4.14 选民声援会大获成功
Rally on April 14th was a Resounding Success
2024年4月14日,农历暮春三月,天朗气清,惠风和畅,新成立的华人联合参政会在华人聚居的82街初试锋芒,第一次组织选民声援会,支持Multnomah 县检察官候选人内森·瓦斯奎斯(Nathan Vasquez) 和波特兰市长候选人雷内·冈萨雷斯(Rene Gonzalez)。
虽然这两位候选人的选区仅限于Multnomah 县和波特兰市,但是这些地区的治安状况直接影响到波特兰邻近地区,这两个席位的选举引起很多人的关注,有不少热情的参与者从Washington 和Clackmas 县远道而来,他们虽然无法直接为这两个席位投票,任然希望了解和支持这两位候选人。参与者们首先听到的是社区受害者的不幸遭遇。因为有的受害者不愿或不便在公开场合露面,参政会安排了义工代为发言。第一位发言的陈先生两年前在一起枪击事件中险些丧命,而至今嫌犯仍旧逍遥法外,陈先生的生动演讲令一些听众落泪。陈先生提醒大家如果今后四年社区治安依然没有改善,谁都可能成为下一个牺牲品。而一家货物仓库在半年之内三次被同一伙盗贼反复抢劫的经历使人不禁怀疑执法机关的能力。近年来商铺和仓库被砸被抢的事件在82街附近屡屡发生,令业主损失惨重。针对个人的犯罪也更加频繁:一位86岁的老奶奶在街上被人施用迷药,醒来后发现项链已被偷;一位老爷爷在楼下散步,过来一男一女,男的把老爷爷抱住,女的搜走了他身上仅有的70元钱。这样的经历简直令人匪夷所思。而这种类型的抢劫案件因为是随机犯罪并且涉案金额不高,往往不了了之,但是受害人所受到的心理创伤往往远超财物损失。波特兰的治安状况在过去四年里持续恶化,户主、商铺、老人这些华人社区里的典型群体都不能幸免,他们的日常生活和工作都深受其害。受害者发言之后,社区代表 Claire Cao从青少年的视角讲述了在波特兰市中心的经历,她在流浪者收容所做义工的第一天,就目睹了因吸食毒品过量而当街死亡的情景,令她感到既震惊又难过。市中心的破败和不安全亟需改善,她希望有投票权的叔叔阿姨们在投票时多为她们这些还没有到投票年龄的孩子们考虑。
社区发言结束之后,前Multnomah 县副检察官 BJ Park (朴) 的发言使大家了解到检察官办公室内部的冲突。在迈克·施密特(Mike Schmidt)就职后不久,当朴先生把一些偏见犯罪案件呈交给迈克时,迈克的助理直接告诉他迈克不想起诉这类案件。在执法理念上这样巨大的根本分歧迫使不少专业律师从检察官办公室辞职,进一步影响士气和办案效率。 接着朴先生向大家引介了今天的主要嘉宾之一,曾与他共事四年的内森。
内森首先诚挚地感谢华人社区的支持,他强调每个人都理应在自己日常工作和生活的社区中有充分的安全感,而地方检察官和警察在为每个社区成员提供安全这件事上责无旁贷。他上任后会坚持把受害者和社区放在第一位,加强对罪犯依法问责,公平公正地处理案件,特别是针对亚裔的偏见犯罪。他会不遗余力地为所有社区伸张正义,主持公道,无论是哪一种肤色。他特别提到在场的众多老人和孩子,强调对这些弱势群体的保护,以及必须为小业主提供安全可靠的经商环境。最后内森强调了作为下一任地方检察官,他会依靠他 24年的长期办案经验和与社区成员紧密合作共建安全社区的坚定信念,为本地治安状况带来实质性的改善。
最后一位演讲嘉宾是现任波特兰市议员雷内·冈萨雷斯(Rene Gonzalez),他在2022年当选时华人的大力支持功不可没。雷内自己正在竞选下一任波特兰市长,投票时间将会是11月。雷内首先强调了5月初选中为内森投票的重要性,然后指出波特兰过去曾经是全国最安全的城市之一,是有玫瑰城之称的众所周知的美丽城市,而在过去几年里每况愈下。他当选后,会从把警察人数增加到一千人,改善消防队和救护车的服务,加大执法力度保护业主,尽快将罪犯绳之以法等等诸多方面着手,使波特兰恢复往日的安全和美丽。他也指出这是整个地区所有人不分所居之处,不分族裔的共同愿望。他希望大家在今后几个月里关注他的竞选活动并给予大力支持。他以"五月选内森,十一月选雷内" 结束了讲话。
组织者之一王凯文在活动的最后声明,本次活动的结束仅仅是华人联合参政会使命的开始。这个刚成立的一个月的组织希望以为社区解决实际问题为目标而团结有不同政见的组织和个人,一起发声,共同参政。华人联合参政会还处于初创阶段,在资金上依赖大家慷慨解囊,在人力上希望大家鼎力相助,为整个社区出钱出力。
活动结束后,多位参与者当场解囊相助,还有不少人询问如何可以报名义工或参加将来的活动。好几位参与者在离开之前专门找到组织者对他们说,他们很高兴有机会参加这样的活动,对华人社区有人站出来组织选民声援会是三分惊讶,七分开心。听到这样的反馈,为这次活动付出了大量时间和精力的组织者和义工们都倍受鼓舞,他们从这次活动中得到的宝贵经验,一定会使下一次的活动更加精彩。
编后语
华人相信"人心齐,泰山移",在华人本来就已经是少数族裔的俄勒冈州,如果不能团结一致,华人社区对地方政治的影响力会进一步削弱。对此我们并没有什么灵丹妙药,但我们相信如果能聚焦于解决方案而不是政治分歧,放眼于整个社区 - 包括其他族裔 - 而不是一个组织或党派,引导选民对候选人和法案进行理性分析而不是自动选边站队,着重于实际行动而不是宣传口号,我们可以提高华人对参政的兴趣和意愿,对政府施政过程进行监督,聚集足够的选票对地方选举产生影响。算来中国自古只有一个人成功地移过山,他的名字叫愚公,细想之下他的成功恰恰来自于着重解决实际问题(改善交通),对合理诉求的坚持不懈(子又有子,子又有孙),和不断地对决策者(天帝)施加影响力,这可能也将是我们能否成功的关键。
On April 14, 2024, in the balmy sunlight and gentle breeze of late Spring, the newly formed Chinese Americans United political action committee held its very first rally at the intersection between SE 82nd Street and Division Street to support Nathan Vasquez, candidate for Multnomah County District Attorney, and Rene Gonzalez, candidate for Mayor of Portland.
