Beware. C-100 survey results cut both ways

Beware!  The Comm. of 100 survey results could cut both ways.  At its worst, it could simply reinforce our compatriot's negative attitudes  towards Chinese Americans and Asian Americans.  The bigots could simply be emboldened by knowing that so many others share their views.  At its best, 12 million Asian Americans could be spreading the powerful facts provided below to wipe away the prejudice, now that we  know it is there.  

How do we counter unjust negative attitudes towards Asian Americans?

Build up our own political clout.  Learn from American history!   White immigrants such as Irish, Polish and Italians; Jewish Americans, Caucasian women, blacks and Latinos were all viewed negatively by other Americans once upon a time.  They all labored to build their own political clout so as to get the immense resources of the federal and state governments to help combat the prejudice and discrimination against them.  We must do the same.  Each of us need give a little and sacrifice a little for that historic mission.

How do we counter doubts that we are more loyal to our "old country" than to America?

Tell our non-Asian compatriots these facts.

1) Twenty one (21) Japanese Americans won Medals of Honor fighting for America in Europe, while their family members were kept in concentration camps in America as "enemy aliens."

2) The campaign finance scandal of 1996 was characterized by NY Times columnist William Safire as the "Asian Connection." The media made it seem as if the entire Asian American community was involved. Actually, it involved no more than a dozen Asian Americans.

During that period, the Senate Comm. on Governmental Affairs, chaired by Fred Thompson of TN (R) open with the sensational claim of "hard evidence" of a Chinese scheme to influence the presidential election. The hearing closed without presenting information to substantiate the claim.

3) The Cox Congressional Committee Report in 1999 fanned suspicion of Chinese Americans by charging that China had stolen U.S. secrets that helped it to miniaturize nuclear weapons for use in intercontinental missiles. The report was debunked by a report by Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation entitled "The Cox Committee Report: An Assessment." Recently, Danny B. Stillman, an American who probably knows more about China’s nuclear weapons program than any other American, questioned it. In a front page article in Washington Post (5/16/2001), it reported that "Stillman said in an interview that he believes the Chinese nuclear program made its important advances without resorting to espionage."

4) Dr. Wen Ho Lee was refused bail before his trial and kept in solitary confinement for 9 months because he was convicted by the media as a spy stealing the crown jewels of our nuclear weapon for China. The presiding judge, however, discovered that an FBI agent presented false testimony. The judge apologized to Dr. Lee. The NY Times did a self analysis of why it didn't sufficiently check the facts before publishing its articles. The government dropped 58 of 59 counts against Dr. Lee, keeping only one count of illegally retaining national defense information, and set Dr. Lee free.

The collective weight of sensational but inaccurate statements by politicians and reporters against Asian Americans beats down on us and our children. We must fight back with skill and unity.

Help spread the above powerful facts. You are one of 430,000 receiving this message. If each of us spreads it to 10 Americans, imagine the total impact! With your help, 80-20 will help make lemonade out of lemons.

Very Negative Perception of Chinese Americans/ Asian Americans

"Study Finds Persistent Negative Perceptions of Ch. Ams." -- Los Angeles Times
"25% of U.S. View Chinese Ams Negatively, Poll Says" -- Washington Post

What are the articles all about? They are about a poll commissioned* by The Committee of 100 that was released on 4/25 surveying American attitude towards Chinese Americans. Its major finding is:

25% have "very negative attitudes" toward Ch. Ams. Another 43% have "somewhat negative attitudes."

One may note that the survey was completed before the US-China plane accident. If the survey were done today, the "Very Negative" will probably increase greatly. However, the sum of "Very Negative" and "Somewhat Negative" is not likely to increase much. One should also note that the study confirmed what Asian Ams. have always known. That is, Americans do not distinguish between Chinese Americans and Asian Americans. For the complete poll, visit www.80-20initiative.net .

