李春燕谈如何做美国人(7):高中生对话政治明星刘云平(附视频)


李春燕-1142  05/20   18601  
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更新:7/12日,FOX news 主持人Bob Beckel 再次发出 racist and xenophobic 言论,竟然脱口而出 "Chinamen", 加州参议员刘云平奋笔疾书要求Beckel辞职,并说他就是其中一个"Chinamen" with "Oriental eyes", majoring in computer science but also served on active duty. We are so proud of being among the supporters of Ted Lieu. You are the role model for our younger generation in fighting against racism!

http://sd28.senate.ca.gov/news/2014-07-12-sen-ted-lieu-calls-fox-tv-host-bob-beckel-resign-after-xenophobic-slur

五月十八日纽约中城,来支持加州参议员刘云平竞选国会的各界人士挤满了餐馆,临时又加一桌半。廖冰辛苦筹备、海培精彩主持,Congresswoman Grace Meng用中英文语重心长演讲,希望更多华裔参政。廖姐不愧为大姐大和老师,一番演讲让我差点掉眼泪。我带了两个高中生(Austin and Emily),他们最早到,就直接开始登记收捐款,还一次次核对捐款人信息,紧紧保管着越来越厚的信封。 又挤出时间请教著名活动家薛海培叔叔(下图)。这些平时不听自己父母讲话的二代,从他们一脸关注的样子看显然是被海培叔叔吸引住了(到底说了些啥?)。下面是他们对话参议员的节选和相关视频。写下来是鼓励更多父母带孩子参与(我的老生常谈)。学生们都很忙,我还问了几个,皆因篮球、击剑、跳舞等等无法参加。
转海培评述“Austin 昨天第一个提问,不亢不卑,而且风度翩翩,提问也有深度。真不错!后来在去DC的火车上,Ted和我谈起募捐午餐的时候,还专门说你们午餐把孩子带过来参与,挺好的。看来是留下了深刻印象。”



Austin's first question centers on the balance between meritocracy and empathy. 端端的问题是如何平衡择优录取和关心弱势群体,他说应该从小学初中入手。
 

Austin's second question is how Senator Lieu gets support from his parents in getting into politics. 端端接着Bonnie说亚裔父母很不情愿让自己孩子从政,问Senator Lieu如何取得父母支持从政。在场人们发出理解的笑声和掌声。

Senator Lieu 提出了诸如多在k-12投入和增加名额等建议。

推掉另一项义工来支持刘云平的还有十年级高中生Emily,她问在刘看来亚裔在美有什么样的变化。见下面英文。时间关系无法都翻成中文。我问了关于加州open primary, 如何接触更广的选民。刘说他是推动open primary的(有时间单开题)。

Austin: Wow will you look at this room full of important people. Gosh am I nervous.

Hello Senator Lieu,

It's an honor to be here to support you today. As a high schooler,I just wanted to point out that as a high schooler, a lot of our generation faces tremendous pressure with college admissions. Back in New Jersey, we just had a seminar on affirmative action, where I was the high school panelist. My belief was that Affirmative action is a top down approach that drags down the top pool of students. My suggestion, if you would listen to a high schooler, is a bottom up approach, which could focus on helping those who need it from early on such as primary and secondary education. That'll achieve a balance between meritocracy and empathy. That'll address the criticism that Asians who oppose AA are narrow minded.

Now, moving on to my more serious question: how did you get involved in politics? You and even Bonnie mentioned that many Asian parents do not encourage their kids to go into politics...so did you coerce them into supporting you? (Audience responded w knowing laughs and claps)









Senator Lieu: My brother is a doctor, and my parents remind me of that now and then. Now they are happy I am in politics. It is a path that I wish more Asian Americans would take. I will not wish this job on someone who doesn't like this process. It is not an easy process. It is hard for the family but if you really want to do it, I think it is great.

On your first question, you made a very good point about k-12 education, even before that. We know from research that the biggest impact on a child is basically the first 5 years. If you don't give them the support and nurturing, it affects their whole lives. Research shows a difference of 2000 words. If you look at California, there are fewer African Americans and Latinos in college because their application pools are smaller, and drop out rate before graduating high school is about 40%. If you can stop that (drop out rate), you can naturally increase diversity. By the time it gets to the college level, it simply is too late. So one of the proposals now is to invest more money on k-12 education. Let's make sure none of our children drop out. For whatever reason, Asian Americans have about 90% graduation rate, so the applicant pool is much larger. Another way is to increase the size of the pie, instead of fighting for the same pie. We can increase slots. That's another proposal we are looking in CA. There are multiple paths in trying to achieve the same goal.

Senator Lieu then brought up an example of eye glasses to illustrate differences in socio economic status (only 4 in 100 who need glasses actually get them).

Emily: I am also a 10th grader. I was wondering what kind of changes you see for Asian Americans, compared to the time when you grew up. What kind of changes you want to see in Asian Americans. What kind of a place you want to live in, and want Asian Americans to live in?

Senator Lieu: That's a great question. I think there is less discrimination against As Am than 4 decades ago. Growing up in Ohio, we had our tires slashed sometimes, eggs thrown at our homes, called chink and made to feel very different. Now my kids don't go through that. But the discrimination is more subtle, like "you're sort of different, we are not gonna be violent against you, but we are't gonna put you as board of directors. We are not gonna make you a CEO, or a head of an organization.

Other conversations
Senator Lieu: People come up to me and tell me "I spoke English good." I tell them "I spoke English well." And if any of you want to try this out, out a camera around your neck and walk out the door, people assume you are a tourist.

There are different ways to fight this. One way is to get more Asians into government jobs. And that is so important that we get to the nation's capital (like congresswoman Meng). That helps minorities at all level. If you look at the Fortune 500, and partners in law firms, half are Asian Americans. If we can get more Asians in all levels of society, that will be helpful. And that'll stop stupid things from happening. When Jimmy Kimmel goes on air and talk about about killing people in China, I am glad to know we have people here in this room who worked against that. When Adam Corrola a few years ago made fun of Chinese language on the radio, I and some organizations went after him and he apologized. When the Ladies Professional Golf Association kicks in an English only rule, I worked with Asian American groups to address this. They reversed the rule, and the executive director resigned. There are things that elected officials can do.

A little about the race: endorsement from the Democratic Party. I represent 80% of the voters right now, and about 40% in state assembly. If I raise enough money and turn up the voter base, we'll win. What you do here is very very helpful and I really appreciate you being here from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

Senator Lieu's Civil Rights record
http://weidb.com/p3930

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