I disagree with the UH Pamantasan Council’s claim that the AAAS award for Blu’s Hanging should be revoked because it “contributes to the pervasiveness of destructive and stereotypical views of Filipinos in particular.” Ivah’s world is filled with evil characters: pedophiles, dog abusers, cat killers, and malicious teachers. However, these characters are not all Filipino and I do not believe that Filipinos are singled out in this novel. The Reyes family was not portrayed in a good light, but they were not completely “one-dimensional” because Yamanaka created feelings of sympathy for the two youngest Reyes sisters. Her book is filled with racial controversies but they do not all revolve around Filipinos.
Cordova’s argument that the principles of the AAAS are to “represent the interests and welfare of Asian American Studies and Asian Americans” is a more sound reason as to why the reward should be rescinded. Regardless of Yamanaka’s intentions (which I think were innocent), her work upset and disturbed many Filipino readers. This controversy alone goes against the AAAS’ goal of unifying and creating a bond between Asian Americans.
I thought it was interesting this poster used the word innocent to describe Yamanaka's intentions. I do not believe she wished to harm anyone, but if that was the outcome of truth than it was a necessary casualty in her eyes. Truth is often times not so innocent and can stir a lot of negative emotion as well as positive emotion. I love it for that, as I assume most readers do, because you may not always be thinking in a positive regard towards the text, but you are thinking.
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