War Stories 4 - Protecting AsAm candidates from racist attacks
Time and Issue:
Prior to 2002, attacking AsAm political candidates for
their
race background was commonplace. In 2002, 80-20 received 2 such
complaints. One was from Alice Lai-Bitker, a Chinese Am candidate, running for a County Supervisor seat in
Alameda, CA. Another was from Christopher Gabaldon, a Filipino-Am candidate, running for Assemblyman in the 18th District of CA. Click here to verify by reading the Footnote.
80-20's unique way of stopping such racist attacks:
80-20 knows that such attacks against AsAm political candidates are normally suggested and designed by their opponent's paid political consultants. Hence, 80-20 passed
a resolution
to use 80-20's own resources to track down and drive out both the offending candidate and his/her political consultants.
Complete Success:
No AsAm candidate has encountered an open racist attack by their opponents after 2002. (Anonymous attacks still exist, but they are not effective.)
Analysis
-
Why was 80-20's resolution such a complete success?
1) 80-20's political know-how:
80-20 knows election campaigns. It
knows that in most low level political contests, the candidates are the
figureheads while their paid consultants are the real brains and
decision makers. Paid consultants are pros who have chosen politics
as their career. Hence, when 80-20 aimed its gun at the pros and
threatened to dog them until
they would
be driven out of their chosen
profession, they stopped designing racist attacks against AsAm
candidates.
2)
80-20's effectiveness in speeding the news to political
consultants:
80-20 advised AsAm candidates to make a copy of 80-20's resolution
and send it to their opponents & consultants. Click here to verify.
Read the message in the second rectangular box. Since that fitted
the self-interests of our
candidates
, the news spread quickly at the
time, although nowadays most AsAm political candidates probably
don't even worry about facing such racist attacks anymore. :-) 80-20
is pleased that its resolution resulted in such a complete
empowerment.
Empowerment:
Could you or your offspring run for a political office one day?
Aren't you glad that 80-20 put a halt to racist attacks on AsAm candidates
? This was a contribution AsAms for all time.
Want to do
YOUR
share to empower ourselves
?
1. Donate to SELF (
Self
Empowerment
Long-term
Fund): Click
here.
Sending a check? Send to Stephen Lin, 969 Acalanes Rd, Lafayette CA
94549.
2. Sign the petition to stop the discrimination against AsAm students,
S. B. Woo
