致新中国移民一封公开信
吴华扬
我最近学到了一个深刻的教训。我永远不会忘记。
我最近写了一篇关于美国亚裔运动和新来中国移民的博客。它在网上被疯传。我曾希望促进合作。我敦促先进的活动家接触和尊重我们最近到达的表亲们，他们不一定认同我们追求的理念。
但是，良好的意图是不足够的，后果也是重要。我的一些用词，包括重复使用和经过翻译，没有适当地从第三者角度考虑到敏感程度。许多人的理解是我原意的相反。他们领会到我，一个对中国根源自豪的美国人，在说比近一代的新中国移民更优越。
怪责被冒犯方的道歉是不值得的。我不会怨恨我受创伤的朋友。我看到他们如何推断音调。 “他们”意识到“我们”与“他们”的框架。而我们共同的愿望是“他们”和“我们” 是一体的。
作为更正，我再次重申：建桥工作是至关重要的。这意味着跨越太平洋，并包括白人和黑人。它也包括了广大的中国侨民。代溝的减少也需要努力再努力。
对于我崇拜的长期维权人士和他们奋斗争取权利，包括我在内，的社团来说，我提出两点。
首先，作为一个原则问题，我们必须具有包容性。这是一个纯粹的概念。如果我们和他们在战斗，我们不能说我们正在为他们而战斗。这是虚伪的。
第二，如果这点还不足夠说服力，人口趋势就很重要。我们不能低视与我们相似而比我们少住几年的人。我们，不分彼此，都必须有欢迎态度。这不仅仅是为了战略。第一点不能被接受的话，第二点应该是可被接受的。
种族，文化和身份问题充满争议，容易被误读，特别是通过社交媒体在陌生人中发挥。但我了解到我应该表达得更加清楚。我被委托担当领导重任，作为一个代表，令我既荣幸亦惶恐。这意味着我必须履行责任。
请允许我作一个个人总结，许多联系我的人已作出通常为亲密友好预留的强度回应。我拥抱那些从中国来到美国的新移民。我的父母曾经是新移民中的一员。不是他们的牺牲，不会有今天的我。他们的梦想继续蔓延到世界各地。我的父亲确实帮助我体会到我造成的问题。我们 – 特别是我 – 可以做得更好。
我赞扬与我争辩朋友们的自信心。我们都要站起来和他们一样地发声。
附录。我个人说话不应该让他人承担风险。不用说，我的观察是我个人的，只是我个人的。 没有一个我有幸隶属的优秀机构，应该受到任何映射，从加州大学黑斯廷斯大学法学院到百人会到美国教育部。
A Public Letter To New Chinese Immigrants
Frank Wu
March 22, 2107
I have learned a profound lesson. I will never forget it.
I recently wrote a blog here about the Asian American movement and newer Chinese immigrants. It went “viral.” I had hoped to promote cooperation. I urged an audience of progressive activists to reach out and respect their cousins who have arrived more recently and might not agree with all of their advocacy.
However, good intentions are not enough; consequences matter. I was insensitive to how the words would be received, including in translation and repetition. Many people interpreted my message as its opposite. They understood me as saying I, an American proud to be of Chinese heritage, felt superior to Chinese who have come to these shores in the past generation.
An apology that implies the offended party was to blame is hardly worthwhile. I do not begrudge my friends who were hurt. I see how they inferred tone. “They” noticed the framing of “us” versus “them.” The shared aspiration is for “them” and “us” to be as one.
To make amends, it is worth repeating: Bridge building is crucial. That means across the Pacific Ocean, as well as with whites and blacks. Yet it also encompasses the vast Chinese diaspora. There are generational divides that can be united through effort, and only through effort.
In addressing the long-time civil rights champions, whom I admire, about the community for whom they would fight, among whom I count myself, I made two points.
First, as a matter of principle, we must strive to be inclusive. This is a pure concept. We cannot say we are fighting for someone if in fact we are fighting with them. It would be hypocritical.
Second, if that were not persuasive on its own, the demographic trends matter. We cannot condescend to people who are like us but for a few years difference in residence here. All of us, “we” and “they,” must be welcoming. That is not simply for strategy. But for those to whom I was speaking, unwilling to accept the first point, they ought to be won over by the second point.
It might be tempting to suggest that issues of race, culture, and identity are fraught, contentious, and subject to misreading. That is all the more so played out among strangers through social media. But I realize that I should have been more clear. I am entrusted with a leadership role. I am both honored and humbled that others believe I can represent them, including to those who already have stereotypes in their head that are less than positive. That means I have to fulfill a responsibility.
Please allow me to conclude personally. So many who had contacted me have responded with the intensity we usually reserve for intimates. I embrace those who have come from China to America. My parents were once among them. I would not be who I am but for their sacrifices. They believed in a dream that continues to beckon the world over. Indeed, my father helped me appreciate the problem I caused. We — specifically I — can do better.
I applaud those who would argue with me for their assertiveness. If only we all stood up and spoke out as they do.
Addendum. Speaking for myself subjects others to risks. Needless to say, my observations are mine, and mine alone. None of those great institutions with which I am privileged to be affiliated should be impugned by any of this, ranging from University of California Hastings College of the Law to Committee of 100 to the United States Department of Education.