During his first 100 days in office, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom made national headlines with his decision to allow gay marriages in the city (since halted by court order). But he now has to get down to the minutiae of running a city facing a huge budget deficit.

Newsom ran as a centrist liberal against Green Party progressive candidate Matt Gonzalez in the race for mayor. With his move on gay marriages and the attention he has paid to the city’s Bayview-Hunter’s Point district, Newsom has surprised many progressives and others.

Just after taking office, Newsom made unannounced visits to crime scenes in the Bayview, historically a low-income and predominately African American area of the city that has recently been hit by a wave of killings, including the shooting death of a police officer over the weekend.

The mayor also escorted a group of city department heads to the Bayview and pointed out problems with parks and other infrastructure. After the tour, repairs around the neighborhood began with earnest.

Other moves meeting with approval by many in the city include naming Heather Fong the new police chief, making her the first woman to head the department and one of the few women chiefs in the country. She’s also one of a handful of Asian Americans to be the top cop in a big city.

It’ll be interesting to see if Newsom can keep the left happy as he grapples with the budget and other everyday issues.

chinoloco

William Hung is hoping to bang his way up the charts with his debut album, which was released yesterday.

The castoff from American Idol has been transformed into a pop icon despite a lack of singing talent.

Is it just his boyish charm and innocence that have captivated America? SFGate.com columnist Emil Guillermo says it’s the perpetuation of racial stereotypes that has catapulted Hung to the tune of more than 120,000 hits on a Google search.

Most anyone who watched Hung on Idol or downloaded the performance of “She Bangs” on the Internet knows he can’t sing or dance. Guillermo offers a plausible explanation for the William Hung phenomenon: Mainstream America likes to make people of color the butt of its jokes, and Hung fits the classic stereotype of the ineffectual Asian American male.

Hung has guts that go against the image he evokes in some people, and from all accounts, he’s a bright guy.

It’s just absurd to think that if Hung actually did have talent, he probably wouldn’t have a record deal, given the aversion of music labels and Hollywood to Asian Americans, particularly males.

chinoloco

Details magazine is the latest culprit in a litany of offensive attempts at humor aimed at an ethnic or racial group. In this case, Details has combined racial and gay stereotypes in an insulting display.

In its April issue, Details poses the question “Gay or Asian.” There’s a photo of a model and intro text that reads:

“One cruises for chicken; the other takes it General Tso-style. Whether you’re into shrimp balls or shaved balls, entering the dragon requires imperial tastes. So choke up on your chopsticks, and make sure your labels are showing. Study hard, Grasshopper: A sharp eye will always take home the plumpest eel.”

What follows is a series of arrows pointing at the model and descriptions that say things such as:

DIOR SUNGLASSES: Subs as headband and amplifies inscrutable affect.

RYAN SEACREST HAIR: Shellacked spikes, just like that crazy cool Americaaaaaaaan!

WHITE T-SHIRT: V-neck nicely showcases sashimi-smooth chest. What other men visit salons to get, the Asian gene pool provides for free.

LADYBOY FINGERS: Soft and long. Perfect for both waxing on and waxing off, plucking the koto, or gripping the Kendo stick.

Emails deriding Details have been flying around the Internet for the past week. There’s at least one Web petition protesting the feature.

The Asian American Journalists Association has weighed in with a letter to Details Editor-in-Chief Daniel Peres that demands an apology.

GLAAD also issued a statement calling the feature offensive.

Apparently the “Gay or …” feature is something Details has run for a while. Details doesn’t appear to maintain a website with archives, so there’s no convenient way to check what’s been done. If no one was offended by previous “Gay or …” features, maybe they should have been.

chinoloco

I opened my San Francisco Chronicle Book Review section on Sunday and, to my surprise, I found a review of Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World.

It’s an anthology of Asian American fiction, but not the kind that’s been popping up at bookstores with regularity since Amy Tan hit the scene.

From the review by freelance writer Wesley Yang:  “Aha, Asian American fiction — another of those books about Mama’s damn dumplings, with wronged wives and prostitutes running around everywhere, and being ‘between two cultures,’ with Grandma spouting her infernal wisdom during endless mah-jongg games. This is precisely what this updated collection of contemporary Asian American fiction is not.”

