Southern Fried Asian: Stan Lou

In the very first live episode of Southern Fried Asian, Keith traveled to Washington D.C., to speak with OCA National board member and Mississippi native Stan Lou as part of the 1882 Foundation’s monthly Talk Story events.

On the show, Stan talks about his childhood growing up in Greenville, Mississippi during the era of Jim Crow and how immigrants were able to settle in the state during the Chinese Exclusion Act (3:45). Then he describes the integration of Chinese students into white schools in the midst of segregation (7:30) and how Chinese were already used as a “model minority” because of it (10:00). Later, Stan reveals how going to a white school contributed to his loss of identity (12:50), something that he did not reconcile for decades (19:00) when he became a devoted advocate for the Asian American community much later in life (24:00). Finally, he reminisces about his mother’s chopped pork and salted fish (27:00).

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Our official theme music is the song “Top Down” by  Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. 

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.