A Political Lesson To Be Learned

We have huge political clout if we are smart

Be Smart!     By now many of you have heard that "a 28 year old has beaten a potential candidate for House Speaker in NY's Congressional District 14's primary election." That is a lesson that AsAm voters in CA and elsewhere must learn to build our political clout.                                                                         What Happened In NY's 14th Cong. District Democratic Primary CANDIDATE VOTE PCT. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 15,897 57.5% Joseph Crowley, incumbent 11,761 42.5 27,658 votes, 98% reporting (440 of 449 precincts)                  What Is the Lesson?    The total estimated number of registered Democrats in that Cong. District is 160,000.  So Ms. Ocasio-Cortez won by having only 10% to these voters supporting her.  Now she is in the national news!        The Lesson?  The turnout in any primary election is always much smaller than the general election.  Victory often goes to the one who  (1) is willing to challenge a "SURE WINNER", because the primary turnout is guaranteed to be low; (2) can generate higher emotional connection with potential supporters, & (3) knows how to drive out his/her supporters.       Remember, a "sure winner" doesn't work as hard, and may also be rusty on the campaign trail. His supporters are likely to sit home, as was true in the above election, when the turnout was less than 20%.                                             How is that relevant to AsAm voters in CA?          AsAms represent 8% of the CA voters in a General Election.  So if a CA statewide primary's turnout is only 1/3 of the general election, while our 8% all turn out, then the 8% become 24%.  If the 24% cast a bloc vote, we can almost control the outcome of that primary.  The above scenario applies to any presidential primaries in 2020.      In addition, let's think in terms of winning Congressional primaries. CA has many Cong. Districts having 30% or more AsAm voters. Those districts also have very powerful incumbents considered as "SURE WINNERS" who are rusty, since they have not faced an opponent in years. If the primary turnout is only 1/2 that of the general, then the AsAm 30% in those districts becomes 60%. If we also cast a bloc vote, we will be kingmakers. So don't whine, DO!      Political opportunities are plentiful.  For those of us who have the heart to win equal opportunity for AsAms, we first need to understand the mathematics of elections, then know how to campaign and finally have the COURAGE to face the battles.                                                      DONATE S. B. Woo  President and a volunteer for the past 18 years 80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc, a 501 C-3 organization, http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/index.php   To know more about 80-20, view these videos : https://youtu.be/dB3eGVqG-wA  (Ignore the last 35 secs. The election is over.) http://youtu.be/h781_ECSJYM  80-20 EF Mission Statement

UNITED we STAND (3) - our deficiencies continued

Do We Have These Weaknesses?

WeChat account ID is: 8020ef.  Please scan our QR code,  shown below, & on 80-20 EF's WeChat site. For a Chinese  version of this e-newsletter, click on  https://goo.gl/6GsJWe              This series is NOT just talking about others.  Chances are it also is talking about YOU!      In "UNITED we STAND" (1) and (2), we pointed out that UNITY is our savior.   We also pointed to our own deficiencies causing dis-unity.  They include BIG deficiencies: a) our not knowing the fundamental tools of democracy, e.g. Robert's Rules of Order, &  b) our lack of political maturity since we are mostly 1st & 2nd generation immigrants.       Today, we discuss our minor deficiencies that are just as harmful to ourselves.  These deficiencies are particularly prominent among leaders of our organizations.  I may not be a leader, but I have some of these defects.                c) AsAms, especially recent immigrants, are                                   often conditioned ..... I) to think that the size of the pie for us is fixed i.e. we think "zero sum" when it comes to "Asian share" of the pie in America. So one AsAm's gain may be viewed as my loss. We should view it as "my gain". II) to think that defeating a fellow AsAm is easy but winning against the the prejudices of the majority and gaining equal opportunity is impossible. Too few of us have the courage to fight for what is right. We are addicted to self-delusional "success" - if we don't fight, then we don't lose. :-( iii) to stay within our own small comfort zone. So we tend to want to "be the big fish in a small pond, rather than "be a much bigger fish swimming in the ocean." iv) to be afraid of being fair to fellow Asians, because we think our BIG WHITE BROTHERS are watching our loyalty to America. We rather err on the side of rating fellow Asians too low to prove our "non-Asianness.". Such thoughts are irrational. But they are prevalent. v) to think that a coalition will hurt one's own organization's self-determination. While that deduction is true, we should think about the much BIGGER GAINS coming from a coalition. Our coalition needs a good set of bylaws so that we can win our rights with the minimum sacrifice in our organization's sovereignty. vi) to prefer to have the other people fighting the BIG battles for us, because we have had little such experience. While that is understandable, having a coalition will pool our talents & resources. When we pool our resources, we can WIN big battles! In the U.S., if a community can't fight for itself, it'll forever be stepped on. vii) to be afraid of being outshone by other AsAms in a coalition. Why should we be so small? We need better AsAm leaders to lead us to equal citizenship quickly. viii) to have a lot of jealousy and complaints against other AsAms orgs. We often complain that the other groups have over-claimed their share of the success without acknowledging our share of contribution. We fail to realize a universal truth: Victory has a thousand fathers, defeat is always an orphan. For heaven's sake, issue our own press releases, if we are that upset by others' claims. :-) Be bigger persons. Have a bigger heart.       Let's all try to improve ourselves to be better supporters of UNITING the whole AsAm community. We'll all have so much to gain.       Harvard's "whole RACE" admissions policy says that  AsAms are less worthy in personality traits.  I strongly disagree.  Click here to read a wonderful NY Times Opinion, entitled "Harvard Is Wrong That Asians Have Terrible Personalities", authored by Wesley Yang.        Nevertheless, we do need to overcome many of our weaknesses, conditioned by our experience as immigrants and members of a small & weak minority.         Parents must set POSITIVE examples for our children.       POST YOUR VIEW by going to EF'S poster Board. We don't post your IP number. So feel very relaxed to express your view.                                        DONATE S. B. Woo  President and a volunteer for the past 18 years 80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc, a 501 C-3 organization, http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/index.php   To know more about 80-20, view these videos : https://youtu.be/dB3eGVqG-wA  (Ignore the last 35 secs. The election is over.) http://youtu.be/h781_ECSJYM  80-20 EF Mission Statement

