麻州亚裔细分终于粉墨登场了，由众议员Tackey Chan提出的亚裔细分的 Bill H. 3361 很快将在 Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight 听证。现在是给这个委员会的议员们写信表达反对意见的最佳时机，争取让这个提案胎死腹中。参考已经有的几个样板，我也起草了一封信，并且发给了Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight 的全部16名议员。欢迎朋友们改写，转载，传播。谢谢！
Dear Representative (Senator) xx,
I am writing to express my concern about the MA Bill H. 3361 proposed by Representative Tacky Chan. I urge you to stop this bill.
The intent of this bill is to identify and subdivide Pacific Islander and Asian descents. This in itself does not necessarily pose a problem; rather the very likely consequence of this subdivision worries me. For the 1870 census, the color/racial question was expanded to include "C" for Chinese, which was a category that included all East Asians, as well as "I" for American Indians. 12 years later, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Chester A. Arthur. For the 1870 census, the category of East Asians was further divided into “Chinese”, “Japanese”, etc. The census data was then used for Japanese American internment in 1940. History should not repeat itself in 21st century.
The most recent US Census states that Asian Americans compose 5.6% of the population. With 72% of the population being white and 12% being African American, it is highly inefficient and questionable to divide the Asian American to even smaller subsections while leave other larger populations as their own groups. Some people say that there is a large diversity in the Asian American population, but that holds just as much truth for the White population or the African American population. Why divide only the Asian American?
Those who support the Bill H. 3361 argue this bill will help Southeast Asians. I completely agree some Southeast Asians need help. However, every ethnic group has disadvantage minorities. Help should be based on individual’s social status and economic situation. Racial profiling is a wrong approach. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
United we stand, divided we fall. We are all Americans. It is our dream to lump ethnicities together and generalizing people of diverse cultural. This bill will dissolve the bonds between the Asian American communities and reverse the efforts made to ensure the safety and well-being of Asians. Allowing this bill to pass will result in more discrimination and intensify the impacts of racism. Therefore I passionately encourage you to vote against this bill for the security of all Asian Americans and to continue fighting against the chains of racism and discrimination.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
