Posted by toto on October 13, 2001 at 22:30:02:
'September 11, 2001 is a day that will live in infamy. We join all
people of good will in condemning the heinous terrorist acts on our
country and nation.' However, 'we will not succumb to the temptation
of allowing prejudice to tear apart the majesty of our country, and every
neighborhood.' We must not direct our anger at a part of America --
Arab Americans and Sikh Americans who are often mistaken as Arab Ams.
We must not even assume that Arabs and Sikhs, who currently reside
in the US, are guilty. The greatness of America lies in assuming
that persons are innocent until proven guilty.
For those reasons and enlightened SELF-INTEREST, 80-20 is a co-signer
of a short statement entitled 'Communities Respond to Terror and Hate.'
Indeed, the first three sentences of this e-mail are taken from that state-
ment. For the complete statement: http://www.80-20initiative.net .
You may ask, 'Where is the self-interest in 80-20 by signing such
a statement?' Here is the answer:
Mind you that Japanese Americans in WWII were interned when
German and Italian Americans were not. Why? Our political system
'succumbed to the temptation of prejudice.' If such prejudice is not
forestalled, APAs from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, where
there are many Muslims, could be interned under the mandates of the
'War against Terrorism.' Or, God forbid, if there is ever a war between
the US and an Asian country, APAs could be interned for the same
suspicions exhibited against Arab Americans today.
We must think proactively!
********
GOOD NEWS: A gigantic flag, 13' by 25', was recently
painted on a wall in SF Chinatown, donated by Fang's
Enterprise, owner of a mainstream newspaper, The
San Francisco Examiner. It 'll be on permanent display.
Nov. 11 is Veteran's Day. Be sure to display a flag. If
you don't have one yet, go buy one with a holder to
display it outside of your house, or buy a car flag. Go
to: http://www.carflag.com/ or http://usacarflag.com/
*********
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* * * * * * * * * * *
80-20 is a national nonpartisan Political Action Committee
dedicated to winning equal opportunity and justice for all Asian
Pacific Americans through a SWING bloc-vote, ideally directing
80% of our community's votes and money to the presidential
candidate endorsed by the 80-20, who better represents the
interests of all APAs. Hence, the name '80-20' was created.
For more details, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net