UNITED we STAND (2) - our deficiencies

Why Uniting Is So Difficult For Us?

WeChat account ID is: 8020ef.  Please scan our QR code,  shown below, & on 80-20 EF's WeChat site. For a Chinese  version of this e-newsletter, click on  https://goo.gl/6GsJWe             Since UNITY is our Savior, and it will give us the fastest passage to equal citizenship (See United We Stand (1)),  why haven't we united yet?      A GREAT question.  The answer is complex.  In a single sentence, it is because WE  have many DEFICIENCIES.  Kindly please give me some leeway and hear me out.         Why Is Unity So Hard to Achieve within the AsAm community? a) We Lack the Cultural Background to Work Together in a Democracy:      American high schools teach Robert's Rules of Order (RROO).  BUT, most of us have never heard of RROO; have never attended a single meeting that applied RROO.  YET, according to Wikipedia, RROO "governs the meetings of a diverse range of organizations-including church groups, county commissions, homeowners associations, nonprofit associations, professional societies, school boards, and trade unions-that have adopted it as their parliamentary authority.   Q:  Is RROO easy to learn?       Very easy.  After all it's taught in high schools.   Q:  How do I get myself trained in RROO?        Click here to get a 2-page instruction prepared by 80-20 EF.  Spend 20 minutes to learn the basic steps.  Spend the next few days/weeks/months to internalize it.  Then no one can use RROO in a meeting to deprive you of your rights to be an EQUAL participant in a meetings.    Q:  How to internalize?        Practice using RROO during your family dinners.  Get your children who are attending high school involved.  Rotate to chair the meetings.  Vote to approve or disapprove of each of the interesting things that president Trump did the last week.  :-)                                                         Trust RROO      When RROO is applied, it is impossible for a biased chair to get his/her way against the will of  a majority of the participants.  Chairman's decisions can be appealed and reversed with a simply majority vote.  But you need to know the basic steps.     AsAms are smart in so many ways.  We need to pick up the basic tools of democracy and learn them by heart.  We can't blame everything on society's discrimination against us.  We must do our part to learn about democracy.. b) We Lack Political Maturity:       Most of us know how to fight against other individuals who step on us, but we don't know how to fight against political establishments which step on us in much subtler ways e.g. glass ceilings and "race preference" admissions.  To be effective, do we need too unite t?     Most of us don't realize that back in our respective "old countries"  we were in the majority, but here in the US we are not only the minority but also viewed as foreigners.  So do we need to unite to protect ourselves?     Read NYT's "Harvard rated AsAm Applicants lower on personality traits .." of 6/15. When our nation's top educational institution showed such deep rooted prejudice against Asian Ams, and use hidden & devious means to discriminate against our yooungsters who only wanted to learn from it, it's OUTRAGEOUS!   Harvard's "whole-person"admissions policy is a "whole-RACE" admissions policy to discriminate against AsAms to benefit all others races.  Do we need to unite to protect our children?      Politics needs to be learned.  Unlike RROO, it can't be learned quickly.  So trust is required.  There is one reasonable rule to apply in trusting a political leader.  His/er record over a long long period of time could be a guideline. Don't be too picky.  The alternative is to suffer continued discrimination as a weak and dis-organized small minority..      Lookout for UNITED we STAND (3) next week.  It will continue to discuss "Why Is Unity So Hard to Achieve within the AsAm community?"  The defects we'll discuss there are not about the other AsAms.  Chances are some of them apply to YOU.  :-)       POST YOUR VIEW by going to  EF'S poster Board.   We no longer post your IP number.  So feel very relaxed to express your view.                                          DONATE   S. B. Woo  President and a volunteer for the past 20 years 80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc, a 501 C-3 organization, http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/index.php PS:  We thank Peter W. Chen, Demarest, NJ who, having fulfilled his $3000/yr for 5 yrs pledge, mailed in yet another $5,000 check.  What a role model.   To know more about 80-20, view these videos : https://youtu.be/dB3eGVqG-wA  (Ignore the last 35 secs. The election is over.) http://youtu.be/h781_ECSJYM  80-20 EF Mission Statement

