00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.983
(somber music)

00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:23.898
- I am the chosen one.

00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:25.338
Somebody had to do it!

00:00:25.380 --> 00:00:27.348
So I'm taking on China! (static crackles)

00:00:27.390 --> 00:00:28.833
The Chinese virus.

00:00:28.875 --> 00:00:30.498
(crowd cheering)

00:00:30.540 --> 00:00:33.378
- China is a very popular
target in American politics.

00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:34.308
Many, many years ago,

00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:35.868
it was Japan, by the way.

00:00:35.910 --> 00:00:37.458
If you recall, back in the '80s,

00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:39.558
Japan played the role.

00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.358
And it does make you
think that there's a kind

00:00:41.400 --> 00:00:46.068
of demonology available
for Asian Americans to face

00:00:46.110 --> 00:00:47.658
in the international arena

00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:49.458
that has to have a country behind it.

00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.188
- [Reporter] Why do you keep
calling this the Chinese virus?

00:00:52.230 --> 00:00:55.428
There are reports of
dozens of incidents of bias

00:00:55.470 --> 00:00:57.978
against Chinese Americans in this country.

00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:00.618
- Don't ask me, ask
China that question, okay?

00:01:00.660 --> 00:01:01.998
When you ask them that question,

00:01:02.040 --> 00:01:04.158
you may get a very unusual answer.

00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.038
- Sir, why are you saying
that to me, specifically?

00:01:07.080 --> 00:01:10.278
- Asian Americans face the stereotype

00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:13.728
of being considered
foreigners in their own land.

00:01:13.770 --> 00:01:16.248
- We are back with an
unexpected side effect

00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:18.018
of this coronavirus crisis,

00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:21.438
Asian Americans becoming
targets of discrimination.

00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:23.688
- During my first year on the city council,

00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:27.048
I remember walking
through the city hall rotunda

00:01:27.090 --> 00:01:31.398
where there was a
display of historical items,

00:01:31.440 --> 00:01:34.608
including minutes from
the city council meeting

00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:37.908
in LA dating a hundred years earlier,

00:01:37.950 --> 00:01:39.738
back in 1885.

00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:44.148
And by random, the pages of
the minutes were opened up

00:01:44.190 --> 00:01:47.628
to a page that showed
the city council debate

00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:51.468
over whether the presence of
Chinese immigrants was a threat

00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:53.028
to the public health.

00:01:53.070 --> 00:01:57.738
- Migrants are often likened to parasites,

00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.158
an invasive population, a plague,

00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.548
an invisible threat, like pathogens.

00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:07.008
Immigrants have been stigmatized

00:02:07.050 --> 00:02:09.618
for being carriers of dangerous diseases

00:02:09.660 --> 00:02:13.968
and contagion that are
dangerous to Americans.

00:02:14.010 --> 00:02:18.618
- They're the culture where
people eat bats and snakes

00:02:18.660 --> 00:02:20.688
and dogs and things like that.

00:02:20.730 --> 00:02:25.008
- So many of these remarks
are based in misunderstanding

00:02:25.050 --> 00:02:26.388
of facts and science,

00:02:26.430 --> 00:02:30.528
but also based in xenophobia and racism.

00:02:30.570 --> 00:02:31.818
- In the 19th century,

00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:33.648
one of the most popular forms

00:02:33.690 --> 00:02:36.948
of culture were the minstrel stage.

00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:40.728
There will be a stock Chinese
character, typically male,

00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:43.338
typically wearing one of those coolie hats,

00:02:43.380 --> 00:02:45.798
made up in yellowface makeup,

00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:48.198
speaking in pidgin English,

00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:51.305
you know, have very degrading
stereotype of Chinese people.

00:02:51.347 --> 00:02:54.648
But it was very common
for this stock character,

00:02:54.690 --> 00:02:56.208
this John Chinaman,

00:02:56.250 --> 00:03:00.348
to represent and to
express these stereotypes

00:03:00.390 --> 00:03:04.518
about Chinese eating
indigestible and polluting foods,

00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:05.598
sending this message

00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:10.188
that if they were eating
these weird, diseased animals

00:03:10.230 --> 00:03:12.378
that they themselves as a people

00:03:12.420 --> 00:03:15.228
were also filthy and polluting.

00:03:15.270 --> 00:03:17.598
- It was because of this stereotype

00:03:17.640 --> 00:03:19.908
where it's easy for people to believe

00:03:19.950 --> 00:03:24.618
that Asian Americans would
be foreigners in their own land,

00:03:24.660 --> 00:03:28.998
even if they have been
here for generations.

00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:31.938
- Born in the United States
of America, born in New York.

00:03:31.980 --> 00:03:35.028
So I'm an American, it's
the only country I know,

00:03:35.070 --> 00:03:36.528
it's the people I know,

00:03:36.570 --> 00:03:38.838
it's the nation that I love.

00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:41.088
And to have others say you're not part

00:03:41.130 --> 00:03:43.788
of your homeland was painful.

00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:45.618
- That because your face looks different,

00:03:45.660 --> 00:03:48.468
therefore you must have
been born in a different country,

00:03:48.510 --> 00:03:51.055
and who may ask in a
completely well-intentioned way,

00:03:51.097 --> 00:03:54.588
"Well, what language do you really speak?"

00:03:54.630 --> 00:03:56.748
- I'm very fortunate
to live in Los Angeles,

00:03:56.790 --> 00:03:59.478
being one of the most
diverse cities in the nation,

00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.898
and not only diverse, but very progressive.

00:04:02.940 --> 00:04:04.998
Not to say discrimination does not exist,

00:04:05.040 --> 00:04:05.831
of course it does,

00:04:05.873 --> 00:04:07.908
but it's very more in subtle ways.

00:04:07.950 --> 00:04:10.218
So, every day,

00:04:10.260 --> 00:04:13.135
many a times when people
come to me and ask me,

00:04:13.177 --> 00:04:15.078
"Hey, where are you from?"

00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:17.233
They don't mean, "Did
you grow up in Burbank?"

00:04:17.275 --> 00:04:19.518
(chuckles) "Did you
grow up in Los Angeles?"

00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:21.408
And when I say, "Oh, I'm from LA,"

00:04:21.450 --> 00:04:23.838
they say, "No, no, where
are you really from?"

00:04:23.880 --> 00:04:26.508
You know, but a question
like that for myself,

00:04:26.550 --> 00:04:28.818
being an immigrant myself,

00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:30.588
I understand what they're asking,

00:04:30.630 --> 00:04:33.468
of my background,

00:04:33.510 --> 00:04:35.643
my heritage, my birthplace.

00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:38.748
But during the campaign,

00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:40.728
because we live in such a progressive city,

00:04:40.770 --> 00:04:43.278
it was less of that.

00:04:43.320 --> 00:04:45.108
More than anything, when
I knocked on people's doors,

00:04:45.150 --> 00:04:48.018
they thought I was a
real estate agent. (laughs)

00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:50.358
- First election back in 1981,

00:04:50.400 --> 00:04:53.808
I underestimated the
power of racial appeals.

00:04:53.850 --> 00:04:55.038
It kind of surprised me

00:04:55.080 --> 00:04:57.288
because Los Angeles had the image

00:04:57.330 --> 00:05:01.068
of being a very cosmopolitan,
if not a liberal city.

00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:03.648
But I think it shows that even in a city

00:05:03.690 --> 00:05:07.008
that has a reputation for
being cosmopolitan or liberal,

00:05:07.050 --> 00:05:09.018
it's not that hard to get

00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:13.008
at people's underlying economic anxieties

00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:15.948
and the tendency to use race as a scapegoat

00:05:15.990 --> 00:05:18.318
for things that people are unhappy about.

00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.138
- You always know that there's
latent bias out there, right?

00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:22.518
There's bias against Blacks,

00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:24.798
there's bias against Latinos,

00:05:24.840 --> 00:05:26.988
there's bias against Asians,

00:05:27.030 --> 00:05:28.488
there's bias against Jews.

00:05:28.530 --> 00:05:30.528
I mean, so you know it's there,

00:05:30.570 --> 00:05:31.361
you know it's there,

00:05:31.403 --> 00:05:35.928
even if it doesn't exhibit itself openly.

00:05:35.970 --> 00:05:37.878
But I was shocked in that campaign

00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:40.638
by some of the outrageous
things that were done

00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:42.408
and said about Mike Woo.

00:05:42.450 --> 00:05:47.448
A TV ad that ended with a
still shot of Mike Woo's face.

00:05:47.490 --> 00:05:50.598
They pulled in on his eye
so that at the end of the spot,

00:05:50.640 --> 00:05:52.788
all you saw was his eye like this,

00:05:52.830 --> 00:05:54.648
looming out of the TV screen.

00:05:54.690 --> 00:05:56.328
Why would you make a spot that way?

00:05:56.370 --> 00:05:58.098
Why would you pull
into the candidate's face

00:05:58.140 --> 00:05:59.058
and focus on his eye?

00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:01.893
So we put it into focus groups to test it.

00:06:02.730 --> 00:06:05.628
And the response of people

00:06:05.670 --> 00:06:07.128
in the focus groups was pretty obvious.

00:06:07.170 --> 00:06:10.170
They said, "Eh, you know, they
wanna show he's a slant-eye."

00:06:11.310 --> 00:06:13.548
And all this went on without retort,

00:06:13.590 --> 00:06:15.445
without anyone but us saying,

00:06:15.487 --> 00:06:17.058
"Wait a minute, this is outrageous."

00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:21.348
- I think that political
consultants figured out clever ways

00:06:21.390 --> 00:06:24.318
to use race as an indirect way

00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:26.748
of suggesting that this candidate,

00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:29.088
who comes from a
different ethnic background,

00:06:29.130 --> 00:06:32.658
is incapable of understanding
what you really need.

00:06:32.700 --> 00:06:34.458
Is this candidate on your side?

00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:37.818
How can you count on this
candidate to stand up for you?

00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:41.628
But in a race in which an
ethnic candidate is running

00:06:41.670 --> 00:06:43.578
against a White candidate,

00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:45.798
it isn't that hard, even indirectly,

00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:49.518
to start to bring up some
of these anxieties or doubts.

00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:52.158
For example, pointing out that my father

00:06:52.200 --> 00:06:56.088
or my grandfather were
active in Chinese organizations.

00:06:56.130 --> 00:06:57.978
That can be presented in a way

00:06:58.020 --> 00:07:00.828
that suggests to a non-Chinese voter,

00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:02.628
this candidate comes from a family

00:07:02.670 --> 00:07:03.888
that doesn't care about me.

00:07:03.930 --> 00:07:08.930
- There were pretty distinct
evidences of anti-Asian bias

00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:11.748
and people thinking that you could take

00:07:11.790 --> 00:07:13.188
on an Asian American candidate

00:07:13.230 --> 00:07:14.028
and get away with it

00:07:14.070 --> 00:07:15.948
because they're the
so-called model minority

00:07:15.990 --> 00:07:17.568
that nobody feels sorry for.

00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:20.208
- The reason these stereotypes persist

00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:22.278
against particular groups

00:07:22.320 --> 00:07:24.918
is because they have historical roots

00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:29.388
in nationwide campaigns to
demonize entire racial groups

00:07:29.430 --> 00:07:32.988
and depict them as
meeting certain stereotypes.

