#272 National APA Museum; Red-Baiting; Capstone Workshop Videos; State of Science; More

In This Issue #272

·       Anne S. Chao: From Missing in History to a National APA Museum on the Mall

·       AALDEF: The Red-Baiting of Dr. Chen and Dangerous Targeting on All Asian Americans

·       National Academies Roundtable Capstone Workshop Videos Posted

·       Marcia McNutt: The First State of Science Address

·       News and Activities for the Communities

Anne S. Chao: From Missing in History to a National APA Museum on the Mall

Anne S. Chao is a modern Chinese historian, and currently an Adjunct Lecturer in the Humanities at Rice University, and co-founder and manager of the Houston Asian American Archive at Rice. She is a co-founder of the FRIENDS of the National Asian Pacific American Museum, whose goal is to establish a national AAPI museum on the nation's Mall. Anne serves on the boards of the Houston Ballet, Wellesley Colleges, the National Archives Foundation, the Dunhuang Foundation among others.  During the APA Justice monthly meeting on August 5, 2024, Anne gave her report on her activities with a 12-slide presentation: https://bit.ly/3WxVzPg. At Rice University, Anne established the Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) 15 years ago, recognizing that Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the U.S., and it yet lacked records of Asian American lives. Distribution of the Asian American population in the Greater Houston area is visualized by a heat map.  The county in the Southwest quadrant of this map is Fort Bend County.  It has almost a parity of 25% Anglo, 25% African American, 25% Asian American, and 25% Hispanic. No other county in the country has the same parity.

Rice University students began interviewing people, collecting memorabilia, conducting podcasts, making video clips, and exploring different aspects of Asian American lives.  HAAA now has about 500 interviews along with various awards, performances, and exhibits.Among those interviewed as part of a multicultural and multifaceted Asian Houston were 

·       Theresa and Peter Chang.  Theresa Chang is a judge and at one time the highest placed Asian American woman in the Republican Party.  

·       Dr. Vipul Mankad as part of a huge collection of South Asian interviews.  

·       Donna Cole’s father was in the 442nd regiment in World War II.  She and her friends created the Go for Broke Foundation that led to Congress awarding the Gold Medal of Honor posthumously to these veterans of Japanese ancestry.  

·       Harry Gee Jr. is a prominent immigration lawyer.  The Gee family has made huge contributions to Houston and beyond.  

·       Leroy Chiao is a Chinese American astronaut. 

·       Lakshmy Parameswaran founded Daya, Inc., which serves South Asian victims of family violence.

·       World-renowned Professor of Physics Paul Chu, and

·       Many others of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, and other ethnicities. 

Anne told the story of the Gee family network in Houston.  The Gee name may also be spelled as Zhu, Jee, and Chu.  Many of them originate from Taishan and Kaiping counties in Guangdong Province in Southern China.  One of Anne’s students created a Gee family network chart, from which a curriculum was developed for the Asia Society.  A Voice of America reporter just interviewed the Gee family members about the curriculum.  A book is in the works.Harry Gee’s father came to Houston as a restaurant owner.  Harry Gee’s cousin, Albert Gee, was also a charismatic restaurateur who parlayed his business success into social and political success by contributing to Richard Nixon and John Connelly campaigns respectively and also entertained celebrities such as Bob Hope. Switching to the national scene, Anne pointed out that the African American Museum is already part of the Smithsonian collection on the national mall.  The Latino American Museum and the Women’s Museum are in the pipeline.  We are missing the Asian Pacific American Museum.

Congresswoman Grace Meng introduced H.R. 3525 in 2021 to establish a commission to study the feasibility of creating an Asian Pacific American Museum.  It became public law in June 2022.There are eight commissioner positions.  The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders and the House Majority and Minority Leaders each appoint two commissioners.  There are two vacancies at this time, but the commission cannot start work until all eight are present.  They have 18 months to produce a report to Congress on the feasibility of an Asian Pacific American Museum.  The commissioners are volunteers.  They do not have actual funding.  Only one of the current commissioners, Dr. Jay Xu, who is the Director of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, has actual museum knowledge and experience.Handel Lee, Debbie Shawn, and Anne co-founded a non-profit organization called the Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum to fast track the effort.  All three have served on the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Advisory Board. Their goal is to champion the cause, as well as to mobilize, support, fundraise, supply a blueprint, and coordinate the efforts.  It has engaged many museum experts and museum fundraisers.They are in the process of creating a group of academics as well as organizations around the country to talk about what to put in the museum.

