| Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved Charleston C. K. Wang, Esq., Publisher |
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WANGNEWS OPINION PAGE
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BY VOTING, WE SAY "NEVER AGAIN" TO PEOPLE V. HALL
In the court case of The People [of California] v. George W. Hall, the California Supreme
Court decided that a white man cannot be convicted of murder in a court of law by the
testimony of Chinese witnesses. The opinion of that court was mainly based upon the
prevailing view that the Chinese were "a race of people whom nature has marked as
inferior, and who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain
point, as their history has shown; differing in language, opinions, color, and physical
conformation; between whom and ourselves nature has placed an impassable
difference" and as such had no right "to swear away the life of a citizen" or participate
"with us in administering the affairs of our Government." (To read the complete opinion
of People v Hall, see http://academic.udayton.edu/race/03justice/case0001.htm ) The
reader can take cold comfort in the fact that People v. Hall was rendered in 1854, but
can one really afford such an approach?
Are the Chinese a race of people who are “inferior,” “incapable of progress,” and
“incapable of development beyond a certain point?” The Chinese certainly have a
different language from English, Spanish, and German - it can be argued that the color
is also different and there are distinguishing physical traits - but is People v. Hall dead
and gone after the baptism by fire and steel of the American Civil War and with the
discovery of civil rights in America?
The answer to this perplexing and disturbing question is that it is and is not.
To say it is not, all one needs to do is to look at the not so distant examples of Wen Ho
Lee, David Chang, (Asiagate according to the New York Times which did no favors for
Dr. Lee either) John Huang, and Maria Hsia. Can the Chinese American scientist be
trusted with the crown jewels of America – our nuclear weapon secrets? Do Chinese
Americans really know how to correctly participate in American government? Listen to
the China bashing of Christopher Cox and you will be convinced that China is the mortal
enemy of America and every Chinese in America is a foreign spy.
On the positive side, Chinese Americans (and all other Asian Americans), as citizens of
the United States, have that most fundamental of civil rights – the right to vote. By
voting we get to participate in the selection of our legislators, executive officers, and in
Ohio, even our judges. Legislators will make the statutes that regulate society and the
executives such as the President, Governor, and county Commissioners get to carry
out the statutes on a day-to-day basis. Judges will resolve any constitutional or
legal issues regarding the statutes being enforced
The good news today is that elections are coming on the
first Tuesday of November - this year November 7, 2006!
Never again the likes of People v. Hall. On Election Day,
get out there and participate with the rest of America in
administering the affairs of our Government. Before we can
do anything more, we must first get out there and VOTE.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang