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Home | Opinion Section
October 13 - October 19, 2000
Controversial Law Increases Deportations
(in National News)
Indian Americans in Silicon Valley Raise Over $1 Million for Democrats
(in Bay Area News)
Asia's Unresolved Economic Issues
(in Business)
New Film Gemini's Double Pleasures
(in A&E)
Emil Amok
(in Opinion)
Letters to the Editor
Support Our Children
Dear Editor: It’s a Wednesday after school and 18 high school youths have gathered at the Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC) to participate in a very spirited discussion. The discussion is not about upcoming dances or the agony of recent homework assignments, but rather what they as young people can do to improve the community.
All of these youths, ages 14-17, are members of JCYC’s Youth Leadership Council. Over the past year, their community service activities include volunteer support of the JCYC/JCCCNC Halloween Carnival, Oshogatsu Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, Children’s Day Festival and Nihonmachi Street Fair. In addition, their activities have included visiting seniors at Kimochi Home, serving food to the homeless, cleaning up the neighborhood and participating in the Fillmore/Japantown Youth Alliance, in an effort to promote better relations among youths in the Western Addition. For their participation, each member receives a scholarship and opportunities to participate in activities that assist in their own personal development.
The Youth Leadership Council as well as other JCYC programs such as the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program and San Francisco YouthWorks program are funded through the San Francisco Children’s Amendment. The San Francisco Children’s Amendment was established 10 years ago when San Francisco voters approved Proposition J, which sets aside $18 million in the city’s budget each year specifically for children and youth services. This November the Children’s Amendment will be on the ballot for renewal. JCYC, along with 125 other children- and youth-serving organizations in San Francisco, are urging the voters of the city to once again support this critical initiative.
To support this effort, JCYC and many other Asian American youth organizations are active participants of the Campaign to Renew the Children’s Amendment. However, to ensure success, we need your help. You can support Asian American children and youth by putting a sign in your window, walking a precinct, putting announcements in your newsletter, or just giving information to friends and colleagues. To assist with the campaign, call the Committee to Renew the Children’s Amendment to get information and to add your name to the list of volunteers. For more information, call 415-406-2300 or JCYC at 415-202-7909.
Jon Osaki
JCYC
San Francisco
Neighborhood Supports the Park
Dear Editor: In last week’s issue, Political Potsticker columnist Samson Wong, in his column “Roses, Donkeys and a Park” (Oct.5), wrote, “Proposition F…is an initiative measure that qualified with 18,355 signatures, but does not take into account residents from the two major neighborhoods surrounding the park...”
Funny. During many Sunday gatherings, we gathered an enormous number of signatures from residents of the Richmond and Sunset, not to mention from residents of many other San Francisco neighborhoods.
Golden Gate Park was built as a refuge from urban living for all residents of the city. Recreational space for all can only enhance surrounding areas. The Richmond Democratic Club, the District 8 Democratic Club and the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council have all endorsed Proposition F, not Proposition G. Those groups are concerned about the quality of life in their own neighborhoods adjoining the park. Wong conveniently overlooks the fact that those 18,355 signatures were individually gathered by concerned volunteers. Many of them, like myself, are residents of the Sunset or Richmond districts.
Proposition G was rushed to City Hall 20 minutes before the filing deadline. I personally am insulted that Wong suggests the filers and supporters of Proposition G have our best interest in mind. Their only interest is to thwart a true neighborhood grassroots desire for a more livable park and neighborhood.
Janice Rothstein
San Francisco
Stop Police Brutality
Dear Editor: Since 1996, October 22 has become an important date for the growing resistance movement against police brutality. On this day people under the gun and billy club of police brutality, and those relatively untouched by this menace, come together to expose and combat this national epidemic. In 2000, in over 60 cities and locales around the country, we will see the fifth mobilization for the October 22nd National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.
Why should Asian Americans and Asian ethnic communities be concerned about police brutality?
The book Stolen Lives: Killed by Law Enforcement gives us over 2,000 reasons—2,000 people who were killed in the 1990s alone. This year we know that at least two more Asians have been killed by cops. In February, police in South Brunswick, N.J., chased Kyung-Ho Law from his garage and killed him in his living room. On Sept. 7 in Fairfax County, Va., police killed 55-year-old Korean immigrant Ji Young Yoo.
When immigrants are murdered in a hail of police bullets, the police go unpunished. These incidents call for our outrage. Immigrants from undeveloped countries are especially vulnerable to abuse by the police and by the INS. Since 1996, a legal framework has been in place, dictating that immigrants can be easily imprisoned and deported. Thousands of immigrants are currently being held in INS detention centers.
The case of David Wong captures the vulnerability of Asian immigrants under this system. Smuggled into New York as a teenager, David lived and worked in harsh Chinatown conditions until he was arrested and convicted for theft. While serving his time, David was set up for a prison murder he couldn’t have committed. Although no weapons or blood were found on him, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. Because he spoke little English, knew little about the legal system or his basic rights and had no family or friends in the United States, David Wong was an easy target for a setup by the criminal injustice system.
As people come together on Oct. 22, we seek ways to call on our various immigrant communities to build bridges so we may increase our resistance.
Chaiti Sen
Asians for Mumia/Jericho
via e-mail
Do you have something to say? Send a letter to the editor via e-mail (to asianweek@asianweek.com)!
AsianWeek welcomes letters commenting on our coverage and other topics of interes to Asian Pacific Americans. Please keep letters as brief as possible (we reserve the right to edit letters for length and style), and include your name and a daytime telephone number for verification. For letters by conventional mail, address to: AsianWeek, 809 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, California 94108, U.S.A.
