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最近耶鲁大学的黄艾琳同学写了一封致美国华人社区的公开信， 题目是《我们和非裔站在一起》，在美国华裔社区引起了巨大反响和争议，想必大家都已经读过了。 我是三天前才读到那封信的，读完后很难苟同那封信里的许多说法，我刚才给黄同学写了回信，是用英文写的，在中文版的下面。 以下是我写的回信的内容。
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黄艾琳同学和您的支持者们，
我是您最近给美国华人社区的公开信的读者之一。我是一个普通选民，三个孩子的父亲和一名志愿者。几天前，我有幸拜读了您写的并由您的一些同学共同签署的那封公开信。 我感谢您对华裔美国人社区和非裔美国人社区的关注！ 我感谢您用这封信表达您的想法方面所做的努力。但是对于您信函中的大多数观点我并不同意 —— 您似乎对您所谈论的主题不甚了解。
在您的信中，您说：“我们亚裔美国人中长期以来一直普遍存在着敌视（或歧视）黑人的言论和成见。我从小就听到亲朋好友（甚至我的父母）对黑人社区微妙的、有时明显是种族主义的谈论：他们在不好的社区长大；他们造成了太多的犯罪；我希望你千万不要跟黑人交朋友，不要卷入黑人运动中。” 我完全无法苟同您这些个说法。
首先，“亚裔美国人”并非只是华裔美国人，除华裔之外还包括许多亚洲种族。您对华人社区以外的亚裔美国人有多少了解？您是否真的有足够的知识和经验以越南裔美国人，印度裔美国人，日本裔美国人，韩国裔美国人或其他亚裔美国人的名义发声？据我所知，那些亚裔美国人从没有称非裔美国人为“黑鬼”，也没有称白人为“鬼佬”。
其次，我建议您不要基于您有限的个人经验和少数人的不良行为来判断整个亚裔或华裔社区的是是非非。 我知道确实有一些华裔美国人（准确地说，他们中的大多数甚至不是美国人，他们只是住在这里而已）经常冒出一些歧视黑人的言论，并且对黑人抱有刻板印象。但这只是他们，并不包括我，不包括我的中国朋友，也不包括大多数华裔美国人。根据我多年的观察，这些人的工作和生活仅限于华人的圈子。他们中的大多数人从不阅读或观看任何美国新闻。 《人民日报》和CCTV4曾经是他们唯一的新闻来源。 如今微信是他们了解世界的唯一途径。他们参加由中国领事馆组织安排的每项聚会和活动。他们热爱中国共产党，却讨厌美国。 同一群人不仅攻击黑人，还攻击白人。他们认为自己是优于地球上的任何其他族裔群体。因此，他们称印度人为“阿三”，称韩国人“高丽棒子”，称越南人“猴子”，称俄国人“毛子”。 他们甚至把在香港为自由而战的人们称为“港灿”，他们称台湾人为“台巴子”。如果您在美国浏览中文网站，您可能会发现同一群人总是拼命捍卫中共的言行。幸运的是，我不是其中之一，而且多数华裔美国人不在他们中间，也不喜欢他们。当您说“我们亚裔美国人中长期以来一直普遍存在着敌视（或歧视）黑人的言论和成见”时，您这不是通过一小撮人的不良行为来判断整个亚裔群体吗？这难道不是经典的种族主义吗？
我不清楚您对亚裔美国人的生活有多少了解。当您说“ ... 我们中的许多人生活在富裕的社区，把孩子送到顶尖的大学，从事舒适的专业工作......”时，您忽略了一些基本事实。您是否见过那些每天在中餐馆打工14小时一直做到死却薪酬低得可怜的伙计？ 您是否知道有很多华人家庭居住在纽约布鲁克林和其他一些低收入高犯罪地区的贫困区域，那些华人家庭的孩子和黑人和拉丁裔的孩子上同样的学校？您曾经去过在曼哈顿，费城，芝加哥或休斯敦唐人街的任何华人家庭吗？当您的父母带您到唐人街去周末购物时（我希望他们这样做），您是否曾经好奇在杂货店的那些华人伙计的薪酬是多少以及他们的住在何处？ 当您谈论亚裔孩子进入“顶尖大学”时，您是否知道在美国有许多亚裔学生与您一样优秀或什至比您更加优秀，但由于他们的肤色不对而被所有的顶尖大学拒之门外？ PBS的“亚裔美国人”告诉您，当年那些参加修建洲际铁路的华工是最努力和辛苦的，却受到不平等的对待。 但他们并没有告诉您，今天的亚裔学生在学校里是学习最辛苦努力的。 十分不幸的是，大多数的亚裔孩子并不像您那么幸运 —— 不管他们多么刻苦努力地学习，他们要么被招生办忽略，要么受到顶尖大学的种族配额所限而无法被录取。 请问今天那些亚裔美国人孩子的“顶尖大学”究竟在哪里？如果他们开始为自己的宪法所保障的权利而抗争，您是否会称他们为种族主义者？
哦，对了，一年前，在一个叫做香港的城市，那里有很多和您一样肤色的学生人开始为争取正义，自由和人权而抗争。 大多数学生都是和平抗争。但当局称他们为暴徒，并用催泪弹，高压水龙，橡皮子弹和真枪实弹镇压他们。乔治·弗洛伊德经历的那样的悲剧在香港和中国已经发生过多次了。我想知道，当全世界密切关注香港的民主运动的时候您在哪里？你看新闻了吗？你有说一句话吗？那些孩子的生命就该被那样摧残吗？你们之中有任何一个人甚至想过在校园里开辟一个列侬墙，向香港的兄弟姐妹们表示吗？是因为您的父母不允许您这样做呢，还是因为您同意共产党的看法？
您是否注意到，您的公开信实际上是在受到严格审查和绝对控制的微信平台上发布的？ 您是否知道您的文章得到了数百甚至数千元人民币的打赏，而那些向您付款的人必须在中国拥有有效的银行帐户？ 不谈这些，有一点是可以肯定的，这就是您的这一封政治信函在美国和中国都确保了政治正确，所以通过了某国的审查制度的严格审查。 与之相反，我给您的这一封信却只能张贴在我在美国的个人博客上。
最后，谈到这个国家的社会不公正现象，我只是好奇，除了从主流媒体和教科书中学到的知识以外，您对非裔美国人的日常生活究竟了解多少？您曾经住在非裔美国人社区吗？您的家人曾经造访过任何位于黑人社区的非洲裔美国人家庭吗？ 您的家人有没有在黑人社区全职服务过？ 简而言之，您有没有涉足黑人社区过？ 如果这些都没有发生过，那么您怎么可以指责别人是种族主义者而您自己却不是呢？
我完全同意您的看法，我们亚裔美国人应尽力帮助和支持我们在黑人社区的兄弟姐妹们。问题是如何去做。您建议的那些行动简直就是开玩笑。 稍微严肃认真的人都会感到您好像只是沽名钓誉但却不想付出真正的努力。如果您真的想帮助那些每天都在生活中挣扎的非裔兄弟姐妹，请采取一些实际行动吧，不仅要帮助他们，而且要和他们共同努力，共同克服困难并与他们共同取得成功！
如果您和您的同学们对这件事真的是很严肃认真的，那么你们就应该把是帮助黑人社区这一条写到你们的就业计划中去。 美国的黑人孩子们大多去市区公立学校就学，而那些市区公立学校大多严重缺少教师，尤其是缺少受过良好教育和积极进取的教师。 你们毕业后，是不是应该去申请去那些市区学区担任教学工作呢？ 我向你们保证，如果你们这样做，将会受到学区的官员，老师，非裔孩子们以及他们父母的热烈欢迎！