How do we counter the severe negative image?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Think of the groups that had image problems in the past, and how they solved their problem. Such groups include the Jewish, Irish, Polish, Italians, blacks, and women. Here are the facts.

"All men are created equal" was declared in 1776. However, for 87 more years, Blacks remained slaves; for 144 more years white-women were not allowed to vote. White women won their equal opportunity only recently, after they organized N.O.W. and Emily's List; Blacks began to make progress after organizing the NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Rainbow Coalition, etc.

Would white males, who could be stereotyped into groups that were without political clout, be exempt from discrimination? No! Read American history or visit the Kennedy Library in Boston. You'll learn about the rampant discrimination against Irish-, Polish- and Italian- Americans when they first immigrated to America. How did they combat discrimination? They organized bloc votes to build the necessary political clout to win equal opportunity.

How about the Jewish? They too combated prejudice and discrimination with bloc votes.

How about Hispanics? Bloc votes.

How about Asian Pacific Americans? 80-20 is the only APA organization that advocates a swing bloc vote. 80-20 also succeeded in delivering a bloc vote in year 2000. For evidence, visit our web site. See the poll funded by the National Science Foundation.

Join & help us. 80-20 is currently organizing a coalition to fight against APA bashing, and raising a war chest, called The Anti-Bashing Fund (ABF). Please do your share.

Send a check to
Professor Chun Wa Wong
3780 Keystone Ave.
Suite 106
Los Angeles, CA 90034-6363

Make it payable to 80-20. Maximum contribution allowed by FEC is $5000 per person per year. Corporate checks are not allowed. Partnership checks are ok. Only citizens and permanent residents may contribute. If your donation exceeds $200.00, please provide occupation and employer. Your giving is not tax deductible.

Your name will be on permanent display on our website http://www.80-20initiative.net/donors.htm , if your cumulative donation to 80-20 reaches $500 or more. When it reaches $10,000, your name will be in The Founder's Circle. Go take a look. Your name may just be there.

*The poll was done by Yankelovich, a very reputable firm that has done similar surveys to measure American attitudes toward Jewish Americans since the 1960s.

*** Paid for by The 80-20 Political Action Committee ***

Call to Action -- Stop The APA Bashing

Conflict between the US and China, unfortunately, leads to bashing of Chinese Americans and the Chinese people.  Its consequence, however, spills to all Asian Pacific Americans since we are not, in general, physically distinguishable. Recall that Vincent Chin was killed by two unemployed Detroit autoworkers who mistook him for a Japanese American.

If such bashing is left unchecked, damage to our lives creeps in and exacerbates, including psychological pressure and career obstacles. It seems impossible now, but the internment of Japanese Americans began in this same manner.  What could happen if, God forbid, the conflict escalates?

80-20 is determined to nip the bashing in the bud.  This e-mail is a call to action!

Yesterday, 80-20's Steering Comm. resolved to take on the anti-bashing fight.  We'll help organize a grand coalition of APA organizations.  Separately, 80-20 is setting up its own Anti-Bashing Fund (ABF). 
If you want to see bashing stopped, send a check to

       Professor Chun Wa Wong

       3780 Keystone Ave.

       Suite 106

       Los Angeles, CA 90034-6363

Make it payable to 80-20 but specify for ABF .  Citizens and permanent citizens may contribute, personal checks only.  Your giving is not tax deductible. Please state your occupation and employer if your donation exceeds $200.00.  Please e-mail S.B.

to let him know that you are helping.  If you total contribution to 80-20 since its foundation exceeds $500, your name will be on permanent display on our web site: http://

www.80-20initiave.net.

The rest of this e-mail contains (A) What is bashing, (2) How to stop
bashing, and (3) How you can help?

(A) What is bashing?

Criticizing policies of a foreign nation or specific acts of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community or its subsets is not bashing.  

Stereotyping the supposed comical physical features of Asians, e.g. slant eyes, buck- teeth, and thick glasses is bashing.  A recent example is a cartoon by Patrick Oliphant published in a national circulation.  A cartoon is to ridicule the politics, not the people.

