Sharing the Hate: Southern Poverty Law Center Report

Sharing the Hate
Video-Sharing Websites Become Extremist Venue
By Brentin Mock

Los Angeles blacks are destroying property and attacking white people as a soft, pitiful ballad plays in the background. Then, about two minutes into the video, the words "Whose Freedom?" appear as a still frame of a young, smiling German girl at a Third Reich rally suddenly replaces the footage of the 1992 Rodney King riots. A man wearing a swastika armband stands protectively behind her, his head cropped from the frame, while the words, "A paradise lost," scroll down beneath her chin. Finally, a message, "Save the White Race," fills the screen before dissolving into a Celtic cross encircled by the phrase, "White Pride World Wide."

NSM International, a recruiting arm of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, produced this video, probably at a cost of just a few dollars. But despite its amateurish nature, its makers are getting a big bang for their buck, thanks to YouTube, the red-hot video-sharing website that allows anyone with a camera phone or digital camcorder to upload for free their videos. The NSM video is now available to millions of people.

...

Questioned last December by the Intelligence Report about NSM videos on YouTube, NSM Commander Jeff Schoep claimed: "The effectiveness of the NSM and its growth speaks for itself. We use many tools." Schoep also complained that civil rights groups were pressuring YouTube to remove "all so-called racist content."

Actually, YouTube already bans "hate speech," defined as "slurs or the malicious use of stereotypes intended to attack or demean a particular gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or nationality." But the sheer volume of video files posted to the site each day makes it practically impossible to police all content. As a result, particular videos are normally only removed as a result of a user complaint.

"We remove the offending content and send users a warning notice for violating our terms of use," says Jennifer Nielsen, marketing manager for YouTube. "Users who repeatedly violate our terms of use have their accounts terminated, all of their videos removed and they are permanently banned from YouTube."

...

No comment.

We're Back! Update Post

• Don Imus is off the air. Loud complaints about dumbass racists WORK!
• There's another less popular sequel to the original -- "Chinese Vs. Retard Freestyle" -- where Brandon DiCamillo is accompanied by fellow dumbass racist Bam Margera. Here's the lyrics and the video.
• Ninjapants has a brilliant post outlining what we're trying to do with this blog: On Chinese Freestyles and Keyboard Warriors
• There's been some Wikipedia action, but nothing has taken yet. We should have good, sourced material for "Chinese Freestyle Rap" under Brandon DiCamillo's name, Bam Margera's name, the CKY Crew and the CKY video series. Any more Wikiwarriors out there want to step up?
• Almost all original video versions of the Chinese Freestyle Rap have been taken down. Awesome! The bad news is that Youtube and Google have done very little on the lipsync or home edit versions. We'll have to keep up the fight. Stay tuned for updates and new tactics! And thanks to everyone who's been linking to this blog and leaving helpful comments.
• Finally, here's a somber list from Fallout Central: Innocent People.

Consequences of Racism (for the Racist this time)

(idea inspired by comment from Kai. And also by this guy)

Manager: Hello.

Senior Manager: Hi there. You know, I just had a meeting with Mr. Chang.

Manager: How was it?

Senior Manager: Great. We're going to ramp up the partnership with his company. That's what I'm calling about. We'll need a full-time person working on this project. I'm thinking about promoting one of your people into the role.

Manager: Sounds great. I have some good candidates. Can you give me a feel for what the role's going to involve?

Senior Manager: Managing a cross-functional team and coordinating closely with Mr. Chang. He's a very hands-on kind of guy. You know, he got started out working as a delivery man in his father's takeout restaurant. He's really proud of that. Keeps a close eye on the day-to-day running of his company. He's not too hard to get along with, but he likes to know he can trust the people he's working with. Say, what about promoting that Joe Bob whatsisname guy into the role?

Manager: Well, I was actually just going to call you about him...

Senior Manager: You don't sound too happy all of a sudden.

Manager: I just saw a video of him on the internet. He was half-naked, hopping up and down like some kind of seriously messed-up squirrel, making "ching chow ching chow" noises and talking about how he... um... had a small penis. The video had something to do with making fun of Chinese delivery men. I couldn't watch more than a 30 seconds of it though.

