The First Burger

A hungry man went into a restaurant and ordered a burger. He felt still hungry after eating the burger. So he ordered second one, and felt something after finishing it. He ordered the thirds burger and finally felt his stomach full. When waitress handed the bill to him, he said that one burger was bad and he refused to pay that burger.

“What’s wrong with that burger?” the waitress asked.

“I am not satisfied with that one.”

“Why?”

“I ate it and my stomach feels nothing!”

“Which burger is that?”

“The first one”.

 

Wong Chin Foo is a pioneer non-violent civil right advocator. Many people do not know this name just like the hungry man did not feel the first burger. Gandhi found Natal Indian Congress in 1894 and Wong Chin Foo found the Chinese American voters association in 1884. Both of them fight against racial discrimination non-violently only Wong Chin Foo was ten years earlier. Martin Luther King gave “I have a dream” speech in 1963 and Wong Chin Foo wrote “ Appeal to the People of United States for Equality and Manhood” in 1892. Both of them appealed for equality regardless of race and skin colour only Wang Chin Foo was 71 years earlier. We should remember Gandhi and Martin Luther King as well as Wong Chin Foo just as the hungry man should pay for all three burgers. 

 

Wong Chin Foo was born in China in 1851. When he was 17, he went to America in 1868 as a student. Two years later, he went back to China and organized grass root association, fighting abuse of opium. Qing government banned his activities, and offer 1,500 taels of silver for his head . He was forced to exile out of China. in 1873, he went to America again and he was naturalized as American citizen on 1874.

 

Facing growing anti-Chinese racism in 1870’s America, Wong Chin Foo gave speeches every where and write articles to explain Chinese culture, fighting the prejudices against Chinese. After America passed “Chinese Exclusion Act” in 1882, Wong Chin Foo founded a weekly newspaper Chinese American the next year and organized first Chinese American voters association in 1884, advocate equal justice under law, the principle “Chinese Exclusion Act” violated. In 1892, America passed the Geary Act. Geary Act required all Chinese residents of the United States to carry a resident permit, the same internal passport system Indians subjected in South Africa at that time. Wong Chin Foo fought against this institutionalized discrimination by organizing The Chinese Equal Rights League of America in 1892, just as Gandhi organized Natal Indian Congress in 1894. The certificates of the members of The Chinese Equal Rights League of America printed: “We ask and demand for an equal franchise for the Americanized Chinese of the United States”. What they demanded was the voting right protected by the Fifteenth Amendment rectified in 1870. Fifteenth Amendment forbids the denial of voting right based on race and colour.  Wong Chin Foo’s activities were non-violent civil right movement affirming the Constitution.

 

For quarter of a century, Wong Chin Foo was a non-violent civil rights activist pursuing the rule of law under constitution and against racism. Gandhi led India into independent,  and Martin Luther King got African American equal rights, but Wong Chin Foo passed away before Chinese Exclusion Act was repelled in1943. As a result, people forget the pioneer civil right activist just as the hungry man could not feel the first burger. While we remember Gandhi and Martin Luther King, we should not forget Wong Chin Foo. We should commemorate Wong Chin Foo just as the hungry man should pay the first burge.

 

於仁秋：細節與記憶 （ZT）
曼哈頓（7）華埠探古
曼哈頓（8）紐約的喇嘛寺
曼哈頓（9）紐約下城話古今
波士頓城南舊事
王清福在加拿大
第一個饅頭：紀念美國華人平等權利聯盟成立119周年
王清福：華人的馬丁路德金

希望各位網友不計網上爭論的立場觀點意識形態的差異，共同追回族裔的記憶。沒有記憶，就沒有族裔的身份，就如我們護照和公民證一樣，最關鍵的身份要素就是出生地和出生日期。沒有族裔的記憶，就沒有族裔身份；沒有族裔身份，族裔的社會地位就無從談起。如今美國affrimative action就是以消除種族歧視的理由犧牲華裔的平等權利來平息黑人的不滿。何以造成這種以“族裔平等”旗號下的種族歧視？因為美國社會根本沒有華裔這個族裔，原因是華裔沒有社會身份（Identity），華裔沒有社會身份的原因是華裔早期建國的記憶被抹殺了。要爭取族裔平等地位，要從追朔族裔的記憶開始，重新建立華裔的身份（Identity）。

所有跟帖： 

• 謝謝大師！寫得太好了！！！找到Wong Chin Foo的一個介紹 -非文學青年- ♀ (5281 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 13:45:49

• 主貼後邊鏈接的文章都是介紹王清福的文章，而且都有資料來源 -唵啊吽- ♂ (0 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 14:58:59

• 另外 -非文學青年- ♀ (19660 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 14:01:09

• Ha Jin 的故事很典型，白人欺負華裔，還說你不願意就滾回中國 -唵啊吽- ♂ (604 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 14:46:43

• 別的我比較agree，最後一句話想聽聽你仔細講解 -非文學青年- ♀ (235 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 14:55:00

• 主要是把亞裔入學名額給了非裔，而白人的份額沒變 -唵啊吽- ♂ (256 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 15:04:49

• 有意思！謝謝！ -非文學青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 15:14:46

• 就是，我就是抬抬杠，真的政治的東東我就不懂，也沒啥興趣了～ -jennea- ♀ (73 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 19:09:26

• 頂！ -billnet- ♂ (0 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 18:04:26

• 請問：這也是您寫的，還是不小心雷同了？ -armao- ♀ (112 bytes) () 09/27/2011 postreply 19:31:15

• 回複：請問：這也是您寫的，還是不小心雷同了？ -唵啊吽- ♂ (134 bytes) () 09/28/2011 postreply 08:02:28

• 大師，什麽時候給美壇獻獻聲啊？ -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/28/2011 postreply 18:42:28