Wednesday
Apr042012
Nothin' special.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 10:33AM
The world is pretty small. We're all neighbors.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 10:33AM 
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 10:33AM
The world is pretty small. We're all neighbors.
Reader Comments (33)
wow i can't believe you deal with that...it's interesting to hear from other interracial couples...has never been an issue, not once, in my 15 years, from either side!
I know, I can't really believe it either. We live in a lower-income neighborhood with a lot of teenagers, so the eggs and "ching-chonging" are mostly a result of kids not having enough to do. The random comments from strangers...I dunno, maybe the age of Twitter has conditioned us to blurt things jovially without thinking first.
Thank you for sharing, I loved your drawings and your ability to make a bewildering experience into a piece full of grace and humor.
That's really nice of you to say. I'm glad you got something good out of it.
Excellent stuff. I'd like to see more of your stuff. I found this via AngryAsianman.com's twitter feed. A quick comment though. I've noticed that men(usually white) that are in interracial relationships with asian women have a tendency to needlessly point out that their wife/gf/etc is asian. This is most commonly seen in blogs: "I was out to dinner with my Korean wife, when <fill in generic event here>.
As a Chinese-American with a blond Caucasian wife, I can relate; we're in the minority in an already minority situation as most interracial couples are Caucasian men with Asian wives.
In any case, I enjoyed this greatly. Thanks for putting up!
@vk I've noticed that too. I wonder why they do it.
@logan I'm with you, buddy.
Hmm, I totally understand your cartoon. I'm black and my wife is Chinese. I've spent five years in China and I come to love some of the things about Chinese life, but it hard on both of us. If I was white, she would have hit the jackpot, but since I'm black. my wife gets even more grief. It's tough.
Oh, wow. I've never known a black man who went to live and marry in China. I'd be interested to hear more about your experiences.
Thanks for the post - very nice reminder for me to keep a cool head when i'm "ching-chonged" - which happens at least once a week! I'm the only asian-looking person living in a small town in nicaragua and it's sooooooooooo frustrating sometimes. People run off like "ching chong" is soooo funny or original or witty.
Regarding the comedy club: My family and I went to the Gotham Comedy Club years ago and one comic started joking that "thank god there's Asians in the crowd tonight because they get the jokes"... we thought it was pretty funny and so did the whole crowd. That wasn't the issue until after it was done and folks were walking out, a large white women (apparently a tourist) turns to us and says in deliberate English: "Thank you so much for coming here tonight". Wow, like we're comedic props or something?
Regarding the Chinese banners: so its cool when Basketball players get Chinese words tattooed prominently on their bodies with works like "strength", "honor" and the like, but when there's a Chinese banner or sign in public, it's ok to make fun of it with "Ching-Chong Bing-bong!"?
Ashley - I'm officially a fan.
Awesome work, Ashley. I am now a fan!
The sooner that people start to realize that racism is still a problem in the US, the sooner we can start finding intelligent solutions. One of the biggest problems is that a lot of people seem to believe that since it's 2012 and there'a a black president, racism has miraculously disappeared.
One need not look any further than the rise of Jeremy Lin to see that racism against Asian males is still quite common and acceptable. I lost count of the number of racist jokes/comments on fb and twitter that revealed that racism is most certainly alive and well in America.
As for Caucasian males explicitly reminding people that their wife/gf/etc is asian. From what I've observed a lot(read: NOT ALL) of the men A. Think it's some kind of an accomplishment for a white man to marry an asian woman...as if that NEVER happens</Abed> B. They're some how getting one over on Asian guys. C. Are attempting to show how open-minded(NOT racist) they are by marrying outside their race.
Thanks for the stories - both good and bad. As an Asian-Am male with a Euro-Am partner, we feel fortunate to be living on the West Coast, where there's a bit more acceptance than other places we've lived. In the midwest it seems that unconscious/implicit racism runs rampant, mainly, I believe, through lack of exposure to Asian-America. Of course, implicit racism is everywhere (e.g.http://hungergamestweets.tumblr.com/page/19), so it's always helpful when people (like you!) raise awareness, through a variety of means, including art.
I appreciate that, Ron.
I've always been struck by how strange it must be for my husband because he would go to school with regular American kids, then come home to his parents and grandparents, all of whom spent their lives in China/Vietnam. (They left China when Mao took over.) It's hard to find a comfortable place to rest when you constantly feel like you're jumping between universes.
This is simply beautiful. It's often so hard to encapsulate my experience growing up as an Asian American man without coming off as shrill, thin skinned, or overly sensitive. You managed to illustrate those challenges with such poise, humor, and wit. I sent this to my girlfriend who's Caucasian at work, because I couldn't wait to show her. Thank you for articulating so beautifully that today's racism isn't overt. Rather it is an insidious mindset hat thrives off the soft bigotry of low expectations and lazy stereotypes.
This was hilarious, sad and endearing all at the same time. I loved it and I can relate, I am a White American woman and my fiance is a Japanese man. We are fortunate to be living in southern California, so these situations are pretty rare. Like you, I wonder how he must feel because he says that sometimes he doesn't feel "American", but he never feels "Japanese", either. I just always try to be a good listener and sound board and I know we will get through it together. He might be stuck in the middle outside of our house, but in here, at least, he can always be himself.
You definitely have another new fan! You seem like a very funny and thoughtful woman. Best wishes to you and your family.
Thank you @ Will and @ Krystal. I really appreciate your comments.
I've never wanted to hug a comic as much as yours! I'm also a White woman dating an Asian man. I always get the penis questions. "Is he small? Is he good bed?" Seriously, how inappropriate is that?!