ONCE AGAIN, the old "go-back-to-your-country" expletive (Yes, to me that's an expletive) was hurled at an Asian/American. The target of the was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, putting his life on the line so a woman can tell him, "this isn't your f--king country." Then she pulled her eyes back -- yes, she did -- and said, “This is my country, this is not a Chinese. Oh my god, Chinese ugly.” James Ahn, a resident of Fremont, California, said he was driving at the speed limit but an aggressive driver wanted him out of the way because she wanted to pass. When Ahn changed lanes to get out of the way, the driver passed him then cut in front of him, causing Ahn to slam on his brakes, he said.
The comments occurred when the two cars were side by side at a stoplight.
Fremont police said no crime was committed and there was nothing they could do. With non legal recourse, Ahn posted the video, captured by one of his passengers, on Facebook.
“I later realized that this was more like a hate crime than a road rage,” Ahn wrote on Facebook.
To add insult to injury, the driver of the other car spoke with a noteceable Slavic or Russian accent indicating she may be a recent immigrant herself. Why she thinks she is more of an American than Ahn, who immigrated from Korea in 1992 and who joined the U.S. military in 2012, is beyond me.
GARY LEE started his Twitter account, @whoisgarylee, only three days ago and it was an instant hit. Lee, who worked under President Barack Obama, left the White House in 2011 to pursue an advanced degree in South Korea. He recalls on his last day, he was summoned to the Oval Office to have the customary photo with the President. Upon arrival, President Obama greeted him in Korean. It surprised Lee and all he could do was respond in delight. That exact moment was captured by White House photographer Pete Souza.
Lee was a low-level staffer yet Obama, the most powerful man in the world at the time and had bigger issues to tackle, had taken the time to practice the Korean pronunciation of "hello." Contrast that with the current White House occupant who blusters, uses coarse language and proclaims, "I'm the least racist person." Yeah, right!
Now, I'm crying, too. That's how a REAL President is supposed to act!
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ALLEGATIONS of sexual misconduct by Alabama senatorial candidate Roy Moore has grabbed all the headlines leading up to special election this Tuesday, Dec. 12 but don't forget his positions on race. Almost lost in all the furor from the women who claim Moore had acted inappropriately towards them when they were minors and his was a District Attorney in his 30s, is his attitudes towards race. Based on his public statements, he is firmly entrenched in the mid-1800s who believes the last time America was "great" was during the Civil War and that the Civil Rights Act was the reason we have the racial problems of today. Last September, in response to a question from one of the only African Americans in the audience — who asked when Moore thought America was last “great” -- Moore acknowledged the nation’s history of racial divisions, but said: “I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another…. Our families were strong, our country had a direction.” Later, he seemed to contradict himself when he said, “We were torn apart in the Civil War — brother against brother, North against South, party against party,” he said. “What changed?" He answered himself, “Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting,” Moore added. “What’s going to unite us? What’s going to bring us back together? A president? A Congress? No. It’s going to be God.” In case you're a new immigrant and not familiar with the term, the "yellows" he was talking about were people descended from Asia. The "reds" is a derogatory term describing Native Americans. I hate to use a stereotype to argue against the use of stereotypes, but Moore does little to counter the negative stereotype of a culture that is often referred to as "Southern." Not the genteel, southern charm that former Confederate states like to describe themselves, but the racist, red-neck, good-old-boy, pick-up-driving, gun-toting stereotype that southerners hate. In Moore's case, add dating and molesting under-age girls to that. This is the man Donald Trump and the Republican leadership has endorsed to become the next U.S. Senator for Alabama. With only 54,000 AAPIs in the entire state, and with only .6 percent of the registered voters, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders might have little impact on the outcome of Tuesday's election, but as we've seen in recent elections. Every single vote counts. A vote here and there could turn districts around in a close election. If enough districts turn ... well, it helps to be hopeful. The key will be the white suburban voters, those who are better educated and little more moderate in their political and social positions and those most likely to have AAPI friends, co-workers or classmates. Here's the racial breakdown of registered voters in Alabama:
2,332,607 white voters, 70.2 percent of the total.
883,736 black voters, 26.6 percent.
29,869 Hispanic voters, 0.9 percent.
20,225 Asian voters, 0.6 percent.
11,344 American Indians, 0.3 percent.
If you're a registered voter in Alabama, go out and vote. Vote for Doug Jones for U.S. Senate.
JAPANESE PITCHER Yu Darvish of the L.A. Dodgers will take to the mound tonight (Nov. 1), in the biggest game of his life.