Demonizing is bashing.  You may recall that 80-20 mobilized the APA community and the mainstream media on 10/27 of last years to compel the pulling of a Republican TV ad imitating the infamous "Daisy" TV ad fanning the fear of "yellow peril."  The ad was pulled within 24 hours.

Castigating all persons of Asian descent on account of our nation's conflict with any Asian country is bashing.  Recent examples in various radio and TV broadcasts include: the boycott of Chinese restaurants, the barring of "Chinese" from the Erron baseball field in Houston, putting "Chinese" in concentration camps, and sending "Chinese" back where they came from. 

Such advocacy makes no difference between Asian nationals and American citizens of Asian descent.  Even supposing a distinction is made and the attack is centered on specific Asian nationals only, it is still too indiscriminate and hateful.  First amendment 
right has limits.  The first amendment does not give a person the right to shout "Fire" in a crowded theater; joke "I am carrying a bomb" in an airplane; or express hate towards a race or ethnic group.  

Even in less obvious cases, we must speak out.  The first amendment may protect the right of a skit actor to utter "Ching, ching, chong, chong." imitating how an Asian talks in order to draw a cheap laugh.  However, the same first amendment protects our right to protest against the insensitivity of that skit.

(B) How to stop it?

When there is concrete evidence involving a significant media personality and/or a major media outlet that has clearly crossed the line, the proposed Coalition will pounce.  National attention will focused on our protest giving landmark significance to the subsequent corrective measures taken by the offending personalities
/media outlet.

Thereafter, the news will spread among media workers that bashing APAs is no longer a free shot.  

(3) How you can help?

Help tape the offending broadcasts and report them to 80-20.  Get you recorders ready. Give financially to ABF.  We are only as strong as you are.  Tell us that you are strong.

*** This mailing is paid for by The 80-20 PAC ***

The "ABCs" of Lobbying

80-20 is ready to mount a frontal assault on the glass ceiling above you & your children.  80-20 has worked long and hard, gathering political capital bit by bit, just for this moment!

80-20'll begin with a lobbying effort to secure Congressional hearings on the huge amount of statistical evidence documenting the existence of glass ceiling above APAs.  To help this lobbying effort succeed, most of us may want to acquire some basic knowledge about lobbying.  

Hopefully, you may agree that, ultimately, our community's political clout depends on our collective political maturity. 

At the risk of boring some of you, here are the "ABCs" of lobbying for an issue, as opposed to, say, lobbying to get someone confirmed or get a treaty passed.

There are 3 basic ways that Congress may be asked to support an issue:

• to pass a bill favoring the issue, 


• to pass a resolution favoring the issue, and 


• to open congressional hearings by relevant committees that end the hearings with favorable reports.  

(1) Of the three, passing a bill is the hardest.  Once a bill passes both Houses and is signed by the president, it becomes a law.  The violation of a law requires a penalty.  Hence, 99% of the bills are required to contain languages specifying appropriate punishment, should the law be violated.

(2) Passing a resolution is the easiest.  There are many forms of resolutions - House Resolution, Senate Resolution, Concurrent Resolution, and Joint Resolution.  Although a resolution needs to pass the House or the Senate or both, resolutions are nothing but lip service.  A resolution, even after passage, could be violated by any person at will, without penalty.  Resolutions are mostly used by politicians to please constituents "on the cheap." 

A Joint Resolution passed by unanimous consent and signed by the President will have the temporary effect of law for the duration of the Congressional session.  It's used for passing budgets.

(3) To schedule Congressional hearings by relevant committees is the middle choice.  A committee chair may call a public hearing on a relevant matter.  The committee may then issue a report on that subject.  The matter could end there, without being turned into a bill.  If ample publicity is achieved during the hearings and if the report is very favorable to a given issue, it could be very effective.  For example, if a committee report suggests to a federal agency that certain results seem desirable, and if no progress is made by next year's budget hearing for that agency before the same committee, there could be budgetary repercussions for that agency.  