Senior Manager: (...)

Manager: Hello?

Senior Manager: FIRE THAT DUMBASS.

Manager: Sure, I'll have HR drop you a note once we get the ball rolling on that.

Why Can't You Take a Joke, Bitch? Part 2

The Chinese Freestyle Rap videos use a historically black form of music in order to mock Asians. There's a blackface intersection and parallel.

In the 03.26.07 addictedtorace.com podcast, guest speaker Harry Allen (AKA Media Assassin and close collaborator of Public Enemy) calmly and succinctly defines his view on minstrelsy. This is spoken in response to the recent rash of college "gangster parties", incidents where predominantly White party-goers dress in accordance to Black stereotypes in the media, such as painted face, buckets of fried chicken and artificially enlarged pants. I think what he said is perfectly adaptable to this instance, because DiCamillo's 'Chinese Freestyle' is essentially a minstrel show at the expense of Asian people.

The following is a paraphrase of Harry Allen's comments on the podcast on the subject of these degrading parodies of black identity:

I think that what Black people want most from White people is the elimination of White supremacy, and anything short of that is really just minstrelsy, in a manner of speaking. And what those parties and all that play represents to me is 1) making fun of Black people, which is part and parcel of domination, of belittling, making fun of people you dominate. And 2) a tremendous absence of will and courage to actually do right, to, instead, delay justice by having fun -- by more or less just goof off.

Allen continues:

... then they have to scream out, 'Why do they hate us?'
(answer) they hate YOU because YOU are hateful -- hate-filled!'

But, because it is all play to you, when the boomerang comes back around, you're shocked when it hits you in the head.

Allen then concludes:

...I think that a lot of the White kids who do this 'may not know better,'... (but) that's not an answer in and of itself. That those kids 'do not know better' is a huge indictment on them, and on the surroundings and the world that we are building... So, what kind of gift are you giving to your children? What kind of world are you asking them to inhabit when this is the pollution you produce-- when this is the pollution of character and of mind that you produce?

When told that the party organizers/offenders claim that they are not mocking Black people, but instead are mocking the MEDIA PORTRAYAL of Black people, Allen gives the following snappy response:

So I would say, 'when you are (actually) mocking Black people, what would you do differently?

Comments, Moderation and Tactics

This blog has a very simple purpose. If you want to have a theoretical debate about racism, go somewhere else.

We're turning comment moderation on, and deleting any further pointless, defeatist comments. Having to watch a few seconds of these videos while flagging them is irritating enough without defeatist comments.

Yes, Kenneth Eng is an insane racist. Yes, Dave Chapelle has made some jokes about white people. Yes, Genghis Khan was a Mongol conqueror. And none of that has anything to do with getting racist videos taken off of popular social networking sites.

If you disagree so much with the tactics of this blog, start your own. http://cky-is-bad-but-not-as- bad-as-Genghis-Khan-who-was-a- very-bad-man.blogspot.com is still free.

To everyone who has been supporting this effort and flagging these videos and contacting Google: THANK YOU. You're doing the right thing.

UPDATE: And by the way, if you don't like the tone of this blog...

Third Action: ESCALATION

We've hit the racists hard on Youtube. Now it's time to escalate it up to Google (Youtube's owners). Print and faxes often receive more attention that emails. Copy the letter below, paste it into a document, type your name and address at the bottom, sign it, then fax it in to Google at (650) 618-1499. Optional: mail it as well.