UPDATE: Darvish was taken out of the game after an inning and a third after giving up five runs. Houston Astros win, 6-1, four games to three.
When Yuli Gurriel stepped up to the plate Tuesday (Oct. 31) at Dodger Stadium in Game 6 of the World Series, L.A. fans rained down a chorus of boos. Expect more of the same tonight from fans of the Los Angeles team. The L.A. region has one of the largest Asian/American populations in the country. That fan reaction was in stark contrast to Houston Astros fans who greeted the Astros' first baseman with a standing ovation despite Gurriel's racist gesture towards Dodger's pitcher Yu Darvish in Game 4. After hitting a homerun off the Japanese pitcher, Gurriel returned to the dugout, pulled his eyes back and called Darvish "Chinito" a disparaging remark for "Little China man." His gesture was caught by the cameras and that set off a firestorm on social media as fans, (not just Asians) criticized the racist act. In an ironic twist that only serves to hype the drama for Game 7, Darvish will return to the mound in a chance to redeem his lackluster performance in Game 4 when he lasted only 49 pitches before being yanked. He will - off course - face Gurriel again in a moment of high drama, as if the crucial Game 7 in one of the most interesting World Series needed it. Darkish admitted Gurriel's slant-eye gesture was offensive, but he downplayed the incident saying instead that he hoped everyone can use the moment to learn something. Gurriel apologized and wanted to do so face-to-face with Darvish, but the Japanese pitcher turned down the encounter and just wanted to move on. MLB suspended Gurriel for five games at the start of the 2018 season avoiding any punishment during the World Series. That delayed punishment didn't sit well with some Asian/American civil rights advocates.
“By postponing the suspension until next year, MLB also makes it clear that the game of baseball, and the World Series itself, are more important than applying its disciplinary action immediately. This is a choice of priorities by MLB in delaying application of punishment,” said the Japanese American Citizens League.
The Japanese American National Museum agreed.
“We believe that allowing Gurriel to continue to play in the World Series, rather than making his suspension immediate, does not send a strong enough message about the unacceptable nature of his actions,” it said. “While this incident will serve as an opportunity to further important discussions about race and racism in our country, Gurriel’s actions must not be construed as anything other than reprehensible.”
“As Asian/American civil rights organizations, we were shocked to see the slanted eye gesture that Houston Astro Yuli Gurriel directed at Los Angeles Dodger Yu Darvish during the World Series on Friday night," said the Asian American Advancing Justice organization in a statement. "Although Darvish found Gurriel’s actions offensive, Darvish’s response to this incident was gracious and urged unity," the legal advocates' organization continued. "But when Gurriel pulled back his eyes, he disrespected not only Darvish but millions of Asian/Americans, for whom that is perhaps the most commonly experienced racist gesture. Ironically, Gurriel and Darvish represent teams from two of the most diverse cities in the country, both with significant Asian American populations." (ASAM NEWS contributed to this report.) _________________________________________________________________________
Yuli Gurriel caught doing this during the World Series to taunt Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.
YULI GURRIEL, the Houston Astros ballplayer, who pulled his eyes back to mock Yu Darvish, a Japanese pitcher for the L.A. Dodgers, was admonished by his team and suspended for five games.
His racist gesture was caught by the cameras and sparked at avalanche of criticism on social media.
However, because of the way baseball has its appeals system set up, it was decided to mete out the punishment at the beginning of next year's baseball system.
Last Thursday, in the first inning of the third game of the World Seriess, Gurrial smakcked a home run off of Dodger pitcher Darvish. After he returned to the dugout, he did the slant-eyed thing, called Darvish "Chinito," and laughed.
"I did not mean it to be offensive at any point," Gurriel told ESPN'sScott Lauber. "Quite the opposite. I have always had a lot of respect [for Japanese people]. ... I've never had anything against Darvish. For me, he's always been one of the best pitchers. I never had any luck against him. If I offended him, I apologize. It was not my intention."
Makng it even worse, Gurriel, who later apologized, also said he was aware that “chinito” is racist as hell.
“In Cuba and in various places, you don’t say ‘Japanese,’ you call all Asians ‘chinitos,’ ” Gurriel said. “But I was in Japan and I know they are offended by that.”
What? He knew what he did was offensive, but, he did it anyway?
So ... Gurriel ... meet Chris Rock. Rock, you will remember, was the comedian hosting the Oscars two years ago and made fun of Asians in a poorly received joke against Asians. Apparently, it is still OK to make fun of Asians. Imagine the uproar if he had poked fun against an African/American player?
