Q: Why is 80-20 harking back to Beckel again? This is old news.
A: Beckel demonized us, without
repercussion. It set an extremely DAN-GEROUS precedent against us. It will
be an albatross around our collective neck FOREVER, until we've
righted the wrong! The timid ones in our community have become quiet. NOT 80-20. We'll
persist.
Q: Beckel has apologized. He said he was aiming at the
Chinese government. Isn't that enough?
A: No, he lied.
Beckel said, " . . the Chinese .. biggest threat ... they have been, and they will be, .. we bring them over here, a bunch of Chinamen, .. billions of them ..." Are these words applicable to a government? Can a government be brought "over here"? Is the word "billions" applicable to a government? Don't engage in COWARDLY self-deception.
Q: A lot of Chinese Ams are AFRAID.
Don't you think that our continued protest could be viewed as
siding with the Chinese government?
A: No! If ALL a racists who
demonized us in a public broadcast needed to do was to say that the attack was meant for
the Chinese government, then we'd be scared and back
off, then we are cowards indeed! We are condemning ourselves and our
children to be constantly attacked by racists with a free pass - a
retrospective statement that the attack was meant for the Chinese government. We
must speak up. We must nip in the bud this kind of demonization
against us.
Q: Still why is 80-20 so worked up by Beckel's
statement?
A: Beckel said,
"As usual, we bring them over here and we teach a bunch of Chinamen -- er, Chinese people -- how to do computers and then they go back to China and hack into us. . . Billions of us. . . . They kill kids. "
Beckel, without proof, questions the loyalty of
CHINESE AMERICANS to the USA. A huge proportion of
Chinese Ams, myself included, came initially as students to study science and technology in
the US and then stayed. Many stayed and served the nation earnestly.
Yes, most of us do visit China often, just like Caucasian-Ams visit Europe often,
although we don't "go back to China and hack into"
America. Beckel's statement, if unchecked, could endanger the
lives and liberty of all Chinese Americans. Remember
the Jews in Nazi Germany, who didn't speak up till too late. Fortunately, the U.S. is not Nazi Germany.
Q: OK then. You realize that America is NOT Nazi
Germany. So why worry?
A: If we don't speak up, things
will almost certainly get much worse. The US is not a shining example in its treatment
of minorities. Look at the history:
- The US abolished slavery 32 year after England had done so in 1833,
- The US practically wiped out the Native Indian population,
- The US adopted the Chinese-Exclusion act in 1882, not because Ch-Ams were bad. It's because the locals in SF felt we were beginning to compete for jobs,
- Japanese Ams. were interned during WWII - a much kinder act than the killing of Jews in Nazi Germany. However, German- and Italian-Americans were not interned. Ironically, Japanese Ams in Hawaii, though a large security risk than Japanese Ams in the mainland, were NOT interned, because the Hawaii economy would collapse without them. (Note: Not a single Japanese-Am. was accused as a spy during WWII.)
Retrospectively, our own historian and
scholars concluded that the above acts were driven by selfish interest
of the majority at the expense of the minorities. Could such unjust acts occur again? Can
we be so sure that the past generations of Americans were so much worse than our compatriots of today?
Q: Hymmm. I'm beginning to
see 80-20's point of view. What happens to all those politicians and orgs.
which jump in early, demanding Beckel's resignation or firing?
A: You need to ask them. I
hope that they are still working at it.
SB Woo, a volunteer
President of 80-20 Initiative
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