DEAR EDITOR: Reflecting on the letter from Teachers4Change, “Stop Police Violence in Our Schools” (Nov. 7), it is apparent that their concerns are misplaced. A review of the facts may cause a change in the commandments which were given.
Fact: There was disruption of the academic process at Thurgood Marshall High.
Fact: The faculty and administration were unable to control student behavior.
Fact: The police were called in to deal with the problem.
Fact: Student violence has been a concern for communities since Columbine.
Fact: Even unarmed students can cause disruption and property damage.
Fact: One of the roles of law enforcement is to use force when necessary to ensure compliance with the law.
If Teachers4Change want to stop brutality at schools we might suggest an alternative set of commandments for the youth in public schools:
1) Thou shalt not assault other students or teachers. You should understand that assaults by students against public property will be dealt with. Students who refuse to obey the lawful commands of teachers, administrators and police will be dealt with in a way which restores order to the school.
2) Thou shalt not be disrespectful of public authority (police, school administrators and teachers) and your fellow students.
3) Thou shalt not use violence as a means of disrupting the educational process of the school. Students who use violence should understand that their actions will have consequences.
4) Thou shalt understand that even students without guns who cause violent and disruptive behavior may be dealt with in a manner used to control a mob.
5) Thou shalt not confuse the tactics of gangs who engage in unlawful practices such as drive-by shootings with the legitimate use of force by school administrators and the police.
6) Thou shalt not be unruly. Thou shalt listen to the lawful orders of law enforcement.
7) Thou shalt promptly obey the lawful orders of police which will assist in the restoration of school activities. Your prompt action will decrease the risk of threat to you and to school property. Continued disobedience puts your self and others at risk.
8) Thou shalt be responsible with the assets given to you for your education.
We do not see an increase in test scores from San Francisco schools. We do see students who are learning more about their legal rights as rioters than they know about the history and government of the United States. One can only wonder if Teachers4Change aren’t part of the problem.
DEAR EDITOR: Samson Wong’s column titled "Fiona Ma’s Importance, Challenges and Lessons” (Nov. 14) ridiculously claimed “the failure to elect Ma — an Asian Pacific American — also endangers the future of district elections.” Later in the same column, Samson Wong admits that “the APA population makes up over one half of the Sunset.”
This means that if an APA candidate loses here next month, APAs will have only themselves to blame for not registering to vote and not voting, thus failing to elect an APA candidate. Ma needs to reach out to voters of every ethnicity, but if she loses she cannot claim that her district was not APA enough or that district elections are unfair. When the voters of San Francisco passed a huge pay raise for our Board of Supervisors last week, we were expressing our confidence in district elections and in the current members of the Board of Supervisors.
DEAR EDITOR: Thank you for your coverage of the passing of two visible Asian Pacific Americans, “Community Mourns Sudden Death of APA Actress” and “Chang-Lin Tien, UC Berkeley Chancellor and Scientist Dies” (Oct. 31). I am sad to hear that both Beulah Quo and Chang-Lin Tien passed on during medical procedures in separate hospitals. I also feel fury that they died in hospitals.
AsianWeek can be proactive in preventing deaths in hospitals by offering informative alternatives to medical industrial healthcare. AsianWeek can contribute to the health of our APA community by including a regular holistic health column.
As a client and practitioner of holistic health services, I have witnessed and experienced healing release from insomnia, bunions, cellulite congestion in breast tissues, anesthesia and much more. Perhaps, APAs should more often consider alternatives to hospital care.
DEAR EDITOR: In response to Louis Calabro’s letter “The Kindest People in this World” (Oct. 31), I have this to say: Thank you, Louis Calabro. According to your white supremacist political correctness, all Asians must thank white Americans — like yourself — for all the benefits Asians enjoy in their lives. The question arises: What have you personally done for Asians? The answer is nothing. So you demand to be rewarded for “benefits” that others have been given simply because you’re white? Well then, according to your own logic, you — personally — can be punished for all crimes — past, present and future — committed by anyone who happens to be white. The West is the greatest criminal against humanity and nature that history will ever know. I feel sorry for you.