AALDEF:  The Red-Baiting of Dr. Chen and the Dangerous Target It Puts on All Asian Americans

On August 7, 2024, the Asian American Legal and Defense Fund (AALDEF) posted a blog titled "The Red-Baiting of Dr. Chen and the Dangerous Target It Puts on All Asian Americans" in response to a CNN report on Jake Tapper's The Lead program on July 31, 2024.According to the blog, Catherine Herridge, a former Fox News journalist, is appealing a court ruling that holds her in contempt for refusing to reveal her source in a series of reports about Dr. Yanping Chen, a Chinese American who was investigated by the FBI for six years but was not charged for any crime. Herridge falsely accused Dr. Chen of being a spy for China, using misleading evidence and perpetuating racist stereotypes. Dr. Chen sued over the leak of her personal information and subpoenaed Herridge to reveal how she had come to possess confidential materials from the FBI. Herridge has twice refused and has been held in contempt. She maintains the dangerous falsehood against Dr. Chen, and Senator Ted Cruz filed a brief in support of Herridge that leans even more strongly into the anti-Chinese red-baiting prominent in Herridge’s reporting.As unethical and misrepresentative as her reporting was, Herridge still has First Amendment protections. There is a long history of the government invoking “national security” to compel reporters to reveal sources. And there is a danger to destabilizing the protections of the press, which is often our most powerful advocate holding the government accountable.

But CNN’s report made little mention of Dr. Chen and the role Herridge played in spreading dangerous falsehoods about her. Herridge was presented as a good reporter fighting the good fight, not just for herself, but to ward off “the end of investigative journalism.”Dr. Chen has been victimized twice: first by the government and then by the media. And by not properly reporting this story and giving an unfair platform to the person who used her privilege as a journalist to shamelessly vilify Dr. Chen and, in court, continued to vilify and dangerously misrepresent her as a Chinese spy, CNN further contributes to the harm Dr. Chen still faces. Rather than propping up Herridge like some sort of martyr, CNN should ask itself if it would have run the three stories Herridge wrote about Dr. Chen. Would Herridge’s characterization of Dr. Chen heavily reliant on racist tropes against Chinese people meet the ethical and reporting standards of CNN? CNN has held neither the government nor the reporter, Catherine Herridge, accountable here.Herridge was so sure a Chinese American scientist was a spy, because that idea fit the entrenched narrative of what a spy looks like. And for the viewers who consumed her three fallacious stories, Herridge entrenched those dangerous ideas even deeper, setting a target, not only on Dr. Chen, but on all people who look like her.Good reporting should count for something. Herridge’s reporting was not good. Worse still, it caused real harm to someone still recovering from the harm the government had already inflicted on her.The blog argues that investigative journalism should challenge harmful narratives, not perpetuate them, as CNN's coverage of Herridge did.

Read the AALDEF blog: https://bit.ly/4dhasMZ

Roundtable Capstone Workshop Meeting Materials and Videos Posted

On July 16-17, 2024, the National Academies hosted The National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable Roundtable Capstone Workshop to present information the Roundtable has gathered since its inception in 2020 through 14 gatherings in Washington, DC and across the U.S.A series of three videos has now been posted at https://bit.ly/3z0PnY7, along with meeting materials.  A report is being prepared at this time. 

Contact Zariya Butler at (202)-334-2937 and zbutler@nas.edu if you have questions or comments.

