Senator Huff Outlines Plan To Combat Beckel's Racist Rant

Chinese version: http://www.weidb.com/p6339

Bob Beckel, member of a popular program called “The Five” on Fox News recently referred to Chinese as “Chinamen” along with other negative comments about Chinese. What he said:

“…Chinese are the single biggest threat to the national security of the U.S. …Do you know what we just did? As usual, we bring them over here and teach a bunch of Chinamen – err -- Chinese people -- how to do computers and they go back to China and hack into us… There are billions of them. And, and all they do is to hack into our stuff. They send these cheap toys, all of which got lead in it and kill kids.” 

There is no differentiation by Beckel about whether he’s talking about the Chinese government, the Chinese people, or the Chinese-Americans who have come to the United States to pursue their dreams. These comments are unacceptable, and have no place in our media. Chinese are understandably upset, since less than a year ago Jimmy Kimmel aired a segment in which a child said we should “kill all the Chinese” to erase our nation’s debt to China.

Some believe that the Democrats are trying to use this issue to refocus the anger of the Chinese community away from SCA 5. While fueling the fire against Fox News, they fail to mention that Bob Beckel is a life-long liberal Democrat operative.  Racism and ethnic slams know no partisan boundaries.

The real question is, what do we want? Many have called for an apology, and Bob Beckel has offered one, although it was weak. Others want him to resign or be fired. But does that change behavior? Will we find that yet another network is tripping over their comments in a few more months?

I’m probably more sensitive to immigrant issues than the average American, since I’m married to a Chinese-American immigrant. But it is my observation that our culture does not often react with the same sensitivity to offenses against the Chinese Community as it does for Blacks, Latinos, or Native Americans, for example. I believe what we are really looking for is to receive the same amount of respect as everyone else. That’s it. But as a society we aren’t there yet.

Two of the strongly held principles of the Republican Party are personal responsibility and limited government. When we have a level playing field of opportunity, with government out of the way, those who work hardest tend to be the most successful, whether in school or business. That is what most of the Chinese who I know—or anyone for that matter--are looking for.

So, for my part, as the Senate Republican Leader, here is my action plan:

1.  Call Fox News and have a private conversation with them to see how we can avoid such negative commentary on their network in the future. I don’t know how that will go, but I know that a meaningful discussion is the best way to find a solution. Protesting feels good, but just makes people on both sides angrier.

2. I will continue to advocate for merit, not race, as the criteria for admission to our public schools. Re-introducing “affirmative action,” or race-based admissions policy remains a stated high priority for the Democrat leaders of the Assembly and Senate, as well as our Governor. Allowing race to be a criterion in admission to higher education is the ultimate slam against all hard-working students. Beckel has gotten us all angry because of words; SCA 5 and other race-based policies are much more than just words, they will result in game-changing actions, and fly in the face of all men being created equal or personal responsibility. As Supreme Court Justice John Roberts famously said, "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

3. I will continue to work for education reform in the K-12 system so that everyone has a better and more equal opportunity to get a quality education, at the K-12 and university level. On this point, our Governor and legislative leaders should be embracing the recent Vergara decision by Judge Rolf Treu as an acknowledgement that our educational system is broken, and has left our most vulnerable students behind, putting the wants of the teacher unions ahead of the needs of our students.

4. I will continue to work my SJR 23 through the Legislature and to Congress, asking for a formal apology for the Chinese Exclusion act. This is not only appropriate, but recent events underscore that racial bias is not just something from the 1880s.  Highlighting our nation’s past mistakes helps us keep from repeating them today and in the future.

5. I will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, such as I did by co-authoring and getting passed SJR 8 last year. Bob Beckel lamented that “….we bring them (Chinese) over in here and teach them how to do computers and they go back to China and hack into us….”  I authored and passed Senate Joint Resolution 9 as well, that called on Congress to increase our skilled worker and entrepreneur visas.

The United States economy has been enriched by the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants from around the world. Foreign nationals residing in the United States were named as inventors or co-inventors in one-quarter of all patent applications filed in 2006. Fifty-two percent of Silicon Valley startups between 1995 and 2005 were founded or cofounded by immigrants generating $52 billion in revenues and employing 450,000 workers.

If we had an immigration system that met our country’s needs, we wouldn’t need to educate foreigners and send them home; they should be able to stay here, get a green card, and be employed—if they want to--here in our own county. That is part of what a comprehensive immigration reform should include, and we must continue to call upon Congress to enact real reform.

6. I will continue to proactively work to reduce governmental hurdles that stifle entrepreneurs and job creation, so that with a growing economy and increased jobs, people will be less concerned about jobs going to immigrants.

7. I will work proactively in any way that I can to help all races receive equal respect and treatment. As we celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Civil Rights movement, we must all recognize that we’ve come a long way toward equality and respect, but as the events of the past year have demonstrated, we aren’t there yet.

Bob Huff serves as the Republican Leader in the California State Senate and represents the 29^th Senate District covering portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties. Follow Senator Huff on Twitter @bobhuff99.