One of the most financially successful immigrant groups in the country is getting on the apology bandwagon. A newly elected California Assembly Member, Paul Fong from Silicon Valley, has submitted a bill (ACR42) that demands a statement of remorse from Californians for historical discrimination agaist Chinese immigrants. Mr. Fong appears unaware that his victimhood bill is no way to win friends and influence people, particularly at a time when Californians want Sacramento to get serious about fixing the budget. (Contact information here.)

California should formally "express regrets" to the Chinese immigrants who were historically persecuted and abused while they helped build the Golden State's railroads, mines and agricultural fields, said a state legislator who is promoting legislation that would lead to the first-ever government apology to Chinese-Americans.

Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Mountain View, the grandson of a Chinese immigrant who was interned at Angel Island, said his goal is to eventually convince the federal government to also issue an apology, and then legislate redress for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which specifically barred Chinese immigrants from the U.S. It was repealed in 1943. [California should apologize for persecution of Chinese immigrants, legislator says, San Jose Mercury News, June 11, 2009]

However, American groveling is not sufficient for Mr. Fong; he wants money.

If he gets the state apology, Fong said, he will seek federal redress for the people interned in camps that operated from 1910 to 1942 at Angel Island. However, he did not say how much he wanted the government to pay.

When the U.S. government issued a 1988 apology for the World War II internment of 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens, it paid reparation of $20,000 for each individual who was interned.

Another article contained pertinent information about how Fong family utilized fraud to enter America: Calif. lawmaker seeks apology for Chinese workers, Google AP.

Fong's grandfather paid about $2,000 for fake identification papers and took a new name of Chan Share, becoming a "paper son." The term referred to immigrants who purchased fake identification papers from the Chinese who claimed they were citizens and wanted to help their children in China immigrate to America. The practice became popular after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that destroyed many birth records. [...]

"There were discriminatory laws on the books at the time, and he had to get around them," Fong said. "That was the way they did it."

See, Fong thinks it's fine to lie your way into America because of all the nasty discrimination. He doesn't seem to notice that his other country, the Peoples' Republic of China, doesn't permit immigration of persons who are not racially Chinese.

In fact, it's quite true that early Chinese immigrants were treated poorly — just like the Irish and other groups. Since then, the Chinese have done very well. The Chinese median family income is $10K above that of the American family's ($60,058 vs. $50,046), according to the Census Bureau's 2004 analysis, Asians in America.

But money-grubbing hypocrite Paul Fong has a high opinion of his racial tribe (as do many Chinese), and he apparently believes that Americans must be forced to pay for humiliating his grandfather.