Last night at the Emmy awards, screenwriter Alan Yang and actor Aziz Ansari won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for the “Parents” episode of their Netflix series Master of None.
As far as acceptance speeches go, Yang’s call for better AA representation in entertainment was brilliant.
“There’s 17 million Asian Americans in this country, and there’s 17 million Italian Americans,” Yang, a Taiwanese American, said as he held his Emmy aloft. “They have The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos. We’ve got Long Duk Dong. We have a long way to go.”
With that, Yang once again called Hollywood out for their snubbing of Asian American actors and actresses. While Italian Americans are deeply rooted into American film — and are serious candidates for dramatic roles — Asian Americans still grovel for roles like Long Duk Dong or Mr. Yunioshi.
I’ll admit I haven’t been following Master of None, the brainchild series of Aziz Ansari (who happens to be one of my favorite comedians). Nor have I watched an episode of Fresh Off the Boat (which has been recommended to me numerous times). However, I’m proud that there are finally men and women that look, act, and feel like me onscreen. Most of all, they’re telling my story. The story of myself and 17 million other Americans that all too often is forgotten, ignored, or whitewashed.
Here’s proof that we don’t need white actors to tell our stories. We can do just as good telling them ourselves.
Yang wrapped up his acceptance speech with a tongue-in-cheek plea to AA parents who may be watching: “If you could just do me a favor and just a couple of you get your kids cameras instead of violins, we would be all good.”
thenewwhizkids.wordpress.com 
3 Comments Add yours