Not Leaving the Children Behind, Part 8431

I spent most of today making yet another round of edits on my Comment about No Child Left Behind. Since I wrote my first draft in July, I feel like I have been working on this piece for an eternity, and sometimes I do not even recognize my own writing.

Yet, as much as I bemoan going through another series of edits, I am very excited. Simply watching the formatting of my text by the senior editors has made this process more real. When you turn in your comment, it is supposed to be in 12 pt. Courier New with endnotes. Then as I went through publication edits, my piece was changed to 12 pt. Times with footnotes. Now, in my final round of edits, my piece looks like how it will look in the book with 11 pt. New Bakersville font, headers, a table of contents, and even a space for me to write my dedication.

And for those of you who have asked, you can get your copy March 21st. Be forewarned, the Comment is pretty. . . technical and nerdy.

Friday Favorites

"Abundant sunshine," in today's forecast, as described on weather.com.

Roberto at Bang Salon. I love my short new hair.

Banana Republic's Winter Sale, where I scored a Silk Pleated Dress: originally $168, paid $32 (left), and a Contour jackson glenplaid trouser: originally $108, paid $25.

Enjoying the hustle and bustle of downtown DC.

Little Saigon

While I was growing up, my family drove almost every weekend to Little Saigon in Orange County, the largest community of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. We visited family, ate Vietnamese food (well, they gave me a bowl of rice and soy sauce for a while because I was a picky eater), and bought Asian groceries at Ranch 99. Although I grew up in a predominately white suburb, I guess I can thank Little Saigon for connecting me to my roots.

So I can see why these Vietnamese communities are important, especially since many Vietnamese-Americans are refugees from a horrible war. And I can see why the people in San Jose wanted to name a predominately Vietnamese business district Little Saigon.

However I am a little confused as to why San Jose people are so upset about the new name, the Saigon Business District. So upset that they are trying to recall City Councilwoman Madison Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American woman to be elected into office and who came up with this name as a compromise. There is still Saigon in the name, not Ho Chi Minh. Yet, 2,000 people protested infront of City Hall, calling her a communist, in cahoots with the Vietnamese government, a race traitor, and a bad role model for Vietnamese children. Never mind that she has been seen as an effective city council person, working on tough issues like gangs.

Now I do not know the exact details of the situation or if Madison dealt with this in the best way possible, but trying to initiate a recall is completely overboard and the personal attacks are out of line. Out of all people, refugees who escaped should be the last people loosely insulting people with the term communist. In addition to being completely unfounded, I am sure it particularly hurtful. As someone who was also called a race traitor, I do admire Madison for having to deal with it on such a larger and more public level.

There has been a lot of talk about race in politics lately. And something that I have learned from my personal experience and stories like this is that as much prejudice as minorities may face from non-minorities, minorities also face a lot of discrimination and judgment from their own communities. I am so over people asking if he is black enough, if she is feminine enough, or even if he is Christian enough. In the same way that politicians should not represent one interest group, they should not just represent their ethnicity/gender/religion.

And this is why I will never run for public office.

Of Civil Wrongs & Rights

Today, the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) at my law school showed the PBS Documentary "Of Civil Wrongs & Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story." If there is any way that you can get a hold of the DVD, I highly recommend it. I am not a huge documentary person but this was put together very well and tells an amazing, but often unknown, story.

Coming off of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, it was great that we got to see the story of another great civil rights leader. To make a long story short, Fred Korematsu refused to allow the government put him in an internment camp with other Japanese-Americans during WWII. When he was convicted for defying the order, he challenged his conviction all the way up to the Supreme Court. In what my Constitutional Law Professor described as one of the worst outcomes in Supreme Court history, the Court ruled that national security concerns outweighed Korematsu's rights and the rights of Japanese-Americans, and his conviction was upheld. (sound familiar?)

I think what made him so amazing, and what I learned from this documentary, is what he did after he lost his Supreme Court case. He appealed in District Court 40 years later, won, and paved the way for a national apology and $20,000 to surviving internees. Up until his death in 2005, Korematsu remained active in civil rights, spoke out against parts of the Patriot Act, and was even on a steering committee of the Constitution Project, where I worked last summer.

Just an ordinary guy who just wanted to go to work, and who did not think it was right that he and other Japanese-Americans should be rounded up because they had "enemy blood."

As shameful as the majority decision was, this case has also brought one of my favorite dissents:

All residents of this nation are kin in some way by blood or culture to a foreign land. Yet they are primarily and necessarily a part of the new and distinct civilization of the United States. They must, accordingly, be treated at all times as the heirs of the American experiment, and as entitled to all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. --Justice Marshall

And thus endeth the history lesson of today.

Restaurant Week'age

One of my favorite DC traditions is Restaurant Week, a time when us common folk have the opportunity to patronize the city's fine dining establishments for a fraction of the normal price. Although some restaurant workers look down upon people who simply come for a $30.08 prix fixe dinner menu, most restaurant employees give us the 5 star treatment that typically comes with at these expensive restaurants.

Over the long weekend Martin Luther King weekend,* my friends, Alex, and I went to Taberna del Alabardero. Supposedly the Spanish government has said that this is the best Spanish restaurant out of Spain. Although I have never had authentic Spanish food, I would not doubt the Spanish government.

My friends and I were all excited to try those fancy dishes with fancy presentations that we have only seen on Top Chef. Lentil and foie gras soup, monkfish, creamed leaks, veal sweatbreads (well not me because I am not brave enough) and more. In the same way that I appreciate big designers who try to make affordable options for 'normal people,' I like how chefs give people a glimpse at all these new flavors and techniques- even if only for a week.

And of course, Restaurant Week is great because it is an excuse to get together with friends. If Los Angeles does not do this yet, they need to, at least by the time I move back.

[*Although I did enjoy my day off, I do agree with my friend Faith that Martin Luther King Jr. probably would have wanted us to go to school yesterday and learn.]
[**I am still shocked by Heath Ledger's death. I do not know if I will blog about it, but it is sad]