00:07:33.030 --> 00:07:35.181
So with respect to Mexican Americans,

00:07:35.223 --> 00:07:37.248
they had to demonize a whole population

00:07:37.290 --> 00:07:40.608
in order to justify in
taking over half of a country.

00:07:40.650 --> 00:07:42.798
With the African American community,

00:07:42.840 --> 00:07:45.918
obviously supporting
slavery is so inconsistent

00:07:45.960 --> 00:07:48.108
with our articulated principles,

00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:52.608
it was necessary to demonize
them as somehow subhuman.

00:07:52.650 --> 00:07:53.928
And with Asian Americans,

00:07:53.970 --> 00:07:57.438
to justify national policies of exclusion,

00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.108
you really have to demonize
an entire racial group

00:08:00.150 --> 00:08:02.658
to adopt nationwide policies.

00:08:02.700 --> 00:08:06.288
So it's always about conquest, exclusion.

00:08:06.330 --> 00:08:09.198
- 19th century advertisements
went even further

00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:10.398
with making the connection

00:08:10.440 --> 00:08:12.708
between Chinese immigrants and rats.

00:08:12.750 --> 00:08:15.348
A seller of rat poison printed up

00:08:15.390 --> 00:08:19.698
this trade advertisement
card titled "Rough on Rats."

00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:22.518
And it featured an exotically dressed

00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.638
coolie-hat-and-pigtail-wearing Chinese man

00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:28.728
about to eat a whole rat.

00:08:28.770 --> 00:08:30.258
And both the Chinese

00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:34.008
and the poison were
labeled "Rough on Rats."

00:08:34.050 --> 00:08:37.278
The sly use of the slogan
"The Chinese Must Go"

00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:38.898
referred not only to the rats

00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:40.998
but also to the Chinese.

00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:43.008
- When I was growing up in Boston,

00:08:43.050 --> 00:08:46.488
I was regularly called Chink, gook, Jap,

00:08:46.530 --> 00:08:49.458
every racial epithet you
could imagine being thrown

00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:50.688
at an Asian American.

00:08:50.730 --> 00:08:52.308
And I was so accustomed to it

00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:55.368
that I didn't really think at the time

00:08:55.410 --> 00:08:57.348
just how intense that was.

00:08:57.390 --> 00:09:00.438
And it wasn't until years later
when I moved to California,

00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:03.918
a state where because of our diversity

00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:06.078
you have less of that overt racism.

00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:08.967
- You gotta assimilate
a little bit, Chinatown.

00:09:09.009 --> 00:09:11.586
(censored) Laundry hanging out the windows,

00:09:11.628 --> 00:09:13.548
(censored) your three or four people

00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.706
inside each one of your little SROs, okay,

00:09:16.748 --> 00:09:21.438
(censored) noise, (censored)
parades, (censored) dragons.

00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:24.018
- We may have a tendency to assume

00:09:24.060 --> 00:09:25.818
that everything turns out for the best

00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:28.038
or the people automatically turn

00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.378
to a more positive point of view.

00:09:30.420 --> 00:09:32.358
But many times in politics,

00:09:32.400 --> 00:09:35.898
I've observed that it's not that hard

00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:38.688
to get to the most negative

00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:41.418
or cynical views of the population.

00:09:41.460 --> 00:09:42.738
- It's an invasion,

00:09:42.780 --> 00:09:47.208
and it's also an invasion of
drugs coming in from Mexico.

00:09:47.250 --> 00:09:50.658
- You know, a lot of people
see the anti-immigrant rhetoric

00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:53.748
and action from the federal administration

00:09:53.790 --> 00:09:55.488
as being a Latino issue.

00:09:55.530 --> 00:09:57.888
It's not simply a Latino issue.

00:09:57.930 --> 00:10:00.138
It's a human issue for sure,

00:10:00.180 --> 00:10:03.078
but it's also very much an Asian issue.

00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.868
And we need to make sure
that we are talking about that,

00:10:05.910 --> 00:10:09.408
owning that, seeing that
our community is under attack

00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:11.861
with this anti-immigrant
action and rhetoric.

00:10:11.903 --> 00:10:13.311
- [Crowd] Send her back!

00:10:13.353 --> 00:10:14.758
Send her back!

00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:16.181
Send her back!

00:10:16.223 --> 00:10:17.898
- Go back your country! (censored).

00:10:17.940 --> 00:10:19.340
Bye, China!

00:10:19.382 --> 00:10:20.655
Hola, China!

00:10:20.697 --> 00:10:21.576
- Punch you down.

00:10:21.618 --> 00:10:24.500
(hand slaps)

00:10:24.542 --> 00:10:26.666
Yeah, Chinese (censored).

00:10:26.708 --> 00:10:29.625
(melancholy music)

00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.168
- When I stand on the floor

00:10:33.210 --> 00:10:34.908
of the California State Legislature,

00:10:34.950 --> 00:10:38.178
I often remind myself
that it was the very chamber

00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:41.778
that I serve in, where I get to vote today,

00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:45.168
that not long ago led the country

00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:47.628
in excluding Chinese Americans,

00:10:47.670 --> 00:10:49.428
that it was our state

00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:51.348
where some of the first internment camps

00:10:51.390 --> 00:10:53.358
of Japanese Americans were laid out,

00:10:53.400 --> 00:10:57.288
that post-9/11 anti-Muslim
incidents have been on the rise,

00:10:57.330 --> 00:11:00.858
hate crimes against
Muslim kids have spiked.

00:11:00.900 --> 00:11:02.898
This was in our recent history,

00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:04.308
and if we're not careful,

00:11:04.350 --> 00:11:05.748
we could go back to that history.

00:11:05.790 --> 00:11:09.228
- We can't continue to allow China

00:11:09.270 --> 00:11:10.668
to rape our country,

00:11:10.710 --> 00:11:11.988
and that's what they are doing.

00:11:12.030 --> 00:11:14.718
- A global fight escalates again.

00:11:14.760 --> 00:11:17.418
Today's move to close the Chinese consulate

00:11:17.460 --> 00:11:19.668
in Houston is the latest action

00:11:19.710 --> 00:11:22.188
by the Trump administration
against Beijing.

00:11:22.230 --> 00:11:25.458
- I remember when I was
first starting to be invited

00:11:25.500 --> 00:11:30.500
to speak about anti-Asian
xenophobia during the pandemic,

00:11:30.810 --> 00:11:34.728
and I remember many public op-eds

00:11:34.770 --> 00:11:37.428
and commentaries from people,

00:11:37.470 --> 00:11:41.178
Asian Americans who
were expressing surprise,

00:11:41.220 --> 00:11:42.919
like, almost shock.

00:11:42.961 --> 00:11:45.408
(gasps) "I didn't know
that this could happen!

00:11:45.450 --> 00:11:48.228
I didn't realize that, you know,

00:11:48.270 --> 00:11:52.428
that I could be one of
those hated immigrants,

00:11:52.470 --> 00:11:54.378
like the Mexicans," you know,

00:11:54.420 --> 00:11:58.548
who have been the focus
of our president's ire.

00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:00.518
And I think it's been a real wake-up call.

00:12:00.560 --> 00:12:02.097
♪ Look, if I wanna be heard ♪

00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:03.483
♪ Can't forget the balance ♪

00:12:03.525 --> 00:12:04.880
♪ I mean, we're racist to a point ♪

00:12:04.922 --> 00:12:06.414
♪ But here's the bigger challenge ♪

00:12:06.456 --> 00:12:07.998
♪ Why do we group people together ♪

00:12:08.040 --> 00:12:09.759
♪ And only focus on the minuses ♪

00:12:09.801 --> 00:12:10.731
♪ Scared of pandemics ♪

00:12:10.773 --> 00:12:12.782
♪ But hatred's stronger than any virus is ♪

00:12:12.824 --> 00:12:14.491
♪ Think I'm dealing with racism worse ♪

00:12:14.533 --> 00:12:15.622
♪ 'Cause of the outbreak ♪

00:12:15.664 --> 00:12:17.280
♪ No, we've been dealing with racism ♪

00:12:17.322 --> 00:12:18.932
♪ Since birth without breaks ♪

00:12:18.974 --> 00:12:20.383
♪ I still have faith in humankind ♪

00:12:20.425 --> 00:12:21.517
♪ But what do I know ♪

00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:22.756
♪ Hatred's the most contagious ♪

00:12:22.798 --> 00:12:24.288
♪ And these days it's going viral ♪

00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:25.991
- [Bystander] I hate Asians! (beep)

00:12:26.033 --> 00:12:28.374
Uh-oh, he's scared, OG! (beep)

00:12:28.416 --> 00:12:30.227
(light music)

00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:31.436
You hear this?

00:12:32.353 --> 00:12:33.738
(victim crying)

00:12:33.780 --> 00:12:35.538
- Well, let's look at history again

00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:38.268
as to what happens
when there were conflicts

00:12:38.310 --> 00:12:39.318
with other countries.

00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:42.528
What happened to Japanese
Americans during the war

00:12:42.570 --> 00:12:45.888
and the internments and
the discriminatory practices

00:12:45.930 --> 00:12:48.168
that occurred subsequent to that,

00:12:48.210 --> 00:12:49.698
not only to Japanese Americans

00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:51.198
but Asian Pacific Islanders?

00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:52.788
- [Narrator] Japanese
have attacked Pearl Harbor,

00:12:52.830 --> 00:12:55.388
Hawaii, by air, President
Roosevelt has just announced.

00:12:55.430 --> 00:12:57.738
- [Narrator] That is why
the commanding general

00:12:57.780 --> 00:13:01.008
of the Western Defense Command
determined that all Japanese

00:13:01.050 --> 00:13:03.078
within the coastal area should move inland.

00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:04.398
- [Interviewer] But a great
many of them, of course,

00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:06.798
were citizens of the United States.

00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.588
Why do you think they were
treated that way, for instance,

00:13:09.630 --> 00:13:12.738
and the Italians and Germans were not,

00:13:12.780 --> 00:13:14.658
who were also our enemies at the time?

00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:17.268
What could they have done
differently than they did?

00:13:17.310 --> 00:13:20.118
I mean, what basis was there for feeling

00:13:20.160 --> 00:13:21.360
that they were disloyal?

00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.633
- Only the conduct of
the (censored) himself.

00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:28.638
- As one who believes in
the principles of freedom

00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:31.248
and justice and liberty,

00:13:31.290 --> 00:13:34.848
I think it's very important
that we recall our mistakes.

00:13:34.890 --> 00:13:37.848
We ought to know that in 1942,

00:13:37.890 --> 00:13:41.298
a mistake was made that American citizens

00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:44.178
of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated

00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:47.748
in total violation of
their constitutional rights.

00:13:47.790 --> 00:13:49.788
And therefore, I think it's very important

00:13:49.830 --> 00:13:54.588
that everybody know that
this happened in our past

00:13:54.630 --> 00:13:58.248
because it can happen to
Blacks, it can happen to Chicanos,

00:13:58.290 --> 00:13:59.328
it can happen to poor,

00:13:59.370 --> 00:14:02.178
it could happen to political dissidents.

00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:04.193
- [Interviewer] Could
this thing happen again?

