B-Ball Blunder: Racist NBA player yet to apologize (in National News) Equality for All: SFUSD plan targets racial disparities (in Bay Area News) Business in the Aftermath of Census 2000 (in Business) Asian American Oscar predictions (in A&E) Emil Amok: Roundball Asian Gals and the Census (in Opinion)

Hmong Veteran Memorial Is the Least America Can Do

Dear Editor: On account of a recent article (Proposed Hmong Veteran Memorial Draws Fire, February 15) featuring the proposal for a monument honoring Hmongs who assisted America in the Vietnam War, I loathe and question Joel Walker’s rationalization as to why the monument is inappropriate. “There’s no paperwork designed to my knowledge that would prove any of the Hmong were involved in the war effort themselves,” Walker said. Unbelievably false. As history responds, the Hmongs were affirmatively contracted to support and aid American soldiers. In return, America promised a home for the Hmongs if a defeat would advance. This defeat was to occur and the Hmongs were airlifted here.

It is a cliché that the Vietnam War bruised the heart of American wars. One perceives it tempting and irresistible to expose the truth about the Hmong sacrifices they committed to a country, whose confidence and involvement in the war is still unidentifiable, then defeat prevailed and face is lost, and the American public is shaking their fingers “I-told-you-so.” With these circumstances, shaky as Jell-O and America’s pledge of allegiance to the United States, it’s obvious why the Hmong involvement was not acknowledged. Wouldn’t Americans be annihilated if they learned that America enlisted help of another kind other than their own in a war they condemned?

It’s high time America declares its ownership of Hmong contribution in the Vietnam War. Whatever resentment and animosity still lingers, if any, needs to be ceased on both sides. For the good of this country, silence should no longer champion over truth; this monument should be sculptured. Believe me, Hmongs would only be humbled by this gesture because vainglory is extravagant vanity.

Mai See and Mai Neng Yang
via e-mail

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McCain’s Words Not Nearly So Offensive as Bush’s Actions

Dear Editor: Today, I read the AsianWeek article “Bush Won’t Negotiate with North Korea” (March 15). This reminded me that during the California primaries AsianWeek strongly supported Bush and bitterly condemned McCain. That condemnation followed McCain’s use of an offensive term to refer to the individuals who tortured him over a period of years. When I think of the amount of torture he experienced as a prisoner of war, what McCain said as the result of those extreme circumstances sounds understandable to me. He explained this, but for their own political purposes some people wanted to pretend that he was referring to all Asians. Not likely, because he adopted an Asian child and he was responsible for giving Clinton the support and the political cover that allowed Clinton to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. John McCain was able to forgive the Vietnamese for the years when some of them tortured him, but some people here are unable to forgive him for having said an offensive word.

So, instead of McCain we have President Bush who wants North Korea as the enemy so that he can justify America paying a lot of money for an anti-missile defense. You can also thank Bush for the higher utility bills you will be paying. He reversed a Clinton policy that put a cap on the prices that energy profiteers can charge us. It is not a coincidence that those same profiteers were major financial contributors to his campaign. Give a big enough campaign contribution to a library for President Clinton and you can get a pardon for a fugitive. Give a big enough campaign contribution to the Bush Campaign and you can get a policy reversed so that your company will get windfall profits at the expense of the people of California. If you want a change in this system of legalized bribery, you could support campaign finance reform, starting with the McCain-Feingold Bill.

Ron Feiertag
San Francisco
via e-mail

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Thanks from Night and Day High School

Dear Editor: I am writing to compliment AsianWeek for carrying the article about Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School (Reaching for a High School Diploma, March 9). Certainly, throughout the country there is a large underserved population of older students who would return to school if more schools, offering mature students a sense of community, combined with flexible hours, existed. In particular, we have made a special effort to respect the cultural traditions which our immigrant students bring with them from over 40 nations, including many from Asian and South Asian countries.

Public schools alone can’t do the whole job for young adults who often find themselves on their own before completing school. Generous members of the community play key roles as tutors, mentors and financial supporters of our nonprofit social service center.

In fact, your article contributed to the growth of an essential aspect of that support. A reader of AsianWeek on the Web in New York called to volunteer immediately upon reading the article.

Howard A. Friedman
Founder and Principal
Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School
New York, NY
via e-mail