“I see myself first and foremost as an American, who happens to come from China. Most people want similar things in life – simple things. I just want a good life for my child and for my family. I want to live in a free and cohesive society.”
“An advantage of having grown up in another country and culture is that I have a comparative perspective. I have witnessed a lot of parallels between the Chinese Cultural Revolution and America’s culture war. I’m not saying that a revolution is taking place, but there are important parallels and lessons. The core of this ideological trend of obsessing with skin colors and other superfluous group identities is really about pitting people against each other – neighbors against each other, parents against kids, brothers against sisters. It’s very divisive and it’s absolutely fear-driven.”
“So how can we build back the trust in a country that has been politically polarized and ideologically invaded? I think deep down, we just need to dismantle the pipeline behind the ideology that divides us.”
“Almost every American university or college now has some sort of office or department that’s in charge of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) – a political litmus test. Mandating DEI has nothing to do with the essential business of higher education, which is to prepare students to be competent, competitive and critical thinkers. There is so much money behind the social engineering of racial diversity, equal outcomes and exclusion of viewpoint diversity.”
“An industry has mushroomed following these appealing, transformative egalitarian proposals – but they have never worked. Look anywhere else in modern human history – you will find the ideas of collectivism have never translated into tangible goals of human progress because we can’t be crudely confined by any group label. We can’t all just forego our individual differences and fit into groups. We’re all different at the individual level – we’re not defined by our group characteristics.”
“It’s really about finding truth, and the desire to seek the truth behind all the narratives being pushed in the media or by the political establishment. What’s true? In your heart, what’s true about our country? Is it really so irredeemably racist and oppressive? Have we lost a shared perspective of an imperfect yet great nation that has never ceased striving for a “more perfect union”? What is true about our education system? What do we want our kids and our next generation to learn and how should they relate to their peers, their fellow Americans? That’s why I work on exposing and addressing problems in education.”
“I’m an ordinary American. I don’t have any special power and I don’t have any special insights. I just follow my gut. We all need to pay attention and be ready to fight and take a stand for this country that we all call home.”
“An advantage of having lived in another country – another culture, in my case – is that I have the undeniable “lived experiences” that help me gain perspective and context. Sometimes people get lazy because we have been afforded this privilege of living in a free, prosperous and peaceful nation. We fall asleep and don’t think about how fragile freedom is.”
“People need to know that if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. It is time to get involved!”
Dr. Wenyuan Wu
Tifton, Georgia
Dr. Wenyuan Wu is the Executive Director of the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, an organization dedicated to unifying Americans by defending and advancing equal rights for all.