00:14:05.130 --> 00:14:09.588
- I would have to say it's
possible, unfortunately.

00:14:09.630 --> 00:14:12.108
I would prefer to say
that it's not possible.

00:14:12.150 --> 00:14:15.498
But as you're aware, legally,

00:14:15.540 --> 00:14:17.538
the law is still in the books.

00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:19.968
For example, the executive order

00:14:20.010 --> 00:14:22.998
that called for the evacuation was upheld

00:14:23.040 --> 00:14:25.818
by the Supreme Court, a unanimous decision.

00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:28.008
It is still the law of the land.

00:14:28.050 --> 00:14:31.578
So, legally, I presume if you wanted

00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:34.968
to carry out racism,

00:14:35.010 --> 00:14:36.288
it can be done.

00:14:36.330 --> 00:14:38.628
- Asians have one of the longest histories

00:14:38.670 --> 00:14:41.358
of being victims of
stereotypes in American history.

00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:43.638
I mean, it goes so far back,

00:14:43.680 --> 00:14:46.908
and including not even feeling comfortable

00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:48.348
of the certainty of being here,

00:14:48.390 --> 00:14:50.868
you know, obviously with
the Chinese Exclusion Act

00:14:50.910 --> 00:14:53.898
and the Japanese American
internment and issues like that.

00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:56.868
This has been a serious, profound issue

00:14:56.910 --> 00:14:59.058
for generation after generation.

00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:00.648
- [Reporter] Japanese imports up.

00:15:00.690 --> 00:15:03.138
American car production down.

00:15:03.180 --> 00:15:06.978
Layoffs, welfare lines,
desperation, and resentment.

00:15:07.020 --> 00:15:10.848
In some places, union-sponsored
Trash-a-Toyota parties,

00:15:10.890 --> 00:15:13.048
striking out at a symbol of the problem.

00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:14.148
(people grunting)

00:15:14.190 --> 00:15:17.028
- I remember the exact moment

00:15:17.070 --> 00:15:20.658
when I heard about the
hate-crime murder of Vincent Chin.

00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:24.408
He was in a club celebrating
his impending wedding,

00:15:24.450 --> 00:15:28.098
how two White autoworkers,
Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz,

00:15:28.140 --> 00:15:30.115
started yelling at him that

00:15:30.157 --> 00:15:32.178
"It's because of you
that we're out of work."

00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:36.168
I was horrified to learn
how they followed him out,

00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:39.888
grabbed him as they hit
him with a baseball bat

00:15:39.930 --> 00:15:42.558
until Vincent's skull cracked,

00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:46.728
and how Vincent's last
words were, "It's not fair,"

00:15:46.770 --> 00:15:49.579
before he slipped into a coma and died.

00:15:49.621 --> 00:15:51.438
(soft music)

00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:53.613
- I was with him for four days.

00:15:54.670 --> 00:15:56.411
Every day, you know,

00:15:56.453 --> 00:15:58.743
I'll go in there and see him.

00:15:59.880 --> 00:16:00.933
Just sit next to him.

00:16:05.247 --> 00:16:08.573
- Well, to be quite honest,
I expected to go to jail.

00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:13.390
I pleaded guilty to manslaughter on that.

00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:16.128
I did, just like anybody else,

00:16:16.170 --> 00:16:17.298
I went to take my licks

00:16:17.340 --> 00:16:19.337
'cause I thought sure I would go to jail.

00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:21.678
- And in what outraged the Asian community,

00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:24.678
both escaped a 15-year prison term.

00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.378
Instead, they were placed
on three years probation

00:16:27.420 --> 00:16:29.958
and given a $3,000 fine.

00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:32.530
- Right there on the front page was

00:16:35.910 --> 00:16:40.278
coverage of that these two
killers had received probation

00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.818
for killing a Chinese man.

00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:45.777
(melancholy music)

00:16:51.165 --> 00:16:55.082
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:06.828 --> 00:17:08.388
- I was brought up to believe

00:17:08.430 --> 00:17:10.672
that if you do something wrong,

00:17:10.714 --> 00:17:13.308
you have to pay the price.

00:17:13.350 --> 00:17:17.778
And it didn't seem that Vincent's
life was valued very much.

00:17:17.820 --> 00:17:19.608
- When we hear,

00:17:19.650 --> 00:17:21.378
as we've heard throughout all our lives,

00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:22.953
no matter how old we are,

00:17:24.030 --> 00:17:27.258
that we are a country
that stands for freedom,

00:17:27.300 --> 00:17:30.918
for rightness, for justice,

00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.568
for everyone.

00:17:32.610 --> 00:17:35.538
It simply doesn't apply to
those who are not White.

00:17:35.580 --> 00:17:38.358
- We're in the midst of a
phenomenal transformation

00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.298
of American society that's
been going on for decades,

00:17:41.340 --> 00:17:42.558
and it's accelerating,

00:17:42.600 --> 00:17:44.508
and the resistance to that is accelerating,

00:17:44.550 --> 00:17:45.708
and they're colliding.

00:17:45.750 --> 00:17:48.588
And this collision really
hit its turning point

00:17:48.630 --> 00:17:50.718
with Barack Obama's election in 2008,

00:17:50.760 --> 00:17:53.718
which actually made people aware

00:17:53.760 --> 00:17:55.548
of how big that transformation is,

00:17:55.590 --> 00:17:56.448
and that means aware

00:17:56.490 --> 00:17:58.818
both of those who favor the transformation

00:17:58.860 --> 00:18:00.348
and those who are resisting it.

00:18:00.390 --> 00:18:04.338
- There have been conspiracy
theories about this idea

00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:05.928
that somehow the diversity

00:18:05.970 --> 00:18:08.238
of the world is rising up here in America.

00:18:08.280 --> 00:18:11.058
And this is why certain elements

00:18:11.100 --> 00:18:13.608
of White America feels like they have

00:18:13.650 --> 00:18:17.538
to exert their belief of
what America should be.

00:18:17.580 --> 00:18:20.297
- All we want is to change America back

00:18:21.696 --> 00:18:22.704
to what it was!

00:18:22.746 --> 00:18:25.158
- I draw the line in the dust

00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.308
and toss the gauntlet
before the feet of tyranny,

00:18:28.350 --> 00:18:32.240
and I say segregation
now, segregation tomorrow,

00:18:33.104 --> 00:18:34.304
and segregation forever.

00:18:35.237 --> 00:18:36.757
- [Crowd] We want Wallace!

00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.653
We want Wallace!

00:18:38.695 --> 00:18:40.522
We want Wallace!

00:18:40.564 --> 00:18:42.348
- I tell you, you ought to
take them people over there

00:18:42.390 --> 00:18:45.206
and put 'em in a bunch of
cages and ship 'em off now.

00:18:45.248 --> 00:18:46.958
Ship and dump 'em!

00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:49.667
(crowd yelling)

00:18:52.362 --> 00:18:53.686
- [Crowd] Build that wall!

00:18:53.728 --> 00:18:55.035
Build that wall!

00:18:55.077 --> 00:18:56.288
Build that wall!

00:18:56.330 --> 00:18:58.218
- Take Donald Trump.

00:18:58.260 --> 00:19:00.498
He's getting huge support

00:19:00.540 --> 00:19:04.143
from people who are angry at everything,

00:19:05.130 --> 00:19:08.118
mostly White males.

00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:09.348
- I am voting for Donald Trump.

00:19:09.390 --> 00:19:12.288
I don't give a (censored),
that's who I'm voting for.

00:19:12.330 --> 00:19:13.728
That's the way it goes.
- Well, they are furious

00:19:13.770 --> 00:19:15.198
about everything.

00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:17.598
Everything's been taken away from them.

00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:19.668
There's no economic growth for them,

00:19:19.710 --> 00:19:21.888
there is for other people.

00:19:21.930 --> 00:19:24.738
There's concern, that deep concern

00:19:24.780 --> 00:19:28.188
that they're losing their country

00:19:28.230 --> 00:19:31.248
because they, generalized they,

00:19:31.290 --> 00:19:33.083
are taking it away from us.

00:19:33.125 --> 00:19:35.237
- [Crowd] USA! USA!

00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:36.112
USA! USA!

00:19:37.304 --> 00:19:38.137
USA! USA!

00:19:39.514 --> 00:19:41.504
- [Protestor] Don't! (censored)

00:19:41.546 --> 00:19:42.814
All of us and you guys-

00:19:42.856 --> 00:19:43.647
- USA! - There's no difference

00:19:43.689 --> 00:19:45.745
between all you guys!

00:19:45.787 --> 00:19:47.478
What's so different? Nothing's different!

00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:49.365
- You're tough, yeah?
- Nothing's different!

00:19:49.407 --> 00:19:53.088
- And now there's the picture of us

00:19:53.130 --> 00:19:57.528
as being overwhelmed
by Muslims and Mexicans,

00:19:57.570 --> 00:19:59.748
you know, Chinese.

00:19:59.790 --> 00:20:02.148
Somehow they're taking our country away,

00:20:02.190 --> 00:20:04.668
and it's based on something objective.

00:20:04.710 --> 00:20:06.828
The White population is pretty soon going

00:20:06.870 --> 00:20:09.243
to become a minority, whatever White means,

00:20:10.111 --> 00:20:13.248
and the people regard themselves that way.

00:20:13.290 --> 00:20:17.958
But the response to this is
generalized anger at everything.

00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:19.250
- [Crowd] Stop the steal!

00:20:20.107 --> 00:20:21.760
Stop the steal!

00:20:21.802 --> 00:20:23.590
Stop the steal!

00:20:23.632 --> 00:20:25.286
Stop the steal!

00:20:25.328 --> 00:20:26.934
Stop the steal!

00:20:26.976 --> 00:20:28.908
Stop the steal!

00:20:28.950 --> 00:20:31.608
- When I was running in
the city of Monterey Park,

00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:33.528
things were very, very polarized.

00:20:33.570 --> 00:20:36.528
Longtime residents had a great resentment

00:20:36.570 --> 00:20:38.508
of the new immigrants that were coming in.

00:20:38.550 --> 00:20:41.898
They saw their Safeway supermarket becoming

00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:43.998
a 99 Ranch Market,

00:20:44.040 --> 00:20:46.788
and they saw their
eggs-and-bacon coffee shop

00:20:46.830 --> 00:20:49.698
becoming the Hawaii noodle shop.

00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:54.078
So they saw their city disappearing,

00:20:54.120 --> 00:20:55.668
that's the way they viewed it,

00:20:55.710 --> 00:20:57.348
rather than seeing something new

00:20:57.390 --> 00:20:59.658
and exciting happening in the city.

00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:01.488
But what happened then was that

00:21:01.530 --> 00:21:03.018
then people were very polarized.

00:21:03.060 --> 00:21:04.458
And I would say that that was

00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:08.058
when I had the greatest
amount of stereotyping

00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:12.108
and people who thought that
I could not represent them,

00:21:12.150 --> 00:21:14.538
that I did not speak English,

00:21:14.580 --> 00:21:18.168
that I was not an American,

00:21:18.210 --> 00:21:23.148
or that I could not
understand the city council rules

00:21:23.190 --> 00:21:24.273
and regulations,

00:21:25.320 --> 00:21:29.414
nor could I actually
represent their points of view.

