discrimination in school# Parenting - 为人父母
w*g
1 楼
I started to get worried about discrimination of Chinese children in school.
My 6 year old felt terrible when bullies in school and summer camp started
to use derogatory terms to call him because he is a Chinese. Do your
children have the same problem?
I think this is a very hard problem to address. Individually I try to talk
about the Chinese heritage to my son and help son develop a stronger sense
of belonging. At the same time, we need to change the overall culture that
is hostile to us.
I usually just delete messages from 80/20 but the following email's title
caught my eye. I don't really like what 80/20 advocate most of the time but
I think even individually, we need to do something.
One kid in summer camp told my son that he doesn't like Chinese and my son
got upset. I don't know how to help him. What is there anything to do? 6
year old children are already racists against Chinese and in US, this is
considered OK. Similar things happen in school as well.
===================================================================
Q & A: Collectively, we failed Our children on Beckel
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:
(1) The US abolished slavery 32 year after England had done so in 1833,
(2) The US practically wiped out the Native Indian population,
(3) 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,
(4) 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
My 6 year old felt terrible when bullies in school and summer camp started
to use derogatory terms to call him because he is a Chinese. Do your
children have the same problem?
I think this is a very hard problem to address. Individually I try to talk
about the Chinese heritage to my son and help son develop a stronger sense
of belonging. At the same time, we need to change the overall culture that
is hostile to us.
I usually just delete messages from 80/20 but the following email's title
caught my eye. I don't really like what 80/20 advocate most of the time but
I think even individually, we need to do something.
One kid in summer camp told my son that he doesn't like Chinese and my son
got upset. I don't know how to help him. What is there anything to do? 6
year old children are already racists against Chinese and in US, this is
considered OK. Similar things happen in school as well.
===================================================================
Q & A: Collectively, we failed Our children on Beckel
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:
(1) The US abolished slavery 32 year after England had done so in 1833,
(2) The US practically wiped out the Native Indian population,
(3) 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,
(4) 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