Featured

Americans say the American Dream is slipping out of reach, new poll finds

A Times/YouGov survey of 1,821 adults finds 59% saying success is harder to reach than it was a generation ago. Belief in the ideal is holding, but belief that it still delivers for everyone has not.

The same recalculation is running in reverse among Chinese students and early-career professionals in the U.S., some of whom told the Wall Street Journal the math no longer works.

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What else we’re tracking

Trump administration opens $166 billion tariff refund process after Supreme Court defeat

A refund portal opened Monday for over $166 billion in duties the Supreme Court struck down in February, but Asian American grocers that absorbed rates as high as 50% on certain goods appear largely shut out. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, says he’ll “remember” which companies skipped the line.

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Patel takes The Atlantic to court, but “actual malice” standard looms large

FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million suit against The Atlantic lands him in the same legal thicket that just swallowed a Trump complaint against the Wall Street Journal. One First Amendment attorney says the allegations “don’t even hit the backboard.” Still, the filing may raise costs for outlets weighing similar reporting on the first South Asian to lead the bureau.

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NYC teacher accused of preying on Asian students will “irrevocably retire”

A Queens high school teacher will quietly retire on his $140,588 salary after a city watchdog documented what it called his predatory conduct toward young Asian women. The Department of Education was told to fire him in 2024, but he was reassigned instead. He has until the end of the year.

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Vigil held for Chinese researcher who died on University of Michigan campus

Students and faculty gathered around a small altar last week for Danhao Wang, a Chinese assistant research scientist who died in March after a fall. Beijing has claimed a University of Michigan researcher was subjected to “hostile questioning” by U.S. federal law enforcement, but American authorities have confirmed nothing.

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Campus bias affects Asian and other minorities alongside antisemitism, report finds

A Brandeis survey of nearly 4,000 undergraduates finds 22% of Asian students reporting campus prejudice, with Jewish peers reporting the highest rate at 47%. The researchers argue the numbers only make sense when read together, and their prescription cuts against how both sides have been framing campus politics for the past two years.

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For Sikh Americans, persistent bias shadows a season of celebration and remembrance

After anti-Sikh hate crimes hit a record high last year, local communities went on to celebrate Vaisakhi this month. The Sikh Coalition and The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) also marked five years of partnership the same month as the five-year anniversary of the Indianapolis FedEx shooting, which federal investigators still have not called a hate crime.

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Humanoid robot beats human half-marathon world record in Beijing test run

A humanoid robot from Chinese smartphone maker Honor crossed the Beijing E-Town half-marathon finish line in 50:26 on April 19, almost seven minutes faster than Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo ran the distance last month. But what the race actually tested isn’t what the time suggests.

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Why read Issue #202?

Institutions keep announcing their intentions and then stopping short of them. That gap, between what gets formally acknowledged and what actually changes, is where Asian American communities have been living for a long time. This issue is a snapshot of how far it now stretches. A ruling is not a remedy, and a watchdog’s finding is not an outcome. As you can tell, today’s stories don’t share a topic so much as a posture. We see what happens after the official response has already come and gone, and who gets left carrying what it didn’t fix.

Support independent Asian diaspora journalism. Become a paid subscriber to read the full stories and help sustain The Rebel Yellow.

The Rebel Yellow is supported in part by funding from The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Funders do not influence story selection, reporting, or editorial decisions. All editorial content is independently produced by The Rebel Yellow team.

Sikh Americans continue to face entrenched discrimination, online vitriol and the unresolved trauma of mass violence, even as the community marked Vaisakhi this month with public celebrations and large-scale charitable work.

Visible faith, persistent target

More than two decades after the Sept. 11 attacks first triggered a wave…

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A humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor finished the Beijing E-Town half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds on April 19, as China accelerates its push to lead in humanoid robotics. The time is faster than the men’s human world record of 57:20 set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in March. The run t…

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A majority of Americans now say the promise of upward mobility is harder to achieve than it was for their parents, according to a new Times/YouGov poll. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said success is less attainable today, reflecting growing concern over economic stability and opportunity. The findings show a widening g…

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Asian students and other minority groups are reporting measurable levels of campus hostility alongside antisemitism, according to a national study of nearly 4,000 undergraduates. The survey by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University found that 22% of Asian students, 31% of Black students and 3…

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Students, faculty and community members at the University of Michigan gathered on the university’s central campus plaza to honor Danhao Wang, a Chinese assistant research scientist whose death last month remains under investigation. Wang died March 20 after falling from an upper level …

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FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic faces a steep legal climb under the demanding standard public figures must meet to prevail in defamation cases.

