In the O.C., an Asian-Latino Fault Line
October 27, 2006
We are our own best exploiters. When you look for a bad guy in a new society where minorities are the majority, more than likely the culprit will be another person of color.
Call it the evolution of diversity.
People of color vs. people of color.
It had to happen.
It’s already common to see it within ethnic communities. For example, The New York Times did a big story this week on poor Latinos exploited by other richer Latinos who have achieved some success.
And we’ve seen it among Asians, who exploit other Asians in the sex trade and sweatshops.
But now we’re seeing it between the emerging groups.
Asian vs. Latino.
And it’s most unseemly when it shows up in a race for the U.S. Congress in Southern California.
TAN NGUYEN VS. LORETTA SANCHEZ
In the Orange County community of Garden Grove, the fight to represent California’s 47th District is between Tan Nguyen (R), 32, a Vietnamese refugee, and incumbent Loretta Sanchez (D).
The Asian vs. Latina match-up has brought out the worst — in the Asian camp.
Nguyen, who reportedly financed his campaign with over $400,000 of his own money, is suspected of sending out an intimidating mailer to some 14,000 registered voters in his Orange County district.
The district is 35 percent Latino, and 18 percent Asian, with a high number of foreign-born immigrants.
Now what could you possibly say in this mailer to newly registered voters that would almost guarantee that the majority of them stay home on Election Day?
Why, of course, you tell them in no uncertain terms that if you are here illegally or are an immigrant, that voting is a crime that could result in jail time and deportation.
For good measure, you tell them that the U.S. has a new computer to verify the names of registered voters, and that anti-immigration organizations can access this information at will.
And just in case they are dumber than you assume, you really spell it out for them by saying, “Unlike Mexico, there is no incentive to vote here … it is useless and dangerous to vote in any election if you are not a U.S. citizen.”
It’s the kind of intimidation that rivals the image of white goons with sticks and guns at polling places in the pre-civil rights South.
But this new intimidation is happening through a simple letter mailed to people’s homes in modern-day Southern California.
Of course, Tan Nguyen doesn’t sign his name to the letter.
The letter is signed, Sergio Ramirez, and sent out under the letterhead of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, a group based in Huntington Beach, Calif.
CCIR officials have condemned the letter and deny any connection to it. So has every politician who hears of the story, including Arnold.
Not surprisingly, even Nguyen has denied having anything to do with sending out the letter.
But it’s hard to believe he had no connection at all, especially after an investigation by the Orange County Register last week linked Nguyen’s campaign to the mailing’s bulk-mail permit, and to the database service that provided the list of foreign-born names.
On Oct. 20, the state Attorney General’s Office, having vowed that arrests will be made, stepped up its investigation, raided Nguyen’s office and home, and confiscated computers and files.
Even the Feds are interested. Sen. Ted Kennedy has pressed the Justice Department for a probe that could lead to federal criminal charges.
The mailer is that blatant a violation of the Voting Rights Act.
NGUYEN IS DONE
Earlier this year, Congress almost failed to reauthorize the landmark act originally intended to assure black turnout in the South.
But this case shows that the need for a Voting Rights Act in these modern times extends beyond black and white.
It also shows that the new perpetrators of any violations may very well be people in our own communities, newly minted Americans, who lack a basic understanding of the history and principles of our democracy.
As I write, the investigation continues.
But it’s hard to imagine that under any circumstances that Nguyen should extend his long-shot candidacy.
Congress doesn’t need any more members who are so quick to compromise their ethics in the name of self-interest.
Self-interest is Nguyen’s middle name. He ran as a democrat against arch-conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher two years ago. This year, he switched and became an anti-immigrant, pro-PATRIOT Act, anti-Muslim conservative in order to go after the more liberal Sanchez.
His possible involvement in this racist mailer scandal could be indicative of an immigrant blinded by ambition, who is capable of doing just about anything to anybody.
That’s not the kind of person we need in public life.
