Conan the Governor going on about some tired old "Asians work so hard compared to those lazy Mexicans" crap. He really needs to get an original thought out there. If you're going to be a neo-con, you might as well throw out some really radical ideas, or at least come up with some new schoolyard taunts. For real, "girly-man", "fiery latina blood", and now "smart assimilationist Asians" and Mexicans who don't want to learn English, yawn...
The kicker is that his comments were made at an event in Chinatown LA to commemorate the Terminator's landmark legislation serving the Asian Pacific American community this session--the Moon Cake Bill! Correct, Governor! The most pressing, absolutely number one priority for APA communities in California is to protect my right to eat moon cakes that have been stored at culturally appropriate temperatures!
You see, having fully assimilated, us hard working, English learning APAs have no other issues. No, no, don't mind that APAs constitute a nice big chunk of the 7 MILLION Californians who are limitd-English proficient. Cuz if you did, you just might have to admit that regulating Moon Cake temperatures was not such a big deal and perhaps would re-think your VETO of the $10 million budget allocatoin for court interpreters and of AB 2303, a bill that would have provided for interpreters in civil courts. But I suppose that posing with a mother struggling to understand a child custody hearing without an interpreter wouldn't be as pretty a photo-op as the shot with the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce people.
Article is below, my "official" response to follow in next post.
Governor's ethnicity comments criticized
Mexican Americans should assimilate the way Asians did, he says.
By Kevin Yamamura - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, October 6, 2006
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
No stranger to sensitive ethnic remarks, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger drew criticism Thursday for saying Mexican Americans have acculturation problems "because they are so close to their country here" while collectively praising Asian Americans for "assimilating into the American way of living."
Democratic lawmakers supporting gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides charged that the Republican governor was once again engaging in "divisive" racial stereotyping in remarks similar to taped comments he made about Cuban and Puerto Rican women that were revealed last month.
Schwarzenegger spoke Thursday in Los Angeles' Chinatown at a celebration of the Moon Festival, a fall holiday recognized by various Asian cultures, to promote a new law to study relaxed health standards for traditional ethnic foods such as moon cakes.
Asked his views on assimilation, Schwarzenegger said being a successful American requires immigrants to learn English and U.S. history in addition to fully engaging in the nation's culture.
"And that is very difficult for some people to do, especially, I think, for Mexicans, because they are so close to their country here, so they try to stay Mexican but try to be in America, so there is this kind of back and forth," Schwarzenegger said, according to a transcript provided by the Governor's Office. "And what I am saying to the Mexicans is, you've got to go and immerse yourself, and assimilate into the American culture, and become part of the American fabric. That is how Americans will embrace you."
U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, said Schwarzenegger's comments show an "utter disregard" for Latinos. Solis also criticized Schwarzenegger last month after an audiotape revealed that the governor said Puerto Ricans and Cubans have a "hot" temperament.
"It is not the governor's place to tell immigrants to abandon their culture and language," said Solis, a Congressional Hispanic Caucus member, in a conference call organized by the state Democratic Party.
Addressing Asian American leaders, the governor called Asians "smart" and "hardworking," adding that their cultures remind him "very much of the Austrian way of -- you know, it's education, education, education."
U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, said those remarks were "appalling."
"It really reflects a 1920s mentality that harkens back to the old days when Asian Americans were 'model minorities' and we worked hard," said Honda, a Japanese American.
Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign characterized the criticism as politically motivated.
"Today the Phil Angelides campaign organized a partisan attack on the governor for his publicly stated views on the need for immigrants to assimilate into the fabric of American culture," said Schwarzenegger campaign spokeswoman Katie Levinson.
Angelides spokeswoman Amanda Crumley responded, "Every day we learn more and more about what Arnold Schwarzenegger really thinks when he is stripped of his handlers and his scripts, and I think everyone was taken aback by these comments today."
Schwarzenegger last month apologized immediately after the Los Angeles Times revealed that he privately told aides that Puerto Rican and Cuban women have a "hot" temperament due to their supposed mix of "black blood" and "Latino blood." The Angelides campaign later admitted to giving the tape to the Times but said it was obtained on the governor's public Web site.
In a letter to Schwarzenegger last week demanding public access to unreleased portions of the tape, Angelides lawyer Lance Olson suggested the recording contains more controversial remarks from Schwarzenegger, including his "views on the assimilation of immigrants." Schwarzenegger has declined to release the tape.
Schwarzenegger apologized last year for having said America's border with Mexico should be "closed," explaining that he only meant the borders should be more secure. He attributed his misstep to a "language problem."
Last month, Schwarzenegger wrote a Times opinion piece critical of Mexican American immigrants who identify too much with their native land, with comparative ethnic language similar to that used Thursday.
"What people see today when immigrant rights activists march in the streets carrying Mexican flags and angry signs is that you do not want to join America's house," Schwarzenegger wrote. "The message that sends is that you do not want to learn our language or our culture. Unlike the message sent by the masses of Irish, Italian, German and Asian immigrants, whom Americans now proudly call our 'melting pot,' these images suggest that Mexican immigrants do not want to make that effort."
Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Garden Grove, author of the moon cake-related bill and the first Vietnamese American elected to a state legislature, said he did not find the governor's Thursday remarks offensive.
"I was there, and I can tell you that the characterizations by my esteemed colleagues on the Democratic side are quite off-base," said Tran, an immigrant who fled Vietnam three decades ago. "Unfortunately, in the silly (campaign) season, everything is taken out of context. The whole purpose of the event in Chinatown was to celebrate diversity."
