'Racist disfiguration': Yang's wife blasts New York Daily News cartoon

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Evelyn Yang, Andrew Yang’s wife, ripped the New York Daily News’ cartoon of the mayoral candidate as a tourist in New York City, calling it a “racist disfiguration.”

The cartoon, by Bill Bramhall, depicts Yang emerging from the Times Square subway stop next to a tourist shop, with a shop owner remarking that "the tourists are back!"

“I can’t believe my eyes,” Yang’s wife wrote on Twitter Monday evening. “To publish this racist disfiguration of @AndrewYang as a tourist, in NYC where I was born, where Andrew has lived for 25 years, where our boys were born, where 16% of us are Asian and anti-Asian hate is up 900%.”

Yang, running for New York City Mayor, had been the subject of criticism after saying his favorite subway stop was Times Square, which he said was the station closest to his home. AAPI Victory Alliance, a progressive Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy group, also criticized the cartoon on Monday, calling it “disgusting and wrong.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/racist-disfiguration-yangs-wife-blasts-new-york-daily-news-cartoon/ar-AAKmZtn

Andrew Yang campaign condemns 'racist' cartoon after he said Times Square is his favorite subway stop

NEW YORK – What started as internet jabs at mayoral hopeful Andrew Yang for saying his favorite subway stop is Times Square is now drawing condemnation as racist after a stereotyped cartoon depicted Yang as a tourist.

Yang made the comment in an interview with Showtime host Ziwe that published Monday when asked about his favorite subway station.

"It's my stop, so Times Square," Yang said.

Throughout his campaign for New York City mayor, the former Democratic presidential candidate has faced continued and sharp criticism from competitors and commentators that he is an outsider and not a true New Yorker. That sentiment was repeated once again after Yang praised the heavily tourist-trafficked station.

Link to tweet

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/andrew-yang-campaign-condemns-racist-cartoon-after-he-said-times-square-is-his-favorite-subway-stop/ar-AAKmDT5

[Treefrog]

1. Not being from NYC, what am I missing about his saying Times Square is his favorite stop?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. I guess it's mostly touristy these days.

Admittedly it's been 27 years since I've been there.

It used to be one of the sleaziest parts of Manhattan till the city had the Disney Corporation revamp it. The revamp was started by Mayor David Dinkins though Giuliani who was mayor after tried to take credit for it.

[Treefrog]

4. Thanks. Seems an odd question anyway.

I had no idea people had favorite subway stops. Was this the same interview where they asked him what he was “vibing” to? All these hardball questions, goodness gracious.

[JHB]

15. It's one of those "are you a REAL New Yorker?" things that will always get clicks and views

Like someone eating pizza with a knife and fork.

Or **cough** saying what a wonderful meal you had at Olive Garden when you're in one of America's capitals of Italian food **cough**.

Or for a marvelous example serving as both display and lampoon of over-the-top New Yorker-isms, there's always Jon Stewart's legendary rant about Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

[Dorian Gray]

27. She's a comedian

and that's her schtick. Not for everybody, but.... he chose to go on her show for a reason. (She was a viral star pre Showtime show.)

[JHB]

14. Actually, a lot of the critical stuff did take place under Il Duce-ani

He didn't do it through capitalism, though. It was through what Republicans usually like to call "job-killing overregulation" and "unfunded mandates", not to mention that old standby, police harassment.

The presence of the peep shows and sleaze shops caused some snags with the more touristy-oriented developers, since they didn't want their stores side-by-side with "LIVE NUDES". And, of course, they didn't want to fork over money to simply buy out the leases, so Giuliani pushed through regulations expanding the radius for restrictions on what sort of businesses could and could not operate in the vicinity of a school or church. That forced a bunch to close their doors or change their overt business. But even those that managed to adapt to the new regs had police coming in to cite the place for any violation they could cook up, and to harass the customers. Between extra expenses and reduced traffic and income, they couldn't keep up with their leases and were forced out.