Google Inc.: Public Relations / Youtube 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CA 94043 phone: (650) 623-4000 fax: (650) 618-1499 Dear Public Relations Professional: I am writing to inform you of a series of videos containing hate speech that have spread throughout Youtube. I request that you use your Content Verification Program to remove all these videos and prevent future ones from being uploaded. All these videos are variations on a single song known as the "Chinese Freestyle Rap" performed by a comedian named Brandon DiCamillo and associated with band and video series CKY. Some of the videos are copies of the original performance release, and others are of users who have created their own images to go along with the song. These videos all clearly violate the Youtube terms of use concerning hate speech. Their racism is disgusting and virulent. Worst of all, some of the uploaders are children. They are exposing and harming other children with this garbage. Here are the song lyrics: Who wants to taste my general tso...you want to taste my general tso I'm-a give it to you now Who like my chopstick hit you when I shit with my little-ass dick. Yellow If you wanna see me eat Jell-O I never seen nothin' like you before I can kick you higher than you can kick me I can kick you way up into a tree Who wants a taste of my oo-long tea? Ho ha ho ha ho chi chi Everybody in the phone book name Chang wanna see my wang? Neva Good God hit the gong with a bang. WAAA? Everybody wanna see me throw a fireball but that's not right not in real life You will fall down and break a leg Everybody wanna see me break a leg? Well I don't but I like fried rice and I got lice Ching chow woah ching wang woo wice that ain't nice Four for the cookie I only touch it twice Delivery is free but not from me I only swallow dolla fifty fifty five. wanna see me GO GAA? Hit you with the lang. HAI YA! War when I hit you with the shit do a split Take a shit have to go eat my shit kung-fu Want my buffet? You fucking gay, ah Wai-lo hit you with the hay Stay the fuck away Hit you in the balls. Only Americans eat duck sauce And my soy sauce is for you, I can put it in your shoe Watch this- I can tiptoe while you take a piss In my bathroom spy on you while your little boy shits WAAAAAAAAI-YAH! I can kick you if you don't pay the bill And if you want a little mint, that's fifty cent, bitch Everything cost a little bit So don't expect nothin for free, at least from me Ching Chang Chewie I got you from Taiwan city and Hong Kong I just smoked a bong and I can do it all night long And don't mistake me for a Viet Cong I can get you and tackle you take you never see me When I get you and make you Rope you up and put you in a bamboo cage and make you feel all my rage Poke you with a little stick till you page your buddies to come napalm me God damn that shit burned blew away my whole city Ho Chi Minh Shoot a load on your chin God damn thats a sad goygo goodbye And if you wanna come on in You can work in to my world where the yellow shit begins HAI YA Can't be tamed I got shit to control your brain and it's called Egg Foo Yung, En Lo Main So come on in baby and have it just the same HAI YA! HAAAAAH! No wok tow ung di day HA, I don't suppose ha haha Huh? huhhhuhu huh Here is a list of some of the videos. There are many more of them. In fact, they might stretch into the hundreds. These videos are only a few of the most prominent. 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK6DvObepJk 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPNz6ozdIHE 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUQa69M4Hoc 4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UTwhIpmMU4 5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGmiHdRbQzo 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOLTkPxjetk 7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLvlvvcNL-c 8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loB1h0Vn-Cg 9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXJOkfc4SQY 10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL0E6m-Sul8 11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mvUPmBo7k 12. http://youtube.com/watch?v=FeOT32_qIyI 13. http://youtube.com/watch?v=iKqHpIUbXCg 14. http://youtube.com/watch?v=v2VcHv0LNYk 15. http://youtube.com/watch?v=F1G6h48KCoQ 16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWX3JbDky4 Some of these "Chinese Freestyle Rap" videos have already been taken down for hate speech. Action on the others is too slow. This issue is gaining momentum among the Asian-American and anti-racist community, and we would appreciate quicker action on this from your company. I am confident you will engage in quick action before the matter receives greater media attention. For more information on these videos, please see these websites: http://www.angryasianman.com/angry.html (Angry Asian Man) http://www.reappropriate.com (Reappropriate) http://cky-brandon-dicamillo-racist.blogspot.com (CKY=KKK: Against the Chinese Freestyle Racist Rap) http://thefighting44s.com (The Fighting 44s) Sincerely,

-

Second Action and how racists are violating Youtube Terms of Use

Here's a second action list. The top ten results are all found on the first page of results doing a simple keyword search on "Chinese" and "rap". They're the most dangerous, because any little kid could be doing a search for real rap and find this racist crap instead.