如果您不想当老师，那么还有许多其他职业途径可以为黑人社区服务。 如果您是一名医学院学生，您毕业后何不在黑人邻里建立家庭诊所？ 如果您正在攻读法律学位，为什么不在拿到执照后立即在黑人设区开设律师事务所？ 服务黑人社区的机会其实是很多的。请不要告诉我您打算加入美国和平队并希望被派遣到非洲国家 —— 这不算什么！ 美国的非裔美国人社区比其他任何地方都更需要您的专业技能和服务，请首先帮助我们自己国家的人民吧！ 我认为你们的父母将会支持你们的这一行动！
我想对参加在洛杉矶，休斯敦和其他城市举行的“黑人命贵”游行的华人说同样的话：我钦佩你们的精神，但请你们把语言和口号转化为具体的行动：把你们的企业搬迁到非裔美国人社区吧！ 那样可以减少种族贫富差距并加强那里的地方经济；您应该在非洲裔美国人社区寻求一份全职工作，拿出您的技能，才华和经验去造福最需要那些服务的人们；您应该在黑人社区广交朋友，在那儿参加教堂礼拜，在那儿做义工，并在那里参加他们的社会和政治活动。我们都是美国人：很多种族，但却只有一个美国！
在我拿到我的研究生学位后，我曾在密苏里州的堪萨斯城学区供职，那里94％的孩子是黑人。 我那里的七年中，当过技术资源学者，当过网管，当过网站设计，并结交了很多黑人朋友。我与他人共同撰写过技术课程教学大纲，建立过一个又一个机房，安装过路由器，集线器和服务器，并提供过技术培训。 我的工作受到那里的老师和孩子们的赞赏。 有一年我的照片出现在学区招聘手册的封面上。 我就是这样认识黑人社区的 —— 通过第一手经验。 这也是我认为您也应该这样做的原因 —— 如果我可以做到这些，那么您一定也可以做到！
那么你们打算做什么，想好了吗？
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下面是英文版
A Letter To Ms. Elieen Hiang, Et al
Hello Ms. Huang and Supporters,
I am one of the readers of your recent public letter to the Chinese American Community. I am a voter, a father of 3 children, and a volunteer. A few days ago I got a chance to read the letter written by you and co-signed by some of your schoolmates. Thank you for paying attention to both Chinese American community and African American community! I appreciate your effort in writing the letter and getting your words out. However, I cannot agree with most of the points in your letter - you don’t seem to know much about the subject you were talking about.
In your letter you said “We Asian Americans have long perpetuated anti-Black statements and stereotypes. I grew up hearing relatives, family friends, and even my parents make subtle, even explicitly racist comments about the Black community…...”. I cannot disagree more.
First of all, “Asian Americans” include many Asian ethnic groups besides Chinese Americans. How much do you know about those Asian American people outside of Chinese community? Do you really have the first hand knowledge and experience to speak in the name of Vietnamese Americans, Indian Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, or other Asian American groups? As far as I know, those Asian Americans don’t call African American “blackghost”(“黑鬼”), and they don’t call white people “ghost guy”(鬼佬).
Secondly, I would suggest that you not judge the entire Asian or Chinese community based on your limited personal experience and a small group of people’s bad behavior. It is true that some Chinese Americans (to be accurate, most of them are not even Americans, they just live here) do have anti-Black statements and stereotypes. However, it’s just them, not me, not my Chinese friends, not the majority of Chinese Americans. Based on what I have observed in many years, those people rarely get out of their Chinese circles. Most of them don’t read or watch any American news. 