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加利福尼亞州眾議員劉雲平曾說過,自己曾被稱為“中國佬”,遭人對他家扔雞蛋,被人割壞家人汽車的輪胎,成長伙伴也曾嘲笑過他。他在1995年加入空軍,部分原因就是由於在年輕時曾遭遇到種族歧視的影響。他三歲時從台灣移民來到美國,
Lieu曾經在國內和海外都服過兵役,這樣做是為了回報國家,並且他是在空軍有著很長時期的後備役上校。因曾有著一段美好的人生回憶和磨練,所以渴望著和大家分享如何被認可的寳貴經驗!
劉雲平眾議員現在以 “互聯網抗爭英雄”的嚴肅態度來關注 “ COVID-19”
疫情所引起的愚蠢種族主義言論現象。也因在眾議院播出與父母失散的移民兒童哭泣聲而聞名,
回應了特朗普2018年的“零容忍”移民政策。這位正在競選連任的國會議員嚴厲批評了「仇外心理」和「種族主義」.
因此鞏固了他今天在政治領域的地位。有不少支持者示表,在反移民言論激增之際,劉議員的聲音尤為至關重要。
他明確說:“如果我不想做事且大聲疾呼,那我應該把這份工作交給其他人。”
對於Lieu來說,他勇敢舉止的種子是在他的青年時期培養的,在一個工薪階級的亞裔美國人家庭中長大,並與他作為移民孩子的身份抗衡。
他出生於台灣,他現在能以一種健康的心態和自信來反思自己的亞裔美國人該有的公平身份, 與生俱來繼承的傳統價值觀已經成為了值得肯定的驕傲。
然而,年輕時的他卻走過一段並不感到舒服的實際人生經歷,但也因此使他學習到要從不完美中去追求完美。
正如他所說,父母親在看完美國地圖之選了在Cleveland,
Ohio克利夫蘭市定居,從此他在那個城市渡過了自己成長的歲月。
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Ted Lieu with his mother.
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Ted Lieu
當他回憶起自己的家人時說:我們當時經濟拮据,在美國最早的時期住在一位女房東家的地下室,英語也並不是他父母親的母語,平時他們去跳蚤市場賣禮物以維持生計。
劉雲平的父母花了很多時間和精神節省下了足夠的錢並在購物廣場開設禮品店。
隨著歲月的流逝,他們不得不用上每週七天的漫長工作時間,最後逐漸終于能夠擴展到六家商店,他和弟弟在除了去學校之外,平時也照顧著商店。
當他目睹父母親為著家庭生計而在努力打基礎時,體會到了自己必須努力,以使早日他們能負擔買得起自己的房子,即使環境並不總是那麼完美,但他對這樣的現實已感到知足和滿意。
Lieu說: “在我曾住過的地方,有時候的確會令人感到缺乏歸屬感,因為明明在自己的國家卻因膚色被視為外國人”。 更不幸的!
這種不良經歷所產生的後遺症曾使他因在父母的母語周圍而感到
困惑。他回憶道:“當我還是個孩子的時候,曾經會因在公共場合父母說中文而感到尷尬。但現在我要為他們的做法而感到自豪,因為他們讓我在家說中文,所以我現在也會說中文了。
在無奈的接受這些改變不了的經歷之後,轉變的關鍵是在空軍接受了他,實際的行動也証明了對國家的忠誠,軍隊生涯也給了年輕的Lieu成長的經驗,他感到了自己的使命感和責任,考慮的層面不只是在於族群。在軍旅的生活中要求自我更上一層的學到人性化,以不卑不亢的態度超脱了亞裔美國人的標籤。直到現在,當Lieu在空軍基地與其他人擦肩而過時,本身也習慣了一視同仁的只注意到級别和服務單位。
擁有軍方背景和亞洲移民成長背景的劉雲平不一定符合典型的「互聯網抗爭英雄」形象。然而他對川普政府不合理政策的猛烈批評吸引了超過130萬追隨者。
加利福尼亞大學河濱分校公共政策和政治學教授卡西克·拉馬克里希南(Karthick Ramakrishnan)解釋說,Lieu是新一代敏銳直率,精通激進的亞裔美國政治家的代表,例如眾議員Pramila
Jayapal,D-Wash。和Rep。加利福尼亞州的羅·卡納(Ro Khanna)曾走過類似的道路,在年輕一代和政黨的支持下贏得了青睞。
Ramakrishnan說:“ Ted Lieu象徵著一種新型的AAPI代表,他能夠根據自己的社交媒體知識以及他在國家安全領域的背景和專業知識,開闢出一個專屬品牌。”
“他已經能夠用自己的經驗在民主黨基礎上更廣泛地建立強大的支持群體,而不僅僅是在AAPIs或他所在地區的居民中。”
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Ted Lieu with his family
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Ted Lieu in uniform near the Statue of Liberty.
