The following is an invitation to our best and brightest individuals and/or organizations to discuss the feasibility of a systematic effort TOGETHER to help make ourselves equal citizens of this great nation.
We did Patchwork to advance or defend our civil rights in the past
We were inexperienced, small and weak. So patchwork was the only option. Examples are:
1. In 1982, Vincent Chen, a Chinese-Am was taken to be a Japanese
Am by 2 white unemployed Detroit auto workers. They beat him to death with a baseball bat while uttering racial slurs. Both pleaded guilty, but were initially fined $3000 and sentenced to 3 years in probation only;
2. The 1988 Japanese Redress Movement: It resulted in an apology by
Congress & restitution of $25,000 per internee;
3. In 1992, the LA riots caused by the murder of Rodney King hit Koreatown hard. 2,300 Korean shops were looted. Many Koreans defended their homes and shops with arms;
4. In 1996, the Asiagate fundraising scandals for Pres. Clinton broke. The 2 major political parties and the national media all attacked the AsAm community severely, as if there was an AsAm cabal to undermine our election system. In reality, only a dozen AsAms were involved;
80-20 was established in 1998 to counter the repressive air of the time
5. From 1999 to 2006, the Wen Ho Lee spy episode occurred;
6. After 9/11/2001, not only Sikhs but all Indian-Ams felt they had to lie low, especially those who sported beards or looked like middle-eastern men;
4 years. Pres. Obama also appointed 3 AsAm cabinet and numerous
AsAm sub-cabinet level officials;
his re-election effort. AsAms voted 73 to 26 for Obama, according to
NY Times;
9. In 2013, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel show aired a segment in which a kid said
ABC for airing that segment although it had previously reviewed the
tape of the entire show.
10. Between 2014 and 2015, scientists Sherry Chen & Prof. Xi were
falsely accused as spies for China. 80-20 raised $18,000 for Sherry.
80-20 also worked with AsAm elected officials and civil rights orgs. to
induce DOJ to tighten its procedure before arrests and indictments are
to be made;
by the House via "Defense Authorization Act of 2019" which aimed to
punish Chinese-Ams who had participated in recruiting programs in
China. Such a provision is unconstitutional; and
12. In 2018, 80-20 worked with SFFA (Students for Fair Admissions) and
AACE (AsAm Coalition in Edu) to induce Harvard to change its
admissions policy to be fairer to AsAm applicants.
Patchwork was necessary to advance or defend our civil rights in the past, but it is no substitute for systemic and long-term effort that a powerful AsAm organization can provide to win EQUAL citizenship for the 18 million AsAms
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Let's Think Big and Long-Term NOW!
Do you agree with the assertion in the above box? Since we are the best educated, the community with the highest per person and per family income, and yet are the least equal, should we do more for ourselves & our children?
Let's discuss what we'll need to establish a powerful AsAm org. to systematically lift ourselves by our boots to EQUAL citizenship? We may
need an organization having:
2. A strong legal component, since our rights are often violated,
(80-20 EF shall present a plan), and
3. Sufficient political know-how and contacts (80-20 may have the best).
We'll discuss how to achieve item 2 in "Let's think big and long-term (2)".
We'd love to hear your views, click here.
President and a volunteer for the past 20 years
80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc, a 501 C-3 organization,
Lieutenant Governor of Delaware (1985-89)
To know more about 80-20, view these videos :
