General Clark apologized for using the word "Chinaman"


On November 3, 2003, General Clark was interviewed by The National Public Radio. He said, "I am a fair person.... But if somebody from Russia does something right, or a Chinaman does something right, or even a Frenchman, I'm going to say they did something right. Same thing with the Republicans." That statement was reported to 80-20 by one of its 650,000 supporters. Although it's obvious from the context that Gen. Clark didn't mean to use "Chinaman" in a negative sense. S.B. Woo, President of 80-20 e-mailed one of Clark's strong Korean American supporters, Richard Choi Bertsch, asking him to make the general aware of his faux pas and consider apologizing to the APA community. General Clark, one of the leading Democratic presidential candidates, phoned S. B. Woo of 80-20 at home November 19 to apologize for his use of the word "Chinaman.." Said Woo, such a gesture seems a very positive reflection on Clark's leadership quality. In their chat, Clark also expressed strong support for helping the APAs break the glass ceiling. He stated that if elected President, he will order the Labor Department to enforce Executive Order 11246, should a Congressional hearing or a Labor Department study conclude that there is a glass ceiling above APAs. E.O. 11246 is a very powerful law that has been enforced on behalf of African Americans. and women, but NOT APAs, to help them break glass ceilings. Equal enforcement of that law will be 80-20's single crucial goal for campaign season 2004. General Clark's verbal promise makes him the first presidential candidate to do so.



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