something on this has been written. Growing up in NYC, my experiences were very similar to yours. Except I was in elementary school when this happened and am also a male, which made many of my racial attacks physical as well as verbal. I went to a school in upper east side manhattan 96th st that was mostly black and hispanic, a few whites and even fewer asians. Everyday I would get racial attacks. Me and the other asians in the school were always picked on, and the guys were usually physically assaulted. None of the asians really stood up for themselves or each other. People would just ignore or pretend the issue was not there, including the teachers who openly see it in the schoolyard and in class. In fact, one time when a black student attacked me and I began to stand up for myself, a black teacher pulled me aside and scolded me. I cant remeber what she said except that it ended in, “…And you’re Chinese”,..I got the feeling that she thought since I was Chinese, I should passively take the anti-chinese racism that was prevalent throughout the school. Just like you, I was afraid to go to school everyday because I knew that I would get attacked. I believe almost everyday of my life there I was either physically attacked or thrown racial slurs at. The ching chong, dont take bath, and slanted eyes were the most common slurs. Of course that was back in elementary school, since moving on from there into a good middle school, specialize science high school, and reputable university, the amount of racial attacks I have faced have dramatically decreased. There has still been a few times I would get racial slurs hurled at towards me..and I even got physically attacked by a gang as an adult..and all of this has come from black people, mostly youths probably in their teens, give and take a few years. The racial slurs come from black kids as young as probably eight. Of course this shouldnt have come as a surprised to me, since it was in elementary school where I faced the most discrimination. I remember when I first entered elementary school, I never even knew the concept of race..until the black and hispanic kids began to pick on me for being Chinese. That was when I was so afraid of being Chinese and ashamed. That is no longer the case and I am proud of who I am. My only regret back then is that I did not do enough to defend myself, but I was afraid and was always attacked by a group of bigger kids while I was alone. I am very glad to be out of this horrific environment, but feel sad for the other asians especially children who still have to go through this. And I know this is still common. Even though I was fortunate enough to go to good schools later, I have heard and even seen the attacks in bad middle schools and high schools on asian students primarily from black kids. This is a very serious issue, and if all of the asian people who lived in these urban areas were to speak out about their experiences, I believe the numbers would be so large that the “police, or government would not be able to ignore it as an ongoing hate crime. As for the black people on this forum who claim that it is not a hate crime if they were in our shoes they would not be saying the same thing. If they had gone to elementary schools where say the majority of people were white and everyday yelled racial slurs on them and beat them up they would believe it is a racist hate crime as well. As for the others who say that blacks get treated the same as well, okay that can be true. But the purpose of the book/discussion was to talk about this segment which is not heard of despite its prevalence, and that is black hate crime on asians in the “ghetto”. Sure there are racism against blacks, but that doesn’t deny the reality of the black racism towards asians in urban areas. It’s time that America begin to realize and fix that racism can occur in many different areas, not just white on blacks. Yes blacks, the “american historically abused race” can be very racist, and yes Asians, the american “perpetual foreigners”, can be the object of hate crimes.

Comment on My Book by Ying Ma

Ying Ma — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:31:55 +0000

Dave, thanks for your interest. Unfortunately, the book is not yet available in Chinese. Please feel free to stay tuned to this website or to the book’s Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/ChineseGirlintheGhetto, for news about when a Chinese translation might become available.

Comment on My Book by Dave Dimmitt

Dave Dimmitt — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:22:02 +0000

Dear Ying Ma;

Do you know where we can find a Chinese version of ‘Chinese Girl in the Ghetto’? We have several Chinese members of the family that would like to read your book.

Thanks very much,
Dave

Comment on Christmas Sale for Chinese Girl in the Ghetto by Ying Ma

Ying Ma — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:14:12 +0000

Mr. Carter,

Thank you for reading my book, but I did not mention Prop 13 anywhere.

Best regards,
Ying Ma