Good evening everyone. I am honored to be here this
evening with each and every one of you in celebration of Women’s Day.
My congratulations to the new officers, and many thanks to your
President Ms. Barbara Hing for inviting me.
I was asked to talk about my “immigrant
experience”. Just like many of you in this room I was born in another
country and moved to the US some years ago. I believe sharing our
experiences is important and helpful. If nothing else, talking about
it can help one another deal with what AAs face everyday.
WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHYAM I HERE? Easy question –
the majority of AAs came here looking for a better life for us and our
children, specifically, education and economic opportunities. For me,
I was born in HK and lived there for the first 17 years of my life. As
you know, HK was a Colony under the control of Great Britain for many
years. It is sad that during my years there I never felt I belong to a
country, any country. My late father, who was also born and raised in
HK, told me many times that when he was a young man growing up in HK,
every time he walked past the park in Central District, there was a
sign posted at the gate by the British that says Chinese and Dogs not
allowed! Just imagine in a city where 97 % of its population is
Chinese, see something like this was beyond comprehension.
After high school, I had a scholarship to study
music in Osaka, Japan for several months. Next, I traveled to Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, and studied at Taylor’s College, a private
College-Prep School preparing students to attend college in Melbourne,
Australia. After that, instead of going to Australia my parents wanted
me to go, I decided to come to Canada and started college in Toronto.
Eventually I moved to the US and have lived in this country now for
over 35 years. I still love to travel. I have been to all 50 states,
visited many countries in Europe and other parts of the world; lived
in many places, but the last 19 years I was in Ohio.
I have been fairly lucky in pursuing my American
Dream. I met my husband in Canada and we have been married for 31
years. We have one daughter. After completing my Bachelors and Masters
Degrees I had my own career for 10 years. From the mid 70’s to 80’s, I
was district manager for a fast food chain in Denver, CO. It was not
until my daughter was 6 years old that I decided to go to law school
and pursue a legal career.
HOW I GET INTO GOVT. When I was in my last year
of Law School at the University of Toledo, I was recruited by the
State of Ohio. I attended the University’s “Career Day” where
potential employers came on campus to recruit. At that time I was
attending Law School in the evening, working for a Judge at the Toledo
Municipal Court and the Toledo Bar Association during the day. I was
looking for a permanent position dealing with “Public Interest Law ”.
I was hired right from Law School into the State of Ohio, Civil Rights
Commission as an investigator. The Civil Rights Commission
investigates discrimination complaints and enforce Ohio’s Laws against
discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodation, credit
and higher education. I have been with the agency now for 16 years, 2
years in Toledo and 14 years in Cleveland. From where I started as an
investigator to where I am now as regional director consisted of 5
promotions. I was very lucky that I received 5 promotions in 4 years,
which no one had done before. Everything happened so quickly that
during those 5 years with this agency my nickname was “The Golden Girl
of the Commission”.
AAs IN THE US. AAs represent only 3 % of the
population in the US, yet AA students have the highest scores in any
systemic tests (elementary, middle, high school or college entrance
exams). AAs set the standard on test scores. You should also know that
in the State of Ohio, AAs as a group working in state govt is the
highest paid group of state employees. So where are these high-paying
jobs that are occupied by many Asian Americans? These are
Psychologists and Psychiatrists working in state hospitals,
institutions, and prisons treating people with mental illness. If AAs
are doing so well in Ohio, is there discrimination out there?
Absolutely! In the workplace, restaurants, schools, and the
communities……. You name it, it’s there. No matter how long you have
lived in this country, people still ask you where you are from. They
may not have any malice, but it still makes you feel like an outsider.
AAs are passive, we seldom argue with people, we follow the rules, we
don’t throw the first punch…. which make us more vulnerable to be
taken advantage of.
Unfortunately there are only a handful of
well-known AAs as role models. Today there are Elaine Chao, Secretary
of State, Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation, Henry Lee, the
forensic scientist from Connecticut, Ioeh M. Pei, the Architect who
designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame right here in Cleveland, Gary
Locke, the first elected AA Governor for the State of Washington,
Yo-Yo Ma and his music, and the athletes such as Michael Chang, Tiger
Woods, and Yao Ming. When people watch movies, they see Bruce Lee,
Jackie Chan, and Jet Li. There is nothing wrong with that, but these
are actors in martial arts, what they portray in the movies is not a
true representation of what AAs are about.
The Cleveland Regional Office handles 900
discrimination complaints a year. At the state level, there are over
5000 cases filed in 6 of our Regional Offices. In the last 16 years, I
have reviewed over 12,000 discrimination cases filed with our agency.
I like to offer some suggestions:
I am not telling you to forget where you came
from. However, if you adopt this country as your own, you are an
American, so blend in, and do not isolate yourself from coworkers or
neighbors, make as many friends as you can……
Enjoy the privileges but at the same time take
responsibilities
Support the country, register to vote, and fly the American Flag
Participate in community activities or volunteer work
Help one another, help your neighbors….
there is an old Chinese saying that you should only shovel the snow at
your front door, and disregard what your neighbor has. That old saying
does not work here, you should shovel the snow for your neighbors too
if you can! It would not hurt to be the first to lend a hand
As minorities, remember and be thankful to all
the ones before us, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Park, the NAACP…
who fought and laid the groundwork so we can enjoy what we have today.
There was a protest in Detroit years ago for the murder of Vincent
Chin; the Rev. Jesse Jackson was there. He was just a handful of
non-Asian persons who showed up. Would you have done the same thing
for someone you don’t know?
If you are pursuing a career,
Set your goal and develop a plan on what it takes
and how to accomplish that goal
Be persistent; if you don’t succeed the first
time try again
Do not lose your focus, concentrate on the opportunity and timing to
take action
Do not be afraid to take risks
If you believe you have been let down, step on,
or discriminated against, do something about it, but if there is
nothing that can be done, find it in your heart to forgive, let go and
move on.
On Sunday, March 26, 2006, the federal Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the
Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the City of Cleveland Community
Relations Board will conduct a joint presentation on discrimination in
employment, housing, and hate crime. It will be from 1 – 3 pm at the
Asia Plaza, second floor, sponsored by the Organization of Chinese
American of Greater Cleveland. I hope you all can attend.
Here is my final thought: If you read the bible, |
