Zhang Zhaohong: Who was the earliest Chinese-American mayor? (2) - Information errors and omissions in the Internet era

Zhang Zhaohong: Who was the earliest Chinese-American mayor? (2) - Information errors and omissions in the Internet era Mr. Huang Jinbo, who took office in 1983 in California, USA...

Mr. Huang Jinbo, In 1983, he became the mayor of Cerritos, California, USA, and served two consecutive terms. He won the love and respect of the general public, and his name is engraved on the gates of many swimming pools, city halls, and parks. Moreover, because he visited China as a doctor, mayor, and singer, and introduced China with a pure heart, Huang Jinbo was known as the "Chinese Dragon under the Stars and Stripes." His deeds were praised by the Chinese and also brought glory to the Chinese Americans. However, being called “the first Chinese-American mayor in the United States” by the authorities and the media is not true. Even Huang Jinbo himself said in his self-introduction that he only knew that he was the “first Chinese-American mayor in the United States” after hearing about it. Is this an information error or omission in the Internet era? Or does the Chinese-American political star need to be given more luster? But no matter what, history must pay attention to facts. Below we will introduce to you the information of people who served as mayors of the United States earlier than Huang Jinbo.

Egmund Tang joined the US Army from September 1951 to September 1953. Deng Daming ran a grocery store. In 1979, Egmund Tang was elected mayor of Peoria, Arizona, USA, and served three terms until 1985. Peoria, Arizona is a city in Arizona, United States, with an area of ​​366.9 square kilometers and a population of 156,637 in 2011. Deng Daming's ancestral home is Kaiping, Guangdong, China. He was born on December 24, 1928 in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from Peoria High School in 1946, attended the University of Phoenix and the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated from the University of Alberta in 1951. From September 1951 to September 1953, he joined the U.S. Army and served as Food Inspection Tech. He won the National Defense and Good Conduct medals. After retiring, Deng Daming ran a grocery store business, served as a director of the "Alberta Grocers Association", and won the "American Spirit" award from the "American Grocers Association". Deng Daming began his career in politics in 1955, running for office as a city councilor in Piola, and was re-elected for 18 years. In 1979, he successfully ran for mayor and was re-elected for three terms until 1985. In the year when he began to enter politics, there were almost no Chinese in the local area. According to the earliest "Chinese Address Book" (1971) in Chadiya Province, there were only two Chinese families in Piaolia City, one was the Deng Daming family, and the other was Mrs. Deng Jialuan. If you were to run for office in an environment where almost all Westerners and Mexicans were in those days, you would have to work extra hard to succeed. Deng Daming has served as a city councilor, deputy mayor and mayor during his 30 years in politics, which is a rare record in the history of Chinese politics in the United States.

Deng Daming (right) continued to serve the education industry after retirement. During his tenure, Deng Daming made outstanding contributions to Peoria, an emerging city in Alberta. He worked hard to implement a new municipal administration and vigorously built public facilities. He made outstanding achievements in politics for 30 years, so he was awarded the permanent title of "Honorary Retired Mayor of Peoria" when he left office. This is the pride of Chinese politicians in the United States. In addition to serving the municipal government, Deng Daming also made active contributions to local Chinese and Western groups and received many titles and awards. In the Chinese society, he held important positions in the Fei Deng Gaomi Office, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Alberta, the Chinese Science and Technology Professional Association, and other groups. He was also the two-term commander-in-chief of the Deng Xinping Veterans Association. After Deng Daming retired in the 1990s, he continued to serve the education industry. He died on June 30, 2003. The area of ​​Peoria, Alberta is more than ten times that of Cerritos, California, and its population is three times larger. If we compare Mayor Deng Daming and Mayor Huang Jinbo: Deng Daming entered politics in 1955, and Huang Jinbo entered politics in 1978; Deng Daming became deputy mayor in 1972, and Huang Jinbo became deputy mayor in 1978; Deng Daming was elected mayor in 1979 and was re-elected for three terms; Huang Jinbo was elected mayor in 1983 and was re-elected for two terms; Deng Daming has been in politics for 30 years, and Huang Jinbo has been in politics for 14 years. Therefore, regardless of the year he entered politics, the date he was elected as mayor, or the length of time he has been in politics, Deng Daming is more qualified than Huang Jinbo to win the title of "the first Chinese-American mayor in the United States." The biggest difference is that Huang Jinbo returned to visit his motherland in 1980. In the next 25 years, he visited China more than 100 times. He became the first American citizen to cross the Yangtze River. He also became the overseas Chinese who shook hands with Chinese leaders the most, visited China's disaster areas the most, and visited the most Chinese schools. At the same time, Huang Jinbo was the first to broadcast China Central Television programs in English to American audiences on a private television station, and he always used his status as a doctor, mayor, and singer to introduce China with a pure heart. Therefore, people in the country call Huang Jinbo "the first Chinese-American mayor in the United States." He himself does not deny it, and the Chinese people are more sure of it. Over time, it has become a "fact." In addition to the official website, there are authoritative articles such as "Huang Jinbo: Changing the History of Chinese Americans in Politics" (No. 4, 2012) published by "Huang Jinbo: Changing the History of Chinese Americans in Politics" published by "People Weekly" (No. 7, 2011) in the United States. We believe that the scholars who published these papers are also rigorous and have checked the information on the Internet. Just like the author, if you look up the relevant information of "the first Chinese American mayor in the United States", it will definitely be "Mayor Huang Jinbo who was elected in Cerritos, California in 1983". Because all the information has been quoted from each other and supported by the official website, it has become a conclusion; but if you use "mayor Egmund Tang" (Mayor Deng Daming) If you search on Google, you can see in English documents that there are powerful information and deeds about the "coffin conclusion" of Peoria Mayor Daming Deng in the United States. Then, the conclusion on "who is the first Chinese-American mayor in the United States" will also be different. The question is, if Mayor Deng Daming had never returned to the mainland, or had less contact with the business and political circles after returning, would Chinese officials and scholars know him? How can he put his information on the Chinese Internet? Therefore, the history of overseas Chinese still needs to be discovered, supplemented and organized by ourselves. If we, the Chinese overseas community, do not organize and upload this information to the Internet and make it public to the world, then some correct information will be missed in the Internet age, and the chance of correcting some inaccurate information will be very slim.

(The deeds of Mayor Egmund Tang have been included in the book "Pearl of the Desert", which can be viewed online at www.paaca.us)