Home | Opinion Section
Controversial Law Increases Deportations
(in National News)
Indian Americans in Silicon Valley Raise Over $1 Million for Democrats
(in Bay Area News)
Asia's Unresolved Economic Issues
(in Business)
New Film Gemini's Double Pleasures
(in A&E)
Emil Amok
(in Opinion)
Letters to the Editor
| Controversial Law Increases Deportations (in National News) Indian Americans in Silicon Valley Raise Over $1 Million for Democrats Asia's Unresolved Economic Issues New Film Gemini's Double Pleasures Emil Amok |
Support Our Children
Dear Editor: It’s a Wednesday after school and 18 high school youths have gathered at the Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC) to participate in a very spirited discussion. The discussion is not about upcoming dances or the agony of recent homework assignments, but rather what they as young people can do to improve the community.
All of these youths, ages 14-17, are members of JCYC’s Youth Leadership Council. Over the past year, their community service activities include volunteer support of the JCYC/JCCCNC Halloween Carnival, Oshogatsu Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, Children’s Day Festival and Nihonmachi Street Fair. In addition, their activities have included visiting seniors at Kimochi Home, serving food to the homeless, cleaning up the neighborhood and participating in the Fillmore/Japantown Youth Alliance, in an effort to promote better relations among youths in the Western Addition. For their participation, each member receives a scholarship and opportunities to participate in activities that assist in their own personal development.
The Youth Leadership Council as well as other JCYC programs such as the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program and San Francisco YouthWorks program are funded through the San Francisco Children’s Amendment. The San Francisco Children’s Amendment was established 10 years ago when San Francisco voters approved Proposition J, which sets aside $18 million in the city’s budget each year specifically for children and youth services. This November the Children’s Amendment will be on the ballot for renewal. JCYC, along with 125 other children- and youth-serving organizations in San Francisco, are urging the voters of the city to once again support this critical initiative.
To support this effort, JCYC and many other Asian American youth organizations are active participants of the Campaign to Renew the Children’s Amendment. However, to ensure success, we need your help. You can support Asian American children and youth by putting a sign in your window, walking a precinct, putting announcements in your newsletter, or just giving information to friends and colleagues. To assist with the campaign, call the Committee to Renew the Children’s Amendment to get information and to add your name to the list of volunteers. For more information, call 415-406-2300 or JCYC at 415-202-7909.
Jon Osaki
JCYC
San Francisco
Neighborhood Supports the Park
Dear Editor: In last week’s issue, Political Potsticker columnist Samson Wong, in his column “Roses, Donkeys and a Park” (Oct.5), wrote, “Proposition F…is an initiative measure that qualified with 18,355 signatures, but does not take into account residents from the two major neighborhoods surrounding the park...”
Funny. During many Sunday gatherings, we gathered an enormous number of signatures from residents of the Richmond and Sunset, not to mention from residents of many other San Francisco neighborhoods.
Golden Gate Park was built as a refuge from urban living for all residents of the city. Recreational space for all can only enhance surrounding areas. The Richmond Democratic Club, the District 8 Democratic Club and the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council have all endorsed Proposition F, not Proposition G. Those groups are concerned about the quality of life in their own neighborhoods adjoining the park. Wong conveniently overlooks the fact that those 18,355 signatures were individually gathered by concerned volunteers. Many of them, like myself, are residents of the Sunset or Richmond districts.
Proposition G was rushed to City Hall 20 minutes before the filing deadline. I personally am insulted that Wong suggests the filers and supporters of Proposition G have our best interest in mind. Their only interest is to thwart a true neighborhood grassroots desire for a more livable park and neighborhood.
Janice Rothstein
San Francisco
Stop Police Brutality
Dear Editor: Since 1996, October 22 has become an important date for the growing resistance movement against police brutality. On this day people under the gun and billy club of police brutality, and those relatively untouched by this menace, come together to expose and combat this national epidemic. In 2000, in over 60 cities and locales around the country, we will see the fifth mobilization for the October 22nd National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.
Why should Asian Americans and Asian ethnic communities be concerned about police brutality?
The book Stolen Lives: Killed by Law Enforcement gives us over 2,000 reasons—2,000 people who were killed in the 1990s alone. This year we know that at least two more Asians have been killed by cops. In February, police in South Brunswick, N.J., chased Kyung-Ho Law from his garage and killed him in his living room. On Sept. 7 in Fairfax County, Va., police killed 55-year-old Korean immigrant Ji Young Yoo.
When immigrants are murdered in a hail of police bullets, the police go unpunished. These incidents call for our outrage. Immigrants from undeveloped countries are especially vulnerable to abuse by the police and by the INS. Since 1996, a legal framework has been in place, dictating that immigrants can be easily imprisoned and deported. Thousands of immigrants are currently being held in INS detention centers.
The case of David Wong captures the vulnerability of Asian immigrants under this system. Smuggled into New York as a teenager, David lived and worked in harsh Chinatown conditions until he was arrested and convicted for theft. While serving his time, David was set up for a prison murder he couldn’t have committed. Although no weapons or blood were found on him, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. Because he spoke little English, knew little about the legal system or his basic rights and had no family or friends in the United States, David Wong was an easy target for a setup by the criminal injustice system.
As people come together on Oct. 22, we seek ways to call on our various immigrant communities to build bridges so we may increase our resistance.
Chaiti Sen
Asians for Mumia/Jericho
via e-mail
Do you have something to say? Send a letter to the editor via e-mail (to asianweek@asianweek.com)!
AsianWeek welcomes letters commenting on our coverage and other topics of interes to Asian Pacific Americans. Please keep letters as brief as possible (we reserve the right to edit letters for length and style), and include your name and a daytime telephone number for verification. For letters by conventional mail, address to: AsianWeek, 809 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, California 94108, U.S.A.
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