A “malicious hit piece”?

The suit, which was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names the magazine and …

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A New York City high school teacher who allegedly cultivated inappropriate relationships with multiple current and former students, many of them young Asian women, will retire at the end of this school year after a city watchdog substantiated claims of predatory conduct.

Disturbing findings

Douglas V…

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The Trump administration has begun accepting refund requests from importers for more than $166 billion in tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled unlawful in February, relinquishing a major revenue stream that the president had long defended as essential to American economic strength.

Latest developments

U.S. Customs and Border Prote…

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Featured

Lawmakers join Sikh community in marking 5 years since deadly Indianapolis FedEx shooting

Five years ago this month, a gunman opened fire at an Indianapolis FedEx facility where nearly nine in 10 workers were Sikh and killed eight people. The FBI reached a conclusion about motive, but the Sikh Coalition says it has resolved little.

Four members of Congress have introduced a resolution honoring the victims and pressing the Justice Department to restore hate crime prevention programs. The anniversary arrives as Sikh Americans continue to face heightened bias.

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What else we’re tracking

AANHPI voters take center stage as Democrats vie for California governor

The Democratic field for California governor was already crowded. Then, Eric Swalwell exited under allegations he denies, and the race reshuffled overnight. Five contenders walked into a Koreatown forum Saturday to face questions drawn from dozens of civic partner organizations. Betty Yee is the only Asian American in the race.

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Mamdani to skip Met Gala as he pushes tax on ultrawealthy

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is skipping the May 4 Met Gala, breaking with recent mayors. Days earlier, he announced a pied-a-terre tax on $5 million-plus homes owned by people who live primarily outside the city. President Donald Trump lashed out on Truth Social.

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China’s STEM push draws Asian, African students as U.S. tightens access

China enrolled 380,000 international students in 2024-25, with Asian and African students leading the gains. The U.S. is moving in the opposite direction. After visa delays, travel restrictions and thousands of revocations, arrivals from Asia just hit a multi-year low. Economists are sounding the alarm about what comes next for American colleges.

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‘Chilling effect’ slows U.S. tourism as global travel hits record $11.6 trillion

Global tourism hit a record $11.6 trillion in 2025. The U.S. share barely moved. Canadian arrivals collapsed by a fifth, and four European governments quietly warned their citizens about entering the country. Industry analysts have a prediction about who replaces America at the top, and how soon.

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Beijing diplomacy accelerates as Xi hosts wave of foreign leaders

Xi Jinping spent the past week receiving leaders from Spain, Abu Dhabi, Vietnam and Russia, capping months of visits from Macron, Starmer, Carney, Orpo and Merz. Washington spent the same period threatening Iran with bombing and publicly criticizing allied leaders. Two capitals, two different welcome mats.

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U.S. sentences two in North Korea-linked ‘laptop farm’ scheme that infiltrated 100 companies

Two U.S. nationals were sentenced to federal prison for helping North Korean IT workers land remote jobs at more than 100 American companies, including Fortune 500 firms and a California defense contractor. The methods stretched from KVM switches and shell companies to AI-generated resumes, and one viral interview clip turned on a question about Kim Jong Un.

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Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani deal generates over $200 million annually: report

The Dodgers are reportedly pulling in more than $200 million a year off one player. The contract behind it defers $680 million to the 2030s and 2040s, freeing the club to keep signing nine-figure stars while staying near the top of MLB payrolls.

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Why read Issue #201?

In this issue, we see how power is redistributed not through dramatic ruptures, but through the quiet accumulation of choices about who gets convened, who gets taxed, who gets remembered and where talent and capital settle. The American century was built on the assumption that the world would keep showing up. Today’s stories capture the moment that assumption stops holding, and asks what kind of country, and what kind of community within it, is being built in its place.

Support independent Asian diaspora journalism. Become a paid subscriber to read the full stories and help sustain The Rebel Yellow.

The Rebel Yellow is supported in part by funding from The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Funders do not influence story selection, reporting, or editorial decisions. All editorial content is independently produced by The Rebel Yellow team.

China enrolled 380,000 international students during the 2024-25 academic year, with Asian and African students leading enrollment gains driven by affordable STEM programs and Beijing’s expanding global influence.

Growing appeal: Students from 191 countries and regions are currently studying in the country, according…

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will not attend this year’s Met Gala, citing his focus on affordability in the nation’s most expensive city.

No-show

Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will skip the May 4 fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the mayor said in an interview with Hell Gate. He told …

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Members of Congress have introduced a resolution commemorating the five-year anniversary of the mass shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility that killed eight people, including four members of the Sikh community.

