Letter To the Editor

April 26, 2002

Dear Editor,

First, I would like to commend you for a great job with the English version within the St. Louis Chinese American News.  Your publication provides a tremendous service to the St. Louis community as we strive to become a diverse community.

Second, I would like to comment on an article about a recent meeting of the Olive Business Association (OBA).  I appreciate being mentioned in the article but what I said to the members presented at the meeting was not fully captured.

I will start with a correction.  I did not offer my service as a translator or a facilitator.  I shared with the audience my ethnic background, being Vietnamese-Chinese American.  I explained that I have been living in the United States since 1980.  As an active member of the Coalition of Asian-Pacific Americans (CAPA), I wanted to participate in the Association (OBA) to establish an open line of communication, to begin a dialogue so that the Asian-American merchants and local residents, mainly African-Americans, will be able to work together.  I wanted to serve as a connection so that the merchants and residents, as well as the people of University City, would be able to share mutual respect and understanding.

I stressed that I was not the spokeperson for the Asian American community and that I only wanted to work with the Association for the betterment of the community.  I requested that those who experienced negative interactions with the merchants not to translate that encounter into the stereotype that all Asian Americans are merchants, that we don't speak English and that we all behaved the same way.  I reminded the audience that Asian Americans are very different from each other, i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese etc.

I mentioned that I received my graduate degree in communication from Saint Louis University and that I am employed as Director of Administration at SITE Improvement Association, a non-profit association representing construction companies.  An important point I wanted the audience to remember that we are Americans of Asian background and many of us are forth generation Asian-Americans. I further stressed that we are physicians, engineers, office professionals and business owners.  My final point was that Asian Americans have contributed to the richness of United States.  Through hard work and endurance, we strive to make our community a better place to live and work and to make America a strong nation.

I hope this letter will clearly explain reasons for my participation with OBA.  When changes take place, by nature, conflicts and misunderstanding will follow; however, as leaders and concerned citizens, how we react and whether we are willing to work together for the betterment of our community will determine the positive outcome of the changes.

I could be reached at hunternyc1988@yahoo.com.  Let the dialogue begin and let's move forward.

Sincerely,

Olivia Pieknik