Marcia McNutt: The First State of Science Address

On June 26, 2024, Marcia McNutt, President of National Academy of Sciences, delivered the first State of the Science address to explore how U.S. science and innovation are positioned to respond to rising global competition and shifting priorities for the nation’s economy, security, public health, and well-being.  Her analysis was based mostly on data available up to 2021 in the midst of the "China Initiative."A video of her talk and a panel discussion including Dr. Grace Wang, President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has now been posted (1:47:59), as well as the meeting materials, at https://bit.ly/4checg9.Dr. McNutt started by observing that Germany was the world leader in science prior to World War II.  In addition to the U.S. bringing in German scientists, she credited  Vannevar Bush, who headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II, for transforming the U.S. into a world leader in science and technology by having government invest in basic science, creating the National Science Foundation, promoting science education and scholarships, and recommending partnerships between government, industry, and universities.  His book titled "Endless Frontier" outlining this blueprint was published in 1950. 

Dr. McNutt shared the following data on the rapid rise of China in science and technology in her address:

·       China is on track to exceed the U.S. in Research and Development expenditures. 

·       The U.S. is dropping in research output as measured by articles published while China is experiencing triple-digit percentage increase. 

·       In terms of research quality measured by percent of articles in the top 1%, the U.S. is losing ground while China has moved ahead of the European Union. 

·       In terms of products, China was at about 3% as recently as 2013 in percentage of drugs in Phase I-III trials.  It has risen to 28% in 2021 while the US is in decline. 

·       China's number of patents per year passed the U.S. around 2015 and is leading the U.S. by a ratio of 2 to 1 in 2021. 

·       China was a non-player in 2000 in the list of Global Fortune 500 companies.  It leads the list with 142 out of 500 in 2023. 

What has changed from Vannevar Bush's blueprint since 1950?  Dr. McNutt opined that

·       The U.S. has become exceptionally dependent on international students.

·       The U.S. could not meet its STEM workforce requirements if it were not for the international students.

·       Other nations are raising their standard of living by investing in science, education, pro-industry policies, and strategic planning. 

·       Advancing the frontiers of basic research now requires international partnerships to benefit all researchers. 

·       Industry took the lead around 1981 and now dominates U.S. research investment with a 75% share, compared to the federal government's 20%. 

·       Since 1953, philanthropy at universities and nonprofit research institutes has grown to be a major support for basic research. 

How can we use the new realities to improve our current model?  Dr. McNutt offered the following opportunities for the future as Endless Frontier 2.0:

·       Build the domestic scientific workforce of the future.

·       Attract the best and brightest by reducing red tape for international students and regulatory burden on faculty.

·       Create a national strategy to coordinate resources for greater impact.

·       Modernize and strengthen university-industry partnership.

·       Provide access to major science facilities.

·       Cultivate public trust in science.

Watch the video and read the meeting materials: https://bit.ly/4checg9.  2024/08/07 Scientific American: American Science Slips into Dangerous Decline, Experts Warn, while Chinese Research Surges.  The U.S. sorely needs a coordinated national research strategy, says Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

News and Activities for the Communities

1.  APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:2024/08/19 DNC Convention, AAPI Briefing & Reception, Chicago, IL2024/09/01 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/09/09 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/09/19-20 AANHPI Unity Summit2024/10/06 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly MeetingThe Community Calendar has moved.  Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details.

2.  Congresswoman Judy Chu & Senator Chris Coons Reintroduce NO BAN Act

On August 7, 2024, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) and Sen. Chris Coons (DE) led a bicameral partnership of their Democratic colleagues to introduce H.R. 9244, the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act—legislation that will prevent future Muslim bans. The NO BAN Act will strengthen the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, and restore checks and balances by limiting overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.

The bill would:

·       Provide that the Immigration and Nationality Act nondiscrimination provisions apply to religion, as well as to the issuance of non-immigrant visas and benefits;

·       Require that any travel restriction imposed under Immigration and Nationality Act be based on specific and credible facts, and in a way narrowly tailored to address a compelling government interest; and

·       Establish procedural requirements including notice to Congress within 48 hours and periodic reporting.