While only voters in Multnomah County and the City of Portland can vote for these candidates, the continuous decline of safety in these areas have had a direct impact on the entire Portland Metro region, which is the reason this rally drew considerable attention from a much wider area. Enthusiastic participants traveled from Washington and Clackamas counties to show their support and learn more about these candidates. Attendees first heard from victims or their representatives within the Chinese community. Mr. Guozhi Chen recounted the harrowing experience of surviving five gunshots two years ago, with the suspect still at large, leaving several attendees in tears. Mr. Chen warned that without improvement in community safety over the next four years, anyone could become the next victim. The repeated robberies of a warehouse three times in six months raised doubts about law enforcement's effectiveness. Incidents of break-ins and theft near 82nd Street have caused significant losses for business owners. Personal crimes have also increased, such as an elderly woman being drugged on the street and robbed. All these incidents happened within a few blocks of the intersection. Portland's safety has deteriorated over the past four years, affecting people from all stripes of life within the Chinese community like homeowners, small businesses, and the elderly, bringing a negative shadow to their daily lives. After speeches by victims, community representative Claire Cao spoke from a youth’s perspective, recounting witnessing an overdosed drug user dying in the street in broad daylight in downtown Portland. Reflecting on the sorrow and shock she felt, she urged voters to prioritize the safety of children who couldn’t vote yet.
Following speeches of community members, former Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney BJ Park described internal conflicts within the prosecutor's office. Shortly after Mike Schmidt took office, when Mr. Park submitted biased crime cases to Mike, Mike’s assistant bluntly informed him that the DA was not interested in pursuing biased crimes. Such fundamental differences led to multiple resignations within the DA’s office, further affecting morale and reducing efficiency. Mr. Park then introduced one of today's main guests, Nathan, with whom he had worked for four years.
Nathan started by sincerely thanking the Chinese community for their support, emphasizing that everyone deserves to feel safe in their daily lives, which is the main duty of DA and police. He pledged to prioritize victims and communities, hold criminals accountable according to the law with compassion, and deliver justice to the Asian community. He also vowed to tirelessly work for justice for all communities, regardless of skin color, particularly those vulnerable groups like seniors and children, and providing a safer environment for small business owners. Finally, as the next District Attorney, he promised to rely on his 24 years of case experience to closely collaborate with community members to bring real safety improvement.