Nguyen should drop the campaign and look to the future (presuming he can avoid any criminal charges).
At this point, his time would be better spent healing any rift he’s opened up between Asians and Latinos.
We can’t afford to have that in the nation.
Avoiding diversity’s Darwinian trap is easy, if we never forget we’re in this together.
‘Chronicle’ Korean Sex Exposé Slammed
October 27, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO — A broad-based Korean and Asian American coalition of over 38 organizations claiming to represent over 1 million Koreans and Asian Americans, expressed outrage with The Hearst-owned San Francisco Chronicle’s recent four-part series on the plight of Korean women sex workers claiming that the local paper’s coverage was biased — and a distortion of the Korean community.
Read more
Arts Briefs
October 27, 2006
Monkey King Shadow Theater
EVENT: Monkey King at Spider Cave Live Shadow Theater
DESCRIPTION: The adventures of Monkey King is performed by ShadowLight and Taiwan’s Puppet and Its Double Theater to create live animation on a 30-foot screen, with international troupe of masked actors, puppeteers and musicians.
DETAILS: $15-20, Oct. 27, 8 p.m.; Oct. 28-29, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; SomArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St., San Francisco.
CONTACT: www.ticketmaster.com, www.shadowlight.org Read more
Nation Briefs
October 27, 2006
1 in 3 Americans is Hispanic, Black Or Asian
WASHINGTON — The U.S. population, which is set to hit the 300-million mark in October, is one-third minorities, with one in three people either Hispanic, black, Asian or, less often, indigenous Native Americans.
Minorities account for 33% (98 million) of the population, according to the 2005 U.S. Census Bureau. Read more
Bay Briefs
October 27, 2006
Free First Aid Training for ChiAm Community
EVENT: Red Cross First Aid Training
DESCRIPTION: American Red Cross offering free first aid training to Chinese community, and successful participants receive a 3-year certificate.
DETAILS: Free, Nov. 4, 12-5 p.m., Cameron House, 720 Sacramento St., San Francisco.
CONTACT: (415) 427-8077, wongmi@usa.redcross.org
Global Briefs
October 27, 2006
Panda Bites Off Part of Tourist’s Thumb
BEIJING — A giant panda cub bit off part of an American woman’s thumb during feeding at a nature reserve in Sichuan province. Read more
Arts Briefs
October 20, 2006
Pioneers of Philippine Art
EVENT: Pioneers of Philippine Art: Luna, Amorsolo, Zobel
DESCRIPTION: Organized by the Ayala Museum Read more
Nation Briefs
October 20, 2006
Alumnus Donates $20 Million to Peddie School
HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. — An anonymous alumnus has made a $20 million donation to the Peddie School, the second-largest gift in the prep school’s history. Read more
Global Briefs
October 20, 2006
Man Recites Pi to 100,000 Decimal Places
TOKYO — Akira Haraguchi, 60, recited pi to 100,000 decimal places from memory, setting what he claims to be a new world record. The feat took over 16 hours, starting at 9 a.m. to 1:28 a.m., breaking his personal best of 83,431 digits set in 1995. Read more
Bay Briefs
October 20, 2006
New Law Against Renting to Illegal Immigrants
ESCONDIDO — City leaders initially approved an ordinance criminalizing landlords who rent to illegal immigrants. This is the latest of a handful of cities nationwide to pass laws against people who hire or rent to undocumented immigrants. Read more
6th Annual OCA Fest at Calif. Capitol
October 20, 2006
It seems that every year, for six years running, Organization of Chinese Americans Sacramento’s reception at the Capitol gets bigger and better. The 2006 version in the State Capitol’s Basement Rotunda was no exception: a record attendance of 400 honored friends, members and supporters. Read more
Urgency to Register to Vote by Oct. 23
October 20, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO — Most of the elected Asian American officials and all the Asian American candidates seeking office in November, gathered at the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall last Monday to participate in a press conference sponsored by AsianWeek and urge that all APA’s register and vote.
