Reading Daniel Yu’s letter in the March 2005 issue regarding his opinion on the Crime Blotter does not justify his desire to see it eliminated. We as KAs must not be blind to reality: We also stumble just like any other ethnic minority group in this country. Hiding reality to fellow KAs will only make us sheltered to life’s harshness. Announcing a KA making his first million dollars or achieving a perfect SAT score is so trite, not only to KAs but to other Asian Americans as well. I do not feel that the Crime Blotter is glorifying KAs who are detriments to society, but rather an implicit warning to avoid those paths in life.
For Mr. Yu’s information, the “model minority” label was not created by Asian Americans, nor was it meant to be a compliment. It was contrived by white Americans to make Asian Americans deferential to them, and also to make non-Asian minorities who are socioeconomically disadvantaged feel like crap. Mr. Yu seems so enthralled by monetary achievements, but he is only perpetuating the negative stereotype of Asian Americans being avaricious capitalists who never give back to the community while getting rich off their non-Asian patrons.
> Eric Park, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.