The Military Wants Us to Say We're Sorry: What Has Happened to the East Coast Asian Students' Union?

One of us is in his forties, and has been involved in the Asian American movement for half his life, as an activist and as a writer. The other is in her early twenties, and is now an organizer with Student Immigrant Movement for immigrant rights, most notably in her fight for the passage of the DREAM act. We have never met in person. What unites us is our commitment to justice, and to struggle within the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

A few months ago, we were invited to be keynote speakers at the East Coast Asian American Students' Union (ECAASU) annual conference, to be held in Amherst, MA. Vijay has been the keynote speaker at three previous ECAASU meetings (1998, 1999, 2003), and this was Lai Wa's first opportunity. We were obviously very pleased to be invited to share our perspective with the 1,500 delegates from colleges across the United States. Lai Wa was prepared to share her work on the DREAM act, and Vijay wanted to talk about the recent upsurge in the Arab World and its impact on youth in the United States.

Things turned out differently when we found out who now funds ECAASU: the U. S. military, the coast guard and the CIA. Both of us felt uneasy about this, but neither wanted to walk away from ECAASU. The organization was formed in 1978 to organize Asian Americans to defend the gains of the Civil Rights movement (in particular affirmative action, since ECAASU was formed right after the Bakke decision of the U. S. Supreme Court). It was heir to the long tradition of left wing and anti-war work in the Asian American community from the 1960s. Asian Americans had been crucial participants in the Third World Strike at San Francisco State College to inaugurate Ethnic Studies, and had been a militant part of the anti-war work during the Vietnam era. We wanted to represent that tradition against the military's war making.

Lai Wa reached out to the ECAASU National Board, asking about the funding. She was told that it's hard to fund a conference of this magnitude, particularly since the cultural shows often charge more than they recoup via ticket sales. A board member told Lai Wa, "We think the best way to change these organizations [meaning the military] is to help them achieve more diversity and understanding of our issues – not to ostracize them. And give them an opportunity to learn about our issues, think about our issues, and recruit from a more diverse pool of applicants."

Lai Wa spoke at the first plenary panel, on Friday the 18th of February. She pointed to the wars conducted by the U. S. in Asia and to the U. S. bases in colonized Asia (from Guam to Hawaii). Lai Wa worried about the disproportionate number of people of color in the armed forces, who carry the burden of fighting our wars. "Let me make clear that my main point is not to disrespect or criticize the veterans here today," she said. "Our veterans should be respected and honored. What I am criticizing is rather the source of ECAASU's money, rooted from a military-industrial complex which has executed U. S. imperialism within our Asian Pacific Islander American communities and abroad."

Later, a sound engineer from UMASS told Vijay that he had been told to cut off Lai Wa's microphone. The engineer refused. He would not do it for anyone. Besides, he smiled, some of the backstage workers agreed with Lai Wa.

The next day, during the career fair, Lai Wa was approached by one of the military cadets initially asking about her reasons for having "accosted" the military, but she soon realized he was not interested in an honest conversation. He began to ask her for her personal information and how many times she had spoken in public. The situation felt unsafe for Lai Wa. Thankfully, a few individuals were around the table to help support her and defuse the situation.