EXTRA! Harvard's Sins Exposed

FORWARD To Your Friends & Relatives!

WeChat account ID is: 8020ef.  Please scan our QR code, shown below, & on 80-20 EF's WeChat site. For a Chinese version of this e-newsletter  which may be a few days late, click on  https://goo.gl/6GsJWe SFFA Filed Motion Against Harvard for Summary Judgment Today            The following are from an undisputed authority on this lawsuit: (1) OVERVIEW Today's filings-through documents, data, expert analysis, and testimony-expose what many Asian-Americans unfortunately already know: That Harvard penalizes them unfairly because of their race.  Harvard knows this too. Harvard's own Office of Institutional Research conducted an internal investigation concluding that Harvard's admissions process discriminates against Asian Americans. But instead of ending the discrimination-Harvard's leadership killed the investigation and buried the reports. This is a shocking revelation. This pattern continues today. Harvard's President has chosen to deny the facts and to accuse SFFA of "misleading" and presenting "data taken out of context," rather than to grapple with the practical and legal consequences of Harvard's conduct.  Although today's filing is revealing, Harvard continues to hide from the public evidence it finds embarrassing, relying on misplaced claims of privacy and trade secrets. It is Harvard that does not want the full context known. But it will all come out soon and will add to the mountain of evidence proving that Harvard's use of race in admissions is illegal. (2) SFFA'S CLAIMS Harvard intentionally discriminates against Asian-American applicants: "Incontrovertible evidence shows that Harvard's admissions policy has a disproportionately negative effect on Asian Americans vis-a-vis similarly situated, white applicants that cannot be explained on non-discriminatory grounds." Harvard engages in racial balancing: Harvard uses "ethnic stats" and other tools to manipulate the process so that it achieves essentially the same racial balance year over year. If, at the end of the admissions process, Harvard has admitted more (or less) of any racial group than it did the year before (what it deems, in violation of Title VI, to be "too many" or "too few"), then it reshapes the class to remedy the problem. Harvard's use of race is not narrowly tailored to achieve critical mass: "Harvard concedes that it has no interest in achieving critical mass and has never given the concept serious thought. Harvard is adamant that racial preferences are indispensable to its mission-and always will be." Harvard also uses race as far more than a "plus" factor. Harvard has not considered race-neutral alternatives in good faith: "Harvard never even considered race-neutral alternatives until this litigation was threatened. It then formed a committee, quickly abandoned it, and then formed a new committee at the close of discovery that, almost comically, was comprised of only three people and whose work was almost entirely outsourced to counsel." (3)  EVIDENCE PRESENTED TO THE COURT LISTING HARVARD'S        GUILT WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THIS SPACE SOON Dear Asian Americans:     If we are half smart, we should be organizing and uniting NOW!  To post your view, click here.                                            Donate S. B. Woo  President and a volunteer for the past 18 years 80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc, a 501 C-3 organization, http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/index.php   To know more about 80-20, view these videos : https://youtu.be/dB3eGVqG-wA  (Ignore the last 35 secs. The election is over.) http://youtu.be/h781_ECSJYM  80-20 EF Mission Statement