I've often been one of only a handful of minorities in a newsroom. And usually, I was the only Asian American. Having so few people of color in a newsroom does perpetuate a lack of news coverage of minority communities, and the general invisibility of people of color in the media. I'm not saying that white people can't cover stories that are in minority communities. Any reporter can cover stories well if they take the time to learn about the subject, do the research, and immerse themselves into the community. (And by community, I don't mean just ethnic communities, but subcultures too like people who are into cosplay, or who are obsessed about electric cars, or whatever.) But oftentimes, stories don't even land on the radar because people don't know where to look in the first place or lack an awareness of the culture and issues.

Of course as a reporter, I don't want to be pigeonholed to covering just my own community either. You know what I really hate about being the only Asian American in a newsroom? Co-workers coming up to you and asking you some random question they think you should know the answer to because you're Asian. Like questions about China or what the educational system is like in Japan. I've never even been to Japan, OK?

Oops, he did it again. Jewish-American novelist Norman Mailer, a
grumpy old fart at 82, takes a swipe at Japanese-American literary
critic Michiko Kakutani in a magazine interview recently. [PHOTOS OF
BOTH HERE: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/323790p-276748c.html]
Kakutani, 50 and the daughter of a retired Yale maths professor who
came up with the "fixed point theorem," is a Yale graduate and has
been a book reviewer for the New York Times for over 25 years, even
winning a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1998. In the interview,
Mailer, whose books have often been dismissed by Kakutani, uses
several terribly racist and politically vulgar (PV) terms, calling the Times
reporter a "one-woman kamikaze" [divine wind suicide bomber] and an "Asiatic, a feminist," who is
a "token" minority hire at the august national newspaper. So just who is
Michiko Kakutani? Click here [http://kakutani101.blogspot.com] and read
an informal, gossipy blogsite about her.

Note: I was shocked, shocked to read about Norman Mailer's feud with Michiko
Kakutani. Whatever reasons Mailer might have to feel abused by her
critical powers at the Times (and he does seem to have some good
reasons), Mailer should not have singled out ethnic background, of all
things, as part of his criticism. Kakutani is not "Asiatic." She, a
Japanese-American, is just as "American" as he, a Jewish-American, is.
Shame on you, Norman, for having a go at the race card. You lose
there.

http://kakutani101.blogspot.com

interesting background info on Ms. Kakutani from 1997 blog, if you can believe it. Really. Updated, but the original 1997 blog here.

If Mailer was criticzing a Jewish book reviewer named Miriam Kirschbaum, would he have labelled her a one-woman kike kritic; or if she was Mary Kennedy, Irish, would he have called her a one-woman Irish witch; or if she was black, would he have called her a one-man nigger critic; or if she was German named Mirelle Katrina, would have called her a one-woman kraut bitch?

Why can he get away with call MK a one-woman kamikaze? He should lose his license to practice public utterances. A sad sick man.

He's been a bigoted asshole for a long time. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he's made similar remarks about other minority women.

Mailer's full of shit! Kakutani called Alice Walker's novel 'Now Is The Time To Open Your Heart' a 'remarkably awful compendium of inanities'.

Asians are racially disgusting until they themselves are slighted, at which point they themselves suddenly and inexplicably become "minorities", "people of colour", etc. Oh, boo hoo.

Last I checked Asians are "minorities" and are "people of colour" so what is your point OMFS? And what does racially disgusting mean?