During hearings, at least one congressional member on the committee must be present.  A hearing lasting several days will cost members much time and is therefore a serious investment by the committee.  In contrast, a resolution may be passed by both the House and the Senate in a few seconds without any congressional member paying any attention.  

Keep tuned to 80-20's effort on your behalf and please, if you are good in writing Chinese articles, volunteer to join 80-20's letters-to-the-editors team by e-mailing S.B. Woo and saying "Count Me In."

Thank you.

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80-20 is a national nonpartisan Political Action Committee dedicated to work for equality and justice for all Asian Americans.  For more details, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net
 

Forming A Mighty Army for Eq. Opportunity

A mighty lobbying force is getting in shape to win equal opportunity in workplaces for all APAs.

What does equal opportunity mean?

It means "for every man, woman and child to go as far and rise as high, as their ambition and ability will take them." You, your loved ones, and your future offspring deserve equal opportunity not just in entry-level jobs, not just in all levels of technical jobs but also in rising to the top in any field, any institution.

Thus far, a glass ceiling has severely hindered our ability to rise to the top. In theory, there should be equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, gender, etc. Our mighty lobbying force, once organized, aims to get that for you in practice.

In less than one week, 80-20 has organized a lobbying army of 325 volunteers, covering 34 states. While that is extremely encouraging, our army still has weaknesses. We don't have people covering the following states for the APA community:

Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Will you or your friends and relatives who reside in the above states please step forth and be counted? If you know people in those states, help 80-20 recruit them. Volunteers need to fill out the following form. Do it today. Thank you.
Survey

1. I want to be involved in this lobbying effort which centers on holding public congressional hearings by relevant congressional committees on the glass-ceiling over APAs (visit congressional delegates, write letters, make phone calls, give financially, ..., etc.)

Ans: Yes, I want to help. My name is ___________, and I reside in
_________ (name of state or Washington D.C.)

2. I have lobbied either the state legislature or the Congress before?
Ans: Yes/No (If yes, please specify whether state legislature or Congress or both.)
3. Please list the names of members of Congress, whom you are willing to approach for supporting a Committee hearing in glass-ceiling over Asian Pacific Americans:

Ans: Senator(s) : ____________________________.
Representative(s) : ______________________________

Please place an asterisk behind the names of those who know you by your first name.

* * * * * * * * * * *

80-20 is a national nonpartisan Political Action Committee dedicated to work for equality and justice for all Asian Americans. For more details, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net

Our Ultimate Goal & You. Please read!

---

Getting our elite appointed to the top positions in the federal government, though helpful, is not equivalent to winning equal opportunity in work places for all APAs.

80-20 is getting ready to help reach our ultimate goal – equal opportunity
in workplaces for all.

A successful outcome will benefit you, your loved ones and most certainly your grandchildren and beyond.  However, the road ahead will be long and hard, perhaps too long and too hard, unless you help.

A survey is being done to assess 80-20's ability to mount a successful
lobbying effort with the Congress.  We are looking for public hearings
by relevant Congressional committees on the glass-ceiling over APAs in the corporate world, academia, the media, state governments, ..., etc. 
We need you.  If at all possible, please participate in this survey.

The first part of the following provides background information, and the second part is the survey asking for "What You Can Do To Help."

Background

In 80-20's Declaration to Presidential Candidates of 2000, it has four
requests.  The fourth dealt with appointment to top federal positions, a goal we have achieved.  The first three requests are:

1. To request the "Congress (to hold) public hearings regarding the
validity of the huge amount of statistical data strongly suggesting discriminatory
practices against Asian Americans in workplaces,"

2. To urge our President "to vigorously prosecute all cases of racial
discrimination against Asian Americans in the workplace," if Congressional
hearings confirm the prevalent existence of discrimination against APAs in workplaces.

