Accomplished Chinese American - Helen Zia A Dedicated Civil Rights Advocate for Chinese/Asian Americans Born in Newark, NJ (1950s). Princeton University (1969-73), Public/International Affairs. An Auto-worker in Detroit, MI (1976-78). A Civil Rights activist (Detroit, MI,1983-1987, Vincent Chin's case) Executive Editor, Ms Magazine (New York, NY, 1987-92), Executive Editor, Notable Asian Americans (1st edition, 1995) A writer, and a community activist, San Francisco, CA.(1992-present). Who are Asian Americans (AA)? Many of us would instinctively say: AAs are Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vitnamese, Philippinos, and so on, or AAs are people from Asian countries. When pressed, people would add Indians, Pakistanis, and Indonesians to the above list. Yet, national origins make people Asian, but not AA. Even when culture of the country is added, it still does not make the people AA. This is because that the most essential element of being American is missing. We now have an answer to this question: Who are Asian Americans (AAs). Helen Zia, after having spent some 20 years in research gave a comprehensive account in her book entitled Asian Americans Dreams, The Emergence of an American People (see Book Brief section of this issue). One may ask how does Helen Zia get her answer? She gets it by living, working, experiencing and identifying herself with the Asian Americans. It is an evolutionary process, a frustrating process, and above all, a courageous and determined process while facing the prevalent social prejedice against Asians on one hand, and on the other hand, facing ethnic and/or cultural attitudes which can be at variance or even opposite to American ideals. It is indeed a story worth telling if American is ever going to achieve the goal of being multi-cultural, fair and just society in words as well as in deeds. Given below is Helen Zia's brief biography. Helen Zia was born on Day/Month/year in Newark, NJ. Her parents, [Yee Chen Zia] (father) and [Beilin Woo Zia] (mother) are Chinese immigrants who first arrived at the United States in 1940s (can we be more specific?) as students or worker?. They met in New York Chinatown, and later they moved to Newark, NJ in year?. Being treated like a foreigner is no stranger to Helen. She learned that lesson early. As Helen said in her book (p.7): "... Outside Chinatown, looking Asian meant foreign, alien, un-American..... At the tender age of six, I already felt different from the ‘real Americans'... But no matter how hard we might try to blend in with the scenery, our face give us away." Helen was in high school in 1960s. One day she was talking to her friends, Rose (black) and Julie (white) about civil rights movement (p.4). "... Suddenly, Rose abruptly turn to me and said, ‘Helen, you've got to decide If you're black or white'". She was stunned to say the least. One day in the early 1980s, Helen was being introdeuced to a colleague, a newspaper editor who said to her "‘Zia, hmm,' he said ‘are you Pakistani?'... In those days, it was inconceivable that a stranger might connect this south Asian Pakistani name with my East Asian, Chinese face. " " ... Total strangers will interrupt with the absurdly existential question ‘What are you?' or equally common inquiry ‘Where are from?' ... My standard reply to ‘what are you?' is ‘American', and to ‘where are you from?' ‘New Jersey'.... Eyebrows arch as the questioner tries again. ‘No, where are really from?' I patiently explain that, really, I am from New Jersey. Inevitably this will lead to something like ‘Well then, what country are your people from?' Sooner or later I relent and tell them that my ‘people' are from China. But when I turn the table and ask, ‘What country are your people from?' The reply is invariably an indignant ‘I'm from America, of course."(p. 9). We know now, except the "real" native Americans, all other Americans come from some country in Europe, Asia and Africa. And even the ‘real' native Americans are said to have come from Asia walking across the ‘frozen Berling Strait' between Asia and North America more than 10,000 years ago! Vietnam War had a great impact on Helen Zia in her high school years. As Helen said in her book (p.14) "... It was hard to feel like American when I was not treated like one. Yet, I didn't feel like Asian, either; I couldn't speak Chinese and I hardly knew Chinatown, let alone China. The void left me with many questions." She entered Princeton University in 1969. In spring 1971, Helen became a member of a Joint Committee of Blacks, Latino and Asian Americans. The committee held a rally at Princeton denoucing racism and Vietnam War. She also helped organize a seminar on Asian American Women to explore social, historical and ploitcal roles of women, past, pesent and future. In many discussion on Racism at Princeton focussing only on "Black & White" issues, she experienced again the indifference and even intentional neglect of Asian Americans. The AAs were still invisible for the American mainstream. She also learned in this period about the Japanese