Lessons Learned from Participating in the Political Process (part 1 of 3)

by S. B. Woo

A speech following a panel discussion entitled, "Giving Back via Public 
Service"

Let me begin by quoting John F. Kennedy's statement on public service:
"For of those to whom much is given, much is required.  And when at some 
future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us, 
recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our 
responsibilities to the state, our success or failure, in whatever office 
we hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions: 

First, were we truly men (individuals) of courage ... 

Second, were we truly men of judgment ... 

Third, were we truly men of integrity ... 

Finally, were we truly men of dedications?"

For our role models on this panel, having listened to their answers to 
questions raised by this nice audience, I believe the answer for them are: 
yes to courage;  yes to judgment;  yes to integrity, and yes to 
dedication.

Wilma Chan, as the majority leader of California's State Assembly leads
floor debate on the majority side and helps keep party discipline.   She may not look so big, but I know of a 6 feet 3 inches and burly California assemblymen 
whose arm is still hurting after being twisted by Wilma when she was a 
majority whip.

Barry Chang, as a school board member, has a home phone that never ceases
ringing for two reasons: 1) his constituents calling about the schools, and 2) 
politicians asking for another donation.

Michael Chang is the mayor of a great city, Cupertino, CA.  The city is
growing by leaps and bounds.  But as an ignorant visitor from Delaware, having driven on 101 six times during rush hours, I must ask you a question, Mr. Mayor, 
can you do something about the traffic on highway 101 along Cupertino? 
Linda Yang, our ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, emphasized
having input in policy and getting a seat at the table. I agree 100%.  Linda, you'll 
always have a seat at my table, because I want to learn from you how you 
have kept your courage, judgment, integrity and dedication in your years 
of public service.

To one and all of you, I salute you for representing us in giving back to 
America through public service as elected or appointed officials. 
Now, I want to add that public service is also given through 
non-government organizations, NGOs.  Indeed, the NGOs are of primary 
importance to all minority communities on their way to achieve equal 
opportunity. For example, equal opportunity in the African American 
community was NOT won by elected black officials who at the time were few 
and far between and relatively low in ranking. It was won by national 
non-government organizations such as NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference, and Urban League.  Equal opportunity for women was won by NOW, or National Organization of Women, and Emily's List.  That in the Jewish 
American community was won by The Jewish Federation and the supremely 
powerful AIPAC.  Some of you may not even have heard of AIPAC. That is 
because AIPAC is so powerful that it shies away from publicity.  AIPAC 
stands for American Israel Public Affairs Committee.  Equal opportunity in 
the hispanic community is being fought by national organizations like La 
RaZa, MAPA (Maxican American Political Association) and MALDEF (Mexican 
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund).

*****

S.B. Woo is a physics professor and former Lt. Governor of Delaware. 
He was born in Shanghai, China, and came to the United States from Hong Kong at the age of 18.   He received his B.S., summa cum laude, in Mathematics and 
Physics from Georgetown College in Kentucky and his Ph.D. in Physics from 
Washington University in St. Louis, MO in 1964.

His other experiences include being the Founding President of the Faculty 
Bargaining Unit at the University of Delaware, its Chief Spokesman and 
Chief Negotiator; a Trustee of the University of Delaware; an Institute 
Fellow at the Institute of Politics, the Kennedy School of Government, 
Harvard University; and serving as the National President of the 
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA).   He is listed in Who's Who in 
America.  A life-sized picture of him is displayed in Smithsonian's 
National Museum of American History in Washington D.C..  Another of his 
picture is in interactive display in the lobby of Asia Society in New 
York, NY.   Last year, "A-Magazine" ranked him the 6th of the 25 Most 
Influential Asian Americans.

He is the president of The 80-20 Initiative that works on organizing Asian 
Pacific Americans (APAs) into a swing bloc-vote in presidential elections, 
thereby inducing both major political parties to take rightful interests 
of the APA community into proper consideration.