Unabridged speech transcript for the “Equal Education Rights for All” Rally 

By  Mr. Chunhua Liao, VP of SVCAF 

In Support of Students for Fair Admissions’s Landmark Lawsuits against Anti-Asian Racism at Harvard and University of North Carolina, 

When: Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, 1:30 – 4:00 PM EDT

Where: Steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.

Good afternoon, my fellow Americans. I am Chunhua Liao, the co-founder and Vice President of the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation. When I first started fighting against SCA5 in California in February 2014, I never thought we could make it this far, standing in front of the US Supreme Court, side by side with the giants who are also safeguarding the equal constitutional rights of everyone.

At this moment, I am thinking about the fellow volunteers in Silicon Valley who have spent lots of hours and dollars on our cause. They are among the heroes who have made this historical trial happen.

I would like to take this opportunity to share three lessons I learned throughout my journey over the past 8+ years.

First of all, I learned to change my mindset from being directed by others to thinking and acting as an owner of myself, my community, my state, and my beautiful country, the USA. Because if you don’t take ownership, others surely will. Their interests may not always align with yours. If you are not at the table deciding things, you may be on the menu. This new mindset has motivated me to speak out against unconstitutional policies, stand up for the unfortunate, and keep volunteering even when I am as busy as anyone next to me.

Secondly, I learned that we are actually the majority side in this fight. Numerous polls or elections have proved it again and again: Americans do not want to treat each other differently based on our skin colors. Some people on the other side may have good intentions. But their race-based preferential policies are textbook racism and are already having disastrous consequences. Fixating on skin color also distracts us from the real problems. We must convince as many people as possible to do the right and hard thing together: fix the root causes of the social problems we are facing today by demanding accountability from parents, educators, government officials, and social policies.

The very last, but not least, the fight to defend the US constitution will never end. Even if the US Supreme Court rules in our favor today, there will be a lot of work to do to actually enforce the ruling. For example, California already has a state constitution banning the use of race as a factor in college admissions. However, the University of California openly defies people’s will and uses all kinds of tricks to implement hidden racial quotas, including relying more on subjective criteria instead of objective standardized tests. We have to keep filing lawsuits to safeguard the equal rights of everyone. We also must pass the torch to the next generation and beyond.

With that, I will end my speech. To recap the three lessons: 1) think and act as an owner; 2) unite to address root causes of problems; and 3) keep defending the constitution with your children, grandchildren, and beyond.

Thank You. 

中文版

《用主人翁心态捍卫美国宪法》

“人人享有平等教育权”集会 未删减完整演讲稿 

作者： 廖春华 先生

支持”学生公平录取组织” 里程碑式诉讼：控诉哈佛大学和北卡罗来纳大学的针对亚裔的种族主义

时间：星期日2022 年 10 月 30 日，美国东部时间下午 1:30 – 4:00

地点：华盛顿特区美国最高法院台阶

下午好，我的美国同胞们。我是硅谷华人协会基金会的联合创始人兼副会长廖春华。 2014 年 2 月，当我第一次在加利福尼亚开始与 SCA5 抗争时，我从未想过我们能走到这一步，站在美国最高法院前，与同样维护每个人平等宪法权利的全美国各大巨头并肩作战。

此时此刻，我在想硅谷的志愿者们，他们为我们的事业花费了大量时间和金钱。他们是促成这一历史性的审判的英雄之一。我也想借此机会分享我在过去 8 年多义工的旅程中学到的三个教训。

首先，我学会了将自己的思维方式从受他人指导转变为作为自己、我的社区、我的州和我美丽的国家， 美国的主人来思考和行动。因为如果你不拥有所有权，其他人肯定会。他们的利益可能并不总是与您的一致。如果你不在餐桌上决定事情，你很可能在菜单上被人任人宰割。这种新的心态促使我公开反对违宪的政策，为不幸的人挺身而出，即使我和身边的任何人一样忙，也要继续做志愿者。

其次，我了解到我们实际上是这场斗争中的多数派。无数的民意调查或选举一次又一次地证明了这一点：美国人民不想根据肤色来区别对待彼此。和我们意见不同的另一边的一些人可能是出于好意。但他们基于种族的优惠政策是教科书式的种族主义，已经造成了灾难性的后果。专注于肤色也会使我们从真正的问题上分心。我们必须说服尽可能多的人一起做正确而艰难的事情：通过要求家长、教育工作者、政府官员和社会政策承担责任，共同解决我们今天面临的社会问题的根源。

最后，但同样重要的是，捍卫美国宪法的斗争永远不会结束。即使美国最高法院今天做出有利于我们的裁决，要真正执行该裁决还有很多工作要做。例如，加利福尼亚州已经有一部州宪法，禁止将种族作为大学录取的一个因素。然而，加州大学公然违抗加州人民的意志，使用各种手段实施隐藏的种族配额，包括更多地依靠主观标准而不是客观标准化测试。我们必须不断提起诉讼，以维护每个人的平等权利。我们还必须将火炬传递给下一代。

至此，我将结束我的演讲。最后回顾三个教训：1）以美国主人翁的心态的思考和行动； 2）团结起来解决社会问题的根源； 3) 继续与您的孩子、孙子及其他人一起捍卫美国人人平等的宪法。

谢谢！