It was just one of many moments shared by Lee who talked of being beaten by his own father, the restaurant owner, who just happened to spit in the food of Blacks.
Secrets? Lee shares many.
Wu’s revelations include his embarrassment at being Asian American and his feeling that “the less I talked about it the better.” Change came because of an act of history, the murder of Vincent Chin. The 1982 story still manages to elicit sighs of disbelief, even to people who know the story.
Unfortunately, this seminal bit of Asian-American history is practically a secret to most in the audience who can’t fathom how a Chinese American could be mistaken for Japanese, then scapegoated for the demise of the auto industry by unemployed auto workers who beat Chin to death with a baseball bat and are ultimately given probation for his murder.
For Wu—and for others—it was enough to change their perspective on being an Asian American forever.
The chancellor’s talk ends with an Rx to work together for our ideals. There’s applause and no hands for the Q&A. A politically appropriate time was had by all. But where Wu ends, Lee’s seminar really takes off. Measured truths are for the podium. In Lee’s workshops, truths you never thought possible are reached when strangers are asked to engage and learn about each other.
Lee’s tale of being threatened with removal from a United flight gets a man to talk of his real fear of flying while Muslim. A White man talks to a Black man and admits it was like having a shut door opened.
The workshops give a feeling of how history, or at least progress, can be achieved right now, if only people truly engaged and had a real race conversation.
“That’s why I call it simple and revolutionary,” Lee tells me. “What I hope I inspire in people is if we speak from our hearts and we keep trying … you can just be you, trying to make a difference.”
Lee, however, admits it’s tough for high-ranking officials to get to that level of truth about race. He points to President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. And for elites like the chancellor.
