Sunday, April 20, 2014

What makes you American?

Jonathan Apostol
ASA Section A01
Reflection #4

Response to "THE IMPACT OF THE WEN HO LEE CASE ON ASIAN AMERICANS"

Reading this article about the questionably racist proceedings during the Wen Ho Lee case were very surprising and unacceptable when one considers that the United States is known to be the most democratic and justice-driven country in the world. One should not have to worry about being discriminated against because of one's race or national origin and should expect equal protection under the law as well guaranteed due process under that law. Unfortunately in terms of the Lee case, all of these assumptions that one makes by living here in the U.S. were broken. An Asian-American man was arrested under questionable charges , denied due process under the law, and imprisoned in solitary confinement despite the fact that there was not enough evidence to convict him, sparking activism among Asian Americans to seek greater inequality. The author of this article, Dr. George P. Koo, made a great remark stating, "... we have not won until we are not automatically assumed to be a foreigner spy unless we prove otherwise. We have not won, people still ask us where we came from." This reiterates an inherent, deep problem in U.S. culture as one cannot hope to gain true acceptance as an American unless one looks "American" or white no matter how long you or your family has been in this country.

Question: What can be done to reduce racial profiling in judicial due process?

No comments:

Post a Comment