Speech at the Boston Rally (Youtube)
Crystal Lu
October 14, 2018
Hello everyone! Hello Boston!
My name is Crystal Lu. I come from California. Anyone here also from California?
I am President of a grassroots organization called Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation. Six board members including myself are here today. I know hundreds and thousands of Californians want to join you, but due to the distance, they can’t. However, they donated generously to pay for our trips. They made sure that the six of us can be here to join this amazing crowd. They made sure that I stand here on their behalf for this important and historical moment.
Everyone, can I please ask you to cheer for the Californians and those from all corners of the nation who are watching on livestream? Californians, since you are watching online, we can’t hear you. But we trust that you are reciprocating with some cheering too!
No matter where we are from, two things make Asian Americans stand out. One, extremely hardworking. Two, notoriously apathetic to politics.
We work hard, pay taxes, obey the law and order, and keep to ourselves. We tell our kids to follow the same accountability. Sounds like Model Minority, doesn’t it? When it comes to legal matters, politics, making public appearances, we rarely get involved, or even tune in.
But — Look at us, look at Copley Square, look at Boston. It is here, now, we proudly announce: We have casted that Model Minority stereotype out! We are rewriting history by making our voices heard, loud and clear, in solidarity!
This reminds me of early 2014, when we Asian Americans in California fought a bill called SCA5, short for Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 5. It marked a water shedding moment of Asian Americans’ involvement in public affairs. SCA5 intended to amend the state constitution and re-establish the consideration of race, skin color and ethnicity in public university admissions in California. Sounds familiar to what Harvard is doing, right?
SCA5’s hidden agenda was to squeeze out the so called overrepresented groups like, you guessed it, Asian American students!
Just like that, the sleeping Tiger Moms and Dads woke up! This racially discriminatory agenda drove people out of their comfy little homes where they previously hid by working extra hours for their jobs, where their kids quietly studied extra math and sciences to stay ahead of school, and obediently practiced piano or violin every day, where TV was strictly limited. But this time Asian Americans rebelled! We demonstrated and protested in Sacramento and other cities. We labored and gathered petitions. We shamelessly lobbied legislators. In fact, my organization SVCA Foundation was born right there, right then.
In the end, we defeated SCA5. You know why? Because we broke apart from our role and got loud and obnoxious in 2014!
Today, we once again got loud and obnoxious! So if you ask me now what are the two characteristics of Asian Americans? No. 1 – the same – hardworking. No. 2, yes, YOU GUESSED IT, loud and obnoxious!
Growing up, my parents told me: If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it. They told me: Don’t raise your voice. They also told me: Avoid saying things that may upset the authority!
All sounds familiar?
My fellow citizens, don’t worry about being loud and obnoxious. Because, look, what had Model Minority gotten us? Our children’s personalities got assassinated despite their grit, perseverance and the many sacrifices they’ve made through all aspects of their lives. Harvard deems them lacking positive personalities such as likability, courage, kindness and being widely respected.
Believe it or not, being loud and obnoxious like we are right now won’t make it any worse. What do we have to lose?
My friends, I thank you for coming today to further buck that dispassionate, apathetic stereotype. I thank you for coming today to tell Harvard that we have American Dreams too.
We are at a time when our nation is sadly balkanized. We are seeing political and social tribes further divided than ever.
Therefore, I thank you for showing up today to tell Harvard to stop putting a wedge between various groups, to stop tearing up the very social fabric that our founding fathers and our great nation have worked so hard to build and strengthen.
All children deserve equal education rights. Today we say it loudly and obnoxiously!