鑑於離開家人的時間以及他作為公務員需要做出的犧牲,Lieu說:「只有當他忠於自己的道德指南說出他的真實想法並做正確的事情時,這個職位才是值得的」。的確他做到了。在共和黨國會議員Devin
Nunes 提出威脅後,今年初他將提起訴訟。
劉雲平回信,告訴他的同事“Shove It.”。甚至連他最近的競選廣告都是對川普試圖證明自己在 Tulsa,
Oklahoma 的良好狀態,這是在批評家質疑川普的 Well
Being之後,總統先生捧著一杯水,而Lieu被多次稱為“辣”而意味著是個不容侵犯的角色,這倒與他平時愛將食物加香料的習慣無關,而是個性使然!
甚至高人氣的支持者人數還讓他自己都感到驚訝!他回答了支持者的好奇提問: 我也同樣的感到驚訝!
並沒有在玩魔術把戲,我只是在告訴你了真相!。
現在他的支持群體已經超越了亞裔美國人社區,而 Lieu
經常支持使他本族以外的人受益的立法。拉馬克里希南指出,儘管美國的種族氛圍很難將 Lieu
的當選視為完全獨立於他本身的種族,但許多人認為這名政治家是川普政府在與國家安全和民主規則上的“敏銳批評家”。即使如此,Lieu
繼續在代表亞裔美國人中尋找該有的責任。上週一,他領了150名國會議員的兩黨信函,要求司法部長William
Barr公開譴責源自COVID-19大流行的反亞洲偏見行為。
過去,他在間諜案件方面一直大聲疾呼,要求對他們進行更多的公平審查,以使亞裔美國人的學者和科學家(例如Sherry
Chen陈霞芬和郗小星)不再受到不當指控。
Ted Lieu説:
曾在我所從事工作過程中,發生過這樣的事情,一名愛爾蘭裔美國國會議員本可以做與我完全相同的事情,以及其他非亞洲成員本也可以做同樣的事情,但並沒有人去做,直到亞裔的國會成員感受亞裔美國人社區不滿時,才得以改變。對於Lieu而言,
對於有關間諜活動的問題的看法重點是在要讓民眾可清楚的認知 “如果美國政府看起來更像它所代表的人民,那麼美國政府將會更強大” .
隨著連任三屆國會議員的競選連任,是 Lieu
再次開始反思自己如何為選民服務的時候。他已征服了所有前面的困難,將再继續帶著正能量和動力往前推進為其終身事業!
劉雲平説: “我相信旣使我窮究一生之付出，仍難以報答美國給予我的一切，我以忠誠效忠這偉大的國家”
Growing up, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said he
was called a "chink." People threw eggs at his home, his family's
tires were slashed, and peers would parody the Chinese language to
him.
Lieu went on to join the Air Force in 1995 in part, he says, to
further assert his Americanness after confronting racism in his
younger years. Having immigrated to the United States from Taiwan
when he was 3 years old, he says he also did it to give back to his
country. Lieu served active duty both in the country and abroad, and
says his time in the Air Force, where he remains a colonel in the
reserves, was one of many experiences that fueled his desire to
speak out in the memorable and impactful ways for which he has
become recognized.
Lieu is now known for acts like calling out internet trolls for
“stupid racist shit” comments about COVID-19. Or playing an audio of
crying migrant children, who had been separated from their parents,
on the House floor In response to Trump’s “zero tolerance”
immigration policy in 2018. The congressman, who’s currently running
for re-election, cemented his status as a critic of xenophobia and
racism in the political sphere. Supporters say Lieu’s voice is
particularly critical at a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric is on
the rise.
“If I'm not going to be doing things or speaking out, then I should
give this job to someone else,” he said weeks before the lockdown
took hold of the U.S.
For Lieu, the seeds of his bold conduct were planted in his youth,
growing up in a working class, Asian American household, and
contending with his identity as an immigrant kid. Born in Taiwan, he
noted that he now reflects on his Asian American identity with a
healthy dose of confidence, his heritage now a source of pride.
However his younger years were dusted with uncomfortable experiences
that didn’t always make the road to self-acceptance so seamless.
As he tells it, Lieu’s parents settled in Cleveland after looking at
a map of the U.S. It was in that city where he would spend his
formative years.