00:21:29.456 --> 00:21:31.799
- We are determined
to take our country back.

00:21:31.841 --> 00:21:33.078
- We're gonna take
it... We're gonna fulfill

00:21:33.120 --> 00:21:35.736
the promises of Donald Trump.

00:21:35.778 --> 00:21:36.569
That's what we believed in,

00:21:36.611 --> 00:21:38.868
that's why we voted for Donald Trump.

00:21:38.910 --> 00:21:40.848
- If I win, they're going back.

00:21:40.890 --> 00:21:41.840
- [Crowd] USA! USA!

00:21:43.294 --> 00:21:44.127
USA! USA!

00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:50.628
- What they all have
in common is the notion

00:21:50.670 --> 00:21:52.308
that it's a White country

00:21:52.350 --> 00:21:55.008
and everybody's just a
visitor who's not White.

00:21:55.050 --> 00:21:56.928
That's where the whole thing about go back,

00:21:56.970 --> 00:21:58.218
go back to your country,

00:21:58.260 --> 00:22:00.378
that if you're, you know, if
you're an Asian American,

00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:02.352
you're a foreigner somehow.

00:22:02.394 --> 00:22:04.039
- To your (censored) country!

00:22:04.081 --> 00:22:05.169
This is my country!

00:22:05.211 --> 00:22:06.975
This is not a Chinese.

00:22:07.017 --> 00:22:09.168
- I'm seen as a perpetual foreigner.

00:22:09.210 --> 00:22:12.078
So what do I do to
demonstrate my patriotism

00:22:12.120 --> 00:22:15.078
when I knock on doors and canvass?

00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:16.435
I've been asked the question,

00:22:16.477 --> 00:22:17.928
"Are you, during the Olympics,

00:22:17.970 --> 00:22:20.898
are you more loyal to the
United States or Japan?"

00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:23.778
And of course, I am Chinese American.

00:22:23.820 --> 00:22:25.038
The mayor of my city

00:22:25.080 --> 00:22:27.798
at the time was a second-generation Italian

00:22:27.840 --> 00:22:30.678
when I first ran for city
council in the city of Campbell.

00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:33.018
But I was two generations more native

00:22:33.060 --> 00:22:35.688
to my community in Santa Clara Valley

00:22:35.730 --> 00:22:37.308
than the incumbent mayor.

00:22:37.350 --> 00:22:39.468
But, again, I was seen
as a perpetual foreigner.

00:22:39.510 --> 00:22:42.018
- You have to look at it through the,

00:22:42.060 --> 00:22:44.898
sort of the continuum of American history.

00:22:44.940 --> 00:22:48.108
Where we're sitting right
now used to belong to Mexico,

00:22:48.150 --> 00:22:50.208
and before that it
belonged to Spain, right?

00:22:50.250 --> 00:22:53.568
So if you're Latino and you're
here in America, you know,

00:22:53.610 --> 00:22:56.268
even if you immigrated
in here from someplace,

00:22:56.310 --> 00:22:57.858
there's a long, long history.

00:22:57.900 --> 00:22:58.818
I mean, in a sense, I mean,

00:22:58.860 --> 00:23:01.128
they're not what we call Native Americans,

00:23:01.170 --> 00:23:03.288
but in a sense they've
been here a long, long time.

00:23:03.330 --> 00:23:04.728
You know, there's been a Latino presence

00:23:04.770 --> 00:23:06.258
in this country for a long, long time.

00:23:06.300 --> 00:23:09.588
I mean, Blacks were brought
here as slaves in the 1700s.

00:23:09.630 --> 00:23:13.038
So even though they were
imported in from Africa,

00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:15.618
essentially, they've been
here a long, long time.

00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:16.788
Asians, not so much.

00:23:16.830 --> 00:23:19.668
I mean, Asians are the
most recent immigrant wave

00:23:19.710 --> 00:23:20.838
in the US.

00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.088
Other than Chinese workers, basically,

00:23:23.130 --> 00:23:25.338
who were here very early on, as you know,

00:23:25.380 --> 00:23:28.098
working on the railroads
and serving as cooks

00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:28.998
and all of that,

00:23:29.040 --> 00:23:30.558
Asians have not been here that long,

00:23:30.600 --> 00:23:32.688
at least not in the
numbers that they are now.

00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:34.608
- What we are facing today is no different

00:23:34.650 --> 00:23:35.748
than what the Irish,

00:23:35.790 --> 00:23:40.038
the Polish faced back hundreds of years ago

00:23:40.080 --> 00:23:42.048
when they were first
immigrating to the United States.

00:23:42.090 --> 00:23:43.998
It is nothing new to our history,

00:23:44.040 --> 00:23:46.518
yet we are the newer immigrants.

00:23:46.560 --> 00:23:49.158
- Put it in perspective, my
parents came to this country

00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.898
with a lot less.

00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:53.388
What I have is an incredible
blessing and a privilege.

00:23:53.430 --> 00:23:55.638
My dad, when he came to this country,

00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.548
three shirts, two pairs
of pants, not much money.

00:23:58.590 --> 00:24:01.188
You know, my mom
cleaned floors to, you know,

00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:02.778
pay for her meals.

00:24:02.820 --> 00:24:06.798
1950s, so basically you
were leaving your homeland.

00:24:06.840 --> 00:24:08.838
Obviously, communications
was very different,

00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:10.788
it cost a lot of money
to make a phone call.

00:24:10.830 --> 00:24:12.798
So you were saying goodbye to things

00:24:12.840 --> 00:24:14.568
that you were familiar with,

00:24:14.610 --> 00:24:16.728
the people that you loved,

00:24:16.770 --> 00:24:19.368
based on this ideal that this country,

00:24:19.410 --> 00:24:20.388
and if you did the right thing,

00:24:20.430 --> 00:24:23.628
would provide you with a
brighter, more spectacular future.

00:24:23.670 --> 00:24:25.518
- So John Chiang and I grew up

00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:27.678
in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.

00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:29.298
We grew up in a suburb

00:24:29.340 --> 00:24:33.498
that was principally a white flight suburb.

00:24:33.540 --> 00:24:37.008
These were communities that were largely,

00:24:37.050 --> 00:24:38.298
but not exclusively,

00:24:38.340 --> 00:24:40.608
populated by people that left Chicago

00:24:40.650 --> 00:24:42.468
when Chicago was integrating.

00:24:42.510 --> 00:24:43.788
And so as a consequence,

00:24:43.830 --> 00:24:46.608
they were fairly conservative communities

00:24:46.650 --> 00:24:49.638
and ones that were very insular.

00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.618
And John and his family were one

00:24:51.660 --> 00:24:53.028
of the first families of color

00:24:53.070 --> 00:24:55.368
to move into their particular neighborhood

00:24:55.410 --> 00:24:56.508
and their suburb.

00:24:56.550 --> 00:24:58.878
- Our family faced extraordinary hostility,

00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:01.188
discrimination, bigotry,

00:25:01.230 --> 00:25:05.808
and it's painful as a
child of six, seven, eight

00:25:05.850 --> 00:25:08.508
to be treated as a second-class
citizen, to be excluded.

00:25:08.550 --> 00:25:10.218
- It was a very,

00:25:10.260 --> 00:25:12.768
I think, Middle America,

00:25:12.810 --> 00:25:14.658
middle-class high school experience.

00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:15.978
But for John, it was very different

00:25:16.020 --> 00:25:19.488
because not only was John's family

00:25:19.530 --> 00:25:23.928
one of the only Chinese
American families in the community

00:25:23.970 --> 00:25:26.538
but one of the only families of color

00:25:26.580 --> 00:25:27.371
in the whole community.

00:25:27.413 --> 00:25:29.268
And as a result,

00:25:29.310 --> 00:25:33.078
his family was targeted
with bigotry and prejudice.

00:25:33.120 --> 00:25:37.308
There were epithets spray
painted on the side of their home,

00:25:37.350 --> 00:25:40.458
various ways in which people
manifest their prejudices,

00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:43.848
his younger siblings sometimes bullied,

00:25:43.890 --> 00:25:44.868
that sort of thing.

00:25:44.910 --> 00:25:47.448
- Dave has sort of been
a security blanket for me.

00:25:47.490 --> 00:25:48.985
You know, when people say, you know,

00:25:49.027 --> 00:25:51.678
"That didn't happen to you as a child,

00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:53.298
you didn't face that discrimination,"

00:25:53.340 --> 00:25:56.148
Dave Jones was right there and he saw it.

00:25:56.190 --> 00:25:59.961
He saw the hostilities,
he understood the struggle.

00:26:00.003 --> 00:26:03.318
All my life, I've been
standing up to the bullies.

00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:06.258
As I kid, I stood up to racist bullies

00:26:06.300 --> 00:26:08.448
who were picking on my younger brothers

00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:11.298
and I won! (crowd cheering)

00:26:11.340 --> 00:26:15.438
- Growing up, I spoke Chinese.

00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:16.278
Having said that,

00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:20.238
it wasn't until the later
part of elementary school

00:26:20.280 --> 00:26:21.858
that I faced racism.

00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:24.798
In fact, we were victims of a hate crime.

00:26:24.840 --> 00:26:26.148
Our house was spray painted

00:26:26.190 --> 00:26:27.828
in "going back to your own country."

00:26:27.870 --> 00:26:29.568
I remember very vividly my brother

00:26:29.610 --> 00:26:32.238
and I telling our parents we
wanted to speak English only,

00:26:32.280 --> 00:26:34.608
and so that was the case.

00:26:34.650 --> 00:26:36.228
Fast-forward to now,

00:26:36.270 --> 00:26:39.138
when I talk to other recent immigrants,

00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:42.108
they don't quite see me as truly Chinese

00:26:42.150 --> 00:26:43.938
because I don't speak the language.

00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:47.658
And yet I felt incumbent
upon myself to tell them,

00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:49.398
well, did you know that
it was the generations

00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:52.458
that had come before
you that had to assimilate

00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:55.608
to gain the level of a
trust, the patriotism,

00:26:55.650 --> 00:27:00.318
serving in World War,
serving in Vietnam War,

00:27:00.360 --> 00:27:01.668
serving in public office

00:27:01.710 --> 00:27:03.408
that provides you the opportunity

00:27:03.450 --> 00:27:07.728
so that you can speak your
own native language in America,

00:27:07.770 --> 00:27:10.698
have businesses solely
in an Asian language,

00:27:10.740 --> 00:27:12.018
and feel comfortable?

00:27:12.060 --> 00:27:16.158
And that's why you see
Chinatowns, Little Saigons,

00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.858
to which you could pretty much get away

00:27:18.900 --> 00:27:21.255
with just speaking your native tongue.

00:27:21.297 --> 00:27:23.028
But that didn't always happen.

00:27:23.070 --> 00:27:24.198
- There was an issue that happened

00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:25.788
in the city of Monterey Park.

00:27:25.830 --> 00:27:28.758
There was an ugly anti-immigrant,

00:27:28.800 --> 00:27:30.888
English-only movement there.

00:27:30.930 --> 00:27:33.618
Longtime residents had a hard time with it,

00:27:33.660 --> 00:27:35.358
so they passed laws saying

00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:38.358
that English should be the
only language on the signs

00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:39.191
in the city

00:27:39.233 --> 00:27:42.138
and there should only be
English books in the library.