《People’s Daily》 and CCTV4 used to be their only source of news, nowadays WeChat is their only way to know the world. They attend every activity, party, and event organized by the Consulates of PRC. They love the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) yet hate America. The same group of people not only attack Blacks, they attack Whites as well. They think they are superior to any other race or ethnic group on earth. Therefore they call people in India “Asan” （“阿三”），they call Korean people “Korean sticks”(“高丽棒子”), they call Vietnamese “Monkeys” (“猴子”), they call Russians “Mao Zi”(“毛子”), and they even call the people who are fighting for their freedom in Hong Kong as “Gang Can” (港灿)，and they call Taiwanese people “Taibazi” (“台巴子”). If you surf the Chinese websites in the USA you may find the same group of people who desperately defend whatever CCP says and does. Fortunately, I am not one of them, and most of the Chinese Americans are not among them, not with them, and not like them. When you say “We Asian Americans have long perpetuated anti-Black statements and stereotypes”, do you think you are judging the entire Asian race group by bad behavior of a small group of people? Is this the classic racialism?
I am not sure how much you really know about Asian American’s life in this country. When you say “...many of us live in affluent neighborhoods, send our children to selective universities, and work comfortable, professional jobs…...”, you are neglecting some basic facts. Have you ever seen those Chinese restaurant workers who work 14 hours everyday getting very little pay till they die? Do you know there are many Chinese families living in poor neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York and some other low-income high-crime urban areas and their children attend the same schools as Black and Latino’s children? Have you ever visited any family in the Chinatown of Manhattan, Philadelphia, Chicago, or Houston? When your parents take you to Chinatown for weekend shopping (I hope they do), have you ever been curious about how much those grocery store workers get paid and where they live? When you talk about Asian kids going to “selective universities”, do you know that MANY of the Asian students in this country are equally qualified as you or even more qualified but they are denied admission to any of the elite universities just because of their skin color? The PBS “Asian Americans” tells you that the Chinese workers who worked hardest to build the transcontinental railroad were mistreated during and after the project, but they don’t tell you that today the Asian American students work hardest in schools, unfortunately most of them aren’t so lucky like you are - no matter how hard they work they are either ignored by admission offices or restricted by racial quota set by the elite universities. Where are the “selective universities” for those Asian American kids today? If they start fighting for their constitutional rights, are you going to call them racists?