Action Guide:

• Sign up for a Youtube account (takes 30 seconds) or sign into your account
• Come back to this page
• Right-click on each link below. Open each one in a new window. Flag it for hate speech.
• Optional: rate it one star.
• Optional: leave a comment "Racist. Flagged for hate speech. TAKE YOUR VIDEO DOWN"
• Optional (but highly effective): click on their user page and leave the same comment aimed directly at the uploader. They'll take this more personally.
• Youtube caps your comments at 5, then a freeze of several minutes goes into effect, but your ratings and Hate Speech flaggings don't get capped.
  

1. Video with 253 ratings / User Page Self-Hater and Backstabber!
2. Video with 711 ratings / User Page
3. Video with 53 ratings / User Page
4. Video with 108 ratings / User Page
5. Video with 28 ratings / User Page Gay-hater!
6. Video with 24 ratings / User Page
7. Video with 37 ratings / User Page
8. Video with 9 ratings / User Page
9. Video with 7 ratings / User Page Another little kid!
10. Video with 44 ratings / User Page
11. Video with 47 ratings / User Page An especially dumbass racist!
12. Video with 97 ratings / User Page
13. Video with 32 ratings / User Page
14. Video with 36 ratings / User Page White guy posting a video of a black guy hating on Asians. Disgusting! Extra-exploitative!
15. Video with 57 ratings / User Page Jagsalin (looks 9 years old) says he's not a racist but won't take his video down!
16. Video with 20 ratings / User Page The Swedish racist who defends himself by saying he has a "little Asian friend"!

Some Recent Reactions:

96bitter (11 minutes ago)
it's funny...quit whining like a bunch of little bitches

BlizzardChick10 (5 hours ago)
Ok, people. Let me get this straight. I AM NOT RACIST. Period. This video is all in good fun, and it's not like I believe in what it says. MY GOD, TAKE A FRIGGIN' JOKE! C'mon people! If someone makes a song making fun of white people, it's ok because we've evidently treated everyone else SOOOOOOO badly! Seriously, if you have to get all asian malcom x over a stupid song, you have problems.

Jagsalin (earlier today, posted in video description)
I did not make this song. I was just lip-syncing to it. I do not mean the things I say. This is Brandon DiCamillo's Rap. Not mine. I am NOT a racist.

kalsongen (19 hours ago) (the Swedish racist)
Rascist? Are you retarded? I bet you are one of those white "former" nazis who now preaches about how everything is rascist to make himself look better.
There is nothing rascist in this video, and you can even see our little asian friend run around behind him at the beginning. He didnt get pissed off, and if anyone should be it would be him and not some white american ass if it had been "rascist".
And btw this is a cover of Brandon DiCamillo's (Jackass) rap.

Unfortunately there could be hundreds more of these videos. Keep finding and flagging them using other keyword searches ("CKY" and "Chinese" for example). We're also going to put together a form letter and email soon, directly to Youtube, to try and get faster action on removing as many of these videos as possible.

Anyone of any race who hates racism, please do what you can to link and promote this site!

From Youtube's Code of Conduct page:

• We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech which contains slurs or the malicious use of stereotypes intended to attack or demean a particular gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or nationality.
• There is zero tolerance for predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, invading privacy, or the revealing of other members' personal information. Anyone caught doing these things may be permanently banned from YouTube.

Please take these rules seriously and take them to heart. Don't try to look for loopholes or try to lawyer your way around them—just understand them and try to respect the spirit in which they were created. Violations of the Terms of Use may result in a warning notification or may result in termination of your account and deletion of all your videos. We decide whether we believe your violation of our Terms of Use should result in termination of your account. If you have an account terminated you are prohibited from ever signing up for another account!

Uploaders of Chinese Freestyle Rap videos are in violation of Youtube Terms of Use. Take your videos down! If you love them so much, there's a website made especially for you called WWW dot STORMFRONT dot ORG. Chuckle over them all you want over there, racists!

Why can't you take a joke, bitch?

Here's the answer.

Jenn at Reappropriate posted a link to us. Thanks Jenn for helping us out, and thanks to Angry Asian Man too! She also alerted us to a disturbing reaction to our effort.

I was in a conversation with a middle-aged White progressive the other night and the topic of grassroots Asian American activism came up. This progressive argued that race activists are too busy trying to gain media attention for issues that “don’t matter” and that we should let the little stuff like this — a racist YouTube clip — slide because it only makes us look like whiny ingrates to White America (more on this conversation later).

