Racism is often created by the "Haves" to deny the "Have Nots"
the chance to share power, good jobs, and good properties. All
racism have two common features:

1) to deny power, good jobs and good properties to the discriminated, and
2) to justify the denial to "Have Nots", a persuasive negative stereo image about
    the "Have Nots" is created. It grossly exaggerates a perceived
    weakness of the discriminated.

   Every race or group, with individual exception, has unique cultural
mores. The unique mores of the "Have Nots" are grossly esaggerated and
made into a universal weakness for all in the "Have Nots."

   Here are two examples.

[A] 144 years after the declaration that "all men are created equal," white
women were NOT allowed to vote. Reason? "Women are too soft-hearted
and soft-minded to make hard political decisions." Today, having political figures
like Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, people see through the fallacy of such
stereo negative imaging.

[B] At the time of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), Chinese were
considered to be of such low human quality, a law was passed to not let Chinese
emigrants to the US. It was the only law against letting a specific race into
US in American history.

During that period, the Chinese were called "children of darkness,"
"yellow peril," "pagan, almond-eyed heathens" and "a
disgusting scab upon the fair face of society--a putrefying
sore upon the body politic*." Today, the above seem so ridiculous.

   However, another negative stereo image has been created against us. Asian Ams
are "good work horses, but not capable of leading;" "timid even in situations
when aggressiveness is called for;" "more loyal to our old countries than to America
i.e. perpectual foreigners."

                    Our Own Ugly

   The more things change, the more things remain the same. There are
ugly whispers in some Asian Am. communities these days about the
"lazy people."

   Wake up! Haven't we suffered enough from that we now
mouth such non-sense ourselves? Help to stop it whenever and
wherever it rears its ugly head. Don't let such pass without a
challenge.

   Be gentle, however. Some of our merchants in Chinatowns
and Koreatowns have suffered from unscrupulous people including
youth gangs of African, Chinese and other races eating free food
and taking goods without paying. Such incidents have affected
their attitude. Tell them to work with 80-20 to rely on the political
process to give them the protection of law that they need.

Respectfully yours,

S. B. Woo
President, 80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc.

  
* A PLACE CALLED CHINESE AMERICA by Diane Marks and Ginger Chih