3. To ask our President to use the power of his office "to induce the lifting of glass-ceilings so that Asian Americans will ... (substantially enjoy) equal opportunity to "rise to the top," within the president's first term."

Survey

80-20 has a number of strategic options in mind regarding a successful
lobbying effort.  However, 80-20 needs to know our strengths and weakness
before selecting an option.  That's why this survey is extremely important.

1.  I want to be involved in this lobbying effort which centers
on holding public congressional hearings by relevant congressional committees
on the glass-ceiling over APAs (visit congressional delegates, write letters,
make phone calls, give financially, ..., etc.)

Ans: Yes, I want to help.  My name is ___________, and I
reside in (name of state or Washington D.C.)

2. I have lobbied either the state legislature or the Congress before?

Ans: Yes/No (If yes, please specify whether state legislature or Congress or both.)

3. Please list the name of U.S. senators and Congress-person, whom you are willing to approach for supporting a Committee hearing in which he/she is a member:

Ans: Senator(s) : ____________________________.  

House of Representative(s) : ________________________________

Please specify the ones who know you by first name.

 

Return this survey today.  Together we shall overcome. 
Our children and grandchildren will thank you.

* * * * * * * * * * * * 


80-20 is a national nonpartisan Political Action Committee dedicated
to work for equality and justice for all Asian Americans.  For more
details, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net

Two APAs nominated for cabinet positions

Thanks to all of you, history was made again.

Last year, your faxes to President Clinton helped make Norman Mineta the historic first Asian American Cabinet Secretary. This year, your e-mails helped us reach another milestone -- two Asian American cabinet appointments in a single Administration.

As individuals, our voices were not heard. As an organization with 430,000 supporters pouring e-mails and faxes into the Transition Team within a few days, our unified voice was hard to ignore.

Nevertheless, President-elect Bush and Vice President-elect Cheney must be given ample credit. Even a loud and heartfelt voice takes good political listeners to acknowledge and respond positively.

Finally, let's not forget that 80-20's political capital played a role in these appointments. Said capital includes an exponentially expanding e-mail list and war chest, our increasing chapters and affiliates, and our ability to deliver, as a 2-year-old organization, 63% to 35% in California and 54% to 41% nationally to our endorsed presidential candidate (Gore) in election 2000. Decisions by political leaders are at least partially motivated by political consideration -- how to win his/ her next election. By the presidential election of 2004, there is little doubt that 80-20 will deliver votes at an 8 to 2 ratio to our chosen presidential candidate in key states above and beyond California.

Much remains to be done, however. Getting our elite appointed to significant positions is not equivalent to winning equal opportunity in workplaces for all of us. Our next e-mail will address winning equal opportunity for all APAs.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Congratulations to Norman Mineta (to be confirmed as The Secretary of Transportation) and Elaine Chao (to be confirmed as The Secretary of Labor). Best wishes to both of you for smooth confirmation hearings.

* * * * * * * * * * *

A great big "thank you" to reporters in ethnic and non-ethnic media who made numerous inquiries at the Transition Office regarding the possibility of cabinet-level appointments for Asian Americans. Without doubt, those reporters helped add "diversity" to Bush's appointments.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Many APAs thought 80-20 "lost" because Gore didn't win. However, 80-20's leadership has always stated: "So long as we showed unity and strength at the ballot box, APAs would win regardless of which candidate became the president." The 2 appointments, one Democrat and one Republican, proved the correctness of 80-20's central strategy.

Indeed, 80-20 conjectured that APAs would get more "goodies" from the Republican Party should Bush won, because the GOP had wrestled with 80-20 in California and knew how tough 80-20 was, while the Democratic Party, confident of victory in CA, paid little attention to the APA community in CA during the past election. It is hoped that all APAs will now realize that the more we are ready to deliver a swing bloc-vote, the sooner we will win equal justice and opportunity.

**************

80-20 is a national nonpartisan Political Action Committee dedicated to work for equality and justice for all Asian Americans. For more details, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net