“We were poor,” he recalled of his family, who lived in the basement
of a woman’s home in his earliest years stateside. “[My parents] did
not speak English well and they went to flea markets to sell gifts
to make ends meet.”
Lieu’s parents put in the hours, saving up enough money to open a
gift store in a shopping plaza. As years passed, packed with long,
seven-day workweeks, they were able to gradually expand to six
stores, where he and his brother filled their time outside of
school, watching over the shops. As he witnessed his mother and
father put down roots for his family, doing well enough so they
could afford a house of their own, he contended with the reality
that the environment wasn’t always so welcoming to them.
“Growing up where I did, there were times when I was made to feel
like I did not belong. That I was a foreigner in my own country,”
Lieu said.
An unfortunate byproduct of such experiences, he said, was the
unease he felt when around his parents’ native tongue.
“I would, as a kid, feel embarrassed about my parents in public
settings when they would speak Chinese. Now, I'm proud that they did
that, they made me speak Chinese at home because now I can speak
Chinese,” he said looking back.
Having stomached these disempowering experiences, Lieu said he
reacted by demonstrating his loyalty as an American, perhaps looking
to the Air Force for acceptance. The military proved a
transformative experience for the young Lieu. He noted that it was
where he felt seen for his missions and rank, his substance, rather
than just his race. It was in the military, Lieu says, where he came
into his own and felt humanized beyond two-dimensional Asian
American labels. Even now, when Lieu crosses paths with others on an
Air Force base, he himself assesses them by rank and service.
With a background in the armed forces and an upbringing in an Asian
immigrant household, Lieu doesn’t necessarily match the profile of a
typical internet resistance hero. Yet, his snappy criticisms of the
Trump administration have drawn in more than 1.3 million followers.
Karthick Ramakrishnan, a public policy and political science
professor at the University of California, Riverside, explained that
Lieu is representative of a new generation of outspoken,
activist-savvy Asian American politicians like Rep. Pramila Jayapal,
D-Wash., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who’ve carved similar paths,
gaining favor with younger generations and party support alike.
“Ted Lieu is emblematic of a new kind of AAPI representation, where
he is able to carve out a particular brand that is based in part on
his social media savvy and also from his background and expertise in
national security,” Ramakrishnan said. “He has been able to leverage
his experience to build a strong following among the Democratic base
more generally, and not just among AAPIs or among residents in his
district.”
Given the time spent away from his family and the sacrifices he’s
needed to make as a public servant, Lieu said the position would
only be worth it if he stayed true to his moral compass and “speak
my mind and do the right thing.” And he has. After GOP congressman
Devin Nunes, threatened to sue him earlier this year. Lieu wrote a
letter back, telling his colleague to “shove it.” Even his recent
campaign ad was a parody of Trump’s attempt to prove his good health
at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally in which the president chugged a glass
of water after critics had questioned his well-being. Indeed, Lieu’s
been called“spicy”more than once, and it’s had nothing to do with
his admitted habit of dumping spice onto his food.
Even so, his follower count confounds him.
“I find it bizarre that I have as many followers as I have because
I’m not doing magic. I’m just telling you the truth,” Lieu said.
His followers have transcended the Asian American community and Lieu
regularly backs legislation that benefits those outside of his own
race. Ramakrishnan pointed out that though the racial climate in the
U.S. makes it difficult to see Lieu as an elected official
completely independent of his race, many view the politician as a
“sharp-witted critic, of the Trump administration on matters related
to national security and democratic rule.”
Even so, Lieu continues to find duty in representing Asian
Americans. On Monday, he led a bipartisan letter from 150 members of
Congress demanding Attorney General William Barr publicly condemn
acts of anti-Asian bias stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the
past, he’s vocally pushed for an added layer of review when it comes
to espionage cases so that Asian Americans scholar and scientists,
like Sherry Chen and Xiaoxing Xi, are no longer wrongfully accused.
“It sort of occurred to me as I was working on this, that it's true
that an Irish American member of Congress could have done exactly
the same thing that I did. And other non-Asian members could have
done the same thing, except no one did,” he said. “It actually took
Asian American Congress [members] to get upset about an issue that
was affecting the Asian American community, to then get changed.”
For Lieu, working on the espionage-related issue drove home why it’s
“important that the American government is stronger if it looks more
like the people it actually represents.”
As the three-term congressman gears up for re-election, Lieu gets
introspective about his time serving constituents. He said his
career has always been cause-driven and by continuing to keep his
motivations front of mind, he’s got through any bad days.
“I believe I could never give back to America everything this
amazing country has given to me.”
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