One thing I would like to share with you, one year ago, in a city called Hong Kong, people with the same skin color and race as you started a big fight for justice, freedom, and human rights. The vast majority of the students there are peaceful. However, the authorities called them rioters, and treated them with tear gas, high-pressure water cannons, rubber bullets, and real bullets. What happened to George Floyd already happened in Hong Kong and China multiple times. I was wondering when the whole world was paying attention to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, where were you those days? Did you watch the news? Did you say a word about it? Are those kids' lives worth something? Did any of you even think about starting a Lennon Wall in your campus to show your brothers and sisters in Hong Kong? Is that because your parents do not allow you to do it or because you agree with the Communist?
Did you notice that your letter was actually published in a WeChat platform which is heavily censored and absolutely controlled by the CCP? Do you know that your article was actually rewarded with hundreds or even thousands of Chinese Yuan, and the people who paid you must have a valid bank account in China? Regardless of all of these, one thing for sure is that your political letter is politically correct in both the USA and China, therefore the Communist censorship did not bother to take it down as they did to many other articles. In contrast, my letter to you can only be posted on my personal blogs in the USA.
Finally, speaking about social injustice in this country, I am just curious about how much you really know about the daily life of African Americans besides what you have learned from mainstream media and textbooks. Have you ever lived in an African American community? Has your family ever visited an African American family located in Black neighborhood? Has any of your family members ever served full time in Black community? Simply put, have you ever set foot in a Black neighborhood? If none of these ever happened, then how can you accuse others to be racists and you are not?
I totally agree with you that we the Asian Americans should do our best to help and support our brothers and sisters in Black community. The issue is how. The action items you prescribed are a joke - it makes serious people feel that you just want to get attention and become a celebrity but don’t want to do any real thing. If you really want to help our African American brothers and sisters who are struggling every day, please take some real actions to not only help them, but also work with them, overcome challenges with them, and succeed with them!
If you are really serious, you should plan your career path focusing on helping Black community. Most of the urban school districts in this country where American Afterican children attend school are short for teachers, especially well-educated and motivated teachers. When you guys graduate, could you please apply for teaching jobs in those urban school districts? I assure you that if you do so, you will be most welcomed by the district officials, the teachers, the African American children and their parents.
If you don’t want to become a teacher, there are many other careers paths for you to serve the Black community. If you are a medical student, after you graduate, how about setting up a family practice clinic in Black neighborhood? If you are pursuing a law degree, why not open a law firm in Black neighborhood right after you receive your license? There are many, many opportunities for you to serve Black communities. Please don’t tell me you plan to join Peace Corp and want to be dispatched to an African country - that doesn’t count! The African American communities in this country need your dedicated service more than anywhere else, help our own people first! I assure you that your parents will support your action!
I want to say the same thing to those Chinese who attended the Black Lives Matter events in LA, Houston and other cities: I admire your spirit, but please transfer your words and slogans into concrete actions: move your businesses to African American community to closes the racial wealth gap and strengthen local economies there; get a full time job in African American community to contribute your skills, talent and experience to serve the people in need; make friends there, attend church services there, become a volunteer there, and join their social and political events there. We are all Americans: multi-race but one America!
After I received my graduate degree I served in Kansas City, Missouri School District where 94% of children are Black. During the seven years I was a technology resource scholar, a network administrator, a webmaster, and a close friend of many African Americans. I co-authored technology course curriculum, set up computer labs, installed routers, hubs and servers, and provided technical training. My work was appreciated by teachers and children there. In one school year my picture was on the cover page of the district’s recruiting booklet. This is how I knew Black community - by first hand experience. That’s also the reason I think you should do the same - If I can do it, so can you!
So what are you guys going to do?
Best wishes,
Bin Xie
