"the only Asian I know"

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>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

"Census 2000 showed that, of all places in the United States with 
100,000 or more population, New York had the largest Asian population 
with 872,777, followed by Los Angeles with 407,444"; those who 
identified themselves only as Asian are about 9.8% of the population 
of New York City; including those whose self-identification is Asian 
in combination with other identities makes the proportion of Asians 
10.9% (for more info, see "The Asian Population: 2000," February 
2002, <http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-16.pdf>).
-- 
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
<http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>