Zhang Zhaohong: Never let up in the fight against discrimination (Part 1)

Zhang Zhaohong: Never let up in the fight against discrimination (Part 1) 1. In recent years, incidents of discrimination and prejudice against Chinese people have occurred frequently. On February 17, 2012, ESPN reported...

1. In recent years, incidents of discrimination and prejudice against Chinese people have occurred frequently. On February 17, 2012, when ESPN reported news about Chinese-American star Jeremy Lin, it used the pun "Chink in the Armor" as its title, in which "Chink" is a racially discriminatory term. Many Chinese believe that this is not the first time ESPN has made such a mistake, and demand a thorough investigation and dismissal of such an editor who thinks he is humorous. The word "Chink" originated from the anti-Chinese anti-Chinese period in the late 19th century and is a representative term for anti-Asian and Pacific Islander violence. The word "Chink" is racist and harmful to Chinese Americans, just like the word "Nigger" is racist to black people. The pronunciation of the word "Chink" is awkward, and it is deliberately reminiscent of the Chinese slaves who wore long braids and pulled rickshaws in the Qing Dynasty. The intention is very bad. Amid the outcry, ESPN apologized again for the incident, fired the employee responsible for the headlines, suspended the host for 30 days, and announced that the radio commentator was no longer an ESPN employee. Because ESPN ensured that a similar situation would not happen again, the situation did not get out of hand. In 2008, at the US Golf Masters, CBS broadcaster Bobby Calleput also used the term "Chinaman" to describe Chinese player Liang Wenchong. Amid the rebuke, Bobby Calleput personally apologized. In 2007, the owner of a "Spring Roll Chinese Food" shop in Tucson, Arizona, printed on its advertising flyer: "Each order is delivered by a first-generation Chinese immigrant using a rickshaw... (Chinamen) are getting more and more expensive now." The term "Chinaman" originated in California more than 150 years ago, when the first batch of Chinese crossed the Pacific to pan for gold in the United States. They lived in poverty, suffered from white discrimination, and were scornfully called "Chinamen." This This advertisement was suspected of insulting the Chinese people, which caused public outrage. After strong protests from the local Asian community, the Chinese restaurant owner refused to apologize on the grounds that the advertisement was only for humor, setting off a storm of racial discrimination. Subsequently, six organizations representing ethnic minorities accused the words of insulting the Chinese people and sued its owner Mike Notz. After nearly six months of protest, Reynolds deleted all insulting words from the advertising flyers; the advertising company also stopped sending all racially discriminatory flyers and strictly reviewed the content of the store's advertising in the future. In 2004, Steve Kerr, the former general manager of the Suns and a core player of the Bulls in the 1990s, also used the term "Chinaman" to describe Yao Ming in an interview with Asia Weekly. Similarly, amid the outcry, Steve Kerr also personally apologized. Historically, racial discrimination has also hurt the Chinese in Alberta. The "Chinese Exclusion Act" passed by the United States in 1882, as well as the subsequent vicious anti-Chinese laws, prohibited Chinese from entering and deprived them of their citizenship rights. Chinese were not even allowed to marry other ethnic groups, and were not allowed to re-enter after leaving the United States. As a result, Chinese were not allowed to immigrate to the United States for 61 years, and Chinese in the United States were also subject to racial discrimination and harm. According to the famous Chinese writer Dong Dingshan, the peak of Chinese anti-Chinese in the United States was in the late 19th century. At that time, a newspaper in California described the Chinese as: "half-man, half-demon, rat-eating, shabby-dressed, ignorant of the law, opium-smoking, cheap labor, offal-sucking Asians." Bradford Rockingham, a history professor at Arizona State University (ASU), also mentioned in his book "Phenomenon: A History of a Southwest City" that in June 1890. The Arizona Republic once commented, “The scheming yellow race should be confined to the smallest possible area. "In Tucson, the Chinese had to leave the town before sunset, otherwise they would be imprisoned until dawn before they were freed. In downtown Phoenix, there were two relatively prosperous "Chinatowns". The first time was at the end of the 19th century. The "Chinatown" was located between First Street and Third Street, with Madison and Jefferson as the boundary to the north and south. It was the central and prosperous area of Phoenix today and back then. In the early 1890s, the population of Chinatown in this city exceeded 200. By 1892, a surging anti-China movement began among the people, and the public opinion community joined in. Due to the persecution, Chinatown was probably forced to disintegrate at this time, and the second Chinatown emerged in the early 1930s. It was found that there were 23 Chinese restaurants recorded in the city in the 1920s, and the number of "Tangren Warehouses" (grocery stores owned by Chinese) was 22 in 1927. By 1931, there was a sharp increase of 46, for a total of nearly 80, most of which were located in the city center and nearby areas. Chinese schools were also established at this time. Later, Chinatown was ridiculed as an area harboring corruption, so it was often targeted by the police, and the residents were moved out of Chinatown. Chinatown may have been disintegrated for the second time. After China and the United States became allies in World War II in 1943, the United States repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, but it was not effectively canceled until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. By October 6, 2011, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution apologizing for the unfair "Chinese Exclusion Act" 130 years ago. But the remnants of racial discrimination still occurred when ESPN reported on Jeremy Lin this year.

2. The Chinese continue to fight against racial discrimination. In 1895, a group of native-born Chinese nationals in Canada established the Homology Association with the purpose of fighting for their constitutional rights and eliminating racial discrimination. In 1904, the organization was established and renamed the Homology Association. The national One Origin Association has been around for more than 100 years, fighting for Congress to amend the 1924 Immigration Act, which restricts the immigration of spouses and children of Chinese citizens to the United States. It was eventually signed by President Roosevelt to allow non-quota immigration to the United States. This act enabled the largest number of women to come to the United States to reunite with their husbands. And many of their children will become backbone members of the Chinese society. Another achievement was in 1943, urging the U.S. Congress to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act. Also in 1952, he strongly criticized the investigation methods of the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong and the prosecution of jurors as purely discriminatory actions against the Chinese. In 1980, the Homology Association launched a nationwide signature campaign to oppose the unfair judgment of the Lottery Court in the murder case of Chinese-American Chen Guoren. In 2000, it requested the U.S. court to vindicate the judgment of the Chinese-American space scientist Li Wenhe in the espionage case, and opposed the discriminatory behavior of the court. In 1957, due to the U.S. Immigration Service's search for fake citizenship papers, the anti-discrimination anger of Chinese Americans in the United States was aroused. At that time, Chinese representatives from all over the United States gathered in the United States and Beijing to fight for equal rights and established the "National Chinese Welfare Federation." The "Feinian Welfare Branch" was established in response and organized to cooperate with the work of the General Association. According to information, the Welfare Federation was the only Chinese association registered with the federal government. The focus of the Welfare Federation is to unite other overseas Chinese groups to jointly request the government to improve immigration regulations, fight for the rights and interests of the Chinese through legal means, and urge the abolition of regulations that harm the Chinese. In order to obtain immigration quota and increase refugee admissions, the Welfare Federation went through many hardships and finally obtained fair legislation from Congress. China's original annual immigration quota was revised and relaxed from 105 to 20,000 per year. This opened the door for Chinese immigrants to come to the United States, thus promoting the prosperity of the Chinese community in the future.