By the time Gurriel serves his punishment, people would have forgotten what he did. If MLB really wanted to make an anti-racist statement, it would have been more fitting to have the Astro third baseman sit out a game immediately during the World Series, when his absence would have more impact.
A day after the incident, during the broacast of the fourth game of the World Series, nobody said anything about what Gurriel did. It's already been forgotten.
Sorry MLB, you missed the opportunity to really make a strong statement.
WHAT IS IT with the fratboy-culture dominating Silicon Valley and the way it demeans women?
SV is not so different from the rest of the country, really. It attracts a wide swath of people who want to get in on the new frontier and be on the cutting edge of the future.
(Full disclosure: I am the father of two daughters, who are smart, strong, compassionate and independent women, so any biases that might appear in this post are purely intentional.)
While it might attract the enlightened, the bold, the creative and innovative, it also draws in the mysogynist, the elitist, the sexist and the other elements from the dark side, including the alt-right, white supremacists by any other name.
As I write, two stories published today (July 8) brings this apparent dichotomy to light.
Google announced the firing of one of its male employees who issued a manifesto to employees citing the biological differences between the sexes that prevents women from being as good as men in the high-tech industry.
The 10-page manifesto written by Google engineer James Damore, said in part that women are more talkative than assertive, and have more “neuroticism” that makes them less tolerant of stress than men.
"Questioning our assumptions and sharing different perspectives is an important part of our culture, and we want to continue fostering an environment where it’s safe to engage in challenging conversations in a thoughtful way,” Google vice-president of engineering Ari Balogh said in a statement.
“But, in the process of doing that, we cannot allow stereotyping and harmful assumptions,” the statement continued. Google CEO Sundar Pichai had to cut short his vacation to handle the situation. "Portions of the memo violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace," Pichai wrote in a memo to employees. "To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK."
The U.S. Labor Department is investigating Google to see whether the firm has unlawfully paid women less than men. Google denies that it does. According to Google's diversity report, the company's workforce is 69 percent male, 31 percent female. When it comes to technical positions, the gender breakdown is even more skewed, with just 20 percent of technical jobs being filled by women.
Damore’s letter caught the attention of high-profile women in tech.
Megan Smith, another former Google vice-president and the chief technology officer for President Barack Obama, said the views expressed by Damore were “rampant” in tech.
“It’s insidious,” Smith told Bloomberg TV. “It causes people to leave the industry and it’s bad for shareholder value.”
“It’s toxic,” Girls in Tech founder Adriana Gascoigne said Monday. “He’s breaking down the biological aspects of being a woman versus a man and categorizing women in a way that makes us seem weak, that makes us seem incompetent, that makes us seem like we’re actually bad for a company’s bottom line.”
Remember Ellen Pao?
Ellen Pao
Ellen Pao, who became a household during her gender bias trial against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, on Monday (July 8) shared the first results of her newest initiative — Project Include. While her inaugural report shows some small improvements — the companies participating increased their percentage of female, Asian, Hispanic and multi-racial employees — it mostly highlights the fact that diversifying the industry will be a long and complex process.
“There is still a lot of work to do, as the data reflect many of the patterns of underrepresentation in the tech industry,” Pao and her co-founders at Project Include wrote in a blog post. “But the improvement over large companies’ demographics is encouraging, as are the many changes between the baseline and follow up reports, though it is too early to know for sure what caused all the changes.”
They found women, transgender men and non-binary employees reported a decrease in perceived fairness. Since her widely publicized 2015 gender bias battle, Pao launched Project Include with a group of female co-founders, including Freada Kapor Klein of the Kapor Center for Social Impact and Slack engineer Erica Joy Baker. The idea was to provide concrete steps companies could take to improve diversity and inclusion of women and minorities at their companies, and metrics to measure their progress.
Megyn Kelly, right, interviews six victims of sex harassment in Silicon Valley.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is one of the major battlefronts in Silicon Valley. Women often find themselves getting unwanted attention from male are co-workers, bosses or potential investors. The frat-boy behavior towards women has been known throughout the male-dominated industry for years. Earlier this year, the issue was once again in the spotlight when an Uber executive was accused of sexual harassment toward a female employee. When the executive was not punished for his actions, the victim made it public. Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick was forced to resign because of his handling of the woman's complaint. By the time dust settled, over 20 employees, including the woman's manager, were fired for their mishandling of the complaint. When the Uber incident became public, more women stepped forward with their own stories of unwanted sex advances in other companies. Over a dozen women came forth naming some of the biggest names in the industry. Venture capitalists, those people who help finance startups, were especially TV journalist Megan Kelly dedicated one of her episodes of Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly to the issue, inviting six women to tell their stories. Three of the six were Asian/Americans.
