To the Editor:Re “A Home Buying Prohibition Rattles Chinese Nationals in Florida” (news article, May 7):The excellent reporting by Amy Qin and Patricia Mazzei shows why State Representative David Borrero, a Miami-area Republican, is wrong in claiming that national security interests take precedence over discrimination claims.
Time and again, we see how this false dichotomy is used to justify civil rights violations against Asian Americans.
This was the case in major touch points throughout our history, from the Japanese American incarceration during World War II to the Justice Department’s now defunct China Initiative, which led to the increased faulty targeting, profiling and prosecution of Asian American and immigrant researchers, scientists, and professors — particularly those of Chinese descent.
The bigoted thinking espoused by Representative Borrero and others who support these initiatives should not go unchecked.
Joanna YangQing DermanWashingtonThe writer is the director of the Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights and National Security program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC.
Persons:
Amy Qin, Patricia Mazzei, David Borrero, Department’s, —, Borrero, Joanna YangQing Derman, — AAJC
Organizations:
Asian, China Initiative, Civil Rights, National Security
Locations:
Florida, Miami, Joanna YangQing Derman Washington