Of the many things one could say in response to such a perspective, not the least of which has to be how one can ask anyone of Asian descent to let the hatespeech apparent in “little stuff” like this not affect us. Another woman eavesdropping on the conversation compared hatespeech to a fundamentalist listening to swearwords and how one must just let others be stupid.

But what right do others have to tell us that this kind of ignorance should not affect us?

Exactly!

We will agree, this issue is not as universally concerning as global warming. For Asian issues, it's not as bad as, say, exploited sweatshop labor.

But this is not about our hurt feelings. It's about the children.

Rhymes about Asians have some kind of sick appeal. Remember this "oldie but goody"?

"Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these"

When the singer says "dirty knees", they point at their knees. When they say "look at these", they pull at their shirt around the nipples, or pull up their shirt.

A 7-year old little Asian girl is at the playground one day. Some girls run up to her and do the little song and dance. "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these." They sing, they dance, they enjoy themselves. Then they laugh. What does the little Asian girl think?

"I'm different and they don't like me because I'm different. I'm not dirty but they think I'm dirty." (she's learning she doesn't have the right to define herself) "Maybe I am dirty, and I just can’t see it. What's wrong with my breasts? Look at them? But I don't have any breasts. It's supposed to be funny, but I don't feel like laughing, I want to cry. What's wrong with me?"

She cries. They laugh at her. "Why can't you take a joke?" If she complains to another person, they tell her to stop whining.

She turns in on herself. Or worse, when they do it to her again and again and again, she starts to laugh at the joke. If she doesn't take offense, if she appeases them, if she doesn't rock the boat... maybe everything will be alright. Her sexual and cultural identity are wounded and deeply traumatized. And this is one of the reasons that Asian women have the highest suicide rate of all American women aged 15-24.

Let's flash forward a few years. We've already seen on this blog that the Brandon Dicamillo Chinese Freestyle Rap is incredibly popular. People love this stuff. IT'S SO FUNNY. It's not just one video. There could be hundreds of slightly different versions. It's spread to Sweden. Little kids who look like they're 9 years old are uploading videos of themselves singing it. They build a whole sick community where racism is normalized.

A 7-year-old Asian boy is sitting at the playground.

Some boys run up to him and start rapping. "Who like my chopstick? Hit you when I shit with my little-ass dick."

Fill in the rest yourself.

The youngest racist

How old is this kid? When did he learn that hating on Asians is "cool" and "funny"? TAKE YOUR VIDEO DOWN KID!

Transcontinental Racist Dumbass

Here's a racist in Sweden singing the "Chinese Freestyle Rap" in English! This is extra-pathetic. Let's give them the CKY=KKK treatment:

1. Flag the video for hate speech
2. Rate it 1 Star
3. Paste this brief comment in Swedish/English: Dum Rasismen Förloraren / Dumbass racist loser.

Some reactions to the first Youtube action

The smelly grunting frat boys are slowly starting to realize what's going on. All your dumbass racist videos will soon be off Youtube!

sicknastylax18 (11 hours ago)
shut up you fucking fags if your going to bitch about this being racist get a fucking sense of humor

Your internet gay-bashing only reinforces others' perception of your sexual inadequacy.

xxdefectivexx (15 hours ago)
i love this song.
and i also love how
all these chinese people
are getting pissed off.
if you're gonna get pissed of
about some youtube video,
when there are 2342805702
ACTUAL racist ones out there,
you need to get off the internet.
or stop complaining.

Nope. We prefer to stay on the internet, and keep complaining. It's not just Chinese people either, the freestyle rap is insulting to all Asians and all human beings who are even semi-aware.

boomhehe (1 day ago)
ok all those people are just trying to seem smart by saying this is racist, it is not. it is not making a joke at the expense of a certain race, it is making fun of those people who actually are racist, its a joke at the expense of racists.

Nice try, dumbass.

arabidcow (1 day ago)
racist? asian people don't have souls

Confused dumbass. Can't even get your stereotypes straight.

First Youtube Action Results!

