The World Is Yours!
Issue #2
The Violence Issue
July 1996

Generasian X

"There was a Foolish Old Man who lived in China, and two mountains stood near his house. Everyday, he and his kids would go to the mountains and try to dig them up. One day, a Wise Old Man came up to him, and said, "What the hell are you doing, old man? You ain't never gonna' dig them mountains up!" The Foolish Old Man looked at him, cocked his eye, and said "Wise Old Man, you're smart, but sometimes you plenty dumb. You see, I'll be out here digging 'till the day I die, and when I croak, my sons and daughters will keep on diggin', and then my grand-kids will, and so on down the line. And no matter how much we dig, these mountains will never get any taller. So one day, we'll succeed in moving these mountains." It was in this way that he proved the Wise Old Man wrong. The gods saw all this, and took pity on the Foolish Old Man and sent two angels down, who carried the mountains away on their backs."

- a paraphrased Chinese fable

On the 4th of July, "Independence Day," as some people call it, while families across the nation were gearing up their Hibachis to cook some mad cow meat for the holiday, I went to a rally at the Westwood Federal Building where protesters against illegal immigrants and for immigrants' rights clashed in the streets in a free-for-all melee that was broadcast direct to the news and the radio. I was actually late to the event, but I got to see the aftermath that followed, as the entire intersection of Westwood and Veteran was cordoned off, and hundreds of cops, on the street, mounted, in cop cars, on motorcycles, and in riot gear had moved in like an army to occupy the intersection. I passed by the anti-immigrant protesters with their misappropriated symbols of Amerika, and tried to cross the street, but was soon stopped by some cop who started yelling at me like a drill sergeant (ooh, you're scary). I mock saluted him, and crossed to the other side of the street, watching as the nazis pushing for their white aryan nation marched with signs that read, among other things, "Graffiti is Illegal," and "Stop the Mexican Cocaine Cartel." I was sickened and amused by the signs; I was amused at the stupidity of holding such signs at an immigration rally, and sickened because, having been raised in Orange County, I could see that this is how these people actually think. They honestly believe that immigrants aren't coming to this country to make a decent living but are really here to write graffiti on their walls and yes, smuggle drugs. I know that when my ancestors came here, that's what they really wanted to do. Yeah, and pigs fly.

But in any case, I was more amused later when my friend was telling me a story of his encounter on the streets during the protest. There was this one woman walking on the side of the klan, dressed up to look like the Statue of Liberty (you know, "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be exploited and spit on. . ."). She came up to my Asian-American friend, got in his face, and started yelling at him "Gook, Go Home! Gook, Go Home!"

You gotta just love Amerika.

This was the Statue of Liberty telling him this, and I was pretty amused by the symbolism of the encounter. It seemed to really point out just how distorted and twisted the symbols of Amerika have become, and how much these symbols are being used to exclude and take away the rights of poor people, people of color, women, and other minority populations in Amerika. And it really points out the level of madness that has moved into our society with the kind of virulent patriotic and xenophobic bullshit that seems to be gripping everyone as we move into this era of conservative backlash and "diss-integration" of civil and human rights here in Amerika.

It has been in this context that we have seen the increase of hate crimes and police brutality against Asian-Americans. One need only look at the recent killing of Kim Hong Il by cops in Orange County and the murder of Thien Minh Ly in Tustin by nazis to see that Asians are definitely not "excluded" when it comes to being brutalized and murdered in the streets. It happens all the time but we just don't hear enough about such things. Even further, domestic violence, gang violence, and rape are the internal community problems that we have to face and deal with if we want to move forward as communities. Again, it happens all the time, but you just don't hear about it. And then there's the larger issue of institutional violence committed against our people when cops with badges feel they can kill us with impunity, when we are stopped from affecting governmental policies that affect us, when we can't get justice in the courts, and when businesses exploit our people for cheap labor.

As the next Generasian of community leaders who will shape the community of the future, we have to get responsible and move forward in working to better our communities and in working towards solving our problems. As noted in the Chinese fable quoted in the beginning of this article, our struggle is the struggle to continue fighting for true liberation and equality in Amerika. That was the struggle of the previous generation and sadly, that's the unfinished business that we must envision and bring to fruition. But if we persevere, we will arouse the youth to change the system, to move the mountains like the gods in the fable. The people, united, are the true mountain-movers who will shape the future of Amerika. That is our responsibility, but also our strength.

In any case, this issue of the 'zine is dedicated to the victims of violence in our communities, with an open call to make a difference to direct our energies to the defense of our communities. 'Cause when it comes down to it, we gotta protect ourselves, 'cause no one else will.

Issue 3
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