The violence

A 19-year-old former FedEx employee opened fire at a FedEx Ground facility…

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Five Democratic candidates for California governor made their case to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters at a forum in Los Angeles’ Koreatown on Saturday.

Housing and affordability platforms

Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee field…

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Heightened border scrutiny and security concerns contributed to what industry groups described as a “chilling effect” on inbound travel to the U.S. in 2025, even as global tourism reached a record $11.6 trillion.

Data from the World Travel & Tourism Council shows that the U.S. travel sector grew 0.9% last year while globa…

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Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted multiple foreign leaders in Beijing over the past week, signaling a sharp increase in high-level diplomatic traffic to China’s capital. The meetings brought together Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vietnam’s To Lam and Russia’s Sergei L…

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Two U.S. nationals were sentenced to federal prison for running a “laptop farm” operation that allowed North Korean IT workers to infiltrate more than 100 American companies, according to the Justice Department. Kejia “Tony” Wang and Zhenxing “Danny” Wang facilitated remote access to company systems using stolen identiti…

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are generating more than $200 million a year in revenue tied to Shohei Ohtani, according to a new industry report. The total follows his 10-year, $700 million contract signed in December 2023. The figure includes more than a dozen new Japan-based sponsorship agreements, increased ticket sales at Dodger…

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Two hundred issues in, and we’re still here because you are. Every forward, every subscribe, every reader who opens this newsletter is the reason this work keeps going and growing.

If this issue speaks to you, pass it on. We’re building something, and you’re part of it.

The Rebel Yellow Team

Featured

Asian surnames are rising fastest in the U.S.

Asian surnames now dominate the list of fastest-growing names in the U.S., reflecting a broader population shift driven by immigration. Census data shows names like Zhang, Liu and Wang rising rapidly between 2010 and 2020, even as traditional names like Smith and Johnson remain the most common overall.

The shift tracks with decades of growth, with Asians now making up a growing share of the population. But that expansion hasn’t translated evenly into social or economic inclusion, with research showing persistent gaps in how communities experience opportunity and discrimination.

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What else we’re tracking

Asian enrollment surges at Johns Hopkins

Asian American enrollment at Johns Hopkins has jumped sharply since the end of race-conscious admissions, now making up nearly half of incoming students. The shift is fueling debate over who benefits and who loses under the new system. The impact is still unfolding across higher education.

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Anti-Indian rhetoric dominates Texas council meetings

Months of anti-Indian rhetoric have taken over public meetings in a fast-growing Texas city. Claims tied to visa fraud have spread despite lacking evidence. The tension reflects broader backlash tied to demographic change.

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Indian American candidate faces threats over Hindi video

A congressional candidate is facing threats after posting a campaign video in Hindi. The backlash included racist attacks and calls questioning his identity. He says the response shows how multilingual outreach is being targeted.

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ICE detention of U.S. citizen under criminal probe

Authorities are investigating whether federal agents committed crimes after detaining a Hmong American man who is a U.S. citizen. The incident involved forced entry and detention at gunpoint. Officials are seeking records to determine what went wrong.

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Americans’ views on China show slight shift

A new survey shows a modest softening in how Americans view China. Generational and partisan divides are shaping the shift. Broader perceptions remain largely negative.

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YouTuber jailed in South Korea over livestream stunts

Livestreamer Johnny Somali has been jailed in South Korea following a pattern of disruptive behavior. Prosecutors pointed to repeated incidents involving businesses and public spaces.

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Laufey video features Asian American cast

Singer Laufey’s latest music video features a cast of Asian American performers, including Alysa Liu and Lola Tung. The release follows her Coachella appearance. The project highlights a growing presence in mainstream music visuals.

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Why read Issue #200?

Population growth is showing up in visible ways, from names to classrooms to who’s showing up in public life. But the response to that growth isn’t consistent. In some cases, it’s opening doors or changing outcomes. In others, it’s drawing backlash or raising new questions about where the limits are. That tension is what runs through these stories.

Support independent Asian diaspora journalism. Become a paid subscriber to read the full stories and help sustain The Rebel Yellow.

The Rebel Yellow is supported in part by funding from The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Funders do not influence story selection, reporting, or editorial decisions. All editorial content is independently produced by The Rebel Yellow team.

Americans’ views of China have become modestly more positive after several years of sharply negative sentiment, according to a March survey by the Pew Research Center. The share of U.S. adults with favorable opinions rose to 27%, up from 21% last year and roughly double the level recorded in 2023. Even with that…

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