The final guest speaker was current Portland City Commissioner of Public Safety, Rene Gonzalez, whose success in the tight race in 2022 owed much to strong support from the Chinese community. Rene is currently running for the Mayor of Portland. He stressed the importance of voting for Nathan in the May primary, pointing out that Portland was once known for its safety and beauty, but not anymore after the steady decline in recent years. Once elected, he plans to increase the number of police officers to one thousand, improve the response time of firefighting and ambulance services, protect small business owners, and swiftly bring criminals to justice. He noted that improving safety is the shared desire of everyone in the region, regardless of neighborhood or ethnicity. He urged everyone to follow his campaign activities in the coming months and offer support in whatever way they can. He concluded his speech with the slogan "Vote for Nathan in May, vote for Rene in November!"
Kevin Wang, one of the organizers, declared at the end of the event that this was just the beginning of the Chinese American United political action committee's mission. This one-month old organization aims to unite organizations and individuals with different political views to address real world issues, educate and encourage the community to engage in politics, and make their voices heard and votes count. The PAC is still in its infancy and will need generous contributions from the entire community.
After the event, many participants contributed on the spot. A few people inquired about how to volunteer or participate in future events. Before leaving, several participants specifically sought out organizers to express their mixed feelings of surprise and delight that someone stood up to organize a voter rally for the Chinese community. Hearing this feedback, the organizers and volunteers, who had invested significant time and effort into the event, felt greatly encouraged. The valuable experience gained from this event will undoubtedly make the next one even more spectacular.
Postscript:
The Chinese believe in "a people united can move a mountain". With only around 60K Chinese speaking people in Oregon, any further fragmentation would further weaken the Chinese community's influence on local politics. We don’t have the silver bullet either. But we believe that by focusing on solutions rather than ideologies, thinking about the entire community - including other ethnic groups - rather than a single organization or party, guiding voters to analyze candidates and measures rationally rather than taking sides blindly, and spending more time on actions rather than slogans, we can increase Chinese Americans’s interest and willingness to participate in politics, hold government accountable, and gather enough votes to impact local elections. In Chinese legend, there was only one person who succeeded in moving a mountain. His name was Yugong (Foolish Old Man). Upon closer reflection, his success stemmed from focusing on practical problems (improving transportation), persistently pursuing reasonable demands (each generation building upon the previous efforts), and continually exerting influence on decision makers (the gods), which just might be the keys to our success as well.
声援会传单正面
声援会传单背面
Local 立足本地
After many of us have studied, lived, worked, and raised families in Oregon for decades, this beautiful place starts to feel like the second hometown. We watched the decline of this great state in the past few years and decided we need to do something about it. Forming the Chinese Americans United Political Action Committee (CAU PAC) is our very first step. We truly believe that we can make a real difference when we combine our voices, participate in elections proactively, and engage with the state and local governments. And we also remember the old Chinese saying "without taking small steps, one cannot achieve great things".
当我们多年以来在俄勒冈州学习,生活,工作和养育子女之后,这个美丽的地方逐渐成为我们心中的第二故乡。在过去的短短几年,我们亲眼目睹了波特兰及俄勒冈的衰落,开始觉得需要做点什么。组织成立华人参政会(CAU PAC)是我们迈出的第一步。我们坚信,如果我们共同发声,积极参政,并与各级地方政府用心合作,可以带来真实而持久的改善。我们铭记,"不积跬步,无以至千里"。
Grassroots 源自草根
We are your neighbors, co-workers, pickleball partners, and realtors. Just like you, many of us have a busy schedule with full time jobs, demanding kids, and mounting bills. Just like you, sometimes we get frustrated or even angry by certain news or a social media post. Just like you, we often feel there is very little we can do to change the status quo individually. But we still have confidence in the participatory democracy we live in. We work hard to combine all the tiny voices from each of us into a loud voice that cannot be ignored or suppressed.
我们是您的邻居,同事,球友和房地产经纪人。和您一样,我们许多人每天都有着忙碌的日程:一份全职工作,需要照顾的孩子,和不断到来的账单。和您一样,有时我们会因为某个新闻或社交媒体帖子而感到沮丧甚至愤懑。和您一样,我们常常觉得作为个人无力改变社会现状。不过,我们仍然对所处的参与式民主充满信心和希望。我们努力将每个人细微的声音汇合起来,变成一股不可忽视、不能压制的力量。
Community 动员社区
There are 61,573 ethnic Chinese people live in Oregon according to AAPI Data (PDF). The number may not be sufficient to determine local election results but is certainly large enough to have a strong influence. As a non-profit and nonpartisan organization that expects and respects different political views, we'd like to unite our voting power and focus our efforts on solving real issues that matter the most to our community.
根据 AAPI数据(PDF文件),俄勒冈州有61,573名华裔居民。这个数字可能不足以决定地方选举结果,但足以产生强大的影响力。作为一个非营利性、无党派的组织,我们期待并尊重不同的政治观点,我们希望团结我们的选举力量,集中精力解决我们社区最关切的实际问题。