Community
Korean Church vs. Community Over Homosexuality
This year saw the mass organization of people in Bay Area Korean churches around the California Defense of Sexual Responsibility Act of 2000 — a ballot initiative that aimed to prohibit “public entities” from “endorsing, educating, recognizing or promoting homosexuality.” This major campaign, which involved nearly 1,000 Korean churches in California, showcased what could be the Korean American community’s first step into mainstream politics and revealed the church’s ability to mobilize people. This initiative, however, failed to make the ballot. (Jan. 20)
Ho Chi Minh Haters
Impassioned Vietnamese Americans all over California traveled to the Pacific Bridge Gallery in Oakland, Calif., to protest the art exhibition entitled Ho Chi Minh by artist and Vietnam veteran C. David Thomas. As many as 1,500 anti-communist Vietnamese Americans came out to decry the month-long exhibition after it opened March 18. One image, which particularly offended protesters, had Ho’s portrait superimposed on the face of George Washington. (March 30)
Saving Philly’s Chinatown
At least 700 people demonstrated through downtown Philadelphia in protest of the city’s proposal to build a new stadium in the northern border of Chinatown. Mayor John Street’s decision to push for a ballpark in Chinatown had been criticized by many Chinese American residents who were concerned that it would destroy their neighborhood. Street later abandoned plans to build a stadium for the Philadelphia Phillies in Chinatown and instead backed a less contentious site in South Philadelphia. (November 24)
A Monumental Issue
Despite much emotional protest from some members of the Japanese American community, a national Japanese American memorial was built with a contentious inscription from the late Mike Masaoka, a controversial leader of the Japanese American community.
While not so much objecting to the inscription itself, some Japanese Americans were adamant that Masaoka, who advocated total cooperation during the government’s interment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s, did not deserve to be honored. Nonetheless, in November a ceremony in Washington unveiled the monument. More than a thousand Japanese Americans from around the country came to honor the loyalty and courage of the soldiers who fought during World War II. (Nov. 16)
First National Laotian Center Breaks Ground
The Bay Area Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association (LIMCA) held a groundbreaking ceremony in East Oakland to kick off construction of the first Iu Mien Cultural Center in the United States. With some 8,000 Iu Mien people spread throughout the Bay Area, LIMCA has been working to preserve the group’s cultural heritage while helping to facilitate their integration into life in the United States. (Oct. 26)
Former Comfort Woman on a Quest for Justice
Soon Duk Kim, who was taken from her native Korea and sent to China and forced into sexual slavery during World War II, led a protest campaign across the country, calling for the Japanese government to pay reparations for their alleged crimes. In November, Kim visited the Bay Area and led a protest in front of the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco. Some 40 others joined with her in the rally. Kim and other former comfort women also had a political art exhibit titled Quest for Justice that depicted images of war atrocities. (Nov. 23) |
