China News Service, Beijing, April 13th, title: Experience the case of Chen Guoren 39 years ago and Guo Zhiming: The United States is facing a severe test of Asian identity
Author Jin Xu
"The current raging wave of protests is a wake-up call for the United States. The United States is facing a severe test of Asian identity. Asian groups are members of American society, not outsiders, or marginalized'model minorities'." Stewart Kwoh, honorary president of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, said in an online interview with a reporter from China News Service.
Guo Zhiming was born in Nanjing in 1948, followed his parents to settle in the United States, and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law.
He was the first Asian American lawyer elected as a scholar of the MacArthur Foundation and a member of the American Chinese elite organization of the 100.
In 1983, Guo Zhiming founded the Southern California Asian Pacific American Legal Center (Asian Pacific American Legal Center) in Los Angeles, now known as the "Los Angeles Asian-American Justice Promotion Association". It is the largest Asian-American legal and civil rights organization in the United States. Immigration, employment issues, and hate crimes help disadvantaged Asian groups fight for their rights, and provide services to more than 15,000 people and institutions every year.
Talking about the original intention of the founding, Guo Zhiming said that Los Angeles has the largest Asian population in the United States, but there is no institution or civil rights organization that provides legal services to Asian groups.
"Many cases of discrimination against Asians are difficult to resolve through community agencies, and they all come to an end."
The Chen Guoren case 39 years ago was a tragedy caused by racial hatred.
As a witness, Guo Zhiming recalled that the hate crimes that attributed unemployment to Asian faces were terrifying.
"After reading the news published in the Los Angeles Times, I offered to provide legal services to Chen Guoren’s mother and accepted her entrustment to fight for rights and interests. Since the jury determined that the attacker’s behavior was not racially motivated, they never killed Chen Guoren. One day in jail. This incident caused great dissatisfaction and protest among Asian Asians and opened a chapter in the Asian civil rights movement."
"The problem of racial discrimination in the United States has a long history and is difficult to eradicate." Guo Zhiming told reporters that Asians have been used as scapegoats many times.
The Chinese Exclusion Act signed in 1882 was not repealed until 1943; the United States set up internment camps during World War II and imprisoned 110,000 Japanese Americans; after the "9.11" incident, many South Asian Americans were regarded as New York The culprit of the World Trade Center bombing was cruelly treated...
Nowadays, in the face of intensified "anti-Asian" sentiment, anti-discrimination protests have been launched in many places around the world.
Guo Zhiming said that wherever there are violent crimes against Asians, the "stop hating Asians" march will go wherever they go.
"In the face of accusations such as the'new crown virus' and the Kung Fu flu, we can no longer remain silent and repeat the mistakes of history. We must speak up because hatred is the real virus."
When talking about how Asian groups can better protect their own rights, Guo Zhiming pointed out that the strength of Asians alone is far from enough. Anti-racism requires the active participation and action of everyone. “We need to have the same experience as others. The people unite and make a strong voice." (End)