00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:44.238
But the last straw was
when they passed a resolution

00:27:44.280 --> 00:27:45.258
in the city council saying

00:27:45.300 --> 00:27:48.918
that only English should
be spoken in the city.

00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.218
So a multiethnic
coalition of us got together

00:27:52.260 --> 00:27:55.428
and got thousands of
signatures on petitions

00:27:55.470 --> 00:27:56.658
to protest this.

00:27:56.700 --> 00:27:59.838
The pressure was enough
to cause the resolution

00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:01.038
to be overturned,

00:28:01.080 --> 00:28:04.398
but it then became so
apparent that the people

00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:07.608
in the city council did
not represent the city.

00:28:07.650 --> 00:28:11.135
So that's when I ran and won.

00:28:11.177 --> 00:28:13.760
(upbeat music)

00:28:15.231 --> 00:28:17.694
♪ So what, we hang out ♪

00:28:17.736 --> 00:28:20.323
♪ So what, we drink tea ♪

00:28:20.365 --> 00:28:22.843
♪ We just eating good ♪

00:28:22.885 --> 00:28:25.337
♪ In the SGV ♪

00:28:25.379 --> 00:28:27.600
♪ So what, we eat late ♪

00:28:27.642 --> 00:28:30.384
♪ That's how it's supposed to be ♪

00:28:30.426 --> 00:28:34.908
♪ 6-2-6, young, wild, and free ♪

00:28:34.950 --> 00:28:38.088
- If you think about society
today in other communities,

00:28:38.130 --> 00:28:42.108
when you talk about
Women's March for women,

00:28:42.150 --> 00:28:46.278
you talk about LGBT pride,
LGBT community marches,

00:28:46.320 --> 00:28:47.388
Black Lives Matter,

00:28:47.430 --> 00:28:48.408
March For Our Lives,

00:28:48.450 --> 00:28:51.288
young children marching against firearms.

00:28:51.330 --> 00:28:52.878
You talk about the Latino

00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:55.758
and the Hispanic communities
on immigration reform.

00:28:55.800 --> 00:28:58.158
And then you think Asian Pacific Islanders,

00:28:58.200 --> 00:28:59.958
what do we march for?

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:01.548
What do we solely march for?

00:29:01.590 --> 00:29:04.938
And what I'm fearful
of is that when you see

00:29:04.980 --> 00:29:07.548
all of these communities
marching in the streets

00:29:07.590 --> 00:29:09.738
because there are direct attacks,

00:29:09.780 --> 00:29:12.738
Asians say, "Well, it's not quite us."

00:29:12.780 --> 00:29:15.588
But if you look at history,
it's only a matter of time.

00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:16.788
- [Narrator] Racist attacks

00:29:16.830 --> 00:29:19.818
and pestilence are linked in history.

00:29:19.860 --> 00:29:23.508
When the Black Death ravaged
Europe in the 14th century,

00:29:23.550 --> 00:29:26.598
mobs killed thousands of Jews accused

00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:28.308
of spreading the plague.

00:29:28.350 --> 00:29:30.678
- I would like to begin

00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:32.658
by announcing some important developments

00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:36.408
in our war against the Chinese virus.

00:29:36.450 --> 00:29:38.808
- [Reporter] Dr. Chen
Fu is on the front lines

00:29:38.850 --> 00:29:41.148
in the battle against COVID-19.

00:29:41.190 --> 00:29:43.218
As a Chinese American doctor,

00:29:43.260 --> 00:29:46.368
he feels both celebrated and vilified.

00:29:46.410 --> 00:29:48.993
- I feel an animosity
that I've never felt before.

00:29:50.040 --> 00:29:51.258
- [Reporter] On his
commute to the hospital,

00:29:51.300 --> 00:29:53.905
Dr. Fu says he was
approached by a stranger.

00:29:53.947 --> 00:29:54.918
- "You dirty Chinese,"

00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:56.838
and he just kept saying
that over and over again.

00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:58.728
I've never felt anything like this before.

00:29:58.770 --> 00:30:00.978
- [Reporter] This, just
one of many incidents

00:30:01.020 --> 00:30:02.358
across the country... Yo, yo, yo!

00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.938
- Now being reported.
- Get out of our country!

00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:07.488
- [Reporter] Asian Americans
targeted for their race.

00:30:07.530 --> 00:30:09.018
- Get out of our country!

00:30:09.060 --> 00:30:11.118
- [Reporter] In Texas, this person yelling

00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:12.686
at a Vietnamese restaurant owner.

00:30:12.728 --> 00:30:13.968
- Get out!

00:30:14.010 --> 00:30:16.608
- [Reporter] And this man
and his two children stabbed

00:30:16.650 --> 00:30:17.748
at a Sam's Club.

00:30:17.790 --> 00:30:19.878
The suspect, according to the FBI,

00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:21.798
thought the family was Chinese

00:30:21.840 --> 00:30:24.588
and infecting people with the coronavirus.

00:30:24.630 --> 00:30:26.988
In Minnesota, this note, the tenants claim,

00:30:27.030 --> 00:30:28.638
was posted on their door,

00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:30.378
reading, "We're watching you.

00:30:30.420 --> 00:30:33.018
Take the Chinese virus back to China."

00:30:33.060 --> 00:30:36.228
- The pandemic has revived much older,

00:30:36.270 --> 00:30:39.918
larger, racist, anti-immigrant narratives.

00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:44.418
It's part of our very long
history of xenophobia and racism.

00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:46.548
And we know that in particular,

00:30:46.590 --> 00:30:49.458
disease has intersected with this idea

00:30:49.500 --> 00:30:51.288
that immigrants are a threat.

00:30:51.330 --> 00:30:55.848
It began with a video showing
a young Chinese woman biting

00:30:55.890 --> 00:30:59.628
into the body of a
large bat at a restaurant.

00:30:59.670 --> 00:31:01.458
It went viral.

00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:04.608
The bat soup videos struck upon

00:31:04.650 --> 00:31:08.568
and revived these centuries-old
messages, stereotypes,

00:31:08.610 --> 00:31:12.168
connecting China and
Chinese people to disease.

00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:16.788
And even though media
outlets exposed the truth

00:31:16.830 --> 00:31:20.658
that this bat soup video
was not actually filmed

00:31:20.700 --> 00:31:22.488
in China at all,

00:31:22.530 --> 00:31:25.518
it was really too late to dispel the myth

00:31:25.560 --> 00:31:28.818
that had become widely accepted as fact.

00:31:28.860 --> 00:31:31.488
- There are many unsolved
bias crimes here in New York City

00:31:31.530 --> 00:31:33.408
happening since the pandemic started,

00:31:33.450 --> 00:31:36.198
and most of them are
against Asian Americans

00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:39.228
by thugs who boneheadedly believe Asians

00:31:39.270 --> 00:31:42.348
who live here brought the virus here.

00:31:42.390 --> 00:31:47.118
- You all can probably
recite almost from memory

00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:51.078
some of the messages that are circulating

00:31:51.120 --> 00:31:53.058
around in our media about immigrants.

00:31:53.100 --> 00:31:57.498
- The release of thousands
of criminal, illegal aliens

00:31:57.540 --> 00:31:59.238
into our country!

00:31:59.280 --> 00:32:02.628
- Immigrants are threats
because they're poor,

00:32:02.670 --> 00:32:04.608
because they practice a different faith,

00:32:04.650 --> 00:32:06.708
because they're non-White,

00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:08.058
because they don't assimilate,

00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:09.768
they're taking away jobs,

00:32:09.810 --> 00:32:12.828
they bring crime and
disease into the country.

00:32:12.870 --> 00:32:17.808
You know that you've heard
these messages before.

00:32:17.850 --> 00:32:22.578
But, again, disease can
intersect with these messages

00:32:22.620 --> 00:32:25.788
and play a very special role.

00:32:25.830 --> 00:32:28.878
- That name gets further
and further away from China

00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:32.718
as opposed to calling it the Chinese virus.

00:32:32.760 --> 00:32:34.488
- As in the past,

00:32:34.530 --> 00:32:38.268
this kind of scapegoating helps to do a lot

00:32:38.310 --> 00:32:39.288
of political work.

00:32:39.330 --> 00:32:41.448
In this case, it deflects attention

00:32:41.490 --> 00:32:45.228
from the president and his
administration's mishandling

00:32:45.270 --> 00:32:46.878
of the public health emergency.

00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:48.828
The racially charged rhetoric coming

00:32:48.870 --> 00:32:51.738
from the White House
has triggered harassment,

00:32:51.780 --> 00:32:54.738
discrimination, and violence directed

00:32:54.780 --> 00:32:57.933
at Asian Americans. (gun banging)

00:32:59.130 --> 00:33:00.948
- [Reporter] In the US,
eight people were killed

00:33:00.990 --> 00:33:02.208
in a shooting rampage.

00:33:02.250 --> 00:33:04.624
Six of the victims are
Asian American women.

00:33:04.666 --> 00:33:07.083
(soft music)

00:33:09.114 --> 00:33:11.781
(pensive music)

00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:36.228
- We need to do more as Asian Americans.

00:33:36.270 --> 00:33:38.118
We can't just sit in the sidelines.

00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:39.138
You know, we're all brought up

00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:40.638
with the Confucius way of thinking,

00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:43.668
of respecting your elders,
being quiet, working hard,

00:33:43.710 --> 00:33:46.308
which are all great
character traits and morals,

00:33:46.350 --> 00:33:49.488
but in America, it's also
about independence,

00:33:49.530 --> 00:33:52.938
it's about speaking up, standing
up for what you believe in.

00:33:52.980 --> 00:33:54.288
And as Asian Americans,

00:33:54.330 --> 00:33:55.368
it's not just working hard,

00:33:55.410 --> 00:33:58.818
but we need to go after
and advocate for those things

00:33:58.860 --> 00:33:59.748
that we think is right.

00:33:59.790 --> 00:34:00.918
- Anti-Defamation League,

00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.148
which is the Jewish entity
that protects Jews against,

00:34:05.190 --> 00:34:07.008
you know, anti-Semitic actions,

00:34:07.050 --> 00:34:11.718
whether it's a swastika scrawled
on a synagogue someplace

00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:14.928
or some Jewish candidate
is running for office

00:34:14.970 --> 00:34:18.078
and somebody makes an anti-Jewish slur.

00:34:18.120 --> 00:34:22.188
They have a highly sophisticated operation

00:34:22.230 --> 00:34:26.238
that monitors and responds
to these things instantaneously.

00:34:26.280 --> 00:34:27.071
I mean, I have friends

00:34:27.113 --> 00:34:28.998
who belong to the Anti-Defamation League

00:34:29.040 --> 00:34:32.148
and they'll get texts on their phones,

00:34:32.190 --> 00:34:33.438
they'll get alerts on their phones

00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:36.858
that some Jewish candidate in Connecticut,

00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:40.038
you know, had their
campaign office graffitied

00:34:40.080 --> 00:34:43.548
with anti-Jewish rhetoric or a swastika.