Frankly, I don't miss the old way it was, but it wasn't exactly a "free market solution" that changed it.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Apparently he lives close to there so I find this woman a tad juvenile.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang, who has drawn fire for not voting in city elections and for having a second home upstate, was mocked as a “tourist” by some people on social media Monday for naming Times Square as his favorite subway station.

To Yang, the choice was a simple one. That's the stop closest to his Manhattan home.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jokes-abound-over-yangs-choice-210636881.html

[mainer]

13. It's the stop he's always used for work

So that makes him a tourist?

[Dorian Gray]

26. Times Square sucks...

Broadway plays can be worth the trek, but choosing to live there....YIKES. And the subway station is hot and cavernous and crowded and yuck.

[dalton99a]

2. FWIW Asian tourists will stay away from the U.S. for a while.

Probably many years.

[brush]

5. All of this and two links but no cartoon? Show the cartoon already.

[Treefrog]

10. Not hard to find.

I googled it.

[left-of-center2012]

6. If he is not from New York City where is he from?

Is that not a requirement to get on the ballot?

[tritsofme]

7. He faced criticism for spending much of the pandemic at his home upstate.

And how he approached questions about it, along with a few other gaffes.

I thought the cartoon was pretty tame, and that this big reaction is just the campaign trying to shut down criticism and a narrative they find damaging.

[mainer]

16. Whatever his flaws as a candidate, this was below the belt

They chose the ONE ASIAN-AMERICAN candidate to depict as “the outsider.” Asians are always foreigners, no matter how many generations they’ve been here.

[mainer]

19. Born in Schenectady.

But lived 26 years in NYC. If a quarter century in NYC doesn’t make you a New Yorker, then how many years does it take? Or is the real disqualifier the Asian face?

[left-of-center2012]

21. "lived 26 years in NYC"

Is that current or recent ?

[mainer]

24. You're really reaching this hard to make him NOT a New Yorker?

Maybe his melanin content isn’t quite right, either? Or the shape of his eyes?

[left-of-center2012]

25. I simply asked when were the years he lived in NYC

Simple, easy question.

Nothing racist about it.

[mainer]

29. Did you ask that about the other candidates?

Or just the one with the Asian face? Two other NYC mayors were born in Boston. Three current mayoral candidates were not even born in the state of NY. From a NYDN editorial: “Maya Wiley is from Washington, D.C., Raymond McGuire from Ohio, Carlos Menchaca from Texas, yet we uniquely single out how much Yang knows about or deserves to live here.”

From Wikipedia, I found this:

“After graduating from law school, Yang began his career as a corporate attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City. Yang later described the job as "a pie-eating contest, and if you won, your prize was more pie". He left the law firm after five months, which he has called "the five worst months of my life."[27]

In February 2000, Yang joined his office mate, Jonathan Philips, in launching Stargiving, a website for celebrity-affiliated philanthropic fundraising.[21][28][29] The startup had some initial success, but folded in 2002 as the dot-com bubble burst. Yang became involved in other ventures, including a party-organizing business.[21] From 2002 to 2005, he served as the vice president of a healthcare startup.[1]

Manhattan Prep[edit]
After working in the healthcare industry for four years, Yang left MMF Systems to join his friend Zeke Vanderhoek at a small test preparation company, Manhattan Prep.[30] In 2006, Vanderhoek asked Yang to take over as CEO. While Yang was CEO, the company primarily provided GMAT test preparation. It expanded from five to 69 locations and was acquired by Kaplan, Inc. in December 2009. Yang resigned as the company's president in early 2012.[31][32][33] Yang later said it was during his time at Manhattan Prep that he became a millionaire.[17]

In September 2019 testimony before the New York City Commission on Gender Equity, former employee Kimberly Watkins testified that Yang had fired her because he felt that she would not work as hard after getting married. Yang has denied the allegations.[34] In an appearance on The View, Yang said, "I've had so many phenomenal women leaders that have elevated me and my organizations at every phase of my career, and if I was that kind of person I would never have had any success."[35]”

He qualifies as a candidate. Why do you question whether he’s enough of a New Yorker?

