We have been watching this legislative session’s bill cutoff day wrap up in front of our eyes in disbelief! The House Democratic Leadership valued pickleball over Chinese American history and passed the pickleball bill before the 5pm deadline, but did not bring the American of Chinese Descent History Month bill out for a floor vote.
Chinese immigrants first landed in the U.S. in 1785. In 1886, more than 350 Chinese immigrants were forcefully expelled from Seattle. There are over 177K Chinese living in WA . By comparison, pickleball was first invented in 1965, and only has 260K players in CA, OR, and WA combined.
Rep. Cindy Ryu’s email to Senator Wagoner said “The caucus briefing on your bill was not going well.” What was it in ESB 5264 that House Democrats did not like? Rep. Ryu’s amendment (https://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2021-22/Pdf/Amendments/House/5264.E%20AMH%20RYUC%20OMLI%20089.pdf ) removes the designation of January as American of Chinese Decent History Month. Why is it that Washington can have Korean American Day, Japanese Remembrance Day, and Filipino American History Month, yet can’t have Chinese American History Month?
A party that runs on the notion of inclusion has been practicing Chinese exclusion at every opportunity. We have to ask, what is a House Democrat’s true identity?
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