00:34:43.590 --> 00:34:45.138
If you're Black

00:34:45.180 --> 00:34:48.708
and there is some Black
candidate who is disrespected

00:34:48.750 --> 00:34:51.828
or there's a Black American
who was shot by the police,

00:34:51.870 --> 00:34:53.868
flying out to that location,

00:34:53.910 --> 00:34:55.878
even if it's in the middle of Missouri,

00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:58.390
is a Jesse Jackson or an Al Sharpton

00:34:59.370 --> 00:35:02.091
to give voice to the fact that, you know,

00:35:02.133 --> 00:35:04.878
that Blacks are still discriminated against

00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:08.028
and sometimes have acts
of force perpetrated on them

00:35:08.070 --> 00:35:11.448
by law enforcement that is unjust.

00:35:11.490 --> 00:35:14.328
I mean, who's the Asian Jesse Jackson?

00:35:14.370 --> 00:35:16.368
Who's the Asian Al Sharpton?

00:35:16.410 --> 00:35:17.448
There's no one,

00:35:17.490 --> 00:35:20.808
there's not a personality
in the whole constellation

00:35:20.850 --> 00:35:23.538
of all the Asian groups in the US

00:35:23.580 --> 00:35:25.833
that equates to that sort of stature.

00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:27.798
It's nobody's fault.

00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:28.923
It's just a fact.

00:35:30.210 --> 00:35:34.368
And part of it is also
because Asian Americans,

00:35:34.410 --> 00:35:37.578
because of the cultural
ethos that they, you know,

00:35:37.620 --> 00:35:41.058
that was inculcated in them
back in their home countries,

00:35:41.100 --> 00:35:43.350
which is laudable in a
lot of ways, you know,

00:35:44.700 --> 00:35:48.063
don't overreact to things, you know,

00:35:48.990 --> 00:35:51.544
don't make a pest to yourself and all that.

00:35:51.586 --> 00:35:53.268
- If they don't understand the language,

00:35:53.310 --> 00:35:54.740
they should go back to their own countries.

00:35:54.782 --> 00:35:55.573
- Oh, no! - Period.

00:35:55.615 --> 00:35:57.348
- No, no, no, no, nobody can say that.

00:35:57.390 --> 00:35:58.891
Nobody can say that. - Yes, I can.

00:35:58.933 --> 00:36:01.218
- Oh! - You sound nasty.

00:36:01.260 --> 00:36:03.108
Your language sounds nasty.

00:36:03.150 --> 00:36:04.899
It actually sounds like you were born

00:36:04.941 --> 00:36:07.038
out of a (censored) hermit crab.

00:36:07.080 --> 00:36:09.408
- With respect to hate crimes

00:36:09.450 --> 00:36:11.088
for the Asian Pacific Islanders,

00:36:11.130 --> 00:36:13.098
the data certainly shows it.

00:36:13.140 --> 00:36:16.518
Anecdotally, I think
there's a deeper problem.

00:36:16.560 --> 00:36:20.178
The issue of Asian culture and Asian pride,

00:36:20.220 --> 00:36:21.708
we oftentimes don't talk about

00:36:21.750 --> 00:36:23.778
some of these societal problems

00:36:23.820 --> 00:36:25.908
or the challenges that we face.

00:36:25.950 --> 00:36:29.718
So, if the question is asking
people around the room,

00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:31.248
how many of you feel comfortable talking

00:36:31.290 --> 00:36:33.858
about discrimination that you have faced,

00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:37.038
some may not feel as
comfortable talking about that.

00:36:37.080 --> 00:36:38.118
- You know, in Minnesota,

00:36:38.160 --> 00:36:42.618
one of the most publicized
anti-Asian instance

00:36:42.660 --> 00:36:44.988
did not happen to a Chinese American family

00:36:45.030 --> 00:36:46.998
but to a Hmong American family.

00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:50.778
- As I got closer to it and
actually read the note itself,

00:36:50.820 --> 00:36:52.368
yeah, it was pretty disturbing.

00:36:52.410 --> 00:36:53.928
- [Reporter] This is the
note that was plastered

00:36:53.970 --> 00:36:55.135
on his front door.

00:36:55.177 --> 00:36:56.718
"We're watching you," it says,

00:36:56.760 --> 00:36:58.698
followed by a racial slur

00:36:58.740 --> 00:37:01.548
and "take the Chinese virus back to China."

00:37:01.590 --> 00:37:04.068
- Which points to one of the commonalities.

00:37:04.110 --> 00:37:05.778
To those who are the haters,

00:37:05.820 --> 00:37:07.878
it doesn't matter where we came from,

00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:09.768
it doesn't matter how many generations

00:37:09.810 --> 00:37:11.868
or whether we are from China or not.

00:37:11.910 --> 00:37:15.618
Asians have been racialized
as all being the same.

00:37:15.660 --> 00:37:18.798
- There's a lot of improvement

00:37:18.840 --> 00:37:21.468
that we could see in society as a whole

00:37:21.510 --> 00:37:24.618
in terms of its view of Asian Americans

00:37:24.660 --> 00:37:26.148
and acceptance of Asian Americans.

00:37:26.190 --> 00:37:27.648
But it's also incumbent

00:37:27.690 --> 00:37:29.508
upon the Asian American community itself

00:37:29.550 --> 00:37:31.938
to maximize its own assets,

00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:33.498
and not just in terms of numbers,

00:37:33.540 --> 00:37:35.328
but in terms of financial power.

00:37:35.370 --> 00:37:38.208
Because in politics, money is power.

00:37:38.250 --> 00:37:40.938
Asian Americans in California

00:37:40.980 --> 00:37:44.838
have a far higher median
income than Whites do

00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:46.608
and certainly higher than Blacks

00:37:46.650 --> 00:37:47.988
and higher than Latinos.

00:37:48.030 --> 00:37:51.018
It's the highest income
group in all of California

00:37:51.060 --> 00:37:53.268
and also nationally, right?

00:37:53.310 --> 00:37:55.278
But none of that means a lot

00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:57.888
unless Asian Americans are willing

00:37:57.930 --> 00:38:00.680
to open up their checkbook
and open up their pocketbook

00:38:01.957 --> 00:38:05.718
and participate financially in the system.

00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:07.608
- And it's not the politics of envy.

00:38:07.650 --> 00:38:09.175
And it's not just,

00:38:09.217 --> 00:38:12.048
"I'm going to associate
myself with a winner."

00:38:12.090 --> 00:38:13.488
You should do things for the right reason.

00:38:13.530 --> 00:38:17.418
There should be an obligation,
a community obligation,

00:38:17.460 --> 00:38:18.978
and what are individuals' roles?

00:38:19.020 --> 00:38:21.258
- There's a lot of research,
especially in psychology,

00:38:21.300 --> 00:38:22.398
especially in employment,

00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:25.848
especially the type of research that talks

00:38:25.890 --> 00:38:27.798
about moving up the corporate ladder.

00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:31.218
You see how Asian
Americans do extremely well

00:38:31.260 --> 00:38:33.708
in getting into certain types of schools,

00:38:33.750 --> 00:38:35.718
being the best students, et cetera,

00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:37.758
doing pretty well in terms of entry level.

00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:39.258
But then almost immediately,

00:38:39.300 --> 00:38:42.228
you see the lack of growth.

00:38:42.270 --> 00:38:47.028
Unless they have founded the
company themselves, you know,

00:38:47.070 --> 00:38:50.898
you see very few Asian CEOs of, let's say,

00:38:50.940 --> 00:38:52.248
publicly traded companies.

00:38:52.290 --> 00:38:55.398
Given the pool, given the
people who are eligible,

00:38:55.440 --> 00:38:58.218
there are so many Asians
at the beginning of that pool.

00:38:58.260 --> 00:38:59.418
How did they get weeded out?

00:38:59.460 --> 00:39:00.768
That cannot be an accident.

00:39:00.810 --> 00:39:02.058
And to some extent then

00:39:02.100 --> 00:39:04.728
when an Asian is running
to be the executive,

00:39:04.770 --> 00:39:05.958
just like a CEO,

00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:09.595
there's something that
doesn't allow Americans to say,

00:39:09.637 --> 00:39:11.268
"Hey, yeah, he could be the leader.

00:39:11.310 --> 00:39:14.628
Oh, it's okay if they're
treasurer or controller

00:39:14.670 --> 00:39:16.908
and manage the money, you know?

00:39:16.950 --> 00:39:18.708
But uh-uh, not the executive."

00:39:18.750 --> 00:39:21.468
- There's a certain stereotype
about Asian Americans

00:39:21.510 --> 00:39:23.448
that they tend to be good with money,

00:39:23.490 --> 00:39:26.028
they tend to be frugal, they're savers,

00:39:26.070 --> 00:39:27.828
they know how to manage a dollar,

00:39:27.870 --> 00:39:29.178
they know how to make a payroll,

00:39:29.220 --> 00:39:30.820
they know how to run a business.

00:39:31.710 --> 00:39:33.588
And even though that's
not gonna be universally true

00:39:33.630 --> 00:39:34.998
of every single Asian,

00:39:35.040 --> 00:39:37.788
that is a stereotype
that exists about Asians.

00:39:37.830 --> 00:39:39.738
I don't think it's necessarily an accident.

00:39:39.780 --> 00:39:41.598
You've had John Chiang,

00:39:41.640 --> 00:39:43.818
who was our controller for eight years

00:39:43.860 --> 00:39:45.948
and now has been our
treasurer for eight years,

00:39:45.990 --> 00:39:49.038
and Betty Yee has been
our controller for four years,

00:39:49.080 --> 00:39:50.988
and Fiona Ma is gonna be elected treasurer.

00:39:51.030 --> 00:39:56.030
Would an Asian American
be elected sheriff someplace?

00:39:57.090 --> 00:39:59.793
I don't know, maybe, and
there probably have been,

00:40:00.630 --> 00:40:02.598
but that's not necessarily the stereotype

00:40:02.640 --> 00:40:05.598
of Asian Americans that
they're strong and they're tough

00:40:05.640 --> 00:40:09.348
and they're gonna, like, you
know, kick ass with criminals.

00:40:09.390 --> 00:40:11.598
I mean, that's not
necessarily the stereotype.

00:40:11.640 --> 00:40:13.098
Asians just tend physically

00:40:13.140 --> 00:40:15.468
to be a shorter stature than Caucasians.

00:40:15.510 --> 00:40:16.578
It's just a fact.

00:40:16.620 --> 00:40:17.988
So that plays in,

00:40:18.030 --> 00:40:19.848
and it was certainly true
in the Mike Woo campaign.

00:40:19.890 --> 00:40:23.380
I mean, what you had in the
Mike Woo campaign was a rather

00:40:25.230 --> 00:40:29.898
skinny, shorter Asian
guy with thick glasses

00:40:29.940 --> 00:40:32.178
versus a White guy, you know,

00:40:32.220 --> 00:40:34.998
who was probably five
inches taller than Mike Woo

00:40:35.040 --> 00:40:38.868
who was, you know, trying
to be a hard-ass on crime

00:40:38.910 --> 00:40:41.718
and talk about wiping out the gangs

00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:42.798
and all that kind of thing, right?

00:40:42.840 --> 00:40:45.903
Well, when you have that
kind of a stereotype side by side,

00:40:46.890 --> 00:40:51.078
Asians are not necessarily
gonna prosper politically.