“Elephant in the Valley,” a 2015 survey by released some of their findings about harassment in Silicon Valley:
90% witnessed sexist behavior at company offsites and/or industry conferences
60% reported being the target of unwanted sexual advances from a superior
60% who reported sexual harassment were dissatisfied with the outcome
One in three say they felt afraid for their personal safety because of work-related circumstances
There are some limitations to the study. Project Include worked with startups that voluntarily joined Pao's survey and didn't include the big tech companies like Google, Apple or Microsoft so it is not reflect the industry as a whole but it does present a picture of young entrepreneurs trying not to repeat the mistakes of its predecessors.
The startups saw their proportion of women increase from 41 percent to 46 percent during those eight months, Asian workers increase from 12 to 15 percent, Hispanic workers increase from 11 to 12 percent, and multi-racial workers increase from 7 to 11 percent.
And the cohort companies tended to do better than their peers who weren’t part of the study. The percentage of Hispanic workers in Project Include companies was twice as high as the industry average. And nearly half of all roles at Project Include companies were filled by women, compared with an average of 34 percent throughout the industry.
But there were also some losses during the eight months studied — the proportion of African-American workers dropped from 5 to 3 percent, and transgender or non-binary workers dropped from 2 percent to 1 percent.
***
Clearly, the tech industry, centered in Silicon Valley, which likes to promote itself as the industry for the 21st century and known for breaking new ground in creating less rigid work environments than traditional offices or factories, still has a significant number of men with 19th century attitudes towards women.
Facebook chief operating officer and former Google vice-president Sheryl Sandberg said Monday on Facebook that inequality in technology didn’t arise out of gender differences.
“It’s due to cultural stereotypes that persist,” she wrote. “We all need to do more.”
Andrea Livingston sits at the table where her ancestor sat before signing the Declaration of Independence in a recreation of the famous John Turnbull painting.
A DESCENDANT of one of the Founding Fathers of the United States is a Filipino American, one more testament to the growing diversity of the nation and what an American looks like. In the Ancestry.com commercial aired on July 4th, a recreation of the famous painting of the historic document's signing. Andrea Diola Livingston, a Filipina American, can be seen sitting in front of the other descendants of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. The office manager is theeighth great granddaughter of Philip Livingston, who represented New York City and one of the signatories to that famous document. “It’s interesting, it took me a while to really let it sink in that this is my ancestor, but as I’ve grown use to it, it’s become a thing that I’m proud of,” she says.
In the commercial, it is clear that the Founding Fathers and their descendants were open to interracial coupling. Among the multi-racial descendants we can see African, Latino and - in Livingston's case - Asian. Besides promoting their service, Ancestry's commercial's underlying message is that change, openness and tolerance have always been part of what makes America unique. Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Andrea’s military father met her Cebuana mother while they were both in Japan.
A car accident claimed the life of both her parents when she was 18 years old.
To make their commercial, Ancestry.com tracked down the descendants of the Founding Fathers, and had them recreate the famous painting by John Trumbull.
“There’s a connection I can make to things that I didn’t know about, especially my mom’s side, because we never got the chance to really discuss in depth the family history. There were things we would talk about, but little things here and there, but there’s a lot of oral history that we didn’t talk about, so this will be a good opportunity to fill in the gaps.”
How has the discovery of one of her famous ancestors impacted her? “Since I’m child of an immigrant and being mixed, it definitely shows what we look like now,” she told Balitang. “It makes me want to dig into my personal history, these are things I didn’t know about myself.”
Through the efforts of Ancestry.com, she was able to make connections with long-lost relatives in the Livingston side of the family. It has inspired her to try and trace her mother's ancestral family tree.
Although she commercial has the right message, said Livingston, "I think we have a long way to go. The ideas that they were creating, the ideas that they were putting into words, we still need to strive to make those ideas real.
"We are so many different people. We look so different, we are so different, but we are all the same at the same time," she says.