Makes me want to read it.

chinoloco

Just to follow up on a post from Wednesday, Urban Outfitters offers women’s tees that not only say “Everybody Loves an Asian Girl,” but also “Everybody Loves a Catholic Girl,” “Everybody Loves an Italian Girl,” “Everybody Loves an Irish Girl,” “Everybody Loves a Jewish Girl” and “Everybody Loves a Latin Girl.”

So while Urban Outfitters may still be pulling an Abercrombie, the retailer is doing it to multiple ethnic, racial and religious groups.

It’s just a shirt, but as the Abercrombie episode shows, attempts at ethnic or racial humor or marketing toward a particular group can backfire. There’s a fine line between what’s funny and what’s offensive. Compare Abercrombie or Urban Outfitters’ shirts with those from Black Lava. The differences are subtle but come through clearly.

Also, the Urban Outfitters Asian Girl shirt is in that “Asian” script that’s seen on bad Chinese restaurant menus or on something that’s trying too hard to be Asian. The others are in the same font. Why is the Asian shirt singled out?

It boils down to whether the message is genuine or just a crass marketing ploy.

chinoloco

Urban Outfitters may be pulling an Abercrombie with its “Everybody Loves an Asian Girl” t-shirts for women.

At first glance, it seems like another play on stereotypes to get a laugh, at least for the people who aren’t the subject of the caricature.

Who’s supposed to wear this shirt? Asian women with big egos? Guys who like Asian women?

I dunno.

See for yourself.

chinoloco

After nearly a year of house-hunting in San Francisco, it’s become very apparent why SFGate.com runs a weekly column called “Surreal Estate”.

All those stories you hear about the crazy real estate market in San Francisco are true. My fiancée, Ramie, and I were outbid ten times during our search for a home until we let go of our preconceived notions about what a house should cost and went with the market.

We’ve been among a frenzy of more than 30 bids on some houses, and we’ve submitted offers that were more than $100,000 lower than the actual selling price. We had the highest offer on a couple of places, only to be turned away because minor details made close, competing offers more attractive.

We were about to give up when we bid more than we ever could have imagined a year ago for a modest, two-bedroom home in the Outer Sunset District. To our surprise, the bid was accepted. Escrow is scheduled to close on March 25.

Our search has given me new perspective on the housing imbalance in San Francisco. Owning a home in the city is difficult for professional people earning a moderate income. It’s nearly impossible for low-income wage earners, at least at market prices. It’s easy to see why San Francisco has one of the lowest home ownership rates of any city in the country.

Owning a home is one of the best investments you can make. For those who want to live in San Francisco, the high cost keeps many from enjoying the benefits of home ownership. Many people who want to buy are forced to move out of the city.

It’s unfortunate because San Francisco is such a wonderful place. In the future, hopefully everyone, not just the privileged few who can afford it, will be able enjoy the experience of being a San Francisco homeowner.

chinoloco

Stir TV, the “first show for and about Asian America’s next generation,” makes its premiere Saturday on the International Channel and KTSF-26 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The English-language news and entertainment program says it is targeting Asian Americans who were born, raised, or educated in the United States, a group it calls, “trend-setters and pop-culture mavens who are among the nation’s most dynamic and rapidly growing populations.”

A run of 26 weekly episodes of the 30-minute show is planned for the first season.

It looks like the show is trying to be an Asian American version of MTV, which is fine. Until MTV and the entertainment industry become more like Stir TV and diversify their programming, there will be a need and an audience for shows or networks that target an ethnic or racial niche.

chinoloco

For a humorous and enlightening take on how people of color have been portrayed on television, check out VH1’s TV’s Illest Minority Moments Presented by Ego Trip.

Based on the Big Book of Racism from the creators of the hip-hop zine Ego Trip, the show pokes fun at and lambastes the racial and ethnic stereotypes that have made their way into America’s living rooms.