00:40:51.120 --> 00:40:54.648
- Look, I think that generations

00:40:54.690 --> 00:40:57.978
of how we ended up here

00:40:58.020 --> 00:41:00.438
have created that certain mindset,

00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:02.898
and the way I've dealt with it is

00:41:02.940 --> 00:41:05.238
when I look at being Asian,

00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:06.738
what Asian am I looking at?

00:41:06.780 --> 00:41:10.188
Am I looking at the guy who's
doing somebody's laundry?

00:41:10.230 --> 00:41:12.048
Or am I looking at Genghis Khan?

00:41:12.090 --> 00:41:13.758
And that's how I survived
in the world of politics

00:41:13.800 --> 00:41:16.188
is I'm taking the Genghis Khan model.

00:41:16.230 --> 00:41:18.468
He was a great warrior,
and he was fearless.

00:41:18.510 --> 00:41:20.328
He didn't care about what people thought.

00:41:20.370 --> 00:41:22.218
He stuck up for his tribe.

00:41:22.260 --> 00:41:24.618
So when people say it's not in our DNA

00:41:24.660 --> 00:41:27.228
to be the best type of
fierce warrior or fierce leader,

00:41:27.270 --> 00:41:28.848
I told them that it's complete (censored)

00:41:28.890 --> 00:41:30.138
because you have Genghis Khan,

00:41:30.180 --> 00:41:32.868
you have all these great generals, Sun Tzu,

00:41:32.910 --> 00:41:35.688
military geniuses that were out there

00:41:35.730 --> 00:41:37.968
that led these great campaigns,

00:41:38.010 --> 00:41:41.238
and that's my history.

00:41:41.280 --> 00:41:42.888
It's not the history of somebody

00:41:42.930 --> 00:41:44.418
who's picking up your laundry.

00:41:44.460 --> 00:41:45.498
It's not my history

00:41:45.540 --> 00:41:47.898
that somebody who is
cooking your fried rice

00:41:47.940 --> 00:41:48.918
or your wings.

00:41:48.960 --> 00:41:50.658
That's not my history.

00:41:50.700 --> 00:41:53.418
- And I think the history of American

00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:55.968
and social change in America

00:41:56.010 --> 00:41:59.448
is you just get treated like
crap for the longest time,

00:41:59.490 --> 00:42:01.398
and then you organize,

00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:03.198
and then you become a force.

00:42:03.240 --> 00:42:05.808
And after a while, your
force becomes so successful

00:42:05.850 --> 00:42:07.938
that nobody wants to mess with you anymore.

00:42:07.980 --> 00:42:08.808
And then ultimately

00:42:08.850 --> 00:42:10.938
that's carried out in the political arena.

00:42:10.980 --> 00:42:13.188
- My father went to Selma

00:42:13.230 --> 00:42:16.488
and was there as part of
the civil rights movement

00:42:16.530 --> 00:42:19.278
and was in church with
Martin Luther King Jr.

00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:21.438
And marched for a better future

00:42:21.480 --> 00:42:24.918
to end segregation and
discrimination and Jim Crow,

00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:28.248
and why so many other students and allies

00:42:28.290 --> 00:42:30.408
and people from all
walks of life did the same,

00:42:30.450 --> 00:42:31.578
'cause they imagined a better future

00:42:31.620 --> 00:42:32.478
and decided to fight for it.

00:42:32.520 --> 00:42:33.558
- When I grew up,

00:42:33.600 --> 00:42:36.858
I never saw an Asian American politician.

00:42:36.900 --> 00:42:38.988
Not only on television,
but in the community.

00:42:39.030 --> 00:42:41.988
It was just not something
I ever aspired to.

00:42:42.030 --> 00:42:44.568
And it wasn't until my late twenties,

00:42:44.610 --> 00:42:47.058
I moved to California,

00:42:47.100 --> 00:42:49.998
started to see the
possibility of opportunity.

00:42:50.040 --> 00:42:54.018
- I never saw any role models of this sort,

00:42:54.060 --> 00:42:56.718
the people that were Asian American women

00:42:56.760 --> 00:42:59.508
that were running for office,

00:42:59.550 --> 00:43:02.838
and so I had never even contemplated this.

00:43:02.880 --> 00:43:05.178
This was the furthest thing from my mind.

00:43:05.220 --> 00:43:07.248
I was enrolled as a math major

00:43:07.290 --> 00:43:11.358
and thought I would
become a computer scientist.

00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:14.766
I am Congresswoman
Judy Chu from California!

00:43:14.808 --> 00:43:17.208
(crowd cheering) (crowd clapping)

00:43:17.250 --> 00:43:19.878
- You know, look up speaker or president

00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:21.228
or governor in a dictionary

00:43:21.270 --> 00:43:22.878
and, you know, there's a stock photo.

00:43:22.920 --> 00:43:23.868
I think you have a sense

00:43:23.910 --> 00:43:25.938
of what that person's
supposed to look like.

00:43:25.980 --> 00:43:28.638
That picture looking
back at you is very rarely

00:43:28.680 --> 00:43:29.778
a person of color,

00:43:29.820 --> 00:43:33.378
I think, for most Californians
or for most Americans.

00:43:33.420 --> 00:43:36.528
I have a nephew who's eight
years old, Chinese American,

00:43:36.570 --> 00:43:39.438
and I remember him about two years ago,

00:43:39.480 --> 00:43:41.988
he was watching the TV
show "Fresh Off the Boat."

00:43:42.030 --> 00:43:44.538
We put it on for him,
my wife put it on for him,

00:43:44.580 --> 00:43:46.248
she wanted him to see it.

00:43:46.290 --> 00:43:47.718
And he was playing in the living room,

00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:50.028
he was running around,
wasn't paying attention,

00:43:50.070 --> 00:43:52.068
he didn't have the attention
span to actually sit down

00:43:52.110 --> 00:43:53.358
and watch the show.

00:43:53.400 --> 00:43:55.278
And then there was this
really special moment

00:43:55.320 --> 00:43:57.558
where he stopped and he stared at the TV,

00:43:57.600 --> 00:43:59.658
and he said, "That boy looks like me."

00:43:59.700 --> 00:44:01.158
And that's a really, for me,

00:44:01.200 --> 00:44:03.318
that was a really profound moment

00:44:03.360 --> 00:44:06.805
when a child can look at a TV and say,

00:44:06.847 --> 00:44:08.988
"That person looks like me."

00:44:09.030 --> 00:44:10.698
And that's an empowering moment.

00:44:10.740 --> 00:44:13.068
And I think for a lot of African Americans

00:44:13.110 --> 00:44:14.838
to look at Barack Obama,

00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:16.848
to see Barack Obama put his hand up

00:44:16.890 --> 00:44:19.158
and take the oath of becoming president,

00:44:19.200 --> 00:44:19.991
that was a moment

00:44:20.033 --> 00:44:22.585
when a young African
American kid could say,

00:44:22.627 --> 00:44:23.808
"That man looks like me."

00:44:23.850 --> 00:44:25.818
For young girls, if
Hillary Clinton had won,

00:44:25.860 --> 00:44:28.428
to look up and to see
on television a picture

00:44:28.470 --> 00:44:30.048
of the president of the United States

00:44:30.090 --> 00:44:31.701
and to say, "That person looks like me,

00:44:31.743 --> 00:44:34.458
that person belongs to
the same gender as me,"

00:44:34.500 --> 00:44:35.718
is really important.

00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:38.358
- I think the psychological effects

00:44:38.400 --> 00:44:40.758
of exclusion and discrimination,

00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:43.968
particularly in visible
positions of authority, are clear.

00:44:44.010 --> 00:44:44.801
We've known about it

00:44:44.843 --> 00:44:47.658
since Brown versus Board
of Education, at least.

00:44:47.700 --> 00:44:50.838
That is, that it limits
the aspirations of kids.

00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:53.898
And that limit of the aspirations of kids

00:44:53.940 --> 00:44:57.528
has long-term effects
in our ability as a country

00:44:57.570 --> 00:45:01.308
to really take advantage of
the potential of all children,

00:45:01.350 --> 00:45:03.798
and I think therefore it's a real problem.

00:45:03.840 --> 00:45:07.398
- When we elected our first
African American president,

00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:09.438
I called my family, I called my kids,

00:45:09.480 --> 00:45:12.858
and I told them that we have
a future that is ready for you,

00:45:12.900 --> 00:45:14.208
that includes you,

00:45:14.250 --> 00:45:16.578
that will allow you to
thrive and your kids to thrive,

00:45:16.620 --> 00:45:17.568
and that I'm hopeful,

00:45:17.610 --> 00:45:20.058
and that I believe this is a place

00:45:20.100 --> 00:45:22.098
where you can be all of who you are.

00:45:22.140 --> 00:45:23.800
- What makes us American

00:45:25.530 --> 00:45:28.338
is our allegiance to an idea articulated

00:45:28.380 --> 00:45:31.683
in a declaration made
more than two centuries ago.

00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:35.463
We hold these truths to be self-evident,

00:45:36.330 --> 00:45:38.508
that all men are created equal.

00:45:38.550 --> 00:45:39.798
- Would anyone have thought

00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:42.880
that we would elect a
Black president in 2008

00:45:44.070 --> 00:45:46.278
whose middle name was Hussein

00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:48.078
and whose dad was a Muslim?

00:45:48.120 --> 00:45:50.748
We came a long way with
the election of Barack Obama.

00:45:50.790 --> 00:45:53.208
- I hope to see in my lifetime,

00:45:53.250 --> 00:45:54.228
not hope to see,

00:45:54.270 --> 00:45:58.188
I know we will see an
Asian American governor

00:45:58.230 --> 00:46:00.138
and president in our lifetime.

00:46:00.180 --> 00:46:04.158
Hopefully, it'll even be a
female Asian American president,

00:46:04.200 --> 00:46:06.138
because that's what America is.

00:46:06.180 --> 00:46:10.398
But I too was caught up

00:46:10.440 --> 00:46:12.228
in our own rhetoric,

00:46:12.270 --> 00:46:14.298
caught up in our own biases.

00:46:14.340 --> 00:46:17.148
And I didn't think it was gonna happen

00:46:17.190 --> 00:46:19.158
even though I supported him.

00:46:19.200 --> 00:46:20.688
Deep down inside, I wanted him to win,

00:46:20.730 --> 00:46:23.118
but I was like, I don't
think America's ready.

00:46:23.160 --> 00:46:25.248
But clearly, I was wrong.

00:46:25.290 --> 00:46:29.118
And it was a good thing I was wrong.

00:46:29.160 --> 00:46:32.065
So, I don't want to be pessimistic and say,

00:46:32.107 --> 00:46:33.408
"No, America's not ready,"

00:46:33.450 --> 00:46:34.788
because America is ready.

00:46:34.830 --> 00:46:37.728
- And it took a long time for
the Asian American community

00:46:37.770 --> 00:46:39.768
to get its voice politically

00:46:39.810 --> 00:46:43.398
and get a platform politically to resist.

00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:46.938
And I think it's only
in, really, modern times

00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:48.258
that you see such a wave

00:46:48.300 --> 00:46:51.588
of successful Asian American candidates.

00:46:51.630 --> 00:46:54.378
- I think as the Asian population grows

00:46:54.420 --> 00:46:56.835
and as it becomes more sort of, you know,

00:46:56.877 --> 00:46:59.433
enculturated in American society,

00:47:01.710 --> 00:47:03.738
people will become more accepting

00:47:03.780 --> 00:47:06.918
of Asians taking their rightful
role in the governmental

00:47:06.960 --> 00:47:08.148
and political process.

