Today’s stories begin in Portland. There, the Trail Blazers fired their new announcer over posts from his teens … including one targeting Asian people. Race also comes in admissions disputes at UCLA Law and Stuyvesant High School, one of which reached the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. The 2030 census also faces its own fight over race, with New York officials opposing plans to bar ethnicity questions and exclude some noncitizens from House apportionment.
Still, noncitizens face new limits beyond the census, from Japan’s steeper permanent residency fee to tighter surrogacy rules in some U.S. states. One American surrogate carrying a Chinese billionaire’s child says she was never told the size of his family. A Bay Area couple in their 70s face murder charges in their son-in-law’s shooting death. Another attack, this one aboard a Flydubai jet, turned on a wounded Indian pilot’s last move.
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New Trail Blazers announcer fired over anti-Asian post he made in 2012
The Portland Trail Blazers fired newly hired TV play-by-play announcer Braiden Bell on Oct. 1, hours after KGW-TV contacted the team about posts he wrote as a teenager.
One of them targeted Asian people. The team says its own hiring process fell short, and Bell, now 29, has responded with a statement of his own.
What else we’re tracking
UCLA Law discriminated against Asian and white applicants, DOJ says
The Justice Department points to LSAT scores and the application itself in findings covering three UCLA Law entering classes. The school, which happens to be the ninth the department has accused since May, stands by its process.
Supreme Court denies emergency bid in NYC high school admissions case
Without explanation, Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied a Brooklyn mother’s request to get her son into Stuyvesant pending her appeal. He missed the cutoff by three points, and she blames the city for raising it.
New York leaders oppose census proposal affecting Asian Americans, some noncitizens
State Atty. Gen. Letitia James and City Council Speaker Julie Menin are rallying against a Trump administration plan to bar race and ethnicity questions from the census. Both worked on the 2019 case that blocked a citizenship question.
Japan is drawing a harder line on which foreigners get to stay for good
Japan’s permanent residency fee rose twentyfold on Oct. 1, after a deadline rush left some applicants waiting hours. The fee is only one of the changes, and a 2024 study projects Japan will fall short of the foreign workers it needs.
US surrogate says she wasn’t told Chinese billionaire already had 100-plus children
An American surrogate says she learned the intended father was Chinese gaming billionaire Xu Bo the night before her embryo transfer and was never told how many children he already had. Other wealthy Chinese clients have sought large families through U.S. surrogacy, too.
Bay Area couple in their 70s charged with murder of their son-in-law
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, are charged with murder in the Sept. 26 shooting of their son-in-law, an engineering director at The New York Times. A hearing in his divorce from their daughter was days away.
This Indian pilot’s split-second decision helped save 182 people aboard the Flydubai flight attack
Capt. Smit Machchhar was bleeding, his vision blurring, after his co-pilot attacked him with a crash axe midflight. As the jet plunged, the Mumbai native found the strength for one more try. He credits the passengers for what came next.
Why read Issue #267?
Once again, Asian Americans are at the center of several fights in this issue, and without control as to how they end. Race is at issue in two admissions disputes and a federal census proposal, while Japan and some U.S. states are tightening residency and surrogacy rules for foreign nationals. Our community itself remains split as some members warn against using Asian Americans as a wedge in admissions fights, while others believe there is active discrimination against our students.
Beyond policy fights, two criminal matters in this issue are now under investigation or prosecution. Most of today’s stories remain unresolved, but those looking to take immediate action can still comment on the census plan.
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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.