Monday, January 09, 2012

Being Asian in the US army

"The family of the 19-year-old Chinese-American soldier says the Army told them Chen had been abused by comrades on an almost daily basis, including racist hazing, with soldiers throwing rocks at him, calling him ethnic slurs and forcing him to do push-ups or hang upside down with his mouth full of water. “This is not a situation where you can expect Danny to make complaints to higher-ups when they’re the ones that are causing this hazing,” says Liz OuYang of the civil rights group OCA-New York. “It was incumbent upon the officer, the highest leader in this platoon, to take action. ... Had he reported it to higher-ups, there’s a great possibility that Danny may still be alive today.” Chen’s family and supporters have called for eight soldiers charged in his death to be tried in the United States, instead of overseas." (thanks Farah)