On May 31, 2021, the leadership of the Asian Americans of Equal Rights (AAER) attended the National Solidarity Rally in Boston Common, and Helen Yang delivered a speech on behalf of the AAER.
Speech at National Solidarity Rally
Here is the full text of Helen’s speech.
Hello everyone, and welcome! My name is Helen Yang. I am the Vice President of the Asian Americans for Equal Rights. Thanks to the organizers for inviting me. I am so thrilled to be here.
We are living history right now and we have found each other. My journey as a community organizer started 6 years ago when a group of us formed an organization in Andover. Four years ago, I co-founded the Asian Americans for Equal Rights, and around the same time, the Chinese Americans of Lexington, known as CALex. We have been working closely with many other organizations across Massachusetts, and last summer we formalized this alliance by establishing the Chinese Americans of Massachusetts, and we call it CAMA. This is a story of how we come together. My fellow community leader, Mr. Houze Xu, president of CALex and co-president of CAMA, will speak shortly.
Now I want to tell you a story from a long time ago. You might have heard about the Chinese Exclusion Act. But there is something you probably don’t know. I only learned it recently, from a webinar hosted by Esther Lee.
I learned that at the time, a lot of people in the congress were against the Chinese Exclusion Act. Representative William Rice of Massachusetts said, “I can only utter my final protest, and say that I know it must fail because of all the principles of justice and equity”. President Authur, who signed it into law in 1882, vetoed it twice before finally yielding to the pressure. Some people may say he could have done more. But to me, that is heroic enough.
What does this story tell us? It tells us that racism and discrimination have always been a matter of right versus wrong. It is not about one racial group against another.
Someone said it perfectly, “If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe and our class.” Guess who said it? The same person who had a dream that one day, all of us will be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin.
This is a dream that we all share. Let’s work together to make this dream come true. Thank you.
More
Below the poster of the event.