John Turnbull's painting, top, is recreated, bottom, using descendants of the original signers. Andrea Livingston is seated, front right where her ancestor sat.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA missed this one completely but some eagle-eye Asian/Americans brought this to my attention. In the bigger scheme of things, the incident probably should go unnoticed, but as an Asian/American, I just couldn't let it go. On Monday (July 24), Donald Trump gave a speech heavily criticizing the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, at the White House. His goal is to pressure Senate Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Just before delivering the statement, Trump met with families who described themselves as “victims of Obamacare.” They served as a backdrop to Trump's message, a not-so-veied attempt to pressure GOP Senators to vote to approve debate on the House proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
I should point out that of the 15 young people acting as that backdrop, two little girls were Asian, standing in the front row.
As Trump was introduced by Vice President Pence, Trump started to greet the young people in the front. After shaking hands of the white kids on the right, he went directly to the white kids on the left --- BYPASSING the Asian girls standing the middle of the front row.
One can say that Trump didn't mean anything by ignoring the only children of color. But, that's just the point. The girls, politely waiting to greet the man their parents support, were not significant enough (to him) tor Trump to even notice them. To him, they were invisible.
Trump would be the first to say that he's not racist. Let me correct that. Trump sould be the first to tweet that he's not racist. He may actually really believe that.
But one wonders if deep down in his subconscious -- so deep he might not even know that he harbors these sentiments towards people of color. In moments like this one, where Trump isn't thinking about strategies, fake media, Russia and all the problems of the world, in a rather innocuous act, it just might reveal something about the White House occupant.
Am I making a mountain out of molehill? In the context of his feelings towards Mexicans, Muslims, "the" Blacks, his speech in Poland where he declared himself the protector of the West, mocking Japanese businessmen's accent, the way he spits out "CHIna," his speech before 40,000 brown-shirted Boy Scouts -- if you get enough molehills together it becomes a mountain.
Trump is not alone in having the inability to see Asians. Ever been passed over for a promotion? Have your comments ignored in a meeting? Have a clerk speak to the person behind you even though you've been waiting patiently to be noticed? Or, you're waiting in line and someone just cuts in front of you because ... you know ... they don't see you?
You be the judge. Mindy Kalling took part in a commercial a couple of years ago that makes fun of this phenomenon. Watch below.
W. Kamau Bell talks about the touchy subject of race.
W. KAMAU BELL is a big, black man, anathema to many non-blacks, but he is so easy-going and disarming he can get the racist Richard Spencer and the KKK to open up to him. The comedian is also host to one of the best shows that nobody has heard of, The United Shades of America. The double-entendre of the title should tell you a lot about the show. In the finale episode of his second season, airing July 2, Sunday on CNN, 10 p.m. EDT, he ventures into San Francisco's Chinatown to get the Asian perspective on the underlying theme throughout every episode - racism.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this post had an incorrect date of the Chinatown episode. July 2 is the correct date.
In his show, at least, he's talking about a topic that is so hot-button, many networks won't touch. People shy away from the subject when the topic comes up. It's just too uncomfortable for them. Well, then, what about us people who deal with it everyday?
The controversial topic of race is handled deftly by Bell. With his dry sense of humor, the Bay Area resident, often finds himself and his subjects laughing together - not AT each other. He is not mean or demeaning. One topic he touches on that is not often talked about outside of the Asian American community is the spill-over effect Donald Trump's China-bashing and demonizing of Chinese might have on the Chinese/American and overall Asian/American communities. To most of America, there is no distinction between China and the Chinese/Americans. We don't have to go back too far in American history to a period of the Yellow Peril and the racist sentiments that rose up against the different waves of Asian immigrants - The Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and now, South Asians and Muslim/Americans.
If you miss his shows on CNN, you can always catch up on HULU or the United Shades of America website. His earlier episodes this season included "Immigrants & Refugees" "Native Americans," "What I Learned Talking to Muslims," and "Treatment of Native Americans."
Critics didn't like having women of color in command of a starship in the new TV series Star Trek: Discovery. Above, we have a new alien share the bridge with the starship's First Officer and Captain.
IT APPEARS that Trumpsters have invaded the Star Trek universe. It just goes to show that racism can take many forms and can pop up in every segment of society. People who are uneasy about the growing diversity of the U.S. are also apoplectic that Gene Roddenberry's famous franchise's return to television this fall will feature minorities in prominent roles as ranking officers in the Star Trek Discovery series. The trolls were busy on the internet last weekend, calling the latest casting of women in color on the TV series as "white genocide in space." These are the same people who unsuccessfully tried to launch a boycott of the movie, Star Wars: Rogue One, because no white males were playing the lead roles. The crew of Rogue One was a woman, a Latino and three Asians.