Some highlights include:

•Danny Partridge becoming an honorary member of an “Afro-American club”

•Marlo Thomas playing a Chinese girl on an episode of Bonanza

•Pondering who Uncle Ben would rather do the nasty with, Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth?

•Figuring out Big Bird’s race

And who would have thought that Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) and Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) aren’t quite the all-American white girls they were made out to be?

Big Boi and Andre 3000 of Outkast, Kelis, Talib Kweli, actor Anthony Anderson, cartoonist Aaron McGruder (The Boondocks), writers Angela Nissel (Broke Diaries, Scrubs), Judy McCreary, Eric Nakamura (Giant Robot magazine), Jeff Yang (Once Upon a Time in China), director John Singleton (Boyz N The Hood, Baby Boy) and comic Joey Medina (Latin Kings of Comedy) are among the talking heads in the show.

TV’s Illest Minority Moments airs tonight at 7 p.m., Thursday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Saturday at 12 a.m. (all times EST) this week.

chinoloco

It’s a shift in city policy that could affect thousands of people and transform San Francisco’s image – and it doesn’t involve marriage licenses.

A new plan to combat homelessness was going to be the most ambitious undertaking by San Francisco’s city government before Mayor Gavin Newsom decided last week to dive head-first into the debate over gay marriages.

Newsom had a hand in crafting the homelessness policy. While a member of the city’s board of supervisors, he championed a voter initiative to cut welfare payments from up to $410 a month to $59 for 2,400 homeless people in San Francisco. The proposition, called Care Not Cash, was passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2002 but was ruled unenforceable by court order.

The idea was to funnel the money that would have gone to welfare checks toward housing, support services and drug rehabilitation programs for San Francisco’s most entrenched homeless people. The plan doesn’t address thousands of other street people who aren’t receiving money from San Francisco’s County Adult Assistance Programs.

Care Not Cash was seen by many as a political move by Newsom to scapegoat the homeless and use the issue to catapult him into the mayor’s office. It worked. He narrowly defeated a late, spirited campaign by Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez to succeed Willie Brown as mayor in November.

The biggest criticism of Care Not Cash was that it did not guarantee housing, only a bed in an emergency shelter, for people who would have had their welfare payments slashed. Opponents sued, and a judge halted implementation, ruling that only the board of supervisors can set welfare policy.

The board of supervisors passed a revised proposal last year offered by Supervisor Chris Daly. The new measure still cuts welfare checks but only when the recipient receives permanent housing or a spot in a drug rehab program. The city is coming up with plans to implement the new policy in April.

Anyone who’s been to San Francisco recently can’t help but notice how many people are living on the streets. Panhandlers ply their trade throughout the tourist districts, much to the chagrin of hotels and other businesses dependent on tourism. It can be a jarring sight for visitors used to a more suburban lifestyle.

Former Mayor Brown basically gave up on trying to solve the homeless problem during his administration. It will be interesting to see if this new approach can really make life better for some of San Francisco’s homeless people.

chinoloco

A group of Asian American activists is criticizing the acclaimed movie Lost in Translation and urging Oscar voters to mark their ballots for other films. (Lost in Translation is nominated for best picture, best actor, best director and best screenplay).

Asianmediawatch.net contends that the film, set in Japan, portrays Japanese people as shallow stereotypes, and that the audience “laughs at the Japanese people and not with them,” according to a press release on a website the group has created.

I have not seen the film, but I have no doubt that in Hollywood tradition, Asians are used as a backdrop and as fodder for racist, or at the very least, insensitive jokes that milk every stereotype imaginable. Lost in Translation is just one in a long line of movies and TV shows in which Asians and Asian Americans are portrayed as, in the words of Asianmediawatch, “buffoons for the main (non-Asian) characters to ridicule.”

Asianmediawatch adroitly points out that had this film been set in Africa or Mexico, director Sophia Coppola would not have created “such an insensitive and racist portrayal of a people,” and that the movie is “indicative of a level of mainstream tolerance and acceptance of Asian American discrimination that would otherwise be unacceptable if directed towards African and Hispanic Americans.”

chinoloco