Speech from Lee Wong (West Chester Township Trustee)
Keynote speaker at the Lunar New Year Gala – Feb 18, 2022
Now, I want to make this clear. America is NOT a racist country. We like all nations have people who do bad things. There ARE racists among us.
My message tonight is grounded in the wisdom of our founding fathers and our very Constitution. America is a work in progress. It was set up that way. It says so in our Constitution.
Our progress is always a struggle.
Our message should be—enough! We have no tolerance for those who hate and plot to turn White against Black, Black against Asians, Hispanic against Black or Black against Whites, and everybody against everybody.
Our country HAS made grave errors. Slavery IS a stain on the consciousness of America’s soul.
So too were the Japanese Internment camps during WWII. And the Exclusionary Act that forbade the Chinese from becoming citizens, from marrying Non-Asians, or owning property for over sixty-two years.
But, as South Carolina Senator Tim Scott so eloquently put it, “sin is never the end of the story. Not in our souls, and not for our nation. The real story is always in redemption.”
As individuals and as a nation, we fight for redemption every day. Our task, even our duty is, to come together—Blacks, Asians, Whites, Hispanics, and others who form the fabric of our democracy and work fervently every day to make a more perfect union.
I fear that too many people take our nation for granted. I believe most immigrants who become citizens often appreciate the blessing that being an American brings more than those who are born here. Too many take our country and its inherent goodness for granted.
Many do not understand the true nature of patriotism. Patriotism is NOT skin deep. True patriotism is in the heart.
My message tonight is that no one should give up on America. Greatness is in our DNA. I know we all look at our nation through the prism of our own experiences. Sometimes, particularly when that experience involves brutality, repression, racism, and maltreatment, it is difficult to look at the big picture.
I know this from personal and painful experiences.
But, I say to you tonight, you who are leaders in communities across our nation, you who have formed an alliance against hate— America does not have any problems that more kindness, more love, more respect for each other, and more gentleness cannot solve.
From these qualities, we can individually join together and weave a strong fabric of freedom that vibrantly displays the reality of the goodness that lies inside the soul of America.
But I have something more to say to you about America’s greatness. First of all, Asian Americans are smart and determined people. America needs us, and we need America.
We can give America the willpower and brainpower to become more incredible than ever.
It is up to each of us—to each of you—to join the effort to build a better America.
We do not believe in victimhood. Who wants to Be victims? We are wan to be victors. We are masters of our own fate. We are community leaders. And We WILL not allow others to push us aside with hate and prejudice, but rather, we will stand firm in a bond with each other to keep the faith that together, we can do anything.
After all, we ARE Americans!