Internment during World War II and the paper-son history for Chinese Americans prior to 1945. Helen arrived in Detroit, MI in 1976, and became a blue collar auto worker, a large-press operator at a Chrysler Stamping plant. In 1982, she was laid off during a depression of auto-industry due to a large Japanese car imports, and the sudden eruption of a second generation Chinese American (Vincent Chin)'s murder by two white men. The excuse was that Vincent Chin was thought to be a Japanese by the assailants. Many details of this landmark case (the murder of Vincent Chin) was given in Helen's book; Asian American Dreams (pp. 55-81). It is a demarcation of public claim and acceptance of civil rights for Asian Americans. A brief summary about the Vincent Chin case is given below. --------------------------------------- On 19 June 1982, a brawl in a bar resulted a chase and a murder. Vincent Chin, a second generation Chinese American in Detroit, MI was brutally beaten on his head by two white men with a baseball bat. Vincent Chin was dead four days later. The assailants were Ebens and Nitz, two white laidoff autoworkers. Nine month later, both Ebens and Nitz were sentenced in court, receiving only a three year probation (serving no jail time) and $3,780.00 fine. Once again, Chinese life was cheap in the American Justice system. Outraged, Helen and leaders of Chinese American community in Detroit rallied together to establish a new grass-roots organization called "American Citizen for Justice (ACJ)", and began a legal fight that lasted seven years (1982 1989). First, ACJ held public protest meetings inviting all civil rights organizations, Chinese and non-Chinese alike, to participate. After much research, ACJ started to publicize the findings of racial slurs, epithets and societal attitudes that clearly demonstrated the racial motives in the Vincent Chin's murder. Gradually, ACJ won support of major civil rights organization (both Black and White). The Vincent Chin was an uphill fight against the common practice of the American society at the time. Although the ACJ leadership, including Helen Zia, fought hard, the Vincent Chin's murder did not ariive at a just solution. However, the ACJ's effort serves a clear notice to the American mainstream that herethetofore, Asian Americans are not willing to accept silently as easy target or scapegoat for whatever political reasons. This message, thanks to Helen Zia and ACJ leadership, led to a conviction with jail terms of another murder case of Chinese Americans at Raleigh, NC (1989) (Zia's Book, pp.91-92). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the Vincent Chin's episode, Helen Zia went to New York City in 1987 to be the Executive Editor of the Ms magazine in New York, NY. "Ms" is a magazine for Women's Rights, founded in December, 1971, as an insert in New York magazine. Its first regular issue hit the stand in July, 1972. In 1992, she moved to San Francisco, CA and became an independent writer and community activist, and has remained so up to the present. All in all, Helen Zia has been a writer and an advocate for Asian Americans for nearly three decades. She is also editor/contributor to the following: Books/Documents: * My Country vs Me: The Story of Wen Ho Lee (Hyperion, 2002) * Asian American Dreams (2000) (see Book Brief section in this issue) * Notable Asian Americans (Gales Research, Detroit, MI, 1995), 1st Edition, 467 pages, including 249 persons in all walks of life. Of these, 102 are Chinese descent from Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong) * Asian American Almanac (Gales Research, Detroit, MI, 1995) * Ending Domestic Violence: Report from the Global Frontlines, * Making Waves II * Migrant Women's Human Rights, * Reporting from Beijing, at the 4th World Conference on Women. * The Price We pay: The case against Racist Speech, Hate Violence and Pornography. * The Readers Companion to U.S. Women's History. Magazines: Ms, The Nation, Essence, SF Focus, The Advocate, A. Magazine, Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan Bar Journal, Decisions, New China and others. Newspapers: Detroit News, New York Times, SF Chronicle, Washington Post, East-West, Arizona Republic and others. Media: The News Hour, Nightline, Film documentaries like "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" and "Tapestry:Asian American Women's History Video", and others. Recent Articles: * Women Hold Up Half the Sky, Ford Foundation Magazine, Winter, 2000, * I Am Not A Spy, Asianweek, March 2000, * Asian American Feminism, A Magazine, July 1998. * Can Asian Americans Turn the Media Tide? The Nation, Dec. 1997 * Campaign Fundraising: Is the Focus on Asian American Fair? Newswatch, Wept. 1997. * China's Back: How the Hong Kong Handover Will Affect Women? Ms, July/August 1997 Helen Zia may not be a celeberty, a famous figure, or a rich person, but her dedication and contribution to the civil rights movement for Chinese and Asian Americans has earned her a rightful place in history, and respect and admiration from her fellow Chinese/Asian Americans.