"the only Asian I know"

[Francis Hwang]

More than the gossipy talk about morning blowjobs, what I found 
astounding in Katha Pollitt's excellent New Yorker piece was this 
passage:

" 'Do you think I'm a weird Asian, Kahta?' Ben asks me. 'Not at all,' 
I say firmly, although how could I tell? Ben is the only Asian I 
know. "

The only Asian she knows? She's a 52-year-old leftist intellectual 
who lives in New York City. How could she not know any other Asians? 
Is my conception of the left intellectual scene here completely off, 
or are there just not many Asians around?

Francis