Wrong Asian, Again
<p>Quon Tai came from a prominent Chinese American family in the Northwest, spent a good part of her youth performing on the vaudeville circuit, and later married artist and film director Harry Lachman. Once Harry’s film career took off, Quon Tai became a well known party hostess in Hollywood circles. As it turns out, Quon Tai and Anna May were quite good friends, being the modern-minded Chinese American gals that they were. I write briefly about the Lachmans in my book, including the grand cocktail party they threw for Anna May on the eve of her departure for China in 1936.</p>
<p>I wish I could say this was the only time another Asian woman was mistaken for Anna May Wong and vice versa. But as anyone familiar with the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/business/the-cost-of-being-an-interchangeable-asian.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">“Wrong Asian” phenomenon</a> knows, mixing up people of similar “ethnic types” is a frustrating, though <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/19/ali-wong-randall-park-sorry-wrong-asian-mistake" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">sometimes humorous</a>, fixture of American life. Perhaps even more so when one happens to be an internationally famous movie star.</p>
<p><a href="https://katiegeesalisbury.medium.com/wrong-asian-again-2d0df50fb44c"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>