the lakers have nothing over the ISLC Dragons

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
In February, the International Studies Learning Center in South Gate hosted several distinguished guests. Among those welcomed by Principal Guillermina Jauregui and the ISLC family were China’s vice president, America’s vice president, and Los Angeles’s mayor. Not a bad day! Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, the two vice presidents, spent time in a Mandarin class and joined others in enjoying drumming and dancing. We’re proud of the amazing work done by teachers at the school and are looking forward to putting a full story up about the Asia programs there and the remarkable visit. Until then, there’s a picture and a brief story at: http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2677. Of course, we’re delighted that almost one-third of ISLC’s teachers have gone through our teacher training program. Congratulations to the Dragons!
edited by Clay Dube on 4/10/2012

[Anonymous]

Another piece from our reading that was interesting was the one about a Chinese journalist's trip to America at the turn of the century. This read is fascinating on many levels. First, it gives a very vivid window into what life was like in the U.S. at the turn of the century. The segment on "Lynching" is shocking and disturbing. The author, Qichao, explains, "Americans have an unofficial form of punishment known as lynching....Recently, the common practice is burning people to death....(I have) become accustomed to reading about it and no longer find it strange." Reading about lynching in a history book is one thing, but when you read a first account of the practice, and then the image of "burning" is added to it... It's hard to fathom.

What's equally unbelievable is how easily Qichao buys into the myths and stereotypes about African Americans: "To be sure there is something despicable about the behavior of blacks. They would die nine times over if they could possess a white woman's flesh. They often rape them at night in the forest and then kill them in order to silence them. Nine out of ten lynchings are for this, and it is certainly something to be angry about." It shows you how powerful media can be. Qichao reads it therefor it must be true!

Qichao's trip to San Francisco reveals how much contempt Chinese intellectuals had for their own peasant population at the turn of the century. He admires the freedom and more individualistic nature of the Chinese in San Francisco. When comparing the Chinese back in China to the ones in the U.S., Qichao says: "I find their level of civilization far inferior to those in San Francisco."

Reading this piece helps one better understand how angry and humiliated the Chinese felt at the turn of the century. Qichao's contempt for his own people (and for the Americans at times) is palpable.

[Author]

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