Pat yourself on the back! This blog and The Fighting 44s post is starting to have an effect. Here's the original list of shame. We will update later with a new action list based on the keywords "Chinese rap".

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zPoGT5Li0-s 617
This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xK6DvObepJk 133 (rapped by a self-loathing Asian guy!)
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yUQa69M4Hoc 17
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8UTwhIpmMU4 69
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SGmiHdRbQzo 25
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fOLTkPxjetk 19
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NLvlvvcNL-c 5
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LLpJgql73R8 15
This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R7mvUPmBo7k 34
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iKqHpIUbXCg 8
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ky7_Nj4m568 13
This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FeOT32_qIyI 68
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VPNz6ozdIHE 674
Still up, dammit.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=L-rDZB0TOOc 4
This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R7mvUPmBo7k 34
Still up, dammit
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4EEmNEEMxLk 66
Still up, dammit

Which is Worse?

Almost all the people who lipsync to the racist CKY Chinese Freestyle Rap in Youtube videos are white.

Here are two exceptions.

Which is worse: the self-loathing Asian guy desperate for white approval, or the racist-loving racist black guy? Sad, sad, sad. These people need to get some self-respect and take their videos down.

Dumbass comments left by dumbass racists trying to explain that they're not racists

These are some comments left on assorted CKY Chinese Freestyle Rap Videos.

cory415860 (13 minutes ago)
oh fuck off you just gay ok hes not rasest god you guys r fags that think this is rasist

warrior13th (1 week ago)
Anyone talking about racism just needs to be shot, straight out. I've been called a cracker much more than i've called anyone a nigger, spic or chink. And you know what? When it was said from any people it was only a joke... Why is it that comedy has got to be so straight edge? And you know all jokes based on race are generally false and maybe a generic very small version will fill that stereotype but you're more of a retard for taking all of this literal.

redlampgta (1 week ago)
so funny i sent it to a chinese kid

ki1lah (6 months ago)
This guys is cool, anybody else with their PC shit can shut up and not bother commenting.

It's not racism unless people take it as racism, and if they take it as racism, they are racists.

Stereotypes aren't true, nowadays they are only used for laughs, people need to realize that.

Nice vid.

Some Recent Consequences of anti-Chinese, anti-Asian hate speech

Why we "can't take a joke"...

Condemn anti-Asian hate crimes and hold MTA accountable!

On March 16, 2007 the New York Post reported that 17 year old Asian high school student, Marie Stefanie Martinez was assaulted in New York by a group of teenagers on a MTA B82 bus due to their perception that she looked "Chinese" even though she is of Filipino descent. Ms. Martinez was punched, kicked, and subjected to slurs in what can be categorized as a hate crime based on her attackers animus towards her perceived ethnicity.

Reportedly, the MTA bus operator who witnessed the assault did nothing to intervene during the course of the assault on Ms. Martinez and neglected his moral and ethical duty to ensure the safety of MTA riders and punctuated his negligent conduct by allegedly advising Ms. Martinez, who was still wearing her Catholic school uniform, to "go talk to a priest" after the assault.

[...]

The Death of a Family Man

THE last time Xia Gui Ping spoke to her husband, Zhang Hongqi, it was Feb. 18, the first day of the Lunar New Year. The phone rang at 7 that morning in her house in Luoyang City, in eastern China. On the line was Mr. Zhang, making the call he had made every day for five years.

First, he chatted with the couple’s 14-year-old daughter, How Ran, instructing her to put on new clothes, as is Chinese custom on the first day of the year, and watch the firecrackers explode outside her house.

When he spoke with his wife, he wished her “Happy New Year” in English. From the other side of the world, she said she missed him as much as she did the day he left for America five years ago.

After blowing kisses into the receiver, Mr. Zhang turned back to the images of past new year festivities in China that he was watching on a DVD player in his tiny rented room in Flushing, Queens, an hour’s commute from Charlie Mom, the Upper East Side restaurant where he worked as a deliveryman.

The next evening, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Ms. Xia awaited her husband’s call. It never came. Not until the following day did relatives tell her that her husband had been stabbed to death on a Flushing street corner in the early hours of Feb. 18 while returning home from dinner. He had been left to die on a blanket of snow.

[...]