[Dorian Gray]

30. The current Bostonian mayor is

one of the least popular mayors NYC has ever had. (Though his current "i don't give a shit, I'll just go for eating shake shack fries on camera" thing is actually going over well. For real.)

NYers are a tough crowd. Whomever wins this race will get a lot of pushback. I think they're sensitive to the cartoon, and maybe for good reason. Curious if Wiley or Adams or Garcia said the same, if they'd get the same pushback. (And I do find them all better candidates than Yang.) Having said that, none of them left NYC in the midst of the pandemic. (While I admit I get why he left. Kids and space and needing to get out, if he knew he was running for mayor, he should have considered how that would play. Doesn't show a lot of foresight.)

[mainer]

32. Yang may not be the best candidate...

But he’s the only one whose origins are being questioned. That can only be laid at the feet of racism.

[left-of-center2012]

33. Congratulations. You've earned a spot on my 'Ignore' list

[Polybius]

8. Here's the cartoon

[brush]

11. Thank you.

[JHB]

18. Jeez, I didn't even bother with this one for the TOONs post because it was "too New York-local"

I'm not seeing the "racist disfiguration" his wife is complaining about, however.

[Takket]

34. you got me... i don't see it either...

i was thinking it was going to be a caricature that over exaggerates the eyes and front teeth? because that's what a racist cartoon usually looks like when mocking Asians? But not seeing that here

[JHB]

35. If his name weren't there I'd wonder why anyone was making a Mike Dukakis cartoon at this late date.

[Hortensis]

36. Me neither. I just assumed it was an opportunistic slur glancing on

his very weak qualifications for the job. Not a particularly clever cartoon.

Race didn't enter my mind. Whether it did hers or not, it seems likely to be at very least as cynically opportunistic a shot as sincere.

[mathematic]

38. This is the Daily News asking "But where are you REALLY from?"

The racist disfiguration is presenting an asian american new yorker as a tourist. It's one of the oldest racist clichés directed towards asian americans.

It goes like this:
Q: Where are you from?
A: Schenectady, but I've lived in NYC for 25 years.
Q: Oh, I see, but where are you REALLY from?

You're probably familiar with stereotypes about Jews and banking or the media. They can be invoked without any explicit caricatures and you'd recognize them as bigotry. This cartoon is analogous to that.

[left-of-center2012]

22. The OP refers to it as a "racist disfiguration"

[JHB]

28. I refer to it as...

..."is that Mike Dukakis?"

[mainer]

12. Asians are always "the outsiders"

Never accepted, no matter how many generations they’ve been in the US. No wonder Evelyn Yang, a native New Yorker, was pissed off. Of course they’d choose the lone Asian candidate to label as the outsider.

[catsudon]

17. as an american-taiwanese

i do not see it as racist at all, i wish she would stop playing the race card on this.

i'd prefer that they concentrate on other cases, like all those physical attacks.


i was a supporter of yang but after his last pitch on giving votes to green card holders, i do not think he's ready for prime time.

[ChrisF1961]

20. Good thing he wasn't asked what his favorite pizza place is.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

23. Interestingly the first time I'd ever seen a Sbarro was in New York

[Dorian Gray]

31. There's one in Times Square.

lol

[mainer]

37. So immensely sad to see Democrats blind to obvious racism

Three other NYC mayoral candidates aren’t even from the state of NY. The current mayor is from Boston. Yet the only candidate whose right to run for Mayor — a man born in NY state, who lived and worked in NYC for a quarter of a century — is the only one labeled an outsider. And he just happens to be the only one of Asian descent.

This is what Asian Americans contend with, even those whose families have been in the US for a century. Their right to be here is always questioned, their legitimacy always in doubt. Yang might be the worst choice for mayor, but it’s outrageous for Democrats to say doesn’t have a right to run because he “isn’t one of us.”

[dalton99a]

39. He does look like a furreigner. Must be a tourist.

[Raine]

40. Subtle but obvious way to say "you don't belong" 👎 nt