If they were truly fans of Star Trek, they would know that the cult classic has always been about diversity. That's what George Takei said in response to trolls who didn't like the casting of Michelle Yeoh as a Starship captain and African/American Shonequa Martin-Green, as the First Officer. “Well you know — today, in this society, we have alien life-forms that we call trolls,” Takei said to MSNBC host Joy Reid.
“And these trolls carry on without knowing what they’re talking about and knowing even less about the history of what they’re talking about. And some of these trolls go on to be presidents of nations.” said Takei, who played helmsman Hiraku Sulu in the original Starship Enterprise crew. Not only was Sulu Asian, but he was also gay!
As you might figure out, Takei, who is gay in real life, is not a fan of the current president and the bigots who believe that Donald Trump's election victory has given them free reign to be ... well, racist. If you have any doubt, Takei concluded his interview with this, "I think that Donald Trump is as foolish, as uninformed and as ignorant as these trolls are."
George Takei and Joy Reid sign off after their interview with the Vulcan signal of "Live long and prosper."
Takei went on to explain creator Gene Roddenberry's approach to the sci-fi story:
"We had a guiding acronym – IDIC – which stood for 'infinite diversity in infinite combinations.' And we boldly went where we hadn’t gone before because we were curious about what is out there. And when you go out into space you are going to have even greater diversity. Now these so-called trolls haven’t seen a single episode of the new series, because it hasn’t even aired…and they don’t know the history of Star Trek … Gene Roddenberry created this with the idea of finding strength in our diversity. And the delight of life in diversity. So they don’t know what they are talking about."
Roddenberry used Star Trek to address issues of the day, and diversity and racism is a theme that he repeatedly addressed.
One of the most famous episodes of the original Star Trek was "Let That Be Your Last Battlefied," featuring comedian Frank Gorshin.
In that episode, the USS Enterprise ends up in the middle of an old conflict when an alien fugitive requests political asylum from an officer who is perusing him. The two aliens from Charon are differentiated due to one being black on the left side and white on the right and the other being the opposite. While members of the enlightened 23rd century crew find this to be inconsequential, the aliens see it as reason enough to (as it turns out in the end) destroy their entire planet.
Nichelle Nichols, the African/American actress who played the communications officer Lt. Uhuru on the USS Enterprise, shared TV's first interracial kiss when she and Captain Kirk got into it. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, she said:
“Gene’s whole vision was that minorities weren’t on set because we were minorities, we were on set because in the future our diverse world would all be working together as equals,” Nichols said. “I understand that everyone needs to see role models that can inspire them and talk to them and represent them, but I believe we need to move to a future that transcends race, gender, or anything else. We’re all people.”
If there is any doubt about the intentions of Star Trek creator, the late Gene Roddenberry, let's let him have the last word:
They died for their buddies. They died for the U.S.. They died for us.
TODAY we remember and honor those men and women who gave their lives while serving their country in our nation’s military.
From the Battle of New Orleans and the Civil War, to the battles of Iraq and Afghanistan, to the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, to the trials of World Wars; from the Lousiana swamps to forests of the Battle of the Bulge, to the jungles of Asia and the deserts of the Middle East, Asian/Americans have fought to keep our country safe from the evil ambitions of tyrants and despots
The best way we can honor their memories is to make sure that the values and principles that they died for continue to thrive.
Today, freedom of speech is being attacked as the press is wrongly maligned as they try to uncover the true stories behind the headlines. Journalists are being verbally and physically attacked. This is wrong!
Today, voting rights are being denied by the shenanigans of politicians trying to protect their power. This is wrong!
Today, hate has burst out of the darkness to become part of our everyday lives. Our neighbors are being attacked and killed, their homes vandalized, and who live in terror because of the color of their skin, the accents in their speech or the religion they practice. This is wrong!
Today, families are being torn apart and communities live in fear because of immigration policies being enforced unjustly, unevenly and inhumanely. This is wrong!
Today, there are those who wish to enact laws denying travelers, immigrants, and refugees from entering the United States, a country of immigrants, because of their religion. This is wrong!.
Today, we place flags on military graves and we sing patriotic songs … but most of all we remember those we miss so much. Let’s honor their sacrifice by remembering what they died for and protect those values that have made America great.
Today, we recall that liberty is always the achievement of courage to step up when duty calls; courage to point out and speak out against injustice; courage to stand up to fear, hate and ignorance.