00:47:08.190 --> 00:47:11.958
- It is time for us to have positions

00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:14.568
of leadership reflected of the people

00:47:14.610 --> 00:47:18.138
of this country and of this state.

00:47:18.180 --> 00:47:21.558
This is a country that voted
for an African American

00:47:21.600 --> 00:47:24.318
to be president of the United States,

00:47:24.360 --> 00:47:28.008
and so we know that this country can

00:47:28.050 --> 00:47:30.828
and will embrace people of color,

00:47:30.870 --> 00:47:33.588
people of different backgrounds, women,

00:47:33.630 --> 00:47:36.048
people of different sensibilities.

00:47:36.090 --> 00:47:39.168
That is what America's all about.

00:47:39.210 --> 00:47:41.718
- No question that even
facing discrimination,

00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:44.178
there are great
opportunities in this country

00:47:44.220 --> 00:47:45.318
for people of color.

00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:47.868
But the principles of the nation,

00:47:47.910 --> 00:47:51.588
for us to be true to our soul as a country,

00:47:51.630 --> 00:47:55.188
we have to ensure that that
discrimination is rooted out.

00:47:55.230 --> 00:47:56.658
Even economists agree

00:47:56.700 --> 00:48:00.918
that discrimination
has real cost to society,

00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:03.768
particularly true in a society like this

00:48:03.810 --> 00:48:05.538
that has governing documents

00:48:05.580 --> 00:48:08.628
that articulate a philosophy of equity.

00:48:08.670 --> 00:48:12.168
- I am profoundly hopeful
for my three-year-old son

00:48:12.210 --> 00:48:14.598
because he sees me,

00:48:14.640 --> 00:48:16.608
every day, put on the suit,

00:48:16.650 --> 00:48:18.168
he sees me giving speeches,

00:48:18.210 --> 00:48:20.028
he sees me on television,

00:48:20.070 --> 00:48:22.788
he sees my colleagues
who represent the diversity

00:48:22.830 --> 00:48:25.698
of the world in positions
of influence and leadership.

00:48:25.740 --> 00:48:29.358
I'm remarkably hopeful for
my son's generation that he

00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:33.798
and his colleagues will have
a far more colorblind world,

00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:35.658
that they will embrace diversity.

00:48:35.700 --> 00:48:39.348
They will be, hopefully,
in a post-race world

00:48:39.390 --> 00:48:43.128
where they value each
other simply for who they are.

00:48:43.170 --> 00:48:44.628
They're not stereotyping each other.

00:48:44.670 --> 00:48:46.698
They don't get hung up on the fact that

00:48:46.740 --> 00:48:47.718
what country are you from

00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:48.551
or what do you look like

00:48:48.593 --> 00:48:49.848
and you look different from me,

00:48:49.890 --> 00:48:52.158
and they will be the very best

00:48:52.200 --> 00:48:53.628
of what we all aspire to,

00:48:53.670 --> 00:48:55.428
what Martin Luther King aspired to.

00:48:55.470 --> 00:48:57.858
- I have confidence that in the future,

00:48:57.900 --> 00:48:59.418
we have the generations to come,

00:48:59.460 --> 00:49:02.238
multicultural, multiracial generations,

00:49:02.280 --> 00:49:06.048
including White youth
who have a deeper belief

00:49:06.090 --> 00:49:07.188
and including, frankly,

00:49:07.230 --> 00:49:10.758
a growing population of multiracial youth.

00:49:10.800 --> 00:49:15.108
I think that that cohort
has a deeper belief

00:49:15.150 --> 00:49:16.908
in inclusion and equity

00:49:16.950 --> 00:49:18.828
and may take the necessary steps

00:49:18.870 --> 00:49:22.098
to root out what we've
dealt with for far too long,

00:49:22.140 --> 00:49:26.868
these philosophies of
racism, white supremacy,

00:49:26.910 --> 00:49:30.138
stereotypes that were
consciously developed.

00:49:30.180 --> 00:49:32.298
- [Reporter] And in
some of the racist attacks,

00:49:32.340 --> 00:49:34.128
people stepped in to help.

00:49:34.170 --> 00:49:35.898
Zach Owens risked his life

00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:38.221
to save the family attacked in Texas.

00:49:38.263 --> 00:49:39.588
- He saved our lives.

00:49:39.630 --> 00:49:42.828
- [Reporter] And for
Dr. Fu, a stranger jumped in.

00:49:42.870 --> 00:49:43.661
- He defended me.

00:49:43.703 --> 00:49:45.498
And he said, "No, you can't do this."

00:49:45.540 --> 00:49:46.638
That guy was my hero.

00:49:46.680 --> 00:49:48.888
- [Reporter] A student in her
daughter's second-grade class

00:49:48.930 --> 00:49:51.798
said he didn't like China or Chinese people

00:49:51.840 --> 00:49:53.718
because they started this quarantine.

00:49:53.760 --> 00:49:56.298
She encouraged her daughter
to put her feelings on paper

00:49:56.340 --> 00:49:57.798
and the result was this letter.

00:49:57.840 --> 00:49:58.705
It reads in part,

00:49:58.747 --> 00:50:01.248
"This made me feel sad
because he was my friend

00:50:01.290 --> 00:50:02.538
and I'm Chinese.

00:50:02.580 --> 00:50:05.268
It's wrong because he
doesn't know what he's saying."

00:50:05.310 --> 00:50:06.895
But it ends on a compassionate note.

00:50:06.937 --> 00:50:08.943
"Thank you for being my friend."

00:50:08.985 --> 00:50:11.902
(melancholy music)

00:50:17.100 --> 00:50:19.818
- [Narrator] All Asian cultures
have been under assault.

00:50:19.860 --> 00:50:22.728
Those at today's rallies
say the only colors

00:50:22.770 --> 00:50:25.008
that should matter
are red, white, and blue.

00:50:25.050 --> 00:50:28.578
Sadly, racism sees skin color instead.

00:50:28.620 --> 00:50:31.668
- We just wanna stand up for what is wrong.

00:50:31.710 --> 00:50:33.408
You know, I did the same thing, you know,

00:50:33.450 --> 00:50:36.768
when there was George Floyd,
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor.

00:50:36.810 --> 00:50:38.868
You know, when there's
injustice in this world,

00:50:38.910 --> 00:50:41.091
we have to stand up, and
that's why I'm here today.

00:50:41.133 --> 00:50:42.108
- Now, this is a hurdle,

00:50:42.150 --> 00:50:43.488
but it woke up a lot of people

00:50:43.530 --> 00:50:46.968
that may have been a little
complacent or apathetic.

00:50:47.010 --> 00:50:48.498
It made more people engaged

00:50:48.540 --> 00:50:49.848
in a way that I hadn't seen before.

00:50:49.890 --> 00:50:52.398
We always talk about the enemy to democracy

00:50:52.440 --> 00:50:54.198
not being one party or one person

00:50:54.240 --> 00:50:55.638
but it being apathy.

00:50:55.680 --> 00:50:58.128
- Sometimes it's when you're
having the biggest impact

00:50:58.170 --> 00:50:59.838
that you have the greatest resistance.

00:50:59.880 --> 00:51:01.398
Now, that's no fun.

00:51:01.440 --> 00:51:03.265
I mean, wouldn't it be
great if everybody said,

00:51:03.307 --> 00:51:05.058
"Let's have a transformation."

00:51:05.100 --> 00:51:07.458
Now, when in American
history has that ever occurred?

00:51:07.500 --> 00:51:08.898
And by the way, in any society,

00:51:08.940 --> 00:51:10.608
let alone in American society.

00:51:10.650 --> 00:51:14.883
These are the growing
pains of a new America.

00:51:15.870 --> 00:51:18.108
- So we're here to show
solidarity with Asians

00:51:18.150 --> 00:51:19.488
and Asian Americans

00:51:19.530 --> 00:51:21.198
who have been the
victims of growing violence

00:51:21.240 --> 00:51:23.688
in this country because of racism

00:51:23.730 --> 00:51:25.608
and anti-Asian sentiments.

00:51:25.650 --> 00:51:27.468
I wanna see the country realize

00:51:27.510 --> 00:51:29.358
that we are a part of this country

00:51:29.400 --> 00:51:31.158
just as much as anybody else

00:51:31.200 --> 00:51:33.910
and that we deserve to be seen

00:51:35.316 --> 00:51:38.118
as part of this country.
(people chattering)

00:51:38.160 --> 00:51:39.828
- It's not linear, it's not a straight line

00:51:39.870 --> 00:51:41.718
how we move towards progress.

00:51:41.760 --> 00:51:44.208
But as long as we're always
marching and pushing,

00:51:44.250 --> 00:51:45.041
we'll get there.

00:51:45.083 --> 00:51:46.188
You know, it's not a passive act.

00:51:46.230 --> 00:51:47.418
You don't just wait and hope

00:51:47.460 --> 00:51:50.028
and believe that it'll
happen and it'll happen.

00:51:50.070 --> 00:51:51.048
You need to make it happen.

00:51:51.090 --> 00:51:53.448
It requires actors and agency

00:51:53.490 --> 00:51:57.048
and fight and strategy and coalitions

00:51:57.090 --> 00:51:59.868
and people pushing
towards those same values,

00:51:59.910 --> 00:52:01.488
being driven by that common set of values

00:52:01.530 --> 00:52:02.448
that make us who we are.

00:52:02.490 --> 00:52:03.528
In some ways, that's what

00:52:03.570 --> 00:52:06.048
that American aspirational vision is.

00:52:06.090 --> 00:52:07.488
It's a vision to always fight for it

00:52:07.530 --> 00:52:11.118
knowing that we're humans with our limits

00:52:11.160 --> 00:52:13.518
and our weaknesses and our failings,

00:52:13.560 --> 00:52:15.918
but that we'll always
try to push towards that.

00:52:15.960 --> 00:52:19.668
And with that push, we get closer each day.

00:52:19.710 --> 00:52:21.768
- And since this is the last speech

00:52:21.810 --> 00:52:23.508
that I will give as president,

00:52:23.550 --> 00:52:26.388
I think it's fitting to
leave one final thought,

00:52:26.430 --> 00:52:29.103
an observation about
a country which I love.

00:52:29.940 --> 00:52:33.588
It was stated best in a
letter I received not long ago.

00:52:33.630 --> 00:52:35.635
A man wrote me and said,

00:52:35.677 --> 00:52:37.128
"You can go to live in France,

00:52:37.170 --> 00:52:39.138
but you cannot become a Frenchman.

00:52:39.180 --> 00:52:42.348
You can go to live in
Germany or Turkey or Japan,

00:52:42.390 --> 00:52:46.008
but you cannot become a
German, a Turk, or Japanese.

00:52:46.050 --> 00:52:49.728
But anyone, from any corner of the Earth,

00:52:49.770 --> 00:52:52.128
can come to live in America

00:52:52.170 --> 00:52:54.339
and become an American.

00:52:54.381 --> 00:52:57.048
(pensive music)

00:53:28